Apple WWDC 2025: Your iPhone just got a brain and a makeover

All versions of iOS 26, macOS Tahoe, iPadOS 26, and visionOS 26 are more than just a number update for Apple’s two main platforms and four OSs; it’s a full-on platform-wide switch to basic software that includes a broad redesign, deep intelligence, and a privacy-first approach to every device. iOS 26 is leading the charge on this, but macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS are all included. The 26 release sets the new software stack for Apple as the cross-platform foundation for personal computing for the next decade in 2023.

Apple WWDC 2025: A new look for a new era

More than a decade since the 2013 introduction of flat design in iOS 7, which changed the way we think about the “design” of graphical interfaces, Apple is doing the biggest visual overhaul in the history of the iOS family. This new look is driven by Liquid Glass, a very dynamic material and long overdue, that will reflect content, light, and motion in real time, a fantastic level of translucency while somehow changing its glare to adapt to wherever you are and your devices.

From redesigned app icons to a spatial lock screen experience powered by 3D effects, the design refresh brings a fluidity that feels more alive. Home and lock screens now feature intelligent responsiveness, with typography that subtly reshapes itself around images and notifications. Apple’s custom San Francisco font morphs in weight and height to fit photo subjects, creating a lock screen that breathes with motion. Even music playback has evolved into a visual treat, allowing album art to interact with playback controls in animated harmony.

Apple Intelligence gets personal and private

The big news in iOS 26 is Apple Intelligence, the company’s privacy-focused take on generative AI. This year Apple is bringing this technology deep into iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. A major change: the on-device large language model (LLM) is now open to developers.

By introducing the Foundation Models framework, third-party apps can tap directly into Apple’s on-device LLMs without cloud dependencies or costs. So a quiz app like Kahoot can create flashcards from your notes, or a hiking app can suggest trails based on your mood, all offline.

Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, called it a “once-a-decade redesign” that ties together hardware and software. “This isn’t just about looks,” he said. “It’s about making every interaction more helpful, faster, and above all, more private.”

Communication, translated

From calls to chats, iOS 26 has some big changes. The Phone app has a unified design and introduces Call Screening, which silently answers unknown calls and shows a transcript before you answer. Meanwhile, Hold Assist will wait on hold for you and ring when a live person answers.

Messages has group typing indicators, polls, and customizable backgrounds. Apple Intelligence helps by suggesting polls and enables spam detection for messages. Live translation is now across FaceTime, Phone, and Messages so you can have real-time multilingual conversations using on-device processing.

Smarter media and more motion

Apple’s creative tools get generative too. You can now blend emojis to create Genmojis or use ChatGPT-enhanced image generation (with permission prompts) to create event invites or contact posters. Music fans get real-time lyric translation and DJ-style automixes. You can pin favorite albums for quicker access.

Photos and Safari benefit from design fluidity, where tabs and UI elements adapt to content scroll and navigation. The Photos app even turns regular images into spatial scenes that simulate 3D motion, blurring the line between digital and physical.

macOS Tahoe brings clarity, creativity, and calling to the Mac

macOS Tahoe brings the Mac experience into the same Liquid Glass visual style. The new material applies to sidebars, toolbars, and app icons. A fully transparent menu bar gives you more screen real estate. You can customize folders with colors and emojis, and Control Center adds custom app controls, including third-party apps like Zoom.

Continuity gets a major boost. Live Activities can now appear in the Mac menu bar and sync with iPhone actions like food delivery or transit tracking. The Phone app comes to Mac with features like Hold Assist, Call Screening, and Live Translation.

Spotlight becomes the ultimate multitasker with Quick Keys, app launching via iPhone Mirroring, clipboard history, and shortcut support. You can even feed Apple Intelligence models directly into Spotlight to brainstorm headlines or summarize documents in real time.

Gaming gets a boost. A new Games app organizes titles, and Metal 4 introduces new rendering techniques. With support for console-class titles like Crimson Desert, the Mac can finally play games.

iPadOS 26 reinvents windowing and workflows

For iPad users, iPadOS 26 is the biggest leap in multitasking since Split View. A brand new windowing system lets you resize apps, tile them into quarters, minimize or restore them from the dock, and finally view an Exposé-style app overview. A new menu bar gives you desktop-like access to app functions.

The Files app is reworked with resizable columns, folder coloring, and app-specific file opening defaults. There’s even Preview ported from macOS with PDF annotation and image editing.

Content creators get voice isolation, AirPods-controlled video recording, and local capture, which records high-quality audio and video during calls for podcast-style post-production. iPads can now do background tasks like exporting videos or rendering graphics even after switching apps.

visionOS 26 turns Vision Pro into a spatial productivity monster

For its second act, visionOS 26 takes the spatial features of Apple Vision Pro and makes them more useful and accessible. Widgets go 3D, stick around where you leave them, and adjust their depth. Spatial scenes turn 2D photos into interactive panoramas, and a spatial gallery shows curated immersive content.

Personas, Apple’s 3D avatars for FaceTime, are more lifelike with hair, complexion, and expressions. New co-watching features let you watch movies or play games with friends in the same physical space.

On the enterprise side, you can share devices with saved settings. Protected content APIs introduce “for-your-eyes-only” experiences, and Logitech’s Muse accessory lets you 3D draw. Support for PlayStation VR2 Sense Controllers brings console-grade tracking to Vision Pro.

The spatial web starts here with inline 3D object embedding and immersive article viewing in Safari.

tvOS 26 reimagines the living room

Apple TV gets its glow-up with liquid glass elements and poster art. Apple Music Sing turns your iPhone into a karaoke mic, projecting lyrics and effects onto the screen. Multiple people can join in, react with on-screen emojis, and queue tracks.

A new automatic sign-in API removes the hassle of logging into individual streaming apps. It links app credentials to your Apple ID, so setup is seamless across devices.

A platform-wide consolidation and a developer-centric AI foundation

Apple has now consolidated the major OS versions into version 26 for OS X, iPad OS, and iOS. Version 26 is a break from the past, and now the platform is on one architecture. The Foundation Models framework gives developers access to on-device LLM under the extensible framework with App Intents and the Visual Intelligence APIs abstracting the complexity of AI and intelligence into any app.

Developers also have a new tool called Icon Composer, which allows developers to build layered app icons with a light source and liquid glass interaction. Xcode updates have improved capabilities, code completion, and Swift Assist with natural language processing, and we have added optional ChatGPT functionality for developers.

The Bottom Line

Apple’s 2025 software updates are not just annual updates. With immersive design, smart and private on-device intelligence, and platform continuity more than ever, version 26 brings the Apple experience to all screens. Whether you’re working, creating, gaming, or relaxing, Apple is getting their customers ready for when technology looks, feels, and acts like one humanized experience across multiple interactions and delivers a more visual reality beyond the screen.

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