Apple's AI Strategy: Delayed Siri Update and Subtle Integration at WWDC 2025

Still no AI-powered, 'more personalized' Siri from Apple at WWDC 25 | TechCrunch

At this year's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 25), Apple announced a slew of updates to its operating systems, services, and software, including a new look it dubbed "Liquid Glass" and a rebranded naming convention. Apple was notably quiet on one highly anticipated product: a more personalized, AI-powered Siri, which it first introduced at last year's conference. Apple's SVP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, only gave the Siri update a brief mention during the keynote address, saying, "As we've shared, we're continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal. This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year." The time frame of "coming year" seems to indicate that Apple won't have news before 2026. That's a significant delay in the AI era, where new models, updates, and upgrades ship at a rapid pace. First announced at WWDC 24, the more personalized Siri is expected to bring artificial intelligence updates to the beleaguered virtual assistant built into iPhone and other Apple devices. At the time, the company hyped it as the "next big step for Apple" and said Siri would be able to understand your "personal context," like your relationships, communications, routine, and more, Plus, the assistant was going to be more useful by allowing you to take action within and across your apps. While Bloomberg reported that the in-development version of the more personalized Siri was functional, it was not consistently working properly. The report said its quality issues meant Siri only performed as it should two-thirds of the time, making it not viable to ship. Apple officially announced in March it was pushing back the launch, saying the Siri update would take longer to deliver than anticipated. The company also pulled SVP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy John Giannandrea off the Siri project and put Mike Rockwell, who had worked on the Vision Pro, in charge. The shake-up indicated the company was trying to get back on track after stumbling on a major release. It also suggested Apple's AI technology was behind that of rivals, like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, worrying investors. In the meantime, Apple partnered with OpenAI to help close the gap; when users asked Siri questions the assistant couldn't answer, those could be directed to ChatGPT instead. With the upcoming release, iOS 26, Apple has updated its AI image generation app, Image Playground, to use ChatGPT as well.

At WWDC 2025, Apple sang developers' praises amid AI letdowns and App Store battles | TechCrunch

At the end of the WWDC 2025 keynote address on Monday, the company literally sang its praises to app developers, as singer-songwriter Allen White humorously turned customers' positive App Store reviews into song lyrics for a tune titled "6 out of 5 stars." "Best app I've ever set my sorry eyes upon," he crooned. "This is not an app. It's a piece of art." What Apple didn't mention, however, was anything related to the tumultuous past few years for its developer community, or more broadly, why its developers should continue to put their trust in a company that's fighting them for every nickel and dime while failing them in other ways. In recent years, the Cupertino-based tech giant has put its app developer community through the wringer as it stringently fought against regulation, lawsuits, and any other efforts to rein in its alleged App Store monopoly by nations, lawmakers, and the courts. Meanwhile, it has yet to deliver on some of the key technology advances that could modernize developers' apps for the AI era. In March, it delayed its "more personalized," AI-powered Siri, demonstrated at last year's WWDC. Apple only briefly acknowledged this fumble during this year's keynote address, when SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said the work "needed more time" to meet Apple's high bar. At WWDC, Apple's scattered mentions of AI related to features that Google's AI already has, such as Apple's AI-powered translation features, though it tried to differentiate from Google by offering lyrics translation in Apple Music. Apple's AI-powered Visual Intelligence feature was even demonstrated by tapping into Google's app for image search results, something that feels more native on Android devices with innovations like Circle to Search, Lens's multisearch, visual search in videos, and more. Elsewhere, Apple appeased developers' demand for AI with further integrations with OpenAI technology, like the addition of ChatGPT in Apple's Image Playground app and for coding assistance in Xcode. But no deals with other AI providers were announced, despite rumors that Google Gemini integration was on the way and that Apple was teaming up with Anthropic on an AI-powered coding assistance tool. Apple also made its scripting and automations app Shortcuts easier to use with the addition of AI features, but this ended up feeling more like a stop-gap to tide over power users until an AI Siri could take actions in their apps for them. Then there was the deafening silence over the increasingly controversial App Store commissions. In the U.S., for instance, Apple is fresh off a key loss in its battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games that forces Apple to now allow U.S. developers to point to alternative payment mechanisms on the web, where it can't take a commission. Yet Apple didn't spend time during its hour-and-a-half-long keynote to talk about how its App Store is the best place to build an app business, improvements it's made to payment processing systems, or how it's weeding out scams. (It touted some of its developer benefits in the days leading up to WWDC, where it focused on its anti-fraud features and developer revenues.) Apple also launched a standalone Games app, but the keynote address focused on the consumer benefits -- Challenges, social features, easy access to Apple's own gaming store Arcade -- not on what it could do for mobile developers. Nor, as some had hoped, did Apple announce a reduction in its App Store commissions across the board for all developers, finally putting the question to rest as to whether Apple's in-app payments system is worth its price. While arguably more developer-focused improvements will roll out this week at WWDC, through its developer keynote, Platforms State of the Union, and its various sessions, Apple missed a chance to surprise its developer community with some sort of acknowledgement that it's understood that these past years have been tough, but ultimately it's on developers' sides. Instead, the only reference so far to the changing market dynamics of the App Store ecosystem was a small update to its App Review Guidelines, which has swapped out the wording "alternative app marketplace" for "alternative distribution" -- a subtle reminder that Apple only thinks the only app "marketplace" that can exist is its own App Store. As for boosting developers' businesses, Apple seemed to be thinking of itself and its own coffers first. In the initial developer beta of iOS 26, the App Store opens up to its Search page by default, meaning that Apple is pushing developers to spend more on its App Store Search ads for discovery. Other changes point to Apple seeing developers as just another lever to be pulled to make the company more money, while it focuses on delighting consumers with new bells and whistles, like its interface design overhaul dubbed Liquid Glass. Though inspired by its VR headset Vision Pro, Apple didn't offer developers an explanation as to why they should make over their perfectly functional apps to meet these new design guidelines. The company could have at least hinted at the fact that Liquid Glass seems an obvious precursor to building an operating system that would eventually extend beyond smartphones and tablets, to reach new computing platforms, like AR glasses. But Apple's cultural preference for keeping secrets, despite years of comprehensive leaks, largely from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, kept it from suggesting that Liquid Glass was anything but an updated new look to wow consumers. In wrapping the event by singing cheery App Store reviews (a system now beset by bots and fake reviews, as developers know), Apple tried to lighten the mood. It knew that this year's event would let down its developer community with its AI delays, amid an aggressive pursuit of developer revenue. The end result made the song feel like a performative act of developer appreciation -- yes, an actual performance! -- rather than a true reflection of how valuable developers are to Apple's ability to ship more iPhones and make consumers happy.

Apple executives say new AI-powered Siri wasn't 'demoware,' it just wasn't ready to ship | TechCrunch

In a handful of interviews following Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 25), Apple executives denied that last year's demonstrations of a personalized, AI-powered Siri were vaporware, despite having yet to launch. Asked by The Wall Street Journal why Apple, with all its engineers and cash, couldn't make the technology work well enough to ship, the company didn't admit to being behind in the AI race. Instead, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi stressed that AI was a new technology, and something Apple sees more as a "long-term transformational wave" that will impact the industry and society for decades to come. "There's no need to rush out with the wrong features and the wrong product just to be first," Federighi noted. Federighi also explained, in an interview with Tom's Guide and Techradar, that Apple showed off the new Siri at WWDC 24 because the company knew that the world wanted "a really complete picture of what's Apple thinking about the implications of Apple Intelligence and where it's going." He said that Apple had two versions of the AI architecture for Siri, the first of which (version 1) it demonstrated in the video shown at the event. But as development progressed, the team knew that it would have to move the version 2 architecture if it wanted to meet customers' expectations. This new version is still set to ship in 2026, Federighi confirmed. The execs also pushed back against the idea that Apple had not shown off functional technology at WWDC 24. Federighi told the Journal: "We were filming real working software with a real large language model with real semantic search." Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak added, "There's this narrative out there that it's demoware only. No, it was... something we thought, as Craig said, we'd actually ship by later in the year." Joswiak said Apple realized it would disappoint customers if it did so, because the software had an "error rate that we felt was unacceptable." The execs also talked more broadly about Apple's plans for AI, which are not to build a chatbot to rival ChatGPT and others, but to infuse intelligence across its operating systems. "This wasn't about us building a chatbot... we weren't defining what Apple Intelligence was to be our chatbot," Federighi told Tom's Guide. "That was never our goal...We want to bring intelligence deeply integrated into the experience of all of our platforms in a way that's 'meet you where you are' -- not that you're going off into some chat experience in order to get things done." Apple's real goal, the execs said, was to give developers tools to tap into Apple's foundation models to build more intelligent apps.

At WWDC 2025, Apple Puts AI on the Back Burner to Show Us What It Does Best

Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. Last year, Apple's WWDC keynote was jam-packed with AI promises and unbridled ambitions. This year, the tech giant scaled back its Apple Intelligence messaging and made it crystal clear what we'd be getting - and not getting - in its latest software updates. To some, this may have been a letdown. But to me, it was a refreshing callback to a simpler, pre-AI-dominated era. Apple's messaging switch-up was most evident when it acknowledged the delayed rollout of its AI-supercharged Siri. Within the first five minutes of Monday's event, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi essentially told anyone hoping for updates they were out of luck. "We're continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal," he noted. "This work needed more time to reach our high quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year." And it wasn't just Siri; AI announcements in general took a backseat to one key element that's helped Apple stand apart for decades: design. At multiple points in the presentation, leaders raved (even more than usual) about the appearance and functionality of Apple's software, and the Liquid Glass redesign arriving with iOS 26 took center stage. The handful of Apple Intelligence updates that were announced were more modest additions to existing apps and processes, like AI-powered poll suggestions in iMessage group chats and Adaptive Power to boost your iPhone's battery life. Alan Dye, Apple's vice president of human interface design, said during the keynote, "We've always cared deeply about every detail of our software design, and it's these moments of beauty, craft and joy that bring our products to life." It's undeniably corporate fluff, but that doesn't mean there isn't truth to it. Arguably no company has done a better job ensuring hardware and software play as nicely together as Apple, and the design of both these elements - barring a few hiccups - has been consistently strong. Apple using this year's WWDC to focus not on AI, but on that distinguishing design factor doesn't so much feel like a cop-out as it does a refocus, and a reclamation of why the brand matters in the first place. Other practical yet subtle improvements like Live Activities on Mac, Call Screening on iPhone (finally) and more versatile windows on iPad admittedly made this WWDC keynote feel slightly underwhelming, especially in the age of flashy AI announcements. But to me, it was a welcome return to functionality being the primary focus, rather than just investor-approved buzzwords that are largely meaningless to the average consumer. In fact, given how lukewarm general reception has been to mobile AI so far, Apple may be onto something. According to a new CNET survey, just 11% of US adults choose to upgrade their phones to access AI features, and about 3 in 10 people don't find mobile AI helpful. And yet, tech keynotes have consistently become spectacles for launching generative AI features most people never asked for. Competitors like Google and Samsung have loaded their devices with next-gen AI capabilities, but Apple lags behind - and pressure is mounting. The iPhone maker has released a handful of Apple Intelligence updates over the past year like notification summaries, writing tools and image generation. But its biggest unfulfilled promise is the modernized Siri it debuted last June, which is supposed to be more intuitive and helpful. But with repeated delays, the smarter assistant may not be available until 2027. "While it might seem others are leading the AI race, it is not a sought-after feature among users and there's no revenue uplift (for now)," analyst Paolo Pescatore said in a statement. "The subtle addition of Apple Intelligence across key services will help grow awareness and provide users with confidence to drive further engagement. The tight integration between hardware, software and services really stands out with this latest move." It seems Apple has learned its lesson on getting ahead of itself and making grand promises. Its approach to this year's WWDC felt more measured and on-brand than the AI showmanship of last year's keynote. It was a return to what I think most people actually want to hear about: design and software updates that simply make our devices more enjoyable to use - accompanied by more curated Apple Intelligence updates like real-time language translation or a Hold Assist phone feature to save your spot on customer service calls. "Although they made some uncharacteristically early promises last year, in my opinion they serviced their brand better avoiding that this year, choosing to go at a pace they are comfortable with," Nabila Popal, senior research director at IDC, said in a statement. Whether that's a pace both Apple and consumers will remain comfortable with remains to be seen, but so far, it seems to be going just fine.

Why Apple's best new AI features at WWDC 2025 will be boring (and I'm glad)

Emoji generators are cool and all, but give me AI features so seamlessly baked into software that I forget they even exist. It's not far-fetched to call today's WWDC Apple's most important event of the year -- it might even be its most important event this decade, with major implications for where the company stands in today's AI space race. Off the back of developer conferences by Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic, the folks at Cupertino find themselves even further behind in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry -- or at least it seems that way. Even my dad, who still rocks an iPhone 8 because he "can't live without Touch ID," understands that for Apple to leapfrog the competition, it must convince the public that it, too, can do AI. AI, the Apple way. Also: Apple's secret sauce is exactly what AI is missing While the value of the company's "Apple Intelligence" features has been rather disappointing, there's one thing I don't want to see during today's keynote: extravagance. Cut out the lavish image and video generators, circle to searches, and the chatbots that impersonate celebrities. And please, don't seclude any AI tools in separate hardware. Instead, give me features that blend so seamlessly with my daily apps and services that I almost forget they exist. Early reports by Bloomberg suggest that this is, indeed, the path Apple will take when pitching the future of AI to the masses today. Instead of forcing AI features onto users, the company will reportedly take its foot off the gas pedal and focus more on features that users are already using. That includes Messages, FaceTime, Apple Music, Phone, and more. Real-time text translation and poll options in Messages, improved battery management, and further integration with Gemini will be among the subtle ways the company can embed AI into its most popular apps. These features should work much like how our phones automatically switch from LTE to Wi-Fi when we step within range of our home routers. Also: What is Solarium? Everything we know about Apple's biggest UI overhaul in a decade Such features might not get as many cheers as AI-generated emojis did last year, but they will likely be the ones you and I will still be using by the end of 2025 -- hopefully because they're so frictionless that we don't notice the gradual shift in our usage patterns. The rise and fall of AI hardware is a testament to consumers' aversion to behavioral changes. Instead, perhaps the right way -- and the best way -- to introduce AI into people's lives has always been to meet them where they already are, from the apps they use every day to the gestures they're familiar with, like prompting Siri. Apple's new AI features don't need to be flashy or futuristic; they just need to be boringly awesome.

Apple's secret sauce is exactly what AI is missing

One of my editors once told me that a cynic will always sound more rational, but that doesn't mean they're right. French statesman Francois Guizot basically said the same thing from another POV: "The world belongs to optimists. Pessimists are only spectators." Apple's AI strategy has a lot of cynics and pessimists right now -- and they sound pretty rational based on what we've seen during the past 12 months. The long-awaited revamp of Siri never materialized. Apple's vision of your own custom AI-powered assistant with your "personal context" has been little more than a hopeful vision. And the AI features that have arrived -- such as summaries of a string of text messages -- have been both game-changing and, at times, super frustrating to use. Also: Could WWDC be Apple's AI turning point? Here's what analysts are predicting Still, the new AI revolution that is sweeping the tech industry -- and soon the planet -- is in desperate need of many of the qualities that Apple usually exemplifies in its approach to products. I'm talking about qualities like polish, attention to detail, user trust, and patience. While generative AI is racing forward at a breakneck pace, it continues to feel half-baked and overhyped much of the time. I'm confident that's why ZDNET/Aberdeen research showed that only 8% of the broader public say they're willing to pay for AI features on their devices. Even more challenging, 69% said they would stop using a product or consider stopping if it had AI features that they couldn't turn off. In other words, our research shows a massive gap between the next-big-thing narrative that companies like OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and others are telling us about the AI revolution and the lack of enthusiasm from the people who are learning about these new AI features and trying to use them in the real world. Also: Is ChatGPT Plus still worth $20 when the free version packs so many premium features? Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to be excited about. If you've used one of these generative AI tools to summarize a 500-page document for you, help you write a recommendation letter, or translate a document from a relatively obscure language into English, then you've gotten a taste of how useful they can be in the right circumstances. And if you're a coder or a programmer, generative AI is a life-changer. But if you've used chatbots for much time at all and started double-checking their accuracy, then you've likely also come across the fact that products like ChatGPT regularly hallucinate, make stuff up, and simply get things wrong. In short, they can't be fully trusted, and that limits a lot of their usefulness because you often have to double-check their work. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Also: 3 Apple Intelligence features that would convince me to ditch Gemini and ChatGPT Last year at WWDC 2024, Apple spent a lot of time trying to convince us that it's an AI leader, that it's been working on AI for years, and that it had exciting new AI breakthroughs on the way that only Apple could deliver because of its broad ecosystem of devices and platforms and its strong privacy stance. It was a bold move since Apple rarely talks about future products and features until they are nearly fully baked. In retrospect, last year's AI blitz at WWDC was unnecessary. Apple didn't need to enter the AI features arms race, in which OpenAI, Google, and a constellation of tech giants and cash-rich startups are playing a relentless game of one-upmanship. That's not where Apple can compete, and it's not where Apple can make the biggest impact in tech's next big wave of innovation. Apple simply needs to run the Apple playbook. One example that was on the right track at last year's WWDC was when Apple focused on integrating AI feature-by-feature into its existing software, such as Messages, Genmoji, and the Mail app. There are a lot of existing features on the iPhone, for example, that could be enhanced, streamlined, and made more powerful -- all outside of the chatbot. When it comes to Siri, Apple has likely realized that it needs to start over from the ground up. The codebase for Siri goes back decades to old government projects in DARPA, and my understanding from people with knowledge of the code is that retrofitting it for today's uses has created a classic innovator's dilemma that has hindered Siri for a decade and kept it from keeping up with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and now ChatGPT. Also: Only 8% of Americans would pay extra for AI, according to ZDNET-Aberdeen research That doesn't necessarily mean Apple needs to acquire its way into competition with LLMs and the latest chatbots. Anthropic's Claude regularly gets mentioned as a good fit for Apple because of Anthropic's focus on privacy and AI safety. However, Anthropic was valued at $61.5B in March 2025, so an acquisition would cost over $100B. That makes it very unlikely Apple or anyone else is buying Anthropic. Apple has AI talent and it has time. The generative AI revolution is still just beginning to take flight. Even if it took two years to rebuild the foundation of Siri for the age of LLMs, it would be worth it -- and lots of users will still be at the very beginning of their journey with AI in 2027. Meanwhile, Apple could continue to use LLMs to enhance individual features in the iPhone and throughout its various products -- but do it in the Apple way. Wait until the features are fully baked before showing us why we should be excited. We also shouldn't forget where the best generative AI chatbots, products, and features from all the biggest innovators are running today and will be running for years to come -- on laptops, smartphones, and tablets, many of them made by Apple. There are over 50,000 AI startups, according to Crunchbase and over $27B is currently being invested in AI, according to the New York Times. All of these new apps and tools that are being created will give people even more reasons to use their favorite devices and Apple has shown that its chips are especially ready to handle AI. Also: The 10 Apple Watch features that convinced me to switch to the wearable full-time And while OpenAI and Jony Ive have made a lot of noise about creating their own AI hardware device, even they've admitted that it's not going to take the place of your phone or your laptop for running the latest AI tools. So, yes, Apple remains very well-positioned to play a leading role in the AI innovation wave that's in front of us. The AI world needs Apple's discipline, focus on user experience, and patience to play the long game. And let's be honest -- it's going to need a lot of Apple's most powerful devices as well, no matter whose software is running on them.

Apple punts on Siri updates as it struggles to keep up in the AI race

Hayden Field is The Verge's senior AI reporter. An AI beat reporter for more than five years, her work has also appeared in CNBC, MIT Technology Review, Wired UK, and other outlets. Apple's WWDC 2025 had new software, Formula 1 references, and a piano man crooning the text of different app reviews. But one key feature got the short end of the stick: Siri. Although the company continuously referenced Apple Intelligence and pushed new features like live translation for Messages, FaceTime, and phone calls, Apple's AI assistant was barely mentioned. In fact, the most attention Siri got was when Apple explained that some of its previously promised features were running behind schedule. To address what many saw as the elephant in the room, Apple's keynote briefly mentioned that it had updated Siri to be "more natural and more helpful," but that personalization features were still on the horizon. Those features were first mentioned at last year's WWDC, with a rollout timeline "over the course of the next year." "We're continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal," Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of software engineering, said during Monday's keynote. "This work needed more time to reach our high quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year." Apple has long been criticized for the shortcomings of Apple Intelligence and for falling behind competitors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the race to build generative AI apps and services. Apple's AI models are rarely mentioned alongside its competitors when it comes to power users exploring real-life benefits, let alone more advanced AI agent capabilities. The company's relative silence on a personalized Siri this year stood out for a handful of reasons. For one, there's Apple's own marketing push: last year, it ran TV ads for a revamped Siri showing features that still haven't arrived. Then there are Apple's competitors. Google and Microsoft are both pushing hard on AI and moving to rapidly integrate it into their operating systems. For example, ahead of Google's I/O conference last month, Android users were the first to get free access to a live Gemini feature that allowed the AI assistant to see and respond to images and items on your screen. And as part of Microsoft's Build conference last month, Microsoft announced AI shortcuts in Windows 11's File Explorer that let users click on a file and immediately see suggestions like blurring aspects of a photo or summarizing content. Meanwhile, Apple Intelligence's stumbles have given people plenty to poke fun at in the months since their rollout. The feature's rocky debut included notification summaries so off the mark that the company disabled them for some app categories after the BBC reported the tool would conflate multiple headlines into inaccurate synopses. The company's strategy on Monday was to roll out a wide swath of small, functional updates powered by Apple Intelligence -- and partly by ChatGPT -- that could help it catch up to competitors in terms of translation and search. Apple's Image Playground now integrates with OpenAI's technology, and users can tap into ChatGPT to change a friend's photo into the style of an oil painting or other types of art. Apple gave developers access to the on-device large language model behind Apple Intelligence, and it also debuted live translation features that allow users to translate between languages in Messages, FaceTime, and phone calls. At WWDC, Apple also pushed visual intelligence features aimed at allowing users to "search and take action on anything they're viewing" across different apps. "Users can ask ChatGPT questions about what they're looking at on their screen to learn more, as well as search Google, Etsy, or other supported apps to find similar images and products," according to Apple. Some had been waiting for Apple to use WWDC as an opportunity to announce it was expanding its AI options for iOS beyond ChatGPT -- for instance, allowing Siri to tap into Google's Gemini for complex user queries -- but that didn't happen this time around. Last June, during a live session after an Apple keynote, Federighi mentioned that he hopes Apple Intelligence will eventually allow users "to choose the models they want," specifically name-dropping Gemini. One of Apple's backend updates in February hinted at a Gemini integration, and in April, during Google's search monopoly trial proceedings, CEO Sundar Pichai said the company plans to ink a deal with Apple by mid-2025, with a rollout by the end of this year. Everyone's still waiting for that.

Apple's Goldilocks approach to AI at WWDC is a winner. Here's why

Leading up to Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), people doubted that AI could compete in the AI space. This was exacerbated by reports that Apple's most highly anticipated feature, Siri 2.0, wouldn't be released -- a prediction that turned out to be true. Also: The 7 best AI features announced at Apple's WWDC that I can't wait to use Yet at WWDC, Apple's slew of other AI announcements proved Apple still has skin in the AI game. Apple's AI strategy went awry when it became overzealous -- announcing a highly ambitious feature only to withhold it, frustrating users, especially those who upgraded their phones to the A18 chip just to try it. This completely deviated from the company's typical strategy: entering the scene after competitors and doing it better. It looks like Apple learned its lesson and is now taking a Goldilocks approach. What do the best AI features announced at WWDC have in common? They aren't too ambitious (like Siri 2.0), nor are they too basic (like Genmoji). Many of the strongest features lie in the middle -- practical tools everyday users have been yearning for and can use daily to improve their workflows. A prime example is the update to Visual Intelligence, which allows Apple Intelligence to assist with screenshots, search the web, and use ChatGPT. Apple users have envied Android's Circle to Search feature for years because it really can help people with everyday inquiries. Also: Your iPhone will translate calls and texts in real time, thanks to AI Similarly, the Hold Assist feature lets Apple Intelligence detect when you're on hold and hold your place for you, alerting both you and the other person on the call when they return. This helps save users hours each day -- and it's feasible to deploy. While it may not be groundbreaking, since it already exists elsewhere, it leverages AI enough to provide practical value. Like Goldilocks' porridge, it's neither too hot nor too cold. Beyond Android duplicates, Apple also launched forward-looking experiences that pushed the envelope further without entering the too-hot-to-deliver zone. A new real-time translation feature can translate text in Messages, as well as audio on FaceTime and phone calls, with a transcript to follow along. Since large language models soared in popularity, translation has been an area in which they excel. Apple is leveraging this tried-and-true functionality and infusing it seamlessly into its devices -- a great example of what Apple does best -- taking something that already works and weaving it into its hardware and operating systems (as opposed to trying to invent entirely new AI). Apple learned another important lesson from last year's WWDC -- leaning on the tools at its disposal. One of its smartest moves was making its on-device model available to developers for the first time. Apple has a loyal and talented developer community that's likely to hit the ground running with innovative applications on Apple Intelligence, benefiting everyone -- Apple, users, and developers. Also: Apple's secret sauce is exactly what AI is missing Similarly, Apple has grown comfortable using powerful tools like ChatGPT within its ecosystem to deliver rich experiences. As mentioned above, the Visual Intelligence update relies on ChatGPT to provide assistance based on your screenshots. Other examples include the Image Playground update, which lets users create more realistic images using ChatGPT's image generator -- a smart move, since critics noted Apple's previous image generator wasn't as capable or detailed as others on the market. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Beyond consumer products, Apple is also enabling developers to access powerful AI tools already on the market. Developers can now connect AI models in Xcode, the coding platform for building apps on Apple devices, to receive AI suggestions and assistance while coding. While this approach differs from native copilots or AI assistant platforms like GitHub's, it makes sense for Apple not to reinvent the wheel. They don't need to become the next leading AI research lab -- a space where competitors whose sole focus is AI research, such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity, have an advantage. Also: iPhone envy? Five iOS 26 features that Android users already have (and are better) Apple's mission should be to give users the best possible experience on Apple devices. The best way to achieve this is by focusing on what it's known for: capable hardware, privacy, and a unique user interface and design. With the A18 chipset, Apple has laid the foundation necessary to power advanced AI features. Now, it's time to open the doors to other companies and developers to accelerate what's possible on Apple devices. Get the morning's top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter.

Apple doesn't need better AI as much as AI needs Apple to bring its A-game

One of my editors once told me that a cynic will always sound more rational, but that doesn't mean they're right. French statesman Francois Guizot basically said the same thing from another POV: "The world belongs to optimists. Pessimists are only spectators." Apple's AI strategy has a lot of cynics and pessimists right now -- and they sound pretty rational based on what we've seen during the past 12 months. The long-awaited revamp of Siri never materialized. Apple's vision of your own custom AI-powered assistant with your "personal context" has been little more than a hopeful vision. And the AI features that have arrived -- such as summaries of a string of text messages -- have been both game-changing and, at times, super frustrating to use. Also: Could WWDC be Apple's AI turning point? Here's what analysts are predicting Still, the new AI revolution that is sweeping the tech industry -- and soon the planet -- is in desperate need of many of the qualities that Apple usually exemplifies in its approach to products. I'm talking about qualities like polish, attention-to-detail, user trust, and patience. While generative AI is racing forward at a breakneck pace, it continues to feel half-baked and overhyped much of the time. I'm confident that's why ZDNET/Aberdeen research showed that only 8% of the broader public say they're willing to pay for AI features on their devices. Even more challenging, 69% said they would stop using a product or consider stopping if it had AI features that they couldn't turn off. In other words, our research shows a massive gap between the next-big-thing narrative that companies like OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and others are telling us about the AI revolution and the lack of enthusiasm from the people who are learning about these new AI features and trying to use them in the real world. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to be excited about. If you've used one of these generative AI tools to summarize a 500-page document for you, help you write a recommendation letter, or translate a document from a relatively obscure language into English, then you've gotten a taste of how useful they can be in the right circumstances. And if you're a coder or a programmer, generative AI is a life-changer. But if you've used chatbots for much time at all and started double-checking their accuracy, then you've likely also come across the fact that products like ChatGPT regularly hallucinate, make stuff up, and simply get things wrong. In short, they can't be fully trusted, and that limits a lot of their usefulness because you often have to double-check their work. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Also: 3 Apple Intelligence features that would convince me to ditch Gemini and ChatGPT Last year at WWDC 2024, Apple spent a lot of time trying to convince us that it's an AI leader, that it's been working on AI for years, and that it had exciting new AI breakthroughs on the way that only Apple could deliver because of its broad ecosystem of devices and platforms and its strong privacy stance. It was a bold move since Apple rarely talks about future products and features until they are nearly fully baked. In retrospect, last year's AI blitz at WWDC was unnecessary. Apple didn't need to enter the AI features arms race, in which OpenAI, Google, and a constellation of tech giants and cash-rich startups are playing a relentless game of one-upmanship. That's not where Apple can compete, and it's not where Apple can make the biggest impact in tech's next big wave of innovation. Apple simply needs to run the Apple playbook. One example that was on the right track at last year's WWDC was when Apple focused on integrating AI feature-by-feature into its existing software, such as Messages, Genmoji, and the Mail app. There are a lot of existing features on the iPhone, for example, that could be enhanced, streamlined, and made more powerful -- all outside of the chatbot. When it comes to Siri, Apple has likely realized that it needs to start over from the ground up. The codebase for Siri goes back decades to old government projects in DARPA, and my understanding from people with knowledge of the code is that retrofitting it for today's uses has created a classic innovator's dilemma that has hindered Siri for a decade and kept it from keeping up with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and now ChatGPT. Also: Only 8% of Americans would pay extra for AI, according to ZDNET-Aberdeen research That doesn't necessarily mean Apple needs to acquire its way into competition with LLMs and the latest chatbots. Anthropic's Claude regularly gets mentioned as a good fit for Apple because of Anthropic's focus on privacy and AI safety. However, Anthropic was valued at $61.5B in March 2025, so an acquisition would cost over $100B. That makes it very unlikely Apple or anyone else is buying Anthropic. Apple has AI talent and it has time. The generative AI revolution is still just beginning to take flight. Even if it took two years to rebuild the foundation of Siri for the age of LLMs, it would be worth it -- and lots of users will still be at the very beginning of their journey with AI in 2027. Meanwhile, Apple could continue to use LLMs to enhance individual features in the iPhone and throughout its various products -- but do it in the Apple way. Wait until the features are fully baked before showing us why we should be excited. We also shouldn't forget where the best generative AI chatbots, products, and features from all the biggest innovators are running today and will be running for years to come -- on laptops, smartphones, and tablets, many of them made by Apple. There are over 50,000 AI startups, according to Crunchbase and over $27B is currently being invested in AI, according to the New York Times. All of these new apps and tools that are being created will give people even more reasons to use their favorite devices and Apple has shown that its chips are especially ready to handle AI. And while OpenAI and Jony Ive have made a lot of noise about creating their own AI hardware device, even they've admitted that it's not going to take the place of your phone or your laptop for running the latest AI tools. So, yes, Apple remains very well-positioned to play a leading role in the AI innovation wave that's in front of us. The AI world needs Apple's discipline, focus on user experience, and patience to play the long game. And let's be honest -- it's going to need a lot of Apple's most powerful devices as well, no matter whose software is running on them.

Why Apple's best new AI features at WWDC 2025 won't be splashy (and I'm glad)

Emoji generators are cool and all, but give me AI features so seamlessly baked into software that I forget they even exist. It's not far-fetched to call today's WWDC Apple's most important event of the year -- it might even be its most important event this decade, with major implications for where the company stands in today's AI space race. Off the back of developer conferences by Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic, the folks at Cupertino find themselves even further behind in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry -- or at least it seems that way. Even my dad, who still rocks an iPhone 8 because he "can't live without Touch ID," understands that for Apple to leapfrog the competition, it must convince the public that it, too, can do AI. AI, the Apple way. Also: Apple's secret sauce is exactly what AI is missing While the value of the company's "Apple Intelligence" features has been rather disappointing, there's one thing I don't want to see during today's keynote: extravagance. Cut out the lavish image and video generators, circle to searches, and the chatbots that impersonate celebrities. And please, don't seclude any AI tools in separate hardware. Instead, give me features that blend so seamlessly with my daily apps and services that I almost forget they exist. Early reports by Bloomberg suggest that this is, indeed, the path Apple will take when pitching the future of AI to the masses today. Instead of forcing AI features onto users, the company will reportedly take its foot off the gas pedal and focus more on features that users are already using. That includes Messages, FaceTime, Apple Music, Phone, and more. Real-time text translation and poll options in Messages, improved battery management, and further integration with Gemini will be among the subtle ways the company can embed AI into its most popular apps. These features should work much like how our phones automatically switch from LTE to Wi-Fi when we step within range of our home routers. Also: What is Solarium? Everything we know about Apple's biggest UI overhaul in a decade Such features might not get as many cheers as AI-generated emojis did last year, but they will likely be the ones you and I will still be using by the end of 2025 -- hopefully because they're so frictionless that we don't notice the gradual shift in our usage patterns. The rise and fall of AI hardware is a testament to consumers' aversion to behavioral changes. Instead, perhaps the right way -- and the best way -- to introduce AI into people's lives has always been to meet them where they already are, from the apps they use every day to the gestures they're familiar with, like prompting Siri. Apple's new AI features don't need to be flashy or futuristic; they just need to be boringly awesome.

Why Apple's best new AI features at WWDC 2025 will be deliciously seamless

Emoji generators are cool and all, but give me AI features so seamlessly baked into software that I forget they even exist. It's not far-fetched to call today's WWDC Apple's most important event of the year -- it might even be its most important event this decade, with major implications for where the company stands in today's AI space race. Off the back of developer conferences by Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic, the folks at Cupertino find themselves even further behind in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry -- or at least it seems that way. Even my dad, who still rocks an iPhone 8 because he "can't live without Touch ID," understands that for Apple to leapfrog the competition, it must convince the public that it, too, can do AI. AI, the Apple way. Also: Apple's secret sauce is exactly what AI is missing While the value of the company's "Apple Intelligence" features has been rather disappointing, there's one thing I don't want to see during today's keynote: extravagance. Cut out the lavish image and video generators, circle to searches, and the chatbots that impersonate celebrities. And please, don't seclude any AI tools in separate hardware. Instead, give me features that blend so seamlessly with my daily apps and services that I almost forget they exist. Early reports by Bloomberg suggest that this is, indeed, the path Apple will take when pitching the future of AI to the masses today. Instead of forcing AI features onto users, the company will reportedly take its foot off the gas pedal and focus more on features that users are already using. That includes Messages, FaceTime, Apple Music, Phone, and more. Real-time text translation and poll options in Messages, improved battery management, and further integration with Gemini will be among the subtle ways the company can embed AI into its most popular apps. These features should work much like how our phones automatically switch from LTE to Wi-Fi when we step within range of our home routers. Also: What is Solarium? Everything we know about Apple's biggest UI overhaul in a decade Such features might not get as many cheers as AI-generated emojis did last year, but they will likely be the ones you and I will still be using by the end of 2025 -- hopefully because they're so frictionless that we don't notice the gradual shift in our usage patterns. The rise and fall of AI hardware is a testament to consumers' aversion to behavioral changes. Instead, perhaps the right way -- and the best way -- to introduce AI into people's lives has always been to meet them where they already are, from the apps they use every day to the gestures they're familiar with, like prompting Siri. Apple's new AI features don't need to be flashy or futuristic; they just need to be boringly awesome.

Apple's de-chatbot-ification of AI is nearly complete

After the WWDC 2025 keynote, it's official -- Apple is going in a different direction on AI than the rest of the industry. There were no outlandish promises or predicted breakthroughs, unlike last year's moonshots on "personal context" and a reimagined version of Siri. And there was very little mention of chatting with bots at all. Also: The 7 best AI features announced at Apple's WWDC that I can't wait to use Instead, Apple is taking the less speculative and more established strengths of large language models (LLMs) and integrating them piece-by-piece into the iPhone and other devices -- often without the need to even mention the word AI. First and foremost is Apple's Live Translation feature. Language translation is one of the things that LLMs do really well. In most cases, you have to copy and paste into a chatbot or use a language app like Google Translate to take advantage of those superpowers. In iOS 26, Apple is integrating its Live Translation features directly into the Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps so that you can use the feature in the places where you're having conversations. Next, there's Visual Intelligence. Apple will now let you use it from any app or screen on your phone by integrating it directly into the screenshot interface. With iOS 26, Visual Intelligence can now recognize what's on your screen, understand the context, and recommend actions. The example that was shown in the keynote was an event flyer where you take a screenshot and Visual Intelligence automatically creates a calendar event for it. This is actually a step toward an AI agent, one of the most popular -- and sometimes overhyped -- tech trends of 2025. I'm looking forward to trying this feature and seeing what else it can do. I've had good luck using the Samsung/Google version of a feature like this called Circle-to-Search. Another new thing Visual Intelligence will let you do in iOS 26 is ask ChatGPT questions about what you've captured on your screen. Visual Intelligence can also take the text of what you've captured in your screenshot and read it aloud to you or summarize it. Also: Apple's Goldilocks approach to AI at WWDC is a winner. Here's why Another one of the excellent LLM capabilities that's been enhanced this year can be seen in Shortcuts, which can now tap into the Apple Intelligence models. For example, you can create a Shortcut that would take any file you save to the Desktop on MacOS 26, use Apple Intelligence to examine the contents of the file (while preserving privacy), and then categorize it and move it into one of several different folders that you've named based on categories of stuff you do. You can even automate this to happen every time you save a file to the desktop, which again makes this more like an AI agent. One more way that Apple is tapping into LLMs can be seen in the new functionality in the Share button in iOS 26. For example, you can now take a list of things from a PDF or a web page in Safari, select the text, tap the Share button, and then select the Reminders app. Apple Intelligence will use its generative models to analyze the list and turn them each into to-do items in the category you choose in the Reminders app. If it's a long list, then you can even have the AI break it into subcategories for you, again using LLM's natural language processing (NLP) capabilities. Lastly, while most of the leading players in generative AI typically offer both a chatbot for the general public and a coding companion for software developers -- since those are two of the things that LLMs are best known for -- Apple didn't say much about building either at WWDC 2025. With thousands of developers on the campus of Apple Park, it might have seemed like the perfect time to talk about both. But all Apple would say about the next version of Siri -- which has long been in need of a re-think -- was that it's still working on it and that it won't release the next Siri until it meets the company's high standards for user experience. And when it comes to programming companions, Apple did not unveil its own coding copilot for developer tools like Swift and Xcode -- after promising Swift Assist at last year's WWDC. Instead, Apple made a couple of big moves to empower developers. It opened up its own Foundation Models framework to allow developers to tap into the powers of Apple Intelligence -- with as little as three lines of code in Swift, Apple claims. Plus, it all happens on-device and at no cost. Also: How Apple just changed the developer world with this one AI announcement And in Xcode 26, Apple will now allow developers to use the generative coding companion of their choice. ChatGPT is integrated by default in Xcode 26 but developers can also use their API keys from other providers to bring those models into Xcode. Apple sees this as a fast-moving space and wants developers to have access to the latest tools of their choice, rather than limiting developers to only stuff built by Apple. All in all, Apple is making a lot of pragmatic choices when it comes to AI, leaning into the things that LLMs do best, and simply using generative AI to make better features on its phones, laptops, and other devices. Keep up with all the latest AI developments from Apple and the rest of the AI ecosystem by subscribing to ZDNET's free Tech Today newsletter.

WWDC 2025: Apple Is Years Behind Google and Microsoft in AI. How Much Does It Matter?

At Apple's 2024 Worldwide Developer Conference, I sat in the baking sun outside the company's glass spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino while Craig Federighi described the marvelous capabilities of Apple Intelligence. He promised that your iPhone would be able to synthesize your interactions with public data to deliver practical answers to questions like "What time should I leave to pick up Julian?" Your phone would know that Julian is your nephew who is visiting you in Albuquerque on the 6:10 Delta flight, and how the current traffic affects when you should depart for the airport. These examples excited the crowd. But this and other functionality still isn't available, and there's no sign of Apple doing anything about it. Meanwhile, Google and Microsoft continue to add advanced AI features to their respective platforms. We're fast approaching a breaking point here. If Cupertino doesn't recenter its attention on Apple Intelligence very soon (WWDC seems like an obvious time to start) and make tangible progress, I don't think it will ever be a true competitor in the AI space. Consequentially, I don't think consumers will continue to pay for technology with simply average AI. Apple Intelligence Stays Behind the Curtain Siri is a major entry point for AI features on Apple devices, so last year, I asked with high expectations: Will Apple's AI Finally Make Siri Smart? Now, we know that the answer is "not this year." Instead, we got a few updates, such as the ability to type to Siri, better voice recognition, continued context, a full-screen glowing effect, and integrated Apple product knowledge. For me, the best among these is the continued conversational context, which means Siri remembers all the previous things you say or type during an interaction. Other capabilities also arrived across Apple's OSes, but they too are underwhelming. They allow you to generate emoji and get writing assistance, for example. These updates are a far cry from the vision Apple outlined at WWDC. I applaud the development of the Private Cloud Compute feature since a secure environment for AI is vital, but Apple Intelligence still needs to have compelling features for people to care. On that note, the company has since hinted that the truly smarter AI-powered Siri won't be arriving until 2026. That's two years after Copilot arrived on Microsoft's Windows 11 and a year after Gemini showed up on Google's Android. Two years is a long time to be behind on AI, and potentially an insurmountable hurdle. Copilot and Gemini are far more advanced at this point. The AI assistants can see what's on your screen and provide information, analysis, and actions based on it. They can also organize, summarize, and draft responses for your emails, generate photorealistic images (Apple's Image Playground can create only cartoon-like images), and translate any playing audio or video on your device in real-time. Though Apple promises this kind of intelligence, it's not nearly on the same level. According to reports, Apple will apparently focus on its Solarium interface update at WWDC instead of announcing development efforts for Apple Intelligence. Its OSes already benefit from decades of refinements and deep familiarity among users, so I'm not really sure what the point is in light of its AI shortcomings. Sales Aren't Falling Yet, But That Could Change Soon For all its AI woes, Apple is still a leader among phone vendors. Yes, iPhone sales decreased 5% over the last quarter, and market share edged down from 19% to 18% among all phone vendors. But Samsung's market share also slipped, from 20% to 19%. Both of these declines could just be due to market saturation. People might just be unwilling to spend on a new phone because of tariffs. Restrictions on iPhone sales in China, where overall phone sales actually grew, are also likely affecting Apple's numbers. On the desktop OS side, the market share of macOS computers continues to rise at the expense of Windows PC manufacturers, though it's still far behind Dell, Lenovo, and HP. Whether we just aren't far enough into the era of AI for sales figures to reflect Apple's AI failings remains unclear, but the industry is shifting fast. And Apple is actually in a good position hardware-wise; all its latest devices have chips capable of local AI processing. Not all PCs have NPUs, and not all Android phones have the power to run on-device AI features. That could be Apple's saving grace if only the software features catch up. When Will Apple Get AI Right? AI has existed a lot longer than you might realize. Machine learning and neural networks have been around for decades, dating all the way back to the '50s and gathering steam in the '90s, aughts, and teens. Progress in AI takes time, too -- a lot of time. It took until just a couple of years ago to make the jump to arrive at the kind of Generative Pre-trained Transformer technology that made ChatGPT seem so revolutionary. Apple is a big company with massive resources and top tech minds. It could absolutely become competitive, but it needs to commit to this goal with a sense of urgency to have a chance to catch Google and Microsoft and save its sales numbers in the long run. Otherwise, it might not ever be able to meet consumers' expectations and excitement, and thus risks missing out on the defining technology of this decade.

Apple Intelligence Is About to Face Its Toughest Test: Software Developers

Granting developers access to Apple's core AI models could finally pull back the curtain on how the tech works, and shed light on whether its 'groundbreaking' privacy promise holds water. CUPERTINO, Calif. -- As we speak, software developers around the world are exploring the inner workings of Apple's foundational AI models for the first time. They got access through a developer beta on June 9, a major though little-discussed announcement at WWDC 2025. Opening up the 3-billion-parameter model through the new Foundation Model framework is a "huge step," says Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of Software Engineering. "We think this will ignite a whole new wave of intelligent experiences in the apps users rely on every day. We can't wait to see what developers create." Anyone in the Apple Developer Program can try it out. Full access to all tools requires a $99-per-year membership, though that might be cheaper than paying to access models from other brands, depending on the need. A public beta will be available next month. The models are also only available when programming apps using Apple's Swift coding language. Plus, Apple Intelligence is limited to Apple's newest devices, so it might be a while until we see what these models can really do. Still, my hope is that giving developers access will clarify where Apple's technology stands, and how it compares to rivals like OpenAI and Google. Will the models offer enough capabilities to entice developers to use it? If so, will the app features relying on them work as expected? To Date, We've Questioned Apple's Intelligence I've found the details of Apple's AI opaque since it first debuted at WWDC 2024. I noticed that Apple did not name the models, like OpenAI does with GPT-4o, or Google with Gemini 2.5, for example. It's just "Apple Intelligence," a phrase the company uses for all-things AI; consumer-facing features, backend technology, branding, you name it. That left me wondering whether Apple actually trained and developed something new, or if this so-called intelligence is just a big exercise in rearranging the furniture. So far, the features powered by Apple Intelligence have been hit or miss. Several are half-baked, like last fall's Siri updates, and the Image Playground, which creates odd, animated images of people in your Contacts. Apple might be aware that it's a little weird; at WWDC, it announced that it's incorporating ChatGPT's image generator into the Image Playground. In fairness, some Apple Intelligence-backed features announced at WWDC are impressive, but they follow those already available on rival devices. That includes Live Translation (Google has this on Meet) and Apple's new "Visual Intelligence" feature, a concept Google pioneered with Circle-to-Search. Apple hasn't yet demonstrated that it has the chops to lead the way in AI. Why Apple's Models Might Be Worth Using Opening the models could give us a better sense of what Apple is capable of, though some devs are struggling to muster excitement for Apple Intelligence, The Wall Street Journal reports, particularly when they could experiment with larger models from OpenAI or even DeepSeek. Even if the models end up being limited, which we don't know yet to be true, there are a few reasons they could be worth using. For one, there's the fact that Apple customized the models to work seamlessly on its devices. Easy access may also encourage developers to at least experiment with them for basic features. The models also support 15 languages and work offline. Apple also offers the strictest privacy promise in the AI biz. By keeping the data "on-device," the tech doesn't harvest data for third parties or send it to far-flung servers, aside from Apple's Private Cloud Compute network. That's well-suited to education apps like Kahoot!, which could use the on-device model to "generate a personalized quiz" from a student's notes. Apple also cited AllTrails, which could use AI to let hikers find trails suited to their needs while off-the-grid. The data comes from publisher licensing agreements, open-sourced datasets, and "ethical webcrawling" with the Applebot. Apple says it does not use "users' private personal data or user interactions when training our foundation models," and it removes "certain categories of personally identifiable information and to exclude profanity and unsafe material." "The on-device model is optimized for efficiency and tailored for Apple silicon, enabling low-latency inference with minimal resource usage, while the server model is designed to deliver high accuracy and scalability for more complex tasks," Apple says. "Together, they form a complementary suite of solutions adaptable to diverse applications." Maybe we should all cross our fingers that developers are satisfied with the models, especially if the on-device privacy promise holds up. That's a bit more warm and fuzzy than using China's DeepSeek, which is known for being cheap and powerful -- and also sending data to the CCP. But it remains to be seen if Apple's models perform well and actually manage data responsibly. The next year should be telling, for Apple users and the company's AI ambitions. For more on Apple's AI strategy, check out this take from our sibling site, CNET: Apple's de-chatbot-ification of AI is nearly complete.

Apple Event to Put Focus on 'Existential Risk' of AI Struggles

Apple Inc. shares have been heavily tethered to US trade policies this year, but its annual developer's conference could refocus Wall Street's attention on a potentially bigger problem: its struggles with artificial intelligence. The iPhone maker's WWDC event kicks off Monday and isn't expected to feature much in the way of major AI releases. That could shine a light on Apple's shortfalls with the critical technology, threatening further weakness for its shares with few obvious catalysts on the horizon to turn things around.

WWDC: Apple faces AI, regulatory challenges as it woos software developers

CUPERTINO, California, June 9 (Reuters) - Apple is facing an unprecedented set of technical and regulatory challenges as some of its key executives are set to take the stage on Monday at the company's annual software developer conference. On the technical side, many of the long-awaited artificial-intelligence features Apple promised at the same conference a year ago have been delayed until next year, even as its rivals such as Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab woo developers with a bevvy of new AI features. Those unfulfilled promises included key improvements to Siri, its digital assistant. On the regulatory front, courts in the U.S. and Europe are poised to pull down the lucrative walls around Apple's App Store as even some of the company's former supporters question whether its fees are justified. Those challenges are coming to a head at the same time U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened 25% tariffs on Apple's best-selling iPhone. Apple's shares are down more than 40% since the start of the year, a sharper decline than Google and also lagging the AI-driven gains in Microsoft shares. Apple has launched some of the AI features it promised last year, including a set of writing tools and image-generation tools, but it still relies on partners such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI for some of those capabilities. Bloomberg has reported that Apple may open up in-house AI models to developers this year. But analysts do not believe Apple yet has what technologists call a "multi-modal" model - that is, one capable of understanding imagery, audio and language at the same time - that could power a pair of smart glasses, a category that has become a runaway hit for Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab. Google said last month it would jump back in to this category, with partners. Such glasses, which are far lighter and cheaper than Apple's Vision Pro headset, could become useful because they would understand what the user is looking at and could help answer questions about it. While Apple has focused on its $3,500 Vision Pro headset, Google and Meta have seized on the smart glasses as a cheaper way to deploy their AI software prowess against Apple in its stronghold of hardware. Meta Ray-Bans all sell for less than $400. Analysts say Apple needs to answer that challenge but that it is not likely to do so this week. "I'm not trying to replace my phone - this is a complementary thing that gives me more world context, because it's got a camera and it sees what I see, and I can talk to it in natural language," said Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative Strategies. "Apple is not positioned to do that." To be sure, Apple's rivals are not decisively ahead in smart glasses. Anshel Sag, principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, said Meta's Ray-Bans still lack some features and Google has not yet landed its "Gemini" model in a mass-market pair of glasses yet. "Meta has the undisputed lead, but Google is catching up fast and probably has the best-suited AI for the job," Sag said. "Vision Pro is great, but it's a showroom product that developers can use." But Bob O'Donnell, CEO of TECHnalysis Research, said it remains far from clear that smart glasses will gain wide acceptance. O'Donnell also said it is not certain that Apple is at any particular disadvantage if it partners with a company such as Google, OpenAI or even a smaller firm like Perplexity for core AI technology. So far, O'Donnell said, there is not yet strong evidence that consumers are basing major hardware-purchasing decisions on AI features. "There's an argument to be made that it's OK that (Apple) is behind because, except for the bleeding edge, most people don't care," O'Donnell said. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in Cupertino, California; Editing by Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

Apple heads into annual showcase reeling from AI missteps, tech upheaval and Trump's trade war

CUP (AP) -- After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple will try to regain its footing Monday at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The pre-summer rite, which attracts thousands of developers to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, is expected to be more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event during the previous two years. In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri. But heading into this year's showcase, Apple faces nagging questions about whether the nearly 50-year-old company has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that turned it into a tech trendsetter. Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset, Apple this year is expected to focus on an overhaul of its software that may include a new, more tactile look for the iPhone's native apps and a new nomenclature for identifying its operating system updates. Even though it might look like Apple is becoming a technological laggard, Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson contends the company still has ample time to catch up in an AI race that's "more of a marathon, than a sprint. It will force Apple to evolve its operating systems." If reports about its iOS naming scheme pan out, Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That would mean the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 -- as it would be under the current sequential naming approach. Whatever it's named, the next iOS will likely be released as a free update in September, around the same time as the next iPhone models if Apple follows its usual road map. Meanwhile, Apple's references to AI may be less frequent than last year when the technology was the main attraction. While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, Apple still hasn't been able to soup up Siri in the ways that it touted at last year's conference. The delays became so glaring that a chastened Apple retreated from promoting Siri in its AI marketing campaigns earlier this year. "It's just taking a bit longer than we thought," Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last month when asked about the company's headaches with Siri. "But we are making progress, and we're extremely excited to get the more personal Siri features out there." While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple's biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. "While much of WWDC will be about what the next great thing is for the iPhone, the unspoken question is: What's the next great thing after the iPhone?" said Dipanjan Chatterjee, another analyst for Forrester Research. Besides facing innovation challenges, Apple also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to Google's illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth $20 billion annually to Apple while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commission on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system. On top of all that, Apple has been caught in the cross-hairs of President Donald Trump's trade war with China, a key manufacturing hub for the Cupertino, California, company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president's first administration, but he has had less success during Trump's second term, which seems more determined to prod Apple to make its products in the U.S.. "The trade war and uncertainty linked to the tariff policy is of much more concern today for Apple's business than the perception that Apple is lagging behind on AI innovation," Husson said. The multi-dimensional gauntlet facing Apple is spooking investors, causing the company's stock price to plunge by nearly 20% so far this year -- a decline that has erased $750 billion in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, Apple now ranks third behind long-time rival Microsoft, another AI leader, and AI chipmaker Nvidia.

Apple Knows AI Isn't What People Really Want, but It Can't Say That

Apple execs didn't have a super satisfying answer about what went wrong with AI Siri, but they also don't really need one. If you felt like Apple's WWDC 2025 was a bit light on AI, you're not alone. While conferences from competitors like Google and its annual I/O keynote were basically breathless in launching new Gemini features, models, and video generation tools, Apple took a more tepid approach. This year, we got a new AI health coach, Visual Intelligence, for more agentic, multimodal AI that can view your iPhone screen, and everyone's favoriteâ€"new Genmoji. One thing that doesn't appear on that shortlist is Apple's promised AI Siri update, which was supposed to have rolled out last year as a centerpiece of Apple Intelligence. If you've been keeping track of that saga, you may have noticed that rollout didn't happen. Apple has since delayed the launch of its AI-supercharged Siri, causing some to cast doubt on whether Apple has the firepower to actually take AI chatbots and the large language models (LLMs) that power them, or AI image/video generation tools, and run with them. Though I'm sure Apple would have preferred not to address those concerns, execs didn't get to sneak away from the developer conference without addressing the AI elephant in the room. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, said, "We want to do this the right way." When asked exactly when the right way is going to come along, Federighi was less authoritative. "We want to make sure we have it very much in hand before we start talking about dates for obvious reasons," Federighi said. Smart. A little late for that, but smart. It's clear Apple is under pressure to deliver AI features via Apple Intelligence, which is no surprise given the way rhetoric (and money) around AI has exploded, but what's most interesting about that isn't the pressure necessarily; it's where the pressure is coming from. As I wrote before the start of WWDC, in a lot of ways, Apple's Siri stumbles, and AI issues writ large are more optical than consequential. That's to say that people don't necessarily care about AI features yet, and as a result, Apple likely doesn't eitherâ€"or not that it doesn't care, it's that it doesn't care about rushing them out. Of course, it can't really say that for the optical reasons I already mentioned. Despite the consumer-side collective shrug, investors are paying attention, and that may be exactly why, in an AI-light, year of WWDC, Apple's stock immediately dipped following its keynote. But the fact remains: AI, while still on the roadmap, isn't make-or-break for selling hardware yet. Call me a skeptic, but I don't think AI Siri will be the determining factor of whether or not most people rush out to buy this year's iPhone. It'll be cameras; it'll be a thinner form factor; it'll be the fact that they need a new phone and simply cannot bear the thought of switching to Android and getting green bubbled by the Messages app. If Apple is going to care about AI in the here and now, then it'll be the result of consumers, not market forces. That being said, Apple may need to care about AI a lot more in the near future. Progress in generative AI and LLMs has been rapid, and while skeptical of AI features, I'm not ruling out a watershed moment for AI on your phones or laptops quite yet. I'm also not ruling out that said watershed moment could actually come from Apple, despite the fact that it's "behind" in rolling out Apple Intelligence features. Federighi, when talking with TechRadar, said: “When we started with Apple Intelligence, we were very clear: this wasn’t about just building a chatbot. So, seemingly, when some of these Siri capabilities I mentioned didn’t show up, people were like, ’What happened, Apple? I thought you were going to give us your chatbot. That was never the goal, and it remains not our primary goal.†That could be obfuscation or an excuse, for sure, but I'm inclined to give Federighi the benefit of the doubt here because Apple has a track record of making wait-and-see work. Some of Apple's polish has worn off as years go by, but entering late into a field (smartwatches, for example) has worked out in its favor more than once, and AI may be a perfect arena to make that strategy work once again. Google may have a lot of AI features, and so does Samsung, but truly useful features are arguable. Circle to Search is about the closest thing I can point to, and I don't know if that's worthy of heralding an AI revolution. Maybe patience, progress, and forethought will make whatever AI features Apple does release actually worth it, or maybe AI phones are a fad, and Apple can rest easy knowing it didn't divert all of its resources into pushing the wrong boulder up a hill. It's hard to say what the future really has in store for AI and all of the devices it's being shoved into, but if there's one thing I can't do, it's rule Apple out of the equation. Maybe not caring isn't the perfect way to bring you the most AI features in the shortest amount of time, but it may be the best way to bring you stuff you actually use.

Apple needed to fix one thing at WWDC25 and it didn't

At Monday's WWDC keynote, Apple pretended 2025 was just another year. There was a lot of speculation about how Apple would frame this event (some of it from this pointy pontificator). Turns out it framed it pretty much like any other event. While the Macalope would have bet that Apple would choose to open with something about its commitment to accessibility or how many lives the Apple Watch has saved or COO Jeff Williams work with orphaned kittens, it instead led with Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi racing a Formula 1 car around the roof of Apple Park. (Which raises the question, why does Craig park on driveways and drive on Apple Park, anyways?) Was it cute? It was a little cute. But was it a time to be cute? Not really. You might complain that it's just an ad for an Apple TV+ movie, but that's to be expected. If the Macalope corners you at a party, he's probably going to spend some time talking about his latest pet project, too (hand-blown glass poodles, it's going great, thanks). As was rumored, Siri was largely a no-show at the event, with no update on when the more personalized, conversational Siri might arrive, if ever. That didn't mean Apple didn't want to talk about AI. Honestly, it wouldn't shut up about it. After the "humorous" intro video, Tim Cook appeared and mentioned AI no fewer than 14 billion times. Or maybe it just seemed like 14 billion. The big news on the AI front was that Apple will be providing developer APIs for its AI offering, meaning developer apps can now drain your battery just as fast as Apple itself can. Cool-or, well, not cool, as the case may be. Still, that's a plus at a time when developer relations are not great. The Macalope would say "tenuous" but they've been so bad for so long and, he hates to say, they can get worse still. Apple clearly feels it has developers over a barrel and that it has enough customer good will, time, money and market clout that it can continue to treat them however it wants to. Sadly, this continues to be true, at least for the time being. But, wait, we just went a whole paragraph without talking about AI. That won't do. Apple is so into AI, it'll have you know, that it's even prepared to have it drill you maggots until you can be all you can be. That sounds fun. There were many other updates on AI but, joking aside, there were actually some other big announcements. Apple announced a whole new design ethic across its operating systems (and, as expected, renumbered the releases). Dubbed "Has Anyone Seen My Glasses?" this new interface design features... Anyway, Liquid Glass goes heavy on the transparency and, while it looks cool and mod and new and cool, transparency in operating systems isn't new at all. Heck, it's not even new on macOS. It is a tried, tested, and often failed style of user interface. Having seen this blurry movie before, the Macalope can't really get worked up about complaining about it, though. If you hate it or can't use your device effectively with it on, Apple's commitment to accessibility means you'll be able to turn it off, which the Macalope almost certainly will be doing on the Mac but maybe not on iOS. Besides, you only have to worry about Liquid Glass until it comes time to jazz Apple's operating systems up again in 15 years with a fresh new look Apple will call "Totally Opaque." We think you're going to love it. The real star of the show to the Macalope was somewhat unexpected. If you had to pick one announcement that people were pretty unabashedly and pleasantly surprised by, it would be the iPadOS announcement. After years of trying to fudge the multitasking issue with various gimmicky user interfaces, Apple finally shipped what power users pretty much wanted all along: windowing on iPadOS. And it did it without just slapping macOS on the platform. Windows behave like classic iPadOS windows... until they don't. Honestly, it's the rather elegant solution the Macalope hoped Apple would come up with. It feels like it's been a long time coming, but it's coming. There were some big updates for visionOS as well, but those just won't impact that many users and won't for years to come. It is not surprising at all that Apple didn't take the time to apologize to customers for not shipping the AI features it promised or to developers for doing things like appealing the court ruling striking down the company's anti-steering policy. As one developer put it: To me, the main thing Apple needed to fix this WWDC was their relationship with developers, and this keynote suggests they think otherwise. Clearly, Apple doesn't seem to think it has a problem. And, as the Macalope has pointed out before, it kind of doesn't, at least not yet. And that's the problem.

WWDC Interview: Apple's Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak on Siri delay, voice AI as therapist and what's next for Apple Intelligence

Apple's AI strategy is fundamentally different than OpenAI and Google For something that was supposed to be a virtual no-show at WWDC 2025, Apple Intelligence wound up having a fairly big presence during the keynote with several new features announced for Apple's various platforms. We're getting Live Translation in iOS 26 across a number of apps, improved Visual Intelligence that can now read your screen, Call Screen and Hold for You in the Phone app and an AI-supercharged Shorcuts app. But there's something big still missing: the new Siri. Yes, Apple continues to work on promised features like understanding your personal context, on-screen awareness and in-app actions. And we have confirmation that "in the coming year" means 2026 -- in other words, after iOS 26 launches this fall. Along with Lance Ulanoff from TechRadar, I sat down with Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, and Greg Joswiak, the senior vice president of worldwide marketing, to get a clearer picture of Siri's future. We also discussed Apple's overall approach to AI and how it's fundamentally different than OpenAI and Google Gemini. Apple did deliver a new Siri with iOS 18, with a number of enhancements including a more conversational experience, maintaining context and type to Siri. But some of the most exciting promised features have been delayed. The question is why? "We found that when we were developing this feature that we had, really, two phases, two versions of the ultimate architecture that we were going to create," said Federighi. "Version one we had working here at the time that we were getting close to the conference, and had, at the time, high confidence that we could deliver it. "We thought by December, and if not, we figured by spring, until we announced it as part of WWDC. Because we knew the world wanted a really complete picture of, 'What's Apple thinking about the implications of Apple intelligence and where is it going?'" As it turns out, Apple was simultaneously working on two versions of underlying Siri architecture. V1 was used to build the initial Siri demos. But V2 was needed to deliver a complete solution to customers. "We set about for months, making it work better and better across more app intents, better and better for doing search," said Federighi. "But fundamentally, we found that the limitations of the V1 architecture weren't getting us to the quality level that we knew our customers needed and expected. "We realized that V1 architecture, we could push and push and put in more time, but if we tried to push that out in the state it was going to be in, it would not meet our customer expectations or Apple standards, and that we had to move to the V2 architecture. "As soon as we realized that, and that was during the spring, we let the world know that we weren't going to be able to put that out, and we were going to keep working on really shifting to the new architecture and releasing something." So what's the timetable now? It's not clear, and Apple won't announce a date until the update Siri is fully baked. "We will announce the date when we're ready to seed it, and you're all ready to be able to experience it," said Federighi. Millions of people are now using ChatGPT with Voice and Gemini Live to chat with daily, whether it's to get answers to everyday questions, help with DIY projects or even life advice. OpenAI's Sam Altman has said that people are using ChatGPT regularly to make life decisions, because the chatbot has the full context of every person in their life and what they've talked about. Many are even starting to use these voice chatbots as stand-in therapists. Federighi isn't down on the concept, but it doesn't sound like Siri will be your next life coach anytime soon. "As a therapist, it's a reasonable thing to do," said Federighi. "I know a lot of people find it to be a real powerful way to gather their thoughts, you know, brainstorm, do all kinds of things. And so sure, these are great things but are they the most important thing for Apple to develop well? "You know, time will tell where we go there, but that's not the main thing we've set out to do at this time." For Apple, the main message with its AI strategy is that it doesn't want to build a chatbot. Instead, it wants to "meet people where they are" with AI. That means delivering Apple Intelligence features inside apps that are designed to make your life easier or more fun, such as with the new Call Screening and Hold for Me features in the Phone app and Live Translate in Messages, Phone and FaceTime. So, for example, if you're in the messages app and someone sends you a message in a language that you don't speak, Live Translate will ask if you want it to start translating for you? "It's integrated so it's there within reach whenever you need it in the way you need it with it being contextually relevant and having access to the tools necessary to accomplish what you want to accomplish at that moment," said Federighi. "Apple's job is to pick figure out the right experiences that make sense in the context of what we offer to customers and to make that technology," said Joswiak. "The features that you're seeing in Apple Intelligence isn't a destination for us, there's no app on intelligence. [It's about] making all the things you do every day better." For now, Apple seems focused on delivering AI features that will make an impact as part of its new suite of software rolling out this fall, including iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 Tahoe and even the Apple Watch with watchOS 26 and the new Workout Buddy feature. And Apple is also opening up its large language models to third-party developers so they can tap into Apple Intelligence powers on device. A good example of Apple's AI evolution is Visual Intelligence. The upgrade coming with iOS 26 will let you identify an object on your screen and then instantly buy it on Etsy, for example. "I didn't limit it just so that we let developers adopt an app and use the intents API. To plug into that experience, so if you have I don't know an app for collecting wine and you want to look up in your wine collector app, you can easily add it to your collection," said Federighi. Apple Intelligence is still very much a work in progress, but Apple seems focused on delivering the Siri that was promised along with a wide range of AI-powered features that make its ecosystem stickier -- even as the competition heats up. "In the end, people buy products right, they buy experiences, said Joswiak. "We're very proud of the fact that across each of our hero product categories, we're number one of customer satisfaction right? "There's a reason for that, and we're trying to make those product experiences better and better and make those products better and better and that's what customers care about."

Apple had an impossible task at WWDC. Here's why.

Apple is increasingly caught between a rock and a hard place -- and not just on Artificial Intelligence. Here's the problem, one that may have been stretched to breaking point during CEO Tim Cook's 2025 WWDC keynote. There are people in the market for Apple products, who want and have always wanted technology that just works. They want gadgets that are intuitive to use, not intrusive. According to multiple surveys, consumers continue to be distrustful of anything with an AI label. According to the nonprofit IAPP, 57 percent of us believe AI poses a threat to our privacy. Then there are investors who are in the market for Apple stock, who are always on the lookout for tech products that seem new. Overall, tech investors are still drinking the AI Kool-Aid despite abundant evidence -- including a brand new paper from Apple researchers! -- that AI's ability to reason, and to be useful in general, may have already hit a wall. Apparently, Apple is trying to keep both of those groups happy. Result: a keynote that liberally sprinkles on mentions of "Apple Intelligence," a rebranding of many software services (including voice assistant Siri, which got just one shout-out compared to multiple mentions of ChatGPT), but failed to gin up any excitement about what Apple Intelligence can do for you. Given privacy is a major concern for consumers, it's cool that Apple Intelligence won't send any of your queries to the company. But we already knew that from Cook's 2024 keynote that introduced Apple Intelligence. Without getting tough on dangers posed by other companies who are more reckless with your data when it comes to AI -- the same way Cook once dared to call Android a "toxic hellstew" -- mentions of privacy just fly by like an F1 race car. More than anything else, Apple's updates were mere vibes. Apple Intelligence is a vibe. The "liquid glass" design refresh is a vibe. Craig Fedherigi is definitely a vibe. But tech stocks are coasting on a different vibe right now, the one OpenAI's Sam Altman has been nurturing for the last three years -- including hiring Apple legend Jony Ive to create a screenless gadget. There are only so many F1 dad jokes Apple can make to compete with that alluring vision. The Apple analyst who called the event a "yawner" because Apple did not "monetize on the AI front" spoke for the market, which drove Apple stock down from the minute the keynote began. You'd think the interests of Apple consumers and Apple investors would not diverge, and for most of the past two decades they haven't. Thanks to the roaring success of the iPhone, Apple got millions of new customers for all its well-designed, highly-rated, premium price products. Investors rewarded that runaway growth by making Apple the first company ever with a market capitalization of more than $3 trillion. But Apple is increasingly dealing with mature markets. Or in normal person-speak, its gadgets have solved most major problems and settled down into standard versions of themselves. The average user can buy an iPhone now and be reasonably confident that its superfast chipset and self-updating software will keep it future-proofed for the next five years or so. You can still rock an iPhone 11 from 2019 well into 2026; it's the oldest phone that officially supports the upcoming iOS 26. And that's as it should be! Apple would not have earned its current level of love from consumers if it had gone any further with the obnoxious business strategy known as planned obsolescence, or if it wasn't trying to rein in the environmental impact of its gadgets. A business model that has nothing to do with selling user data means the company can crow about privacy on billboards. But it also means Cook has to work extra hard to convince the market that incremental updates are something to be excited about -- and risks looking extra in the process. "Liquid Glass" is a case in point. Fedherigi described it as a "material" that sits atop the user interface in Apple OSes, as if the company had literally injected liquid glass into all its screens. Spoiler alert: it hasn't. Liquid Glass is just a design language that makes menus a bit more "see-through-y", in Mashable senior editor Stan Schroeder's memorable summary. Such obvious overhyping makes Apple marketing a bit more see-through-y too. In search of a new look, Liquid Glass also adds a drop shadow to some icons -- verboten at Apple back when Jony Ive was there. Former Apple executive Scott Forstall was ousted in 2012 in part because he championed this kind of design, known as skeumorphism, whereas Ive favored a flat look. Apparently Apple has extended its recycling program to include design ideas. Apple's new call screening feature will positively affect more lives than Liquid Glass. But Android has taken the lead on that front, so Cook can't really claim credit for it; it's just listed as one of a grab bag of features in Apple Intelligence. Polls in group chats? That's also an Apple Intelligence feature. Order tracking in Apple Wallet? Sure, let's call that Apple Intelligence too. But whether you fear AI or love it, that grab-bag approach to what Apple Intelligence actually is ain't going to cut it. Investors, who have already sent the market cap of AI-leveraged companies like Microsoft and Nvidia soaring higher than Apple's, aren't going to be satisfied with what seems like a weak commitment to the coming AI era. And so long as he refuses to explain what the market and other companies get wrong about AI, Cook will stay stuck between the rock and the hard place.

Apple's big Siri update still isn't ready for primetime

Apple kicked off its 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference with a glossy flourish: a sweeping UI redesign called Liquid Glass for the newly christened iOS 26. It's translucent, fluid, and "expressive," Apple says. Nearly every new feature is now stitched together with some form of Apple Intelligence or, in some cases, OpenAI's ChatGPT. However, amid all the name-dropping of LLMs and neural networks, one thing was conspicuously missing: Siri. Apple's OG AI assistant. Apparently, she's still not ready for her makeover. "As we've shared, we're continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal," said Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of Software Engineering, during the keynote. "This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year." When Apple first introduced its Apple Intelligence branding almost exactly a year ago, it was supposed to usher in a smarter, sharper Siri -- a reimagined voice assistant powered by AI that combined its legacy system with Apple Intelligence to handle more advanced queries. But, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported, Apple's entry into the AI race has been more reluctant than revolutionary. Because of this, Siri has become something of a collateral victim in what can only be described as Apple's internal AI scramble. You can see the fallout in how iOS 18 has handled its so-called intelligence upgrades, rolled out in fragmented waves over the last year or so. Back in March, Gurman noted Apple was still "running way behind" on delivering any substantial updates to Siri, with its more conversational, AI-enhanced version unlikely to land before 2027. So, yes, iOS just got a sleek new skin, but Siri is still stuck in the waiting room.

This is what really happened with Siri and Apple Intelligence, according to Apple

There's no denying that Apple's Siri digital chatbot didn't exactly hold a place of honor at this year's WWDC 2025 keynote. Apple mentioned it, and reiterated that it was taking longer than it had anticipated to bring everyone the Siri it promised a year ago, saying the full Apple Integration would arrive "in the coming year." Apple has since confirmed this means 2026. That means we won't be seeing the kind of deep integration that would have let Siri use what it knew about you and your iOS-running iPhone to become a better digital companion in 2025. It won't, as part of the just-announced iOS 26, use app intents to understand what's happening on the screen and take action on your behalf based on that. I have my theories about the reason for the delay, most of which revolve around the tension between delivering a rich AI experience and Apple's core principles regarding privacy. They often seem at cross purposes. This, though, is guesswork. Only Apple can tell us exactly what's going on - and now they have. I, along with Tom's Guide Global Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer, sat down shortly after the keynote with Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and Apple Global VP of Marketing Greg Joswiak for a wide-ranging podcast discussion about virtually everything Apple unveiled during its 90-minute keynote. We started by asking Federighi about what Apple delivered regarding Apple Intelligence, as well as the status of Siri, and what iPhone users might expect this year or next. Federighi was surprisingly transparent, offering a window into Apple's strategic thinking when it comes to Apple Intelligence, Siri, and AI. Federighi started by walking us through all that Apple has delivered with Apple Intelligence thus far, and, to be fair, it's a considerable amount "We were very focused on creating a broad platform for really integrated personal experiences into the OS." recalled Federighi, referring to the original Apple Intelligence announcement at WWDC 2024. At the time, Apple demonstrated Writing Tools, summarizations, notifications, movie memories, semantic search of the Photos library, and Clean Up for photos. It delivered on all those features, but even as Apple was building those tools, it recognized, Federighi told us, that "we could, on that foundation of large language models on device, private cloud compute as a foundation for even more intelligence, [and] semantic indexing on device to retrieve keep knowledge, build a better Siri." A year ago, Apple's confidence in its ability to build such a Siri led it to demonstrate a platform that could handle more conversational context, mispeaking, Type to Siri, and a significantly redesigned UI. Again, all things Apple delivered. "We also talked about [...] things like being able to invoke a broader range of actions across your device by app intents being orchestrated by Siri to let it do more things," added Federighi. "We also talked about the ability to use personal knowledge from that semantic index so if you ask for things like, "What's that podcast, that 'Joz' sent me?' that we could find it, whether it was in your messages or in your email, and call it out, and then maybe even act on it using those app intents. That piece is the piece that we have not delivered, yet." This is known history. Apple overpromised and underdelivered, failing to deliver a vaguely promised end-of-year Apple Intelligence Siri update in 2024 and admitting by spring 2025 that it would not be ready any time soon. As to why it happened, it's been, up to now, a bit of a mystery. Apple is not in the habit of demonstrating technology or products that it does not know for certain that it will be able to deliver on schedule. Federighi, however, explained in some detail where things went awry, and how Apple progresses from here. "We found that when we were developing this feature that we had, really, two phases, two versions of the ultimate architecture that we were going to create," he explained. "Version one we had working here at the time that we were getting close to the conference, and had, at the time, high confidence that we could deliver it. We thought by December, and if not, we figured by spring, until we announced it as part of WWDC. Because we knew the world wanted a really complete picture of, 'What's Apple thinking about the implications of Apple intelligence and where is it going?'" As Apple was working on a V1 of the Siri architecture, it was also working on what Federighi called V2, "a deeper end-to-end architecture that we knew was ultimately what we wanted to create, to get to a full set of capabilities that we wanted for Siri." What everyone saw during WWDC 2024 were videos of that V1 architecture, and that was the foundation for work that began in earnest after the WWDC 2024 reveal, in preparation for the full Apple Intelligence Siri launch. "We set about for months, making it work better and better across more app intents, better and better for doing search," Federighi added. "But fundamentally, we found that the limitations of the V1 architecture weren't getting us to the quality level that we knew our customers needed and expected. We realized that V1 architecture, you know, we could push and push and push and put in more time, but if we tried to push that out in the state it was going to be in, it would not meet our customer expectations or Apple standards, and that we had to move to the V2 architecture. "As soon as we realized that, and that was during the spring, we let the world know that we weren't going to be able to put that out, and we were going to keep working on really shifting to the new architecture and releasing something." That switch, though, and what Apple learned along the way, meant that Apple would not make the same mistake again, and promise a new Siri for a date that it could not guarantee to hit. Instead. Apple won't "precommunicate a date," explained Federighi, "until we have in-house, the V2 architecture delivering not just in a form that we can demonstrate for you all..." He then joked that, while, actually, he "could" demonstrate a working V2 model, he was not going to do it. Then he added, more seriously, "We have, you know, the V2 architecture, of course, working in-house, but we're not yet to the point where it's delivering at the quality level that I think makes it a great Apple feature, and so we're not announcing the date for when that's happening. We will announce the date when we're ready to seed it, and you're all ready to be able to experience it." I asked Federighi if, by V2 architecture, he was talking about a wholesale rebuilding of Siri, but Federighi disabused me of that notion. "I should say the V2 architecture is not, it wasn't a star-over. The V1 architecture was sort of half of the V2 architecture, and now we extend it across, sort of make it a pure architecture that extends across the entire Siri experience. So we've been very much building up upon what we have been building for V1, but now extending it more completely, and that more homogeneous end-to-end architecture gives us much higher quality and much better capability. And so that's what we're building now." Some might view Apple's failure to deliver the full Siri on its original schedule as a strategic stumble. But Apple's approach to AI and product is also utterly different than that of OpenAI or Google Gemini. It does not revolve around a singular product or a powerful chatbot. Siri is not necessarily the centerpiece we all imagined. Federighi doesn't dispute that "AI is this transformational technology [...] All that's growing out of this architecture is going to have decades-long impact across the industry and the economy, and much like the internet, much like mobility, and it's going to touch Apple's products and it's going to touch experiences that are well outside of Apple products." Apple clearly wants to be part of this revolution, but on its terms and in ways that most benefit its users while, of course, protecting their privacy. Siri, though, was never the end game, as Federighi explained. "When we started with Apple Intelligence, we were very clear: this wasn't about just building a chatbot. So, seemingly, when some of these Siri capabilities I mentioned didn't show up, people were like, 'What happened, Apple? I thought you were going to give us your chatbot. That was never the goal, and it remains not our primary goal." So what is the goal? I think it may be fairly obvious from the WWDC 2025 keynote. Apple is intent on integrating Apple Intelligence across all its platforms. Instead of heading over to a singular app like ChatGPT for your AI needs, Apple's putting it, in a way, everywhere. It's done, Federighi explains, "in a way that meets you where you are, not that you're going off to some chat experience in order to get things done." Apple understands the allure of conversational bots. "I know a lot of people find it to be a really powerful way to gather their thoughts, brainstorm [...] So, sure, these are great things," Federighi says. "Are they the most important thing for Apple to develop? Well, time will tell where we go there, but that's not the main thing we set out to do at this time." Check back soon for a link to the TechRadar and Tom's Guide podcast featuring the full interview with Federighi and Joswiak.

Apple execs explain Apple's position in the AI race & how it isn't necessarily 'behind'

Marketing head Greg Jozwiak and software chief Craig Federighi share some familiar arguments about Apple Intelligence, Siri's place in it, and how they aren't technically in the same AI race. Apple's executives rarely speak in interviews, let alone share details about how they think about products beyond them being the best in class. However, a refreshingly honest snippet of an upcoming wider interview showed exactly where Apple sees itself in the bigger picture. Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern sat down with Apple SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and SVP of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak, and she's shared a seven-minute snippet focused on AI before the larger interview is released. Much of what Federighi discussed on Apple Intelligence echoed what was seen in an earlier conversation with iJustine, but new details emerged once Joz weighed in. In both interviews, Federighi explained that Apple had working versions of the contextual Siri powered by app intents, and in fact, what was shown was actually running. Joz even scoffed at the idea of it being "demo ware," in what seemed to be a pointed comment at Daring Fireball's John Gruber. Stern pressed the executives, asking about the usefulness of Apple Intelligence and if Apple could "keep up" with the competition. She also shared that she didn't use Apple Intelligence much herself and instead relied on competitors' products. "Again, it's important to realize our strategy is a little bit different than some other people, right? Our idea of Apple intelligence is using generative AI to be an enabling technology for features across our operating system -- so much so that sometimes you're doing things you don't even realize that you're using Apple intelligence, or, you know, AI, to do them, and that's our goal. Integrate it. There's no destination, there's no app called Apple Intelligence, which is different than a chat bot, which, again, what I think some people have kind of conflated a bit, like, 'Where's your chat bot?' We didn't do that. What we decided was that we would give you access to one through ChatGPT, because, you know, we think that was the best one, but our idea is to integrate across the operating system, make it features that, you know, I certainly use every day." His response echoed a lot of the sentiment in my piece I wrote about Apple's position in the AI race. So much pits Apple as a direct competitor to ChatGPT, and that just seems wrong. Federighi takes it a step further, explaining that Apple doesn't need to deliver every technology on Earth. No one asked why Apple wasn't a shopping destination like Amazon, or why it didn't build a YouTube competitor, so it seems odd that everyone is clamoring for Apple to supply a chatbot. Instead of a destination, the executives explain that Apple Intelligence is a background framework that enhances what users do every day. They technically shouldn't even be thinking of the fact that they're using AI, let alone Apple Intelligence. The on-device, private, personal Apple Intelligence is only just starting to spread out across the operating systems outside of their early feature sets. Developers can start using the on-device model to achieve results they'd have had to pay ChatGPT for and siphon off user data to do so. There are rumors that Siri will get an LLM backend, and even with those contextual updates via app intents, it doesn't seem like Apple will release an AI app or chatbot. Instead, the Apple ecosystem will act as a backend for personalized, contextual, and proactive interactions that occur across devices and apps. As I've shared before, it may seem like Apple is behind because Image Playground makes terrible images and Siri still doesn't know how calendars work, but I wouldn't bet against them. While Apple pulls back to bide its time and ensure its features are well and truly ready for prime time, the rest of the world will pursue increasingly powerful slop generators running on heavily polluting power sources. It's not that Apple is behind in the AI race, or even that it's waiting to leap ahead at the right moment, as I suggested in a previous piece, it's that they're running a totally different race. One that brings powerful apps and systems to iPhone while still giving users access to the tools they need via Visual Intelligence and integrations with ChatGPT. For now, I'll continue to use Apple Intelligence every day for my work. I'm excited to see what developers will be able to do with the Foundation Models framework later in the fall.

With on-device AI, is Apple making a move no one saw coming?

Apple isn't just sharing its AI. It's betting developers will finish the job. On Monday, day one of WWDC, Apple finally gave developers the keys to its local AI engine. Dubbed Foundation Models, this on-device framework lets third-party apps tap into Apple Intelligence's generative muscle without cloud access, API fees, or permission slips. Just three lines of Swift code, and you're off to the races. On paper, it's a gift. But look closer, and it might be a white flag. Rather than chase Google and OpenAI with its own killer apps, Apple is throwing open the App Store doors and crossing its fingers. If that sounds a little too generous from Apple, there's a reason: This might be less about Apple flexing its AI dominance and more about admitting that it's behind. It's also a move that would've been hard to predict just a year ago. Letting developers build the next ChatGPT alternative or journal-coaching wizardoth strategic and convenient. And some may even consider it necessary. Rather than try to outmaneuver an increasingly smart Google Gemini or OpenAI's GPT-5 with a headline-stealing chatbot, Apple is outsourcing the hard part. The Foundation of Foundation Models isn't about competing feature-for-feature but rather enabling a wave of third-party AI apps and praying the best ones rise to the top. That means Apple can skip the messiness of building one perfect assistant (Siri) and instead position itself as the AI foundation that everyone else can build on. It's no secret that Siri has struggled to evolve, and Apple's cloud-scale LLMs still lag competitors in size and polish. So instead of outbuilding them, Apple is out-delegating them. This strategy plays to Apple's strengths: hardware optimization, privacy-first design, and a locked-in App Store ecosystem that still shapes what "mobile software" looks like. If someone builds the next breakout AI experience on iOS, Apple wins, whether it wrote the code or not. There's no licensing, no throttling, and no user data leaving the device. Developers are already embracing this offer. Journal app Day One is rolling out smart journaling suggestions, and AllTrails will soon auto-generate hiking routes. But those are just early ripples. The real wave will be niche apps, side projects, and indie utilities that flood the store with personalized, privacy-first AI helpers. With zero cloud overhead and no per-query costs, even small indie teams can afford to get weird with it. We've seen this before. Apple didn't make the most popular fitness app; it built the Apple Watch. It didn't build the App Store's most iconic games; it gave developers the tools to build them. The difference this time is that Apple needs developers to carry the load. You can think of this as Apple taking the Intel Inside approach, but with AI. Much like Intel once did, Apple's AI will quietly power thousands of experiences, even if it never becomes the household name. By embedding itself as invisible infrastructure, Apple gains reach and resilience. Don't have a killer AI app? No problem. Let the App Store figure it out. Eventually, someone will. There's no way to sugarcoat the fact that while Apple's AI rollout was elegant in presentation, it's arguably light on the finished features. Once again, Siri was sidelined at WWDC. The flashy demos -- writing replies in Messages or summarizing Notes -- rely on a combination of on-device and cloud processing, and many will not arrive in beta form until the fall. So what's Apple doing instead? It's hedging its bets. Apple is flooding the space by letting developers plug into Foundation Models. Don't have a killer first-party AI experience? No problem. Let the App Store build five hundred. With no API fees or usage caps, Apple is effectively inviting devs to throw ideas at the wall and see what sticks, hoping that at least a few do. This approach isn't without risk. For one, Apple can't guarantee results. A decentralized AI push means wildly inconsistent UX. Some apps will handle context and prompts gracefully. Others might deliver clunky, confusing, or outright inaccurate outputs. Unlike Siri, which Apple can directly improve, these experiences will be fragmented and difficult to course-correct without heavy-handed store moderation. There's also the discoverability problem. If Apple Intelligence-powered apps flood the store, users won't necessarily know which ones are useful. Without tight integration or prominent editorial guidance, Apple risks unleashing a thousand half-baked AI clones, each with a slightly different idea of what "smart" means. And then there's hardware load. Running a 3-billion parameter language model on an iPhone may sound cool on stage, but developers will have to wrangle with battery drain, thermal throttling, and limited RAM, especially on older devices. Apple's own engineers were quick to highlight quantization and token efficiency, but this still isn't free. The user pays in performance, even if they're not paying in dollars. Still, there's brilliance in the chaos. By sidestepping the cloud arms race, Apple is leaning into what makes its ecosystem unique: Privacy, silicon, and a developer community that (usually) figures things out. This is Apple AI as infrastructure, not as identity. That might just work. Apple will still win if the next great AI assistant comes from a developer in Portland or Tokyo. And if not? Well, at least it didn't spend another five years trying to make Siri cool again.

Apple Execs Get Seriously Flustered Trying to Explain the Company's Dismal AI Failure

Apple is facing some intense scrutiny after yet again flubbing its AI tech. During the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on Tuesday, the company showed off its latest vision for "Apple Intelligence," a suite of tools that use machine learning to scan images for objects or smush emojis together to form custom Franken-reacts -- cutesy ideas that fall vastly short of the ambition of competitors in the space like OpenAI. The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern sat down with Apple's software chief Craig Federighi and marketing head Greg Joswiak following the event, and the execs squirmed trying to explain why a smarter Siri assistant -- once the vanguard of consumer-facing AI and now dustbin junk compared to products like ChatGPT -- is still missing in action. That's despite some big promises. During last year's WWDC, Apple showed off a "more personal Siri" that promised huge new capabilities for the assistant built on generative AI. But by March, the company had pulled an iPhone 16 ad that made huge promises for the tech, admitting that a more advanced Siri was "going to take us longer than we thought." In the year 2025, Siri is still a barely usable way to start timers or send somebody a quick iMessage, massively overshadowed by AI models that can analyze research papers, generate code, or generate photorealistic video. Federighi and Joswiak had a tough time explaining how the multi-trillion-dollar tech giant has fallen so far behind the competition, which has been running laps around it when it comes to AI implementation. The two executives seemed awfully flustered as they tried to dodge Stern's piercing questions, highlighting how much pressure has been built up over a year of empty promises and walking back claims. A purported "V1" of a conversational Siri AI simply "didn't converge in the way, quality-wise, that we needed it to," Federighi said. "We had something working, but then, as you got off the beaten path... and we know with Siri, it's open-ended what you might ask it to do, and the data that might be on your device that would be used in personal knowledge..." "We wanted it to be really, really reliable," he concluded. "And we weren't able to achieve the reliability in the time we thought." The situation Apple finds itself in is, in many ways, a perfect snapshot of the current state of the tech. AI chatbots continue to hallucinate with abandon, leaving a wake of chaos and confusion in their wake. That's despite billions of dollars being poured into the resource-intensive models that power them. Whether the issue, which has turned into a major thorn in the side of consumer-facing tech companies, can ever be resolved remains a major subject of debate, with some experts arguing that LLMs and other related AI approaches are a dead end. The stakes are certainly high, as Federighi points out, given the copious amounts of highly personal information companies like Apple have access to. To the Cupertino-based firm, which has long been known to choose a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race approach to new tech, that kind of error-prone quality just doesn't cut it. "Look, we don't wanna disappoint customers," Joswiak told Stern. "We never do. But it would've been more disappointing to ship something that didn't hit our quality standard, that had an error rate that we felt was unacceptable." "No one's doing it really well right now," Federighi said. "And we wanted to be the first. We wanted to do it best." It's hard not to detect a sense of doubt. In the days leading up to its developer conference this week, Apple published a damning research paper that poured cold water on the "reasoning" capabilities of the latest, most powerful large language models. As Apple continues to drag its feet on ChatGPT-like implementations of AI, some interesting questions are starting to calcify. Does Apple know something that we don't? Will the tech ever get to the point where it's good enough, even for Apple? If a company with a virtually infinite amount of resources at its disposal can't do it properly, who can? Companies have already been embroiled in plenty of controversies thanks to their lying, misleading, and groveling AI chatbots that can cause embarrassing or dangerous problems their creators never anticipated. Just this week, Futurism reported on people developing intense obsessions with ChatGPT, causing them to spiral into severe mental health crises. Apple has been buying itself plenty of time to iron out the kinks -- but whether we'll ever see the light of day of a chatty Siri that lives on our iPhones remains as uncertain as ever before.

