A lot as I take pleasure in writing severe articles for Macworld, it’s enjoyable occasionally to be foolish. Earlier this month, for instance, I wrote a faux script for the WWDC25 keynote that includes, together with some comparatively believable launch predictions, an unplanned laser homicide and Mike Rockwell being reborn as a cyborg. It’s good to let free now and again.
So certain, I like a joke as a lot as the subsequent man. Until, that’s, the subsequent man occurs to be Craig Federighi, who presumably now has the job title Vice President, Banter And Shenanigans. I received’t fake to know the person in his day-to-day work routine; maybe he sits in silence brooding on the sorrows of the world. All I do know is that when showtime arrives, he turns right into a power of dad-joke nature.
Which will be, nicely, so much. Each June I tune into the WWDC keynote questioning how far his tacky humorousness can be indulged and the way a lot the already punishing broadcast time can be elongated to permit for skits and bits and normal time-wasting buffoonery. It’s not that these segments are unfunny, precisely: they usually elevate the gentlest of light smiles. It’s extra that they’re a bit… cringe. They’re not precisely what you’d count on from an organization with an unlimited advertising price range making an attempt to place itself as a hip life-style alternative.
“How will we crack the youth market, Craig?”
“How a few grey-haired man doing satan horns as he jumps out of a aircraft, Phil?”
“Excellent!”
Anybody hoping for a extra sombre-minded WWDC25 was in for disappointment. It began with Federighi in an F1 racing automotive (when he takes off the helmet! His hair! Is massive!), and ended with an excruciating comedian music about App Retailer critiques. (The joke, word, was that apps are nice and everybody loves them. Searing stuff.) And virtually the worst half is that the 85 minutes in between have been principally performed fully and relentlessly straight, so the doubtful comedy didn’t even serve to interrupt up the boring bits. It was like a marriage speech the place one of the best man will get all his jokes out of the way in which at first after which spends an hour thanking the bridesmaids.
With Apple, an extra of comedy is mostly a giveaway that the corporate is making an attempt to keep away from speaking about one thing else. The corporate’s CEO spent a criminally giant portion of the iPhone 15 launch bantering with Mom Nature, in idea as a result of the atmosphere is necessary, however primarily as a result of the iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Collection 9 have been boring merchandise and there wasn’t a lot else to debate. It was the ethics of comfort and the humor of distraction. I like jokes which are made purely to be humorous. This felt extra calculated.
In the end, my suspicion is that this 12 months’s mirth-heavy WWDC mirrored the inconvenient reality that Apple Intelligence has been a little bit of a stinker. It was equally unappealing for the corporate to confess this, or for it to make a lot more guarantees it may possibly’t hold; higher to replenish time with horseplay and tomfoolery. And hopefully, the corporate’s critics could have been cringing so laborious that they have been bodily unable to put in writing uncomplimentary articles.
Foundry
Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which incorporates all of the Apple information you missed final week in a useful bite-sized roundup. We name it Apple Breakfast as a result of we predict it goes nice with a Monday morning cup of espresso or tea, however it’s cool if you wish to give it a learn throughout lunch or dinner hours too.
Trending: High tales
Maintain on. Did Apple Intelligence simply change into… good?
Apple’s newest gaming efforts received’t transfer the needle.
Alex Blake explains why Mac energy customers ought to rush to improve to macOS 26 Tahoe this fall.
RIP Mickey Mouse glove: macOS Tahoe has a new set of cursors.
Apple made a haptic ‘F1’ trailer that it’s essential to really feel to imagine.
Podcast of the week
We speak concerning the scorching new stuff from Apple, together with Liquid Glass, iPadOS windowing, Stay Translation, and extra on episode 938 of the Macworld Podcast!
You may catch each episode of the Macworld Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our personal website.
The rumor mill
Sorry Siri followers, don’t count on these delayed Apple Intelligence options till 2026.
iOS 26 seemingly factors to the upcoming launch of AirPods Professional 3.
Xcode 26 code raises hopes for a cheaper Imaginative and prescient Professional, however there’s most likely nothing to see right here.
Software program updates, bugs, and issues
macOS 26 Tahoe fixes a main pet peeve of Google Chrome customers.
watchOS 26 kills off 5 basic Apple Watch faces.
iOS 26 lastly makes it tremendous easy to assign a customized iPhone ringtone.
And with that, we’re accomplished for this week’s Apple Breakfast. In the event you’d wish to get common roundups, join our newsletters, together with our new e mail from The Macalope–an irreverent, humorous tackle the most recent information and rumors from a half-man, half-mythical Mac beast. It’s also possible to comply with us on Fb, Threads, Bluesky, or X for dialogue of breaking Apple information tales. See you subsequent Monday, and keep Appley.
