Let’s be trustworthy: WWDC 2025 is unlikely to go down in historical past as one Apple’s biggest ever occasions, as I’ve warned in a separate article. The corporate shouldn’t actually be forging forward with new plans till it finishes mopping up the undelivered ones from final 12 months, and the continuing and unaddressed failures of Siri and Apple Intelligence will grasp over the proceedings like a nasty scent.
However even the dullest Apple occasion can typically be relied upon to ship a number of gems… and in any case, it’s WWDC, the second most essential keynote of the 12 months. Listed here are the seven issues I can’t wait to see at WWDC 2025:
1. An iPhone AI characteristic I’ll really use
With apologies to Mac and Apple Watch homeowners, iOS is the principle occasion at WWDC. This 12 months’s replace guarantees some main adjustments, together with essential accessibility options and an interface redesign, which is already inspiring each constructive and detrimental emotions. However a much more essential change will occur below the hood.
Studies point out iOS 19 will characteristic a brand new AI-powered battery preservation mode, which is able to analyze utilization patterns to decrease energy draw at instances or in purposes the place it gained’t affect your expertise, and thereby prolong battery life at minimal price. Plus, the Lock Display will lastly present how a lot time is left till your cellphone is absolutely charged. Neglect Genmoji: that is how AI can really make a distinction in customers’ lives.
2. Apple Intelligence the place it belongs
I’m a bit uninterested in listening to about Apple Intelligence: its supposed triumphs (from Apple) and its many flaws (from everybody else). Sadly this 12 months’s WWDC is bound to characteristic extra of the identical, and we’ll want to organize ourselves for that. However there’s one facet of Apple Intelligence I am excited to know extra about, and that’s its belated debut on the Apple Watch.
Pundits predict that the watchOS 12 replace will see Apple’s AI platform land on the Apple Watch, which I’ve lengthy mentioned is its pure house. The watch’s small display means next-gen messaging and voice management could be transformative, slightly than a pleasant choice, whereas its place on the wrist makes it completely positioned to be a digital assistant.
To date, the principle barrier to the Apple Watch becoming a member of the AI celebration has been it comparative lack of processing energy, and the new fashions coming within the fall are unlikely to alter that. However in line with Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, watchOS 12 will see the Apple Watch outsource the AI work to a close-by iPhone, which is a brilliant stopgap answer till the {hardware} catches up.
3. The Babel fish turns into a actuality
The tech business has lengthy been fascinated by the Babel fish, a fictional creature which, within the Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Information novels, sits in an individual’s ear and permits them to grasp any language. If solely the Babel fish had been actual. Nicely, it’s—type of—because of wi-fi earbuds with dwell translation software program.
Google has been providing this mix for years: the Pixel Buds (or certainly different earbuds paired with the Google Translate app) had been able to it again in 2017, albeit with loads of drawbacks. However we’re excited to see Apple’s try, which is predicted to launch later this 12 months as a part of iOS 19 and an AirPods firmware replace.
Whether or not this characteristic shall be out there within the first variations of iOS 19 is unclear, however we’d be very stunned if Apple doesn’t spill a few of the particulars at WWDC this June.
Foundry
4. Essentially the most highly effective Mac ever made
WWDC is called a software program occasion. However when Apple does determine to launch some {hardware} in June, it doesn’t fiddle. It rolls out the large weapons.
The Mac Professional, the premium deluxe providing in Apple’s Mac line-up, was final up to date two years in the past: that was the M2 Extremely mannequin, introduced at WWDC 2023. It’s slower than the Mac Studio and never all that quicker than the maxxed-out MacBook Professional, so the subsequent mannequin ought to characteristic an M4 Extremely chip or one thing greater we haven’t seen earlier than, outclassing even the M4 Max MacBook Professional and Mac Studio fashions that at present sit on the high quality. The Mac Professional is the mannequin to ship unrivalled energy for the artistic skilled customers whom Apple has sometimes uncared for, so saving it for a grand WWDC entrance is smart.
The Mac Professional doesn’t get up to date as typically as different Apple merchandise, and it’s potential we’ll have to attend till later in 2025. But when the M4 Extremely Mac Professional does flip up at WWDC, it’ll immediately be the star of the present.
5. The Mac’s new Imaginative and prescient
Talking of the Mac… Apple is definite to announce macOS 16 at WWDC 2025, and like iOS 19, it’s anticipated to characteristic a totally redesigned interface. Sources recommend macOS will take its visible cues from Imaginative and prescient Professional, Apple’s groundbreaking mixed-reality headset, as the corporate appears to realize extra of a constant UI throughout platforms. It will likely be fascinating to see how this fusion between Apple’s oldest and youngest product strains shakes out.
Apple
6. Information about new Siri
Arguably the weakest ingredient in Apple’s ecosystem, and definitely its highest-profile failure, is the lamentably inaccurate voice assistant Siri. An astonishing 14 years after it launched with the iPhone 4s, Siri exhibits no signal of getting any higher, and typically appears to be getting worse.
Finally 12 months’s WWDC, Apple promised to repair Siri by deploying the magic of Apple Intelligence. However the arrival of the brand new AI-powered Siri retains getting delayed; it didn’t seem in March’s iOS 18.4 replace as anticipated, and even in Might’s iOS 18.5. Hopefully, Apple can have some information for us in June, as a result of Siri actually must get higher at its job.
And whereas we’re on the sore subject of Siri, we’d admire some (ideally life like) bulletins in regards to the model of Siri after the brand new one: the “true modernized, conversational model” which is also referred to as LLM Siri. New Siri was speculated to be a part of iOS 18, and LLM Siri a part of iOS 19, however delays compound on delays and the entire thing retains getting pushed again. I’m excited to see these enhancements, Apple, however please tell us what’s occurring.
7. Honesty
And that leads me to the only factor I need most from WWDC25: pure, unfiltered honesty in regards to the state of play at Cupertino. What’s been going improper since final 12 months? Why have so many tasks been delayed? And is Apple Intelligence actually as far behind different AI platforms because it appears to be?
This may appear to be a determined lengthy shot. The reality at a advertising and marketing occasion, what a whimsical notion! However Apple has some kind right here. When Apple Maps suffered disastrous teething pains, Apple admitted this and apologized. When artistic execs had been uncared for, as I discussed earlier, Apple admitted this and apologized. There’s a likelihood, albeit a slim one, that we’ll get some type of mea culpa at WWDC.
Each firm makes errors. Saying Apple Intelligence lengthy earlier than it was prepared, after which promoting iPhone 16 handsets off the again of options that gained’t have launched by the point the iPhone 17 comes out, was a giant one, however it doesn’t need to break Apple’s fame. The treatment is honesty. Clarify what went improper and why. Then be utterly clear in regards to the options that can really be prepared in time for the iPhone 17. Confidence will return–however not if the spin and bluster proceed.
That’s my want record for WWDC 2025. Be part of us on June 9 to see how a lot Apple delivers, and to learn our protection of all of the bulletins.
