Podcast Rewind: WWDC Reactions, Computex News, and Interviews with Apple Design Award Winners

By Devon Dundee

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John are joined by Myke Hurley and Chris Lawley to share their first impressions of the WWDC keynote and discoveries in the hours following the presentation.

And in a second special WWDC edition of AppStories, Federico and John interview Apple Design Award finalists and winners, including the developers of The Outsiders and Tide Guide and the publishers of Pine Hearts and BALL x PIT.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, Brendon and Federico have spent more time with the Anbernic RG Rotate and, along with John, have more thoughts about it and the handheld news coming out of Computex.

On NPC XL, Brendon, Federico, and John share their handheld travel setups.

Comfort Zone

It’s WWDC week, and we’re talking about it all episode this week. Chris is on location, calling in from his hotel room, while Niléane and Matt enjoy the comforts of home (and don’t feel a little left out…who told you we feel left out???).

On Cozy Zone, we roast and then tier list your old Home Screens – only the weird ones this time!

visionOS 27: The MacStories Overview

By Devon Dundee

Source: Apple.

Siri AI is coming to spatial computing, but that’s not all Apple announced for visionOS 27 during yesterday’s WWDC keynote. Vision Pro users have new capabilities and platform improvements to look forward to this fall, too, and we’re going to dive into all of it.

Let’s start with Siri AI, which exists as a floating, semi-translucent orb that you can place anywhere within your environment. It’s the strongest taste of the Liquid Glass style we’ve gotten so far in visionOS, and it makes for some fascinating interaction methods. Rather than using a trigger phrase or a gesture, you can activate Siri simply by looking at it and talking. As on Apple’s other platforms, you can have back-and-forth conversations with Siri and make use of its personal context awareness, world knowledge, and app actions.

Apple Highlights New Services Features Coming This Fall →

Linked By Devon Dundee

Source: Apple.

As much as I love the keynote, one of the parts of WWDC I look forward to the most each year is Apple’s roundup of features and changes coming to its services alongside the fall’s OS updates. The company delivered on my hopes this morning with quite a long list of changes.

Speaking of these enhancements, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, Eddy Cue, said:

“We’re excited to bring powerful new features and intelligence to hundreds of millions of users across Apple services, making their experiences even more useful and fun. From new exploration tools with Flyover and Local Lists in Maps, to more convenient ways to pay and get paid in Apple Wallet, to the continued expansion of video podcasts in Apple Podcasts on Mac and in tvOS, and so much more — these updates reflect our commitment to creating experiences that truly make a difference in people’s lives.”

macOS 27 Golden Gate: The MacStories Overview

By Devon Dundee

Source: Apple.

Apple’s crack marketing team has once again put their heads together and come up with another California landmark to use as the namesake for the latest version of macOS. During the WWDC keynote, we were introduced to macOS 27 Golden Gate.

As with all of Apple’s platforms this year, the main features of Golden Gate are Siri AI and new Apple Intelligence capabilities. You can check out our overview of those announcements for all the details, but there are some Mac-specific elements worth digging into here, as well as non-AI enhancements coming to macOS this fall that you’ll want to get excited for. Let’s dive in.

Siri AI and the Latest in Apple Intelligence: The MacStories Overview

By Devon Dundee

Source: Apple.

The big question coming into today’s WWDC keynote was what Apple would have to offer in terms of AI – or, as the company refers to it, Apple Intelligence. Given Apple’s behind-the-scenes struggles, delayed features, and partnership with Google to re-architect its Foundation Models based on Gemini, expectations were high, and the company delivered with the announcement of a whole new Siri and a slew of Apple Intelligence features baked into its upcoming operating systems.

Siri AI, the all-new version of Apple’s virtual assistant, was the star of the show and got plenty of time in the spotlight, including several real-time demos on the iPhone and Mac. But the company also announced updates to Visual Intelligence, new photo editing tools, a Shortcuts builder, and additional Apple Intelligence features.

Source: Apple.

It all starts with the latest Foundation Models based on a new architecture developed by Apple in collaboration with Google’s Gemini models. Coming in both local and Private Cloud Compute variations, these models work across Apple devices using a combination of user input (via text, voice, or images), personal context, on-screen awareness, app actions, and world knowledge in conjunction with the new system orchestrator to power conversations and actions taken by Siri AI as well as Apple Intelligence features baked into each OS. Of course, Apple touts that these features are secure and protect user privacy whether they are run on-device or in Private Cloud Compute.

WWDC 2026: Apple Publishes Keynote Video

By Devon Dundee

Source: Apple.

As usual, this year’s WWDC was a packed event. Apple introduced Siri AI, Apple Intelligence features powered by a new architecture, quality-of-life platform improvements, safety features for children, and numerous other changes across its OSes.

If you missed the event or want to revisit any of the announcements, you can now do so on Apple’s Events site (where it is also available in ASL) or on YouTube. We’ll be posting coverage of all the new features and more in the coming hours and days, so stay tuned to MacStories.

Podcast Rewind: Automation Wishes, RG Rotate Impressions, Lessons from Shipping Apps, and Heading to Apple Park

By Devon Dundee

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John share their WWDC automation wishes.

On AppStories+, they share more details on their research setups for the summer.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, we update listeners on the SN Operator and consider what the Steam Deck price hike means for the handheld gaming industry before sharing our first impressions of Anbernic’s RG Rotate.

On NPC XL, Brendon takes the wraps off of overworld.vg, a new game news aggregation site that he built and Federico and John have been testing.

Comfort Zone

Niléane has a cool new mouse, Matt wants to reflect on what they’ve learned shipping apps to the public, and they both reflect on joining cults.

On Cozy Zone, the gang has to guess and then tier list Google’s dead apps.

MacStories Unwind

This week, Federico and John talk about what makes WWDC special, share some memorable moments from past years, and think about how to spend their in-flight downtime.

What’s Old Is New: My Return to Bear

By Devon Dundee

I know we’re all very excited about WWDC and looking ahead to new features. Believe me, I can’t wait to hear what Apple has in store for us on June 8. But before we dive into all of that, I want to share a software story about rediscovering an old favorite that’s breathed new life...

Podcast Rewind: macOS 27 Wishes, Pictonico!, Lessons in Pranking, and Packing for WWDC

By Devon Dundee

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: