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 yr, and the continuing and unaddressed failures of Siri and Apple Intelligence will grasp over the proceedings like a nasty odor.
However even the dullest Apple occasion can typically be relied upon to ship just a few gems… and in spite of everything, it’s WWDC, the second most necessary keynote of the yr. Listed below are the seven issues I can’t wait to see at WWDC 2025:
1. An iPhone AI function I’ll really use
With apologies to Mac and Apple Watch house owners, iOS is the principle occasion at WWDC. This yr’s replace guarantees some main modifications, together with necessary accessibility options and an interface redesign, which is already inspiring each constructive and adverse emotions. However a much more necessary change will occur underneath the hood.
Stories point out iOS 19 will function a brand new AI-powered battery preservation mode, which can analyze utilization patterns to decrease energy draw at instances or in purposes the place it received’t influence your expertise, and thereby lengthen battery life at minimal value. Plus, the Lock Display screen will lastly present how a lot time is left till your cellphone is totally charged. Neglect Genmoji: that is how AI can really make a distinction in customers’ lives.
2. Apple Intelligence the place it belongs
I’m slightly bored with listening to about Apple Intelligence: its supposed triumphs (from Apple) and its many flaws (from everybody else). Sadly this yr’s WWDC is certain to function extra of the identical, and we’ll want to arrange ourselves for that. However there’s one side 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 stated is its pure house. The watch’s small display means next-gen messaging and voice management could be transformative, slightly than a pleasant possibility, whereas its place on the wrist makes it completely positioned to be a digital assistant.
To this point, 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 vary that. However in keeping with Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, watchOS 12 will see the Apple Watch outsource the AI work to a close-by iPhone, which is a great 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 have been actual. Nicely, it’s—kind of—due to wi-fi earbuds with stay translation software program.
Google has been providing this mix for years: the Pixel Buds (or certainly different earbuds paired with the Google Translate app) have 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 yr as a part of iOS 19 and an AirPods firmware replace.
Whether or not this function shall be accessible within the first variations of iOS 19 is unclear, however we’d be very shocked 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 resolve to launch some {hardware} in June, it doesn’t fiddle. It rolls out the massive 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 following mannequin ought to function an M4 Extremely chip or one thing larger we haven’t seen earlier than, outclassing even the M4 Max MacBook Professional and Mac Studio fashions that at the moment sit on the top quality. The Mac Professional is the mannequin to ship unrivalled energy for the inventive skilled customers whom Apple has often 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 doable 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 function a completely redesigned interface. Sources counsel macOS will take its visible cues from Imaginative and prescient Professional, Apple’s groundbreaking mixed-reality headset, as the corporate appears to be like to attain 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 generally appears to be getting worse.
Finally yr’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 matter of Siri, we’d recognize some (ideally sensible) bulletins in regards to the model of Siri after the brand new one: the “true modernized, conversational model” which is often known 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 yr? 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 seem 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 inventive execs have been uncared for, as I discussed earlier, Apple admitted this and apologized. There’s a probability, albeit a slim one, that we’ll get some kind of mea culpa at WWDC.
Each firm makes errors. Asserting Apple Intelligence lengthy earlier than it was prepared, after which promoting iPhone 16 handsets off the again of options that received’t have launched by the point the iPhone 17 comes out, was a giant one, nevertheless it doesn’t should damage Apple’s popularity. 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 listing 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.
