Apple last week unveiled five new apps, with four announced at WWDC 2026 alongside its upcoming fall software updates, one released in beta for developers, and one released independently by its subsidiary Claris.

Siri AI App

One of the biggest announcements of WWDC 2026 was Siri AI, a ground-up rebuild of Apple's voice assistant that for the first time comes with a dedicated standalone app.

Like other chatbots, Siri can search the web and access general world knowledge, evaluate documents, solve math problems, and take action in and across apps, such as getting detailed Maps directions with multiple stops, editing and sharing photos, or writing an email in the user's own writing style. The app lets users type or talk to it like a chat thread, and syncs conversation history across all devices through iCloud.

The ‌Siri‌ app is available in most of Apple's next-generation operating systems, arriving this fall as part of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27. The operating systems are currently available to developers in beta, though access to Siri AI itself involves a waitlist. ‌Siri‌ AI will not be available in the EU at launch, though Apple says it is working on a path forward.

Apple TV Remote App Returns

Apple used to offer an Apple TV Remote app in the App Store, but it was removed in 2020. With this year's major updates, Apple is restoring the app as a proper Home Screen icon. It comes pre-installed with ‌iOS 27‌ and ‌iPadOS 27‌. To add it to the ‌Home Screen‌ as an app, users can swipe down, search for "Remote," then tap and hold the app icon to drag it into place. It is also accessible via the App Library.

All-New Find My on Apple Watch

‌watchOS 27‌ is bringing a long-overdue consolidation to Find My on Apple Watch. Previously split across separate Find Devices, Find People, and Find Items apps, the new app consolidates everything into a single, map-centric interface.

The main screen provides quick access to actions like getting directions and finding nearby items, and Precision Finding is available for locating a paired iPhone, AirPods Pro 3, or AirTag 2. The redesign also introduces more flexible sharing options, giving users greater control over how they share their location and item tracking with others.

Pass Designer

Apple also introduced Pass Designer, a new Mac app for building and previewing Apple Wallet passes aimed at developers and businesses. The app supports templates provided by Apple or custom designs, letting developers bring in images such as logos, backgrounds, and strip images. As edits are made, Pass Designer updates a real-time preview using the same rendering as iOS and watchOS, so what is seen in Pass Designer is exactly what customers will see on their device. Pass Designer validates the pass as work progresses, alerting developers to issues such as missing required key values.

For boarding passes and event tickets, Pass Designer also supports semantic tags, which add structured data such as event dates, venue locations, and flight details that the system uses to enable features like ‌Siri‌ Suggestions, Calendar integration, and Maps directions. It can also automatically generate a backward-compatible pass structure from semantic data, ensuring passes work across devices where semantic tags may not be supported.

Pass Designer beta requires macOS 27 or later and is available to download now for registered Apple developers.

Claris FileMaker Go 2026

Unlike the four WWDC announcements, this app is already available. Claris FileMaker Go 2026 became available on June 10. FileMaker is a low-code database application platform that lets users build custom apps to organize, manage, and automate data without extensive programming knowledge.

The new version of the app adds support for iOS and iPadOS 26, and brings Google Gemini to FileMaker's roster of supported AI models, which already includes Anthropic, OpenAI, and Cohere. The 2026 release also focuses on developer productivity, infrastructure resilience, and an AI-ready architecture, and was shaped directly by feedback from the Claris developer community.

FileMaker is developed by Claris International, a subsidiary of Apple.
This article, "Apple Unveiled These Five New Apps Last Week" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

As previously announced, Apple is moving forward with permanently closing three of its retail stores in the U.S. today, including a unionized location.


The locations that are closing on the evening of Saturday, June 20:

• Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut


• Apple North County in Escondido, California


• Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland

In April, Apple said it made the "difficult decision" to close the stores due to "declining conditions" at the shopping malls in which they are located.

Notably, the staff at the Towson Town Center location became Apple's first retail employees in the U.S. to unionize in 2022. They belong to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE), and they signed a collective bargaining agreement with Apple in 2024.


The union and the store's employees have been protesting the planned closure, and some politicians in Maryland have voiced their support.

The union is upset that Apple is allowing non-unionized employees at the Trumbull and North County stores to transfer to nearby locations, but not extending this offer to unionized employees at the Towson location. For its part, Apple said it is simply honoring the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that the employees agreed to.


According to Apple, the contract states that in the event of a store closure, Apple would transfer or rehire employees if the company opened a new store within 50 miles of the current location at Towson Town Center. In any other circumstance, the union negotiated for employees to receive severance, which is being provided.

Apple said it has no current plans to open a new store in the area, but if it were to do so within 18 months after the collective bargaining agreement was ratified, the affected employees would have the right of first refusal.

Nevertheless, IAM has accused Apple of potential union busting and said that the agreement "requires equal treatment."

