WWDC26: Early Impressions

This was the weirdest WWDC26 keynote in a while, and some of the past ones were visibly phoned in. It was rife with weirdness and flashbacks. To my surprise, a few of my wish list items actually made it. Naming the next macOS “Golden Gate” was not on my bingo card, though; a little too trippy and a lot too lofty for what is, by Apple’s own tacit admission, a Snow Leopard year: catching up rather than charging ahead. The self-deprecating tone ran through the whole thing, from a hippy bus that was equal parts weird and funny to the unmistakable sense of a company that spent the past year watching the industry sprint past it on AI and is now, not running but sedately pacing, to catch up. Moderately Likely To WorkMuch to my surprise, two of my top annoyances got airtime: they’re tackling Spotlight and Mail search, the exact failures I called out, although whether either works once it ships is anyone’s guess. They’re also doubling down on automation, at least superficially, with vibecoded…