Apple WWDC 2025 Live: Liquid Glass Design Takes Over iOS 26, MacOS, CarPlay and More

Apple/Screenshot by Joe Maldonado/CNET

A dozen years ago, Apple removed one of my favorite organizational features from the Finder on Mac: colored folders. Prior to 2013, you could assign a color to a folder to make it easily stand out from other folders. The folder and its name would appear in that color, making it easy for me to color-code projects. Personal items were blue, work for one client was orange, video files were purple, and so on.

And then, starting with OS X 10.9 Mavericks, any color label that was assigned became a tag. From an organizational standpoint, tags aren't bad, because they add the textual element that makes them easy to bring up in a search. But even though you could assign colors to tags, they appeared only as little colored circles in the folder name. Where once I could view my desktop and see which projects were active, in Mavericks, I saw nothing but the soft blue of Finder homogeneity and disappointment.

Now, finally, Apple has brought back colored folders -- real colored folders, not just labels -- to MacOS Tahoe 26. And because it's 2025, you can even slap an emoji onto it for extra differentiation. The colors and emoji also sync to the Files app in iOS and iPadOS. It's a small change for many, I'm sure, but the color-coding organizer inside of me welcomes the change.

Apple/Screenshot by Joe Maldonado/CNET

When demonstrating the new Liquid Glass interface on an iPhone's lock screen, Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi showed off the spatial scenes feature, which uses machine learning and computer vision techniques to give a photo a simulated depth effect when you move the body of the phone.

This type of 3D effect isn't new. Jeff Bezos was so enamored of the experience that the holographic lock screen became one of the main selling points for the failed Amazon Fire Phone. But with the Spatial Screens feature in iOS 26, it appears Apple has made the effect work well using the existing iPhone screens.

It's not reserved for the lock screen, either. You can turn any photo into a spatial scene in the Photos app. Will we be able to share a spatial scene online, or with friends who don't have iPhones? Maybe not, but the effect will no doubt be fun to play with.

Apple/Screenshot by Joe Maldonado/CNET

The Camera app in iOS 26 is nearly bare, populated primarily with a shutter button and a switch to toggle between Photo and Video modes. It's the one app so far where I imagine Apple's designers said, "Let's do Liquid Glass, but even less." And from a visual standpoint, I get the appeal: You want to be absorbed by the photo you're about to take, not distracted by the controls around the periphery.

But I'm admittedly wary of the fact that, without any cues about how to access features such as switching modes, changing cameras or enabling other capture features, we're left with gestures that must be memorized just to see what happens. Sure, I'll develop muscle memory as I test it out, but what about relatives who only take occasional pictures? They're going to be left swiping in all directions, hoping to get to the features they want.

How many people will swipe up to access settings like the timer or Photographic Styles and inadvertently close the app because they've swiped from the bottom of the phone, not the bottom of the app? A single tap brings up settings like video resolution and frame rate, but a single tap has also been the way to set an autofocus and exposure point.

The current Camera app suffers from this type of obfuscation, too: You need to tap an unmarked carat button (^) at the top to reveal options that appear near the shutter button at the bottom, or you have to know that a single short swipe up within the preview area will make them appear.

I'm not claiming this is an interface failure yet -- it's the first developer beta, after all, and a lot can change between now and iOS 26's release in the fall -- but it's going to be one of the first things I try out when I get my hands on the software.

Jeffrey Hazelwood/CNET

Apple's iOS 26 will be available for the iPhone 11 and later, which does mean that 2018's iPhone XS, XS Max and XR will not be making the upgrade from iOS 18. Apple continues to provide security updates to older iPhone models like the iPhone 7, but as far as features go, those three will stick with what's offered with iOS 18. 

Here is the full list of supported iPhone models that will get iOS 26:

• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 15
• iPhone 15 Plus
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 14
• iPhone 14 Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2nd generation and later)

Apple Music's karaoke mode has been available since 2022, but singing into a microphone wasn't easy. As part of TVOS 26, you'll be able to use an iPhone connected to an Apple TV to perform along with the music. 

Apple's WWDC 2025 keynote has wrapped, and instead of watching the full 1-hour-and-32-minute event, you can check out our 10-minute supercut to see the biggest highlights.

Apple/Screenshot by Joseph Maldonado

I switched from the Pixel 3 XL to an iPhone 12 Pro Max in 2021, and I've sorely missed several of Google's calling features that are only now making their way to the iPhone in iOS 26.

The biggest one for me is Hold Assist, which sounds very similar to the Pixel's Hold For Me. Apple's edition of this feature will automatically detect hold music and mute it while keeping the call connected. This way you can put your phone down and do something else. Then, once the agent is back, your phone will ring in time for you to come back. Pixel's edition of it does much the same thing, and when I had that phone, it was incredibly useful when I had to make calls to insurance companies that nearly always put you on hold for a long time.

I'm also excited about Call Screening, where iOS will ask an unknown caller questions before prompting you with details to decide if you should pick up the phone. I'm curious how much control we'll get with this feature, as Pixel's Call Screening lets you decide what the questions are as the screening happens. Samsung's Galaxy phones have a similar Text Call feature, which answers your calls while allowing you to correspond over text instead of speaking directly with an unknown caller.

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While it might look like Apple is behind its rivals when it comes to AI, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not a sought-after feature among users right now, according to analyst Paolo Pescatore. "The subtle addition of Apple Intelligence across key services will help grow awareness and provide users with confidence to drive further engagement," he said. 

He added that perhaps what's more important and what Apple continues to do well is provide a "unified software experience" across its devices. The "coherent feel" and "tight integration" that Pescatore notes exist between all of Apple's hardware, software and services will likely be more crucial to keeping people sticking with the company's ecosystem than its AI efforts for right now.

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WWDC 2025 closed out with a comedic, lounge-style song as an ode to app developers. The campy tune was surprisingly catchy, featuring lyrics highlighting amusing app reviews. One, for Headspace, said "I would tattoo the Headspace logo on myself." The refrain, "I'd give you 6 out of 5 stars", was hooky. Personally, I'm hoping I can stream this track on Apple Music and Spotify (and if so, it may show up in my Spotify Wrapped). I'm giving this song 6 out of 5 stars.

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"This all sounds great," you might be thinking after today's event. "But when can I play with it?"

If you're a developer, the answer is today. Public beta will be available in July, with a full release coming in the fall.

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And Tim brings us back to the grassy field at the center of the Mothership to wrap it up. A sunny end to a lot of updates for Apple's software.

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MacOS's trusty Preview app is making the jump over to the iPad on MacOS 26. That means you can open any PDF and, with your Apple Pencil in hand, mark it up, sign forms with Autofill, highlight passages and scribble notes right in the file. Preview also has its image-editing tools, so you can crop, tweak and export pictures in a range of formats and sizes.

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Apple's iPadOS 26 Files app is getting an upgrade. You'll get a list view with more details about files, which show up in collapsible folders and resizable columns. Like with MacOS, the iPadOS Files app gets folder customization options to set custom colors or add emojis and icons that then sync across devices. You can select which app you want to open a particular file and set that as a default, like choosing Darkroom for opening images. Upgrades to the iPadOS Files app seem poised to transform the tablet into a more capable laptop replacement. 

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The iPadOS feature wrapup.

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iPadOS will be even easier to use with multiple upgrades to Multitasking. Now you can tap and move windows to flick them to the sides, where they'll stick to the side. You can also automatically sort and rearrange your windows all at once -- for example, by popping your four most recent tabs to quickly stick them in the four corners of your display. And if you've got a touchpad (like on a case), the pointer is even more responsive. 

iPadOS adds something clutch from MacOS, too. Hover over the top-left corner of the window and you'll see a familiar red-yellow-green button menu to close, minimize and full-screen your window.

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If you're a chronic real estate browser like me, Apple's Spatial Scenes are opening up a whole new world. You'll be able to step inside apps including Zillow with VisionOS, in order to poke around people's homes without having to set foot outside of your own.

Apple is also building on a feature it debuted last year, in which it brought depth to your 2D pictures with Spatial Scenes. This year, it has updated its AI algorithm so that it leverages computational depth to create multiple perspectives from your 2D photos. Apple says the effect makes photos feel more lifelike, almost as though you could lean into them and look around.

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You'll be able to use PSVR 2's Sense controllers to play games on the Vision Pro headset with VisionOS 26. And you can take advantage of the full motion-tracking performance for more engaging gameplay, according to Apple.

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If you and your friend both happen to have Apple Vision Pros, you can watch a movie or play a spatial game together while sitting side by side. 

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Apple's virtual reality and augmented reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, hit shelves in 2024. The latest version of its software, the aptly named VisionOS 26, brings a slew of updates. The idea is to bring what Apple calls "groundbreaking spatial experiences." VisionOS now has widgets to provide personalized information quickly, like a clock or weather app. You can customize different elements, such as what the clock face looks like.

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iPadOS 26 is now up, starting with several of the same enhancements coming to iOS like the Liquid Glass design and the refreshes to the Messages app.

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Spatial Personas, the wild facial avatars Apple introduced with Vision Pro, is getting graphical upgrades. The shoulders-and-up renderings will better represent facial details; hair, lashes and complexion are even more accurate, Apple says. We'll have to see how much sharper they are in VisionOS 26.

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Spotlight just went from search bar to command center. You can type once, and MacOS Tahoe will now surface your files, apps, including iPhone exclusive apps via Mirroring, plus hundreds of system and app actions. Quick Keys turns Spotlight into a speed-dial for your Mac. Every common action gets a two-letter code: type "SM" to send a message or "AR" to add a reminder. The new clipboard history digs up anything you copied today, like photos or text, and Apple Intelligence can run a tagline-writing shortcut on the doc you're editing.

The Game Overlay, brought up in-game.

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The new Games app isn't just a hub -- it also includes a Game Overlay, which lets you bring up a menu in-game to tweak settings, like brightness and volume. Most importantly for MacBook gamers (all three of you), you can pop this open to check your battery life. It seems like you can even tweak the battery mode straight from Game Overlay, too, so you can switch to one that better conserves battery life. We'll have to see how that affects in-game performance.

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Last year at WWDC, I was surprised to learn that Apple's calculator app wasn't already on iPad. This year, I learned that you can't currently make phone calls on your Mac.

Not for long, though. Apple is improving Continuity, which is what it uses to provide consistent experiences across its device ecosystem. You'll now be able to access all of the traditional phone features available on your iPhone on your Mac screen, with giant pictures of your friends and family popping up to indicate an incoming call.

A second new Continuity feature will allow you to view live activities on your Mac -- if you've ordered Uber Eats on your phone, for example. You'll be able to keep an eye on it in the menu bar, then click to expand it and see your full iPhone screen mirrored on your Mac screen.

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The newly named MacOS Tahoe is upgrading Shortcuts with Intelligent Actions, which adds Apple Intelligence features like writing tools and image creation to feed into Shortcuts. Examples include comparing your recording of a class lecture to your taken notes and filling in the blanks. You can use Apple Intelligence on-device with private cloud compute, or use ChatGPT if you prefer.

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Apple unveiled an overhauled design for its next iteration, MacOS Tahoe. Like with the rest of its OS roster, including iOS and TVOS, Apple is bringing in Liquid Glass. The menu bar is now transparent, which Apple claims makes the display feel larger. There are more ways to customize your experience, such as what controls show up in the Control Center and menu bar. You'll be able to customize the color of folders, and add emojis or symbols to folders to personalize them. Apple says that MacOS Tahoe will be refreshed, yet still appear familiar. 

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Apple just showed a montage of new trailers for several major Apple TV Plus movies and shows, both new and existing, including Foundation, Chief of War, Invasion, Platonic, The Savant, Slow Horses, The Morning Show, Highest 2 Lowest, The Latest Frontier, Loot and The Lost Bus.

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Boy, Craig dragged that unveiling out! The next MacOS update is called macOS Tahoe, named after the iconic lake and community that bridges the northern California-Nevada border. It's only a few hours' drive away from One Infinite Loop in the Bay Area, so it makes sense for Apple to add this beautiful escape to the long list of MacOS update names. And hey, it turns out Lake Tahoe itself is pretty happy with this naming, too.

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TVOS 26 is bringing changes to the Apple TV app experience. You'll see an updated look with prominent poster art when you browse Apple TV Plus movies and shows. Apple TV Plus playback controls refract the content underneath, leading to less distraction from what's playing on screen. 

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Apple Watches are getting a new gesture to quickly dismiss notifications you want to ignore. Wrist Flick, as it's called, is appropriately named -- just flick your watch to the side and that notification goes away. Honestly, I've been organically making this gesture anyway, so it's smart for Apple to add this. I guess I'm not the only one!

That's not all for notifications, as Smart Stack is getting an upgrade in WatchOS 26, too. Wearing your Apple Watch and walking into the gym? A Smart Stack notification will pop up; just tap it and you can start a workout. And if your watch detects a lot of noise in your surroundings, it'll automatically adjust the volume of calls and notifications.

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Many folks -- myself included -- use their Apple Watches for fitness. Apple has touted the capabilities of its Apple Intelligence and is bringing AI features to its fitness apps. Workout Buddy, as it's called, is supposed to provide fitness inspiration. It aggregates your data from workout sessions, like miles run or walked, your average pace and training load. A speech-to-text model can use that data to conversationally translate it into what Apple calls a "dynamic, generative voice," a sort of AI-powered fitness trainer. The company described Workout Buddy -- which sounds a little like the Her sequel we never asked for -- as giving you a pep talk while you're sweating up a storm. Apple says that it's "personal and private." 

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The Messages app on Apple Watch will also get support for backgrounds and live translations, similar to iOS 26.

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Apple is expanding its AI-powered visual search tool, Visual Intelligence (its rival to Google Lens), to include your iPhone screen. If you see something you like the look of as you're scrolling, you can tap into Visual Intelligence to help it find a similar item within an app or service of your choice. You can be super specific about these services -- Apple gave the examples of Google, Etsy or the Anthropologie app -- as it's been designed to tap into capabilities across the App Store.

You can tap into Visual Intelligence in the same way you take a screenshot. Standard screenshot controls will appear at the top of the screen, with Visual Intelligence controls popping up at the bottom. As well as allowing you to search, these controls also include options such as creating a calendar event from details appearing on the screen, or asking ChatGPT a question about what you're seeing.

The Workout feature on the Apple Watch is getting integrated music selection, whether using Apple Music or picking your own media.

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The Apple Watch's Workout feature will get easier access to music, whether through Apple Music or picking something else like a podcast.

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The latest WatchOS 26 features the new design with Liquid Glass, delivering a new look while maintaining familiarity.

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Apple's bullish push for gaming has resulted in a new standalone app, appropriately called Gaming, and it's much more of a hub than the background Game Center ever was. But it sure looks like a more collected experience, with a carousel of games from Apple Arcade titles to ones you bought and downloaded on your own. It looks like X, complete with a Dark Mode style, suitable for all us gamers playing in dimly lit bedrooms, public transit and dark cafes or bars. 

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iOS 26 is leveling up with a brand-new Games app. It's Apple Arcade, Game Center and your entire gaming library in one. The Home tab surfaces live events in games (like Fortnite?) and tailored recs, Arcade gets its own lane, and Library lets you hop straight back into anything you've ever downloaded. There's also a Play Together tab that shows what friends are playing, and new Challenges turns solo titles like Thronefall and Skate City into multiplayer games in a way, all integrated into Game Center leaderboards.

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J'ai des bonnes nouvelles! ("I have good news," for those who ne parlent pas Francais.) One key new Apple Intelligence feature is Live Translation, which is something Google already offers through its own AI software, Gemini. 

The tool will be integrated into Apple's phone, video calling and messaging apps to translate conversations into your chosen language on the fly. On FaceTime, the translation will appear as live captioning -- ideal for conversing with family members with whom you might not share a common language. 

Crucially, Live Translation will be powered by Apple built-models that run entirely on-device, to keep your conversations private. Tres bien.

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Apple Pay will let you redeem your points from credit cards and other reward cards, as well as track orders from within the Wallet app. Pretty handy when you can't quite find the tracking number buried in your email inbox. 

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Apple Wallet is expanding to include more car features, support for Digital ID, and an update of how boarding passes are displayed.

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Apple is adding some neat, useful new features to its Messages app with backgrounds and polls. You can pick a background for a group chat in Messages, so that everyone in that conversation can see it -- you can pick your own photo, generate one with Apple Intelligence, or choose from several dynamic backgrounds. 

While personalized backgrounds in text messages sound fun, Apple Messages is getting polls, which I envision being pretty useful. You can create polls yourself, but Apple Intelligence can detect situations when a poll might be useful. For instance, I can see using an Apple Messages group chat poll to decide what movie to go see as well as what date and time, so it's easier to visualize that info rather than scroll through a slew of replies. 

You'll be able to send and receive Apple Cash straight from the Messages app. Plus, Messages is getting typing indicators for group chats, so you'll know who's typing. 

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We're getting an upgraded Phone app. There's a unified hub that keeps your favorites pinned at the top, while recents and voicemails fold into one scroll. Plus you've now got AI-powered voicemail summaries so you can skim instead of listening. Also, unknown numbers now get screened automatically in the background, and the new Hold Assist listens to elevator music for you while you wait for a real human to pick up -- fewer spam calls and no wasted time.

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Apple Music gets lyric translation and pronunciation help so folks can sing along (a great help for karaoke, I'd imagine) as well as AutoMix, which works like a personal DJ to seamlessly drift from one song to another. The Apple Music app will also let you pin artists, albums and songs to the top of the home page. 

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A new feature lets users mix together two emojis to create a new one. You can also combine the two emojis and text descriptions. The above example is a combo of a woman emoji, microphone emoji and a description ("sequined jacket").

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Another software redesign is coming for CarPlay with CarPlay Ultra, which is available in select vehicles, the first of which launched last month. CarPlay Ultra "lets you choose the layout and design fo the most important information for you" and adds vehicle controls for radio and climate -- that's similar to things we saw in Android Auto last month at Google I/O, also coming in cars with Google Built-In.

Only a few vehicles, including some Aston Martin models, have CarPlay Ultra right now, but "more brands around the world working to bring the experience to market."

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iOS 26 brings improvements to the lock screen and home screen. In its Liquid Glass design language, the time and controls on the lock screen clock and home screen app icons are now made of, well, liquid glass. Wallpapers are more dynamic, and there's a reimagined "now playing" experience when you're listening to music. With iOS 26, the lock and home screens are "more personal and expressive than ever," Apple said.

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Apple's video-calling app FaceTime has received a facelift. The landing page for the app will become "a space that celebrates your closest relationships," according to Apple. It will feature "contact posters," effectively big tiles displaying the faces of your most treasured friends and family members, or even personalized video messages. This way, you can preview special messages you may have missed.

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The Phone app is getting a refresh, which includes a unified layout for calls and voicemail.

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Not everyone was happy with Apple's updates to Camera and Photos last year. Now we've got a much more minimal and streamlined Camera user interface. It looks almost bare, but you can access all the camera modes and settings you're used to by swiping left, right, up and down. It's all just hidden now.

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Liquid Glass is Apple's name for its new design language, a way of describing the overall look and feel of its software. Seemingly taking inspiration from iOS's Dynamic Island, which dynamically shifts topical information in the top notch, Liquid Glass is a translucent, adaptable system that shrinks controls when you're not using them and makes the rest of the screen -- what you're actually using -- more visible. 

For instance, lock screen controls (by default, camera and flashlight) will become see-through buttons so you can better look at your background. Likewise, text messages and app notifications are translucent too. While in an app, the bottom row of controls are collected in an adaptable rectangle. This looks a lot better in motion than static images, so we'll have to wait to see how it feels when we preview the beta versions of Apple's software versions.

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Apple's operating system naming convention has historically been based on version number, so your iPhone may be on iOS 18 while your Apple Watch is on WatchOS 11. Now, Apple is migrating away from that to an easier-to-follow, unified naming system based on the year. Its fall OS releases, which will carry through next year (2026), will all be version 26. So, your iPhone will be on iOS 26, your Apple Watch will run WatchOS 26, your Apple TV will have TVOS 26, and so forth. This should make it a lot easier to make sure you're on the latest update, rather than having to check if WatchOS 11 is the current, previous or next iteration of Apple's software.

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Apple's Craig Federighi recapped the announcements the company made last year at WWDC about Apple Intelligence, putting special emphasis on privacy. This year, Apple Intelligence will be available in more languages, Federighi said. He also teased that we'll be hearing more information about Apple Intelligence sprinkled among the various platform announcements Apple has planned for us today.

"We're making the generative models that power Apple Intelligence more capable and more efficient, and we're continuing to tap into Apple Intelligence in more places across our ecosystem," he said.

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Apple's new Liquid Glass design is being unveiled, and will be coming across the device ecosystem. This includes iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac and more.

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The WWDC 2025 keynote has kicked off, and Apple CEO Tim Cook teased that "the apps that developers create continue to make a profound impact on all of our lives, and these experiences are going to get even better with some big announcements for all of [Apple's] platforms." That's high praise, and sets big expectations that we hope will be met -- or exceeded.

Apple

F1, an Apple original film starring Brad Pitt, premieres in theaters on June 27. Tim Cook said it's "one of the most thrilling, high energy movies" he's ever watched.

Bridget Carey/CNET

Of all the things Apple will talk about today -- and there will be many -- the one thing the company is unlikely to address is the impact tariffs are having both on its own business, and us, its customers. It will be, said analyst Paolo Pescatore, "the elephant in the room." Even though tariffs are unlikely to crop up, they will "be firmly on everyone's minds," said Pescatore, especially when it comes to "the eagerly awaited new iPhone later in the year and how it will impact future sales."

