During his final Worldwide Developers Conference keynote before stepping down as Apple CEO in September, Tim Cook unveiled the long-awaited Siri overhaul that has been at the center of Apple’s AI ambitions for years.

At WWDC 2026, Apple formally introduced Siri AI, a rebuilt version of its digital assistant that arrives after delays and growing pressure from rivals in the artificial intelligence race. The keynote also brought a broad expansion of Apple Intelligence features across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, making AI the defining theme of Cook’s final developer conference.

Alongside the AI announcements, Apple revealed iOS 27, new family safety tools, refinements to its Liquid Glass design language, and the next version of macOS, called Golden Gate.

Siri’s AI transformation

The headline announcement was Siri AI, a redesigned version of Apple’s voice assistant built to handle more natural conversations and provide more contextual responses. Users can now customize how Siri sounds through new pacing and expressiveness controls, while also interacting with the assistant through voice or text.

Apple has moved Siri into a dedicated app while maintaining integration across its operating systems. The assistant also gains access to Visual Intelligence features, allowing it to identify locations and other details from images stored on a user’s device.

The launch marks a significant milestone for Apple after months of scrutiny surrounding delays to advanced Siri features. The company is positioning the new assistant as a central part of its broader AI strategy moving forward.

Apple Intelligence spreads across iOS

Apple Intelligence is now reaching deeper into many of the company’s most-used applications. Safari can monitor webpages and notify users when information changes, while Messages and Mail gain smarter contextual reply suggestions.

Calendar can create events from conversational prompts, and the Home app can summarize camera activity and make footage easier to search. Apple is also bringing AI-assisted automation to Shortcuts, allowing users to describe a task and have the software build the shortcut automatically.

The updates reflect Apple’s effort to weave AI features directly into everyday workflows rather than confining them to standalone tools.

iOS 27 expands compatibility

Apple also highlighted the scale of its upcoming software rollout. The company said iOS 27 will support every iPhone model dating back to the iPhone 11, making it one of the broadest compatibility expansions in the platform’s history.

Apple claimed the update will reach more users than any previous iOS release. The company also announced several performance improvements, including faster photo loading, quicker AirDrop transfers, and multitasking enhancements.

Alongside iOS 27, Apple introduced new tools for families. Parents will be able to create approved app lists for child accounts and manage access over time. A new Communication Safety feature will help prevent children and teenagers from viewing shared content that contains nudity, graphic imagery, and other sensitive material.

Apple also refined its Liquid Glass interface with new readability improvements and user-controlled transparency settings. The company closed the software showcase with a preview of macOS Golden Gate, which will become the next major release for Mac users.

Taken together, the announcements represented Apple’s most ambitious AI-focused software update yet, giving Cook a fitting final WWDC centered on the Siri upgrade that many users had been waiting to see.

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The Pentagon is searching for new ways to protect military satellite communications from electronic attacks in space. MIT Lincoln Laboratory engineers are now developing a lightweight antenna system designed to keep U.S. forces connected even during heavy jamming attempts.

The prototype was built for proliferated low-Earth orbit, or pLEO, where large constellations of smaller satellites require compact and power-efficient hardware. Researchers say the antenna could deliver advanced beamforming capabilities while using far less power than conventional systems.

Lowering satellite power needs

Modern military satellites increasingly rely on adaptive antenna arrays that can rapidly redirect signals and block interference. Those systems help operators maintain links during hostile jamming attempts.

However, traditional phased-array antennas consume large amounts of power and require complex hardware. MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s answer is a scanning reflectarray antenna called Hosted Nimble Beamforming Anti-Jam Reflectarray, or HoNi BAJR.

Instead of using amplifiers across every antenna element, the design relies on a reflective surface with individually controlled elements. Incoming signals bounce off the surface and shift phase before traveling toward a separate feed antenna.

That process shapes and steers the beam while reducing hardware complexity. Engineers estimate the reflectarray design cuts power consumption by roughly 95% compared with traditional array systems.

The smaller footprint also allows the antenna to fit on compact satellite platforms commonly used in pLEO constellations. Researchers believe that advantage could make the technology attractive for future military satellite constellations.

Michael Craton, a technical staff member in the laboratory’s Tactical Satellite Communications Group, said future military satellite networks need scalable systems with lower size, weight, power, and cost requirements.

“We want to think about ways we can achieve exquisite performance using less expensive hardware,” Craton said. He added that the team also wants to prepare for emerging threats before they become operational problems.

Blocking jamming in orbit

The HoNi BAJR system focuses heavily on anti-jamming performance. Adaptive arrays normally counter interference by creating “nulls,” which suppress signals coming from hostile directions.

During testing at the laboratory’s RF Systems Testing Facility, the prototype demonstrated wide-angle scanning capability. Researchers also confirmed the antenna could split beams between multiple users with minimal signal degradation.

The team pushed further by developing broader interference suppression zones rather than targeting single jamming points. Engineers attempted this by reshaping beam side lobes to reduce interference across wider regions.

That approach produced mixed results during early testing because small signal variations affected side-lobe control. Researchers believe improved calibration methods could solve much of the instability.

Calibration remains challenging

Calibration now stands as one of the project’s biggest technical hurdles. Unlike conventional phased arrays, scanning reflectarrays lack extensive operational history in military satellite systems.

Engineers still need to determine how to precisely measure and compensate for signal distortions across the antenna. Researchers say accurate calibration will improve beam steering, interference suppression, and overall system performance.

The laboratory also continues studying where reflectarrays fit best within future military architectures. Early findings suggest the technology works well in scheduled beam operations, power-limited spacecraft, and environments with persistent but less dynamic interference.

“Designing hardware is always a challenge,” Craton said. “But figuring out how to fit the technology into a complete and functional system that meets mission needs is the hardest part.”

Future work will refine beamforming techniques, improve calibration procedures, and explore operational use cases for the antenna technology.