Apple’s Long-Awaited AI Siri Fails To Impress As Shares Pump Then Dump During WWDC

Summary: 

• Market Reaction: Buy the rumor, Sell the news  
• Apple Reveals Long-Awaited AI Siri 
• CEO Tim Cook gives his final WWDC keynote speech
• Goldman And UBS Preview Apple’s WWDC: AI Siri Takes Center Stage

Apple CEO Tim Cook opened WWDC26 with a keynote on artificial intelligence, software updates, and developer tools across the company’s ecosystem.

WWDC26 presentation centered on a broad rollout of Apple Intelligence features across its ecosystem, with the tech giant previewing a more conversational Siri, a dedicated Siri app, Visual Intelligence tools and new AI capabilities across Safari, Mac, Watch, Vision Pro and first-party apps.

Major performance upgrades in iOS 27 #WWDC pic.twitter.com/5Q1BqHJoeH

— Apple Hub (@theapplehub) June 8, 2026

The updated Siri will be available first in English, then expand to other languages. It is expected to work across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro, with deeper device context, back-and-forth conversations, and more integration with Spotlight and system files. Apple also showed a customizable Siri voice, revamped dictation, and a 3D Siri experience for Vision Pro.

Safari is getting AI-powered automatic tab grouping, along with a feature that monitors web pages and notifies users of changes. Apple also highlighted privacy messaging, taking a shot at rival AI browsers that track user activity.

Headlines from MacWorld:

1. Tim opens the show for the last time: Tim Cook is giving his usual intro talking about how great Apple’s devices and tools are and praising its developers. Show a pic of the Earth taken from the journey to the moon. Apple Intelligence and Siri starting things off!

2. Three areas of focus: Platform improvements, Trust and safety, Apple Intelligence, and Siri

3. A new version of macOS has been revealed, called Golden Gate

4. They’re not announcing features for each iOS (just yet), but rather talking about system-wide changes that affect all OSes. For example, there’s now a Liquid Glass slider as well as a unified menu bar. In macOS, sidebar icons will be clearer and more consistent. App icons will get a new Liquid Glass layer that add depth and refraction. System optimization is smooth, and “a lot” of things are faster. iPhone and iPad launch up to 30% faster.

5. Improved Search: iOS, iPad, and macOS rebuilt the foundation of search that powers Spotlight, Settings, and Mail. It’s more stable and more efficient, indexed immediately. This is the only thing I wanted and I can’t wait to try it out.

6. A new voice for Siri: Siri AI, as Apple is calling it, has a new customizable voice with sliders for pace and expressivity.

7. Siri does what other chatbots do: Apple is spending a bit of time demoing Siri doesn things that ChatGPT and Gemini already do, like making plans, messaging groups of friends, getting information from the web, create a menu on the iPhone. On the Mac, Siri is integrated into Spotlight, which could be trouble if Apple hasn’t fixed it like it said.

8. Siri, Siri, Siri: The Siri section is long as expected, but there’s not a lot here that wasn’t previewed back in 2024. And of course, other chatbots and AI platforms are already doing a lot of this stuff. It remains to be seen whether the deep integration with Apple products will be enough.

9. WatchOS: It took almost an hour, but Apple finally mentioned watchOS in the WWDC keynote. It will be getting a new app layout and some Apple Intelligence features including the new Siri.

10. Visual Intelligence gets new abilities: Visual Intelligence with Siri can understand more about what’s on your screen and will be able to get contextual answers about the things it sees around you and on your screen. I have to wonder how many of these features will elicit yawns from users. We’ll have to see how it works.

The market reaction was underwhelming.

*APPLE SHARES TURN NEGATIVE AFTER GAINING AS MUCH AS 3.3% https://t.co/L0jRH6shpZ

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 8, 2026

Apple shares initially jumped as much as 3.3% when the AI features were unveiled, but went negative into late afternoon. 

Market commentary in Bloomberg’s live blog suggested investors were unimpressed, as many of the features should have been available years ago.