Apple's next HomePod might include a screen.

Apple

WWDC 2025 brings a lot of chatter about new software, but I'm intrigued by the possibility of glimpsing a long-rumored piece of hardware: A new HomePod with a screen.

There's no promise that a display-enabled HomePod will get a mention during the presentation, but it would be interesting to learn about a product with the potential to level up Apple's smart home tech. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new HomePod could have a 6- to 7-inch screen and go into mass production after WWDC. While it's still unclear what capabilities the novel HomePod would have, MacRumors notes the rumored product's debut could mean you're controlling smart home accessories and making FaceTime video calls from your HomePod. The HomePod Mini I use daily may not like the sound of a snazzier speaker-enabled device on the block, but I think I could use the upgrade.

We're here and badged up!

Vanessa Hand Orlenna (Teal)/CNET

CNET's Patrick Holland and I are now arriving to Apple Park for WWDC 2025, with badges in hand.

An iPhone connected to the Backbone Pro controller.

Lori Grunin/CNET

While you've long been able to play games on Apple devices, the company has lagged behind Windows and Android on both desktop and mobile platforms. On phones and tablets, Android has historically surpassed iOS and iPadOS -- despite Apple's Game Center, which debuted in 2010, the company hasn't been able to make a strong foothold among serious gamers. There's the Apple Arcade mobile gaming subscription service, but it's locked into the Apple ecosystem and lacks many flagship games. Outside of native iOS/iPadOS gaming, it took over a decade for Apple to allow retro gaming emulators on its app store again after banning iGBA. 

On desktops and laptops, Windows and now Linux -- thanks in large part to Valve and its Steam Deck -- have far better compatibility with PC games. The list of games I can run on my Windows desktop and Steam Deck is far longer than the meager roster available on my MacBook Air.

Still, this hasn't stopped Apple from continuing to push into gaming. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman speculates that the company will introduce a Game Center replacement at WWDC 2025. In May, Apple acquired its first video game studio, RAC7, so it wouldn't surprise me if it continued to beef up its mobile gaming offerings. Handheld gaming consoles and PCs, like the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go S, have helped popularize mobile gaming. As a recent Apple convert -- I switched from Android to Apple after over a decade -- I'd be keen to have more incentive to slot my iPhone 16 Pro Max into my Backbone One mobile game controller. 

The Vitals app is the same on both watches.

Carly Marsh/CNET

Apple's next-generation watch software is expected to get a fresh coat of paint, with a redesigned interface that takes cues from the Vision Pro's clean, translucent aesthetic. Rumors also point at advanced health features with AI-powered coaching that would help turn vital metrics -- like sleep, heart rate, and temperature -- into actionable insights. And the biggest wish on everyone's list: a battery boost, ideally driven by smarter software efficiencies.

Jeff Carlson/CNET

In just a matter of hours, we'll likely see Apple preview the next version of iPhone software. It could be called iOS 19, or as rumors point out, iOS 26. Despite some leaks, CNET editors have gathered a list of features we'd like Apple to add or upgrade in iOS 26, or whatever it's called.

• Split-screen functionality to have two apps onscreen at the same time.

• Log a workout with your iPhone in the Fitness app.

• No more green bubbles in Messages.

• Easier way to manage unused apps.

• A searchable system-wide clipboard that stores multiple copied items.

• More lock screen, home screen and Control Center customization options.

• Ability to use multiple presses with the Action button to start different shortcuts.

• Better log video editing tools on the iPhone.

• Organize photos by event in the Photos app.

• Simpler system-wide volume controls for the iPhone.

Siri has a new look with Apple Intelligence.

Numi Prasarn/CNET

One question I have about WWDC 2025 is: How is Apple going to spin what can be objectively seen as a year of unfulfilled promises?

When the company revealed Apple Intelligence at last year's WWDC, everything was coming soon -- in fact, the first features didn't even ship with the launch of the iPhone 16, but started to trickle in a month later with iOS 18.1. Then we learned that Siri development was struggling, and now it's unclear just how much improvement to Apple's AI we might see this week.

During the WWDC 2025 keynote, will Apple acknowledge its AI shortfalls, ignore them entirely or perhaps take a different approach?

Read more: How Will Apple Address Its Lackluster First Year of Apple Intelligence?