"Apple workers in Towson voted to join the IAM, fought for and won a contract, and are now being punished for it," said IAM President Brian Bryant. "Apple signed a collective bargaining agreement that requires equal treatment. It is time for Apple to honor that agreement and do right by these workers before June 20."

Towson Town Center is genuinely in a state of decline and has lost many other major retailers in recent years, so it is very likely that Apple is exiting the shopping mall at least partly due to the worsening conditions. Nevertheless, the situation might lead employees at other stores to worry that joining a union does not always work out, and that could be advantageous to Apple given that the company has discouraged unionization.
This article, "Three Apple Stores in U.S. Are Permanently Closing Today" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

While Apple held out as many other smartphone and computer manufacturers raised prices in the face of massive increases in memory and storage costs, CEO Tim Cook has signaled that Apple will soon have to follow suit as the "situation has become unsustainable."


In other news this week, rumors covered not just the iPhone 18 but also the 20th anniversary iPhone that's still over a year away, while Apple customers can some receive new perks with Chase credit cards and we went hands on with macOS Golden Gate to see what's new, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!

Top Stories

Tim Cook Says Apple Price Increases Are 'Unavoidable' Due to Memory Costs

Hang onto your hats! Apple will be raising prices on at least some products to offset the high cost of memory and storage, CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal this week. Apple is no longer able to absorb the increased prices and will need to pass some of the cost on to consumers.


"Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," said Cook. "We're doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we've been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable."

Cook did not say which products will get price increases or how much pricing will go up. The iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max coming in September could be more expensive than the iPhone 17 Pro and ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max, while prices on iPads and Macs could also go up in the near future.

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhones to Come in Two Sizes, Will Launch Alongside Gen 2 Foldable iPhone

Apple is "ramping up" work on the 20th anniversary iPhone that it plans to launch next year, reports Bloomberg. Multiple rumors have suggested the device will have an edge-to-edge display with curved glass at all sides for a nearly borderless visual effect.


There will be two anniversary models similar in size to the iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max that are launching this September. The ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max are expected to be the same size as current iPhone 17 Pro models, which suggests the anniversary iPhone could be available in 6.3- and 6.9-inch sizes.

iPhone 18 to Pack 12GB of RAM for Smarter Siri Features, No Price Bump

Cook's comments about raising prices in response to increased memory and storage costs come just after one analyst firm claimed that Apple does not intend to raise the price of its standard flagship model when the iPhone 18 debuts. The iPhone 18 will, however, see an upgrade to 12GB of memory to enable it to support the most powerful on-device AI models unveiled at WWDC last week.


Breaking from long-standing tradition, the iPhone 18 will apparently not be introduced in September alongside the Pro models, with Apple pushing back the standard model to a launch in the spring of 2027. That rumor has been circulating for quite some time, but the chairman of Apple supplier Largan Precision took the unusual step of essentially confirming the change without specifically naming Apple.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Introduces New Perk for Apple Customers

Chase this week announced new perks for its Sapphire Preferred credit card, and one of them is a complimentary one-year Apple TV streaming subscription.


To get the free year of Apple TV, which typically costs $12.99 per month in the U.S., you must activate the card by December 31, 2026. Apple One subscribers can receive a $7.50 discount per month instead.

The Apple One discount extends to Chase's premium Sapphire Reserve credit card as well. The Sapphire Reserve has offered free subscriptions to both Apple TV and Apple Music since last year, but now cardholders can receive a combined $15/month discount on an Apple One subscription instead.

macOS 27 Golden Gate Hands-On: Every Major New Feature

macOS 27 Golden Gate is in beta ahead of a fall release, and we thought we'd go over what's new for those who don't want to risk beta software on their Mac. macOS Golden Gate adds Siri AI, Liquid Glass updates, and multiple new Apple Intelligence features.


‌Check out our hands-on video for a summary of what's new in the release!

iOS 27 Adds Landscape Mode to More Apple Apps Ahead of 'iPhone Ultra'

iOS 27 enables landscape mode in more of Apple's built-in iPhone apps, including Apple Music, Podcasts, Fitness, Health, Reminders, Home, Shortcuts, Apple Watch, Find My, Weather, Voice Memos, Apple TV Remote, and others.


Many of the apps feature a left-aligned sidebar in landscape mode. In the Messages app, which already supported landscape orientation on iOS 26 and earlier, you can now collapse the sidebar to show only names and profile pictures.

Landscape mode was already available on iOS 26 or earlier in Apple Maps, Calendar, Files, Notes, Mail, and some other Apple apps too, but iOS 27 expands support to many more apps. This change could be laying the groundwork for the "iPhone Ultra," as landscape-friendly apps would be well suited for the rumored foldable device.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!
This article, "Top Stories: Apple Price Hikes Coming, 20th Anniversary iPhone Rumors, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums