Apple announced sweeping changes to its products on Monday, the first day of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
Notably, the iPhone maker confirmed rumors that it is changing how it names its software updates. Instead of using a version number, Apple will use a system with a number that represents the year after the update is released. Apple’s next update will be iOS 26, arriving in the fall for most Apple users.
The naming change applies to all Apple products. For example, the next iPad update will be named iPadOS 26, and the next MacBook update will be called macOS 26.
Related: This College Student Wanted to Help People During the LA Wildfires. She Built a Practical App in Just 1 Month — and Won Apple’s Annual Competition.
Apple announced other changes, like a new design and AI features. The company has made all of the new features available for testing starting on Monday through the Apple Developer program, with a public beta version to be released next month and a broader update rolling out this fall.
“We continue to advance each of our platforms with more ways to harness the power of Apple Intelligence, as well as a beautiful new design, our product experiences become even more seamless and enjoyable,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the event keynote.
Here are some interesting new capabilities Apple debuted on Monday.
1. A new design with Liquid Glass
Apple made its biggest design update ever, with a new design element called Liquid Glass. The translucent element, which Apple used to craft new buttons, switches, tab bars, and notifications across its products, looks like glass on the screen and takes on the color of its environment.
“This is our broadest software design update ever,” Alan Dye, Apple’s vice president of Human Interface Design, stated in a press release. “It combines the optical qualities of glass with a fluidity only Apple can achieve, as it transforms depending on your content or context.”
Apple has integrated Liquid Glass components into its redesign, including translucent menus that respond to a user’s perspective of the screen and a new lock screen with a Liquid Glass time.
Liquid Glass time on the lock screen. Credit: Apple
Apple’s new Liquid Glass design applies to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS for a unified look.
2. Live Translation will be integrated into the iPhone
Apple is bringing Live Translation to Messages, FaceTime, and Phone to translate text and audio on the spot. The AI-powered feature is backed by Apple-built AI models that run entirely locally, so personal conversations are never uploaded to the cloud.
Live Translation means that users can talk to each other in different languages, and have the translation appear on the screen in real-time. For example, when a user receives an iMessage in another language, they can opt for that message to be translated into their preferred language. On FaceTime, a user can hear someone talking in another language while following along with translated live captions.
Live Translation on FaceTime. Credit: Apple
Live Translation could help overcome language barriers for business calls and personal calls alike.
Related: Own a Pair of AirPods? Listen to This — New Apple Tech Will Translate Languages During Conversations in Real Time
3. Visual intelligence gets sharper
Apple is bringing more AI capabilities to the forefront with visual intelligence. Users can tap into their iPhone cameras and use what they see to ask ChatGPT questions. They can also search Google or Etsy to find products similar to what they are looking at.
Visual intelligence also recognizes when a user is looking at a poster of an event, and can extract the data to add as an event on their calendar.
Related: Apple Is Reportedly Developing AI Smart Glasses to Compete with Meta and Google
4. Workout Buddy on Apple Watch
Apple is adding an AI workout companion to the Apple Watch called Workout Buddy.
Workout Buddy considers metrics tracked by the Apple Watch, like heart rate, pace, distance, and previous workouts, and leverages this knowledge to motivate users during their workouts with verbal encouragement.
For example, when a user starts their run, Workout Buddy could say, “Great job starting your run. This is your second run this week.”
Workout Buddy will be available for workout types like indoor run and outdoor cycle.
Apple announced sweeping changes to its products on Monday, the first day of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
Notably, the iPhone maker confirmed rumors that it is changing how it names its software updates. Instead of using a version number, Apple will use a system with a number that represents the year after the update is released. Apple’s next update will be iOS 26, arriving in the fall for most Apple users.
The naming change applies to all Apple products. For example, the next iPad update will be named iPadOS 26, and the next MacBook update will be called macOS 26.
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