WWDC announcements under Tim Cook (courtesy of Tech Brew):

• 2012 – Apple Maps
• 2013 – iTunes Radio
• 2014 – iOS 8 / OS x Yosemite
• 2015 – Apple Music
• 2016 – macOS rebrand
• 2017 – HomePod
• 2018 – iOS 12
• 2019 – Pro Display XDR
• 2020 – Apple silicon
• 2021 – macOS Monterey
• 2022 – M2 chip
• 2023 – Apple Vision Pro
• 2024 – Apple Intelligence
• 2025 – Liquid Glass
• 2026 – Siri AI Update?

“The WWDC 2024 version was pure vapourware but this looks more legit because Siri responses actually take a while to respond. After getting fined last time for false advertising, Apple can’t mess around with this Siri update,” tech journalist Trung Phan wrote on X.

Goldman And UBS Preview Apple’s WWDC: AI Siri Takes Center Stage

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) begins this afternoon at 1 p.m. EST at Apple Park in Cupertino, Calif.

Ahead of WWDC, Goldman analysts led by Michael Ng provided clients with a preview of what to expect, including the unveiling of a long-delayed AI-enhanced Siri and operating system version “27” across iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS.

The new AI-enhanced Siri will include many delayed features from WWDC24, such as on-screen awareness, personal context, and deeper integration with apps like Messages, Calendar, Photos, and Notes.

“We view these new features as key demand drivers for the iPhone and other products, which should help extend the strong revenue momentum realized to date (e.g., iPhone revenue +23% YoY in F1H26),” Ng wrote in the note.

Expected WWDC announcements:

AI-enhanced Siri launch timing & feature details. After announcing AI-enhanced Siri at WWDC in 2024 and seeing subsequent delays, we expect Apple to share updated details on AI Siri’s launch timeline and capabilities.

• Launch timing: During Apple’s F2Q26 earnings call, the company stated it expects to launch personalized Siri this year (C2026). We expect Apple to confirm AI Siri should launch with iOS 27 in September 2026 alongside the premium iPhone 18 family launch.
• AI Siri feature details: First, AI-enhanced Siri should have greater on-screen awareness (e.g., using information across iOS Apps including Messages, Calendar, Photos, Notes), which should allow it to provide more detailed, personalized answers to queries/prompts. Second, Apple likely will announce that users will have the ability to choose between various model providers to power AI features (Siri, Image Playground, Writing Tools), per Bloomberg. Third, Apple likely will announce a new standalone Siri app for users to interact in a chatbot-like manner.

Additional AI-driven & ancillary features. Aside from AI Siri, per Bloomberg, Apple likely will announce more sophisticated AI photo editing tools on the Photos App (besides Clean Up) that allow users to (a) generate content within a photo (Extend), (b) enhance photo aspects, and (c) adjust photo framing (Reframe). Apple likely will also announce improved Visual Intelligence capabilities through the Camera app, which will be able to do things like scanning nutrition labels (to sync with the Health app to log food intake) or scan business cards to create new contacts. Lastly, Apple is also expected to announce the ability to make tab groups in Safari and create custom Wallet passes from physical tickets.

Ng noted that Apple’s price action tends to be positive heading into WWDC, but shares often trade lower during the event.

Shares have traded up 19% since late April.

Ng remains “Buy” rated on Apple with a 12-month target price of $340.

Separate from NG’s note, UBS analyst David Vogt does not expect WWDC26 to be a positive catalyst for shares.

What Vogt expects at WWDC:

• Google Gemini integration: Apple is expected to rebuild its internal models utilizing Gemini, using a combination of Google’s and its own in-house model to power Siri features. Apple is reportedly paying around $1 bn annually for access to the 1.2T model, which will run on its Private Cloud Compute servers.
• Link to third-party models: Currently offered with ChatGPT, users will be able to choose which model they use through a feature called “Extensions”, a potential tailwind to App Store revenue.
• Dedicated Siri app: The app will function similarly to other AI apps, including a history of prior conversations and an interface for text, voice, and attachments. Chat syncing across devices with iCloud: User conversations will sync across devices with iCloud, potentially increasing its usage.
• Personalization and on-screen awareness: Siri is expected to possess the ability to understand personal data and analyze on-screen content. Users have long awaited these features since they were originally announced at WWDC24

WWDC26 is set to be Apple’s first major test of AI Siri.