Apple plans to completely restart the software, from iPhone and Mac all the way to Vision Pro. To promote this rapid maturity of the Apple ecosystem, each operating system reportedly undergoes a breakthrough in growth and rises from any number to “26”. Apple's first major reform of all its software products in a few years is likely than you would expect when they debuted next week at WWDC25 from 10 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on June 9.
Glassy and translucent “Solarium” visual redesign
The so-called iOS 26, MacOS 26 (reported to be known as “Tahoe”), is honoring the famous freshwater lake in the Nevada Mountains, iPados 26 and everyone else. The most direct difference is said to be purely visual. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has proposed in multiple reports that the iOS and Apple family will adopt new bubbles inspired by glassy, transparent windows found in Visionos in Vision Pro. This new look will be a new unified theme for all Apple's ecosystems, according to reports. Several sources call this design “solar energy” and effectively passes light through multiple angles. Imagine all your app icons have a transparent or translucent glass-like texture that you probably won't stay away from the markings for next week.
Despite the massive discussion, we don't expect it to be beyond the norms of iOS 18. The last large OS update includes customizable app icons and widgets, which we hope will stay if Apple takes the “bubble” route with its new UX. Knowing Apple's normal slow OS software update speed, iOS 26 may be much worse than Android 16's recent Material 3 expression redesigned Zany.
Small updates to Apple apps
Apple's smaller portfolio, including Carplay and TVO, may have many of these design elements. With the upcoming software reform, the Apple Watch interface may vary in the coming months. Apple may add more health and fitness features to its smartwatches, and while rumored “AI Doctors” will provide insights based on the data collected by your watch, it may not be granted its practice license in time at WWDC25. Gurman's recent leaks suggest that Apple may eventually add more Mac features to iPadOS to make it better when it comes to multitasking, rather than the current Stage Manager mode.
Often, the current reports from accurate sources don't make us slam the gates of Apple Park to see what's in the store. 9TO5MAC reported this week that the messaging app may eventually be able to access automatic text translations similar to Samsung Galaxy phones in the past two years. The Apple Music app may showcase album art on the phone’s lock screen while playing music.
Mac comes with a brand new menu bar
Gurman is more than one weekend away from WWDC25, sharing new details about how Macs will wield this new “Solarium” redesign. MacOS 26 or “Tahoe” will showcase the redesigned menu bar and window buttons. This should include some of these transparent elements, although none of your app icons will be migrated to where you are currently sitting on the desktop screen. The new focus is reportedly “pop-up menu,” and Gulman highlights the continuous design of Apple’s entire ecosystem.
Additionally, all of Apple's operating systems will include a view of customizable weather, inventory, and dating widgets. The preview app is used on Mac to quickly view your files, pictures or videos, and is also said to be on the way to iPad and iPhone as well.
AI is in more places, perhaps with the help of humans and Google
Not long ago, Apple was just a trip in the sun, and Apple promised a massive overhaul on iPhones, Macs and all other devices. Apple Intelligence was supposed to transform Siri from a knowledgeable Bonehead to a sophisticated chatbot capable of doing more than just setting timers and alarms. After a bad year of (although often interesting) summary and limited use cases, a large number of reports based on internal leaks from Apple suggests that the company has taken a big step from AI ambitions. Gurman suggested that Apple might attract more people outside of AI companies outside of Openai, such as Anthropic (the manufacturer of Claude), and even Google's Gemini could promote its model on Apple's software ecosystem. Apple can also provide third-party developers with its basic model so that application manufacturers can design their own text summary machines.
It is reported that the big “AI” upgrade of iOS 26 will be a real-time translation of phone calls and text messages. This means that as you speak, you will be able to read the translation on your phone. Beyond that, Genmoji will allow you to combine two standard emojis into a Homunculus emoji, Gurman said.
Gurman recommends Apple keeping its Apple Intelligence Snafu relative to its mom on WWDC25. The company had previously hinted that we would have seen the Ai-exhanced Siri by this summer, but now there is no sign that it will arrive in 2025. Bloomberg said some inside Apple hope to make up for the loss of time in 2026. At that time, maybe we had AI capabilities that went beyond the hype bubble and provided really useful.
A bigger game push?
We expect Apple to reveal some unexpected surprises on June 9. It's possible that Apple will make a big push to play with a dedicated video game app on its devices. Reports suggest that the app can include Apple Arcade and featured games that have been ported to the Apple ecosystem in recent years. It may also include accomplished signs of completing in-game quests and rankings. Apple's Visionos 26 may also improve its gaming capabilities, perhaps a third-party controller connection. As much as possible, Apple may not provide its own first-party controllers, nor share any details of new hardware.
This “Games” app, as Gurman claimed, will have tabs for “Play Together. This feature will likely try to push multiplayer-centric games with other people in your contacts. The most exciting gaming announcement for all of Apple's ecosystem may be the addition of support for third-party VR controllers. Gurman highlighted the PlayStation VR2 controllers. Perhaps it may finally facilitate traditional VR games on the Apple Vision Pro. If Valve could make a Steam Link Vision Pro app, it could be the highest way to play Half life alyx.
Don't expect iPhone 17
iPhones get new features from Big Lion as usual. Gurman recommends updating the camera application to make its already simple interface easier. In addition to the preview app for iPhone mentioned earlier, iOS 26 will add a new view of the Phone app that brings together all your recent calls, voicemails, and favorite contacts.
Apple doesn't normally announce new hardware at WWDC25, and there is no sign that it will do so this year. If you want to see the rumored iPhone 17 Air or iPhone 17 family, the new Apple Watch and Airpods, you have to sit in your hands as usual.
