Apple is about to kick off its annual Worldwide Builders Convention (WWDC) every week from right this moment. As common, it would open with a keynote presentation showcasing the foremost software program releases we will count on for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and extra. Nonetheless, one factor which may be conspicuously absent is any important developments in Apple’s AI ambitions.
Presumably the best level of final 12 months’s WWDC was Apple’s announcement of “AI for the remainder of us.” Apple spent over a 3rd of the keynote — 37 out of 103 minutes — exhibiting off Apple Intelligence. Whereas iOS 18, iPadOS, and macOS Sequoia every obtained keynote sections of their very own, they nonetheless felt extra like they have been opening for the principle act.
Nonetheless, this 12 months’s WWDC keynote will doubtless see a return to a extra software-focused presentation. Dependable reviews have instructed that Apple is planning to provide its subsequent iOS, iPadOS, and even macOS releases a contemporary coat of paint — doubtless essentially the most important overhaul we’ve seen since iOS 17 in 2013 — which suggests these are certain to take heart stage. Apple additionally reportedly plans to renumber them to match a “mannequin 12 months,” which might see iOS 18 transfer to iOS 26, macOS 15 to macOS 26, and so forth.
Unsurprisingly, Apple is a bit reluctant to hype Apple Intelligence any additional after it was pressured to confess that one of many key options it confirmed off final 12 months — a extra personalised and contextually conscious Siri — isn’t prepared for prime time.
Whereas the one official phrase we’ve seen thus far says it would arrive “within the coming 12 months,” many insiders imagine that’s nearer to an early 2026 launch than something we’ll see on this fall’s “iOS 26.0” launch. Even when Apple manages to get it collectively by this fall, it’s most likely hesitant to make any guarantees till it’s 100% sure it could actually fulfill them.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has been following Apple’s AI foibles carefully over the previous few months, and he confirms on this week’s Energy On publication that whereas Apple “must construct some AI buzz” at this 12 months’s WWDC, that’s not more likely to occur. “It has little so as to add to the dialog,” Gurman says. At a time when OpenAI and Google are operating on all cylinders, Apple is able the place it’s higher to say as little as doable until it has one thing huge to indicate off — which it nearly definitely doesn’t.
Apple wants a comeback. However that most likely received’t be taking place at this 12 months’s WWDC. Individuals throughout the firm imagine that the convention could also be a letdown from an AI standpoint. Others acquainted with the corporate’s deliberate bulletins fear they may make Apple’s shortcomings much more apparent.
Mark Gurman
Consequently, Gurman additionally predicts this 12 months’s WWDC shall be “smaller-scale” than the final two. WWDC24 was Apple’s massive AI reveal, whereas the 2023 convention confirmed us the extremely anticipated Imaginative and prescient Professional.
The rumored software program redesign shall be important however not almost as groundbreaking, and this might find yourself being one thing of a “hole 12 months” for Apple, with WWDC26 anticipated to be the subsequent occasion the place it makes one other massive AI push. Sadly, Google and OpenAI will doubtless have leaped even farther forward by then.
None of that is to say there received’t be any AI-related bulletins subsequent week. Gurman reiterated an earlier prediction that builders will get core entry to Apple’s AI fashions, permitting third-party apps to benefit from on-device AI in a method that’s beforehand been cumbersome at greatest. These will nonetheless solely be suited to light-weight duties, however they need to enable apps to implement primary AI options extra simply and keep away from counting on cloud-based processing.
Apple was additionally including “AI” options to its gadgets lengthy earlier than Apple Intelligence grew to become a factor, and it’s anticipated to bake a number of extra of these into this 12 months’s software program releases. AI-powered battery administration and a rebooted Translate app with AirPods help are nonetheless on the desk, however it could keep away from branding these as a part of “Apple Intelligence.”
Subsequent week’s keynote could also be a chance for Apple to tease another options on the AI roadmap. Nonetheless, it’s arduous to say whether or not Apple will need to threat this, as almost all the pieces it’s engaged on isn’t anticipated to see the sunshine of day till 2026, making WWDC26 a greater time to unveil them with confidence. This contains Apple’s rumored AI physician service, the “LLM Siri” that goes past private context right into a full conversational voice mode, and a revamped model of its Shortcuts app that may leverage Apple Intelligence to construct extra subtle actions.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]