Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicks off in just a few short hours, with all the big announcements, presentations, and developer sessions streamed live around the world – meaning almost anyone can tune in.
In particular, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for WWDC’s opening keynote speech, in which Apple shows off upcoming software updates ahead of their September launch. That means a first look at the next version of iOS, expected to skip over iOS 19 and rebrand as iOS 26 in an effort to unify the numbering system across Apple’s platforms. That means we’ll also see previews of iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26.
iOS 26 is rumored to contain some pretty big design changes akin to the move from iOS 6 to iOS 7 back in the day, so we’re excited to see how Apple handles such a big move. Again, this is likely all in the name of unification – expect similar design elements across every platform. Meanwhile, don’t expect too much about Apple Intelligence this year. After promising the world at last year’s WWDC, Apple’s AI efforts have underwhelmed with some features still delayed even now. It’s unlikely Apple will want to draw attention to this failure unless it has something impressive ready for release right now.
From time to time, we see hardware announcements at WWDC too, but there’s nothing rumored for release at this time. Unless Apple has been keeping something very secret – almost an impossibility in this day and age – don’t expect any new gadgets to be demoed on stage today.
Whatever the case, there’s going to be plenty to sink our collective teeth into this week. Like Apple’s yearly iPhone reveals in September, the opening video is a good watch even if you’re not an app developer.
How to watch
If you want to follow along live, you’ll need to tune into Apple’s WWDC stream at 10 am PDT on June 9. (That’s 6 pm BST for you Brits out there.)
You’ll be able to find the stream on Apple’s website, its YouTube channel, or through the Apple TV app. Choose whichever method works best for you.
If you miss the stream, it’ll be available to watch in full later that day. But you’ll miss the hype of a live product announcement. Equally, if two-hour tech presentations aren’t your thing (no matter how flashy Apple makes them), rest assured we’ll be posting all the details to our news feed immediately after the keynote. Stay tuned!