Will the upcoming Apple event be bland?

Unlike last year, this year's Apple developer event won't talk much about AI, and there won't be any new hardware products.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. Photo: Bloomberg .

WWDC 2025, Apple's annual developer event, will take place from June 9. In addition to new iOS and macOS updates, all eyes will be on the AI ​​strategy, a race in which Apple is lagging behind its competitors.

In the latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman said that Apple will “not talk too much” about AI at WWDC 2025. This move may disappoint users, but is appropriate in the current difficult context.

WWDC 2025 doesn't focus on AI

Last year, Apple first introduced its AI toolset to the public. Many expected the company to replicate its past success, entering the market late but bringing the best solution.

When Apple Intelligence released its first beta in August 2024, developers were left disappointed. Apple’s system performed poorly compared to OpenAI, Google, or Microsoft. Even when the iPhone 16 hit shelves, things were still incomplete, causing the company to delay its release by 1.5 months.

In the next phase, new features appeared like Writing Tools, Genmoji, and Priority Notifications. While useful, they could not compete with models from competitors. Meanwhile, the new version of Siri could not be released on time due to technical issues.

“A year after launching Apple Intelligence, the company is still in a difficult position. Apple needs to make an AI splash at WWDC on June 9, but there’s not much to talk about,” Gurman said.

WWDC 2024 space at Apple headquarters. Photo: Bloomberg .

Over the past few weeks, major companies in the AI ​​field have made new strides. OpenAI has reached a product development agreement with Jony Ive, the man known as “Apple design wizard”. Meanwhile, Google attracted attention with its Veo 3 video generation model at the I/O 2025 event.

Google’s moves confirm its position as one of the leading companies in the field of AI. In addition to the video creation model, Google also integrates AI into its search engine and expands its ability to exploit personal data, something Apple has not been able to do.

“Apple needs to get back on track, but that may not happen at WWDC this year. Company insiders say Apple will disappoint on the AI ​​front. Some people close to the company worry that the upcoming event will further expose the company’s shortcomings,” Gurman wrote.

What to expect at WWDC 2025?

Based on rumors, WWDC 2025 will be smaller in scale than the previous two years. For comparison, Vision Pro was announced at WWDC 2023, while Apple Intelligence appeared at the 2024 event.

According to Bloomberg , Apple could wait until 2026 to launch groundbreaking AI features. However, skipping a year is risky because many competitors are improving technology every day.

At WWDC this year, Apple's biggest AI highlight may come from its Foundation Model for third-party developers, a tool that gives developers access to AI features that run directly on the machine, such as text summarization.

For users, Apple is expected to launch AI-based battery management, a completely new Translate app, as well as renaming some features to highlight AI.

WWDC 2025 logo. Photo: Apple .

Apple is expected to change the way it numbers its operating systems yearly, such as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19. According to Gurman, this is seen as a solution to attract attention, "distracting" from the AI ​​shortcomings.

In the future, Apple hopes to regain trust with many AI features in development. First is a new version of Siri with a large language model (LLM), allowing the assistant to interact with users in natural language similar to ChatGPT.

Next up is an improved version of the Shortcuts app, which will allow you to create actions based on Apple Intelligence. The Health app is expected to get a new interface, integrating AI doctor services from 2026.

Finally, Apple is developing a chatbot codenamed “Knowledge,” which can mine information from the internet. According to Gurman, the project is being led by Robby Walker, who was ousted as head of Siri and Apple Intelligence a few weeks ago.

“Apple could still reveal some new tech at WWDC, but things will be more cautious.

“When Apple Intelligence launches in 2024, most of the features will still be unfinished, which will give the company hope of regaining credibility with users,” Gurman said, adding that Apple will prioritize introducing features that are definitely ready for release in the fall.

Does the new interface make up for the shortcomings?

Internally, Apple is developing multiple AI models of varying complexity. According to Gurman, the company is testing models with 3 billion, 7 billion, 33 billion, and 150 billion parameters. The 150 billion parameter model, which runs in the cloud, is considered more effective than existing models on iPhones and iPads with better reasoning capabilities.

“Internal reviews showed that the model’s performance was close to that of recent versions of ChatGPT. However, the company delayed implementing the model on the chatbot due to concerns about ‘illusion’ and philosophical differences between leaders,” Gurman said.

Despite active development, Apple will not introduce the new model at WWDC 2025. Company employees are evaluating the model through an internal tool called Playground, and comparing its performance with competitors such as ChatGPT and Gemini.

Apple representative introduces iOS 18 at WWDC 2024. Photo: Apple .

Overall, Apple's AI at WWDC 2025 is largely developer-focused, including its accessibility platform and Swift Assist, an AI-powered code generator. First introduced last year, Apple is expected to share more about Swift Assist at this year's event.

Finally, WWDC 2025 is unlikely to feature any new hardware. According to Gurman, Apple's next device upgrade cycle (including iPhone, Apple Watch...) will take place this fall.

Although there are not many breakthroughs, the writer from Bloomberg believes that WWDC 2025 will still have many special features as usual, including the opening keynote focusing on ecosystem, design and security.

“Focusing on the basics, emphasizing the operating system still brings excitement to users and programmers.

The new user interface is certainly a big highlight, although it's easy to think Apple is still 'living in the past', focusing on decades-old touch interfaces while the rest of the industry has moved on to AI,” Gurman added.

Source: https://znews.vn/wwdc-2025-se-nhat-nheo-post1557804.html