Apple's AI ambitions go beyond Siri LLM with Knowledge chatbot and always-on AI copilot

Apple Intelligence could get several upgrades in the coming years Apple executives are keeping silent about future Apple Intelligence plans, but a new rumor suggests the 2026 release of contextual Siri is just the start on a road to chatbots and always-on assistants. It's been a tough year for Apple's public image as it overpromised on AI features and has been seen as perpetually behind in the AI race -- even though it insists it isn't. The Apple Intelligence delays have resulted in product delays too, as the rumored Home Hub will have to wait for a better Siri. However, these delays and setbacks haven't affected Apple's initiative to improve its AI offerings. According to Bloomberg, there are several plans for the future of Apple Intelligence, though it seems there are internal arguments around how and when they will be ready. We've already seen some of that contention publicly, as Apple SVP of marketing Greg Joswiak shared that Apple Intelligence wasn't meant to be a chatbot with a destination app. However, rumors indicate that Apple is indeed working on some kind of chatbot that may even be Siri. The report lays out three projects that Apple is targeting for the future. The first one is known, a more contextual Siri that uses app intents to surface user data. This was meant to be a feature in iOS 18, but was delayed into "the coming year" by Apple. The report suggests that it will arrive in early 2026, which was previously rumored to be the target of an LLM-based Siri upgrade. Now it seems Apple has tied the two features together due to needing to work around too many legacy portions of Siri today. So, the new LLM-based Siri is expected in early 2026, which will also enable the app intent system for contextual and proactive actions. Once Siri is fully rebuilt as an LLM-backed assistant, the company could debut a chatbot dubbed "Knowledge." It isn't clear from the report if this app is tied to Siri or if it's another branch of Apple Intelligence. The Knowledge app would be used to access information gleaned from the web. It sounds familiar to internal tests AppleInsider uncovered previously for Apple's Ajax and Ask agents some dubbed "AppleGPT." There's a solid chance that Apple is working on a chatbot, though there's no guarantee it'll ever be released. Clearly, Joswiak is against the idea, as he wants Apple Intelligence to be a behind-the-scenes system, not an app you open. The Knowledge chatbot is reportedly being headed by former Siri chief Robby Walker. The third and final AI initiative mentioned in the report is yet another Siri revamp that would take it beyond simply being proactive and contextual. The new Siri would essentially be an always-on copilot that's more conversational. There's no telling exactly what that means, but it sounds something like the Workout Buddy introduced in watchOS 26. The new Siri could operate in the background and announce updates or perform tasks without needing user input. It also sounds similar to what other AI companies have tried, and failed repeatedly to build. Humane, Rabbit R1, and now Jony Ive's io have all dreamed up a world where users will just have an AI assistant around doing stuff for them. Apple, however, has something those other companies don't -- the iPhone. Whether or not Apple is truly behind or running its own race, it's clear that it is trying to find a way to embrace the emergence of LLMs and AI in its own way. As Apple's executives keep saying in interviews, it is early days for the AI technology push and they are playing the long game. As we've seen with Apple many times before, it's best not to bet against their ability to enter a new market and succeed. For now, we'll have to continue to live with the generally useful, if boring, AI tools already available in Apple products.

Apple WWDC starts today. Can it catch up in the AI race?

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz's members-only Weekend Brief newsletter. Quartz members get access to exclusive newsletters and more. Sign up here. Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off Monday with what is becoming a familiar problem for the Cupertino tech giant: The company that once set the pace for consumer technology finds itself playing catch-up in the industry's most important race. While Apple will unveil sweeping visual redesigns across its operating systems -- including a new "digital glass" interface inspired by its Vision Pro headset -- the AI announcements are expected to be underwhelming compared to the rapid-fire innovations competitors have unleashed in recent months. The contrast with Google I/O just three weeks ago couldn't be starker. Google's developer conference was a showcase of AI muscle-flexing: new models that generate music in real-time, realistic video creation from simple prompts, coding assistants that can tackle entire backlogs, and text-to-speech capabilities with customizable voices and accents. Google even introduced tools that can browse the web and use software under user direction -- early examples of the autonomous AI agents that many see as the next frontier. Apple's most significant AI announcement, meanwhile, will be opening its foundation models to third-party developers. But these models pack just 3 billion parameters -- a fraction of the complexity found in the latest releases from OpenAI, Google, or even Apple's own internal tools, which are rumored to reach into the trillions of parameters. Bloomberg reported more than a dozen other small updates, including rebranding some existing Safari and Photos features as "AI-powered" and introducing live translation for phone calls and AirPods -- capabilities Google has offered on Android for years. A new AI-powered battery optimization mode might arrive later, developed alongside the slimmer iPhone 17 expected this fall. Perhaps most telling is what won't be announced: the much-anticipated Siri overhaul that Apple promised last year has been indefinitely delayed. The "LLM Siri" that could finally make Apple's assistant conversational like ChatGPT remains woefully behind schedule, according to reports. Apple's AI health service and revamped Health app have been pushed to late 2026. Instead, Apple will lean heavily on what it does best: design. The new "Solarium" interface will bring transparency and light effects across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and other operating systems. The company is also switching to year-based naming (hence the "26" designations for software launching later this year) in what appears to be a branding maneuver to project forward momentum. The Phone app will get its first major redesign since 2007, combining contacts, recent calls, and voicemails into a single scrollable window. Messages will add polling and background images to compete with WhatsApp. A new centralized Games app will attempt to position Apple devices as serious gaming platforms, though it's unlikely to challenge Nintendo or Sony's dominance. The hardware struggles are perhaps even more concerning than the AI delays. Apple once owned the premium device space, but competitors are now encroaching on its turf. Meta has sold 2 million Ray-Ban smart glasses since 2023 and plans to produce 10 million units annually by 2026. Meanwhile, OpenAI has partnered with Jony Ive -- Apple's former design chief who created the iPhone and iPad -- on plans for 100 million AI "companions" by the end of next year. These aren't just software competitors; they're direct threats to Apple's hardware dominance. But these incremental improvements come at a perilous moment for Apple that extends far beyond Monday's keynote. The company has suffered a brutal 2025: its stock has dropped 20%, making it the worst performer among the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks and raising questions about whether it even belongs in that elite group anymore. A damaging legal defeat in the Epic Games case threatens its lucrative App Store revenue model, with a federal judge finding Apple in contempt for willfully violating court orders. Mounting tariff costs will add an estimated $900 million in expenses this quarter alone, forcing the company to rapidly reconfigure its China-centric supply chain. Perhaps most troubling, Apple's iPhone shipments in China -- once a growth engine -- cratered by more than 20% in late 2024, according to Counterpoint Research, dropping the company to fifth place in the world's largest smartphone market. The company can't even leverage its AI features as a differentiator there, since ChatGPT integration had to be stripped from Chinese iPhones to comply with local regulations. Apple's bet on taking a "thoughtful" approach to AI -- emphasizing privacy and on-device processing over raw capability -- probably has merit in the long term. But tech cycles move fast, and the company risks ceding significant ground to competitors who are shipping powerful AI features today, not in 2026 or beyond.

Apple's AI Strategy Could Prove Others Wrong | AIM

"The models have improved tool-use and reasoning capabilities, understand image and text inputs, are faster and more efficient, and are designed to support 15 languages." As the AI arms race intensifies, tech giants continue scaling their models to ever-larger sizes, leaning heavily on server infrastructure and cloud dependencies. Companies like Meta are investing in other AI companies to compete better with Google, Microsoft, and others. Apple, however, seems to be taking the road less travelled. Its latest research on foundation models, 'Updates to Apple's On-Device and Server Foundation Language Models', signals a deliberate move towards compact, efficient, and private-by-default AI, designed not to impress with scale, but to function tightly within devices already in people's hands. Apple is betting on AI being ambient, responsive, and respectful of privacy. This comes right along with iOS 26, which was announced at the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025 on Monday. Its on-device model, running with just 3 billion parameters, aims to deliver intelligent assistance without constant permission-seeking from the cloud. According to the research insights, a redesigned architecture lies at the heart of Apple's AI stack. It is strategically sliced into blocks that share caches to save memory and cut latency. "This reduced the KV cache memory usage by 37.5% and significantly improved the time-to-first-token," the blog noted. Meanwhile, the server model relies on a parallel-track mixture-of-experts setup. Each 'track' operates semi-independently, trimming synchronisation overheads by up to 87.5% in some configurations. It also improves token latency, an important factor when users expect real-time responses from Siri or system-level features. "The models have improved tool-use and reasoning capabilities, understand image and text inputs, are faster and more efficient, and are designed to support 15 languages," Apple stated in the blog post. The company has even included a vision encoder with a custom Register-Window mechanism for richer local-global image features. Compression also plays a central role. The on-device model is quantised down to 2 bits per weight using a training-aware method. Remarkably, this yields only a minor drop, just 4.6%, in complex reasoning benchmarks. In some tasks, including general knowledge recall, the compressed model even performs slightly better. These gains make it viable for iPhones and iPads without hardware upgrades or server dependence. Apple's training approach diverges sharply from rivals. While most foundation models consume vast quantities of internet data, Apple stresses that no private user data or device interactions are included in its training. The data pipeline is limited to licensed sources, curated public datasets, and Applebot-powered web crawls that adhere to opt-out mechanisms via robots.txt. The company stated in the blog post, "We protect our users' privacy with powerful on-device processing and groundbreaking infrastructure like Private Cloud Compute. We do not use our users' private personal data or user interactions when training our foundation models." The model's performance makes a strong case for this restraint. Apple's compact AI model outperformed Qwen-2.5-3B in 33.5% of tests with a 53.5% tie rate, surpassed Qwen-3-4B in 20.5% of tests with a 54.6% tie rate, and bested Gemma-3-4B in 21.3% of tests with a 52.3% tie rate. The server model fares similarly, outperforming Llama-4-Scout in most tests and surpassing Qwen-2.5-VL while consuming less than half the inference compute. Multimodal capabilities are also built in. Vision encoders trained on over 10 billion image-text pairs, including synthetic captions, allow Apple's models to process images, diagrams, and screenshots. The models are designed to recognise app UI elements, document layouts, and tabular data, bridging the gap between natural language input and visual interface understanding. Apple's strategic move to prioritise compact AI is not merely a technical detail, but rather a significant repositioning for the company. While other companies race toward general-purpose AI and autonomous agents, Apple is focused on assistive, integrated features tightly coupled with its devices and OS. Whether this vision scales to more demanding applications remains to be seen. But for the near term, Apple has placed its bet on controlled, local intelligence. Maintaining its focus on privacy, Apple opts for a strategy that avoids the competitive push for ever-increasing computing power, instead prioritising compact AI with innovative concepts. If this approach catches on, it may prompt a broader rethink across the industry, not just about how large a model should be but also about where it should live, how it should behave, and who it should serve.

Google Gemma 3n is What Apple Intelligence Wants to Be | AIM

Google has been pushing AI deeper into the Android ecosystem, letting smartphone users run large language models locally without needing an internet connection. Apple is struggling in the AI battle, and it knows it. But the tech giant isn't one to give up without a good fight. The Cupertino-based company has introduced a 'Foundation Models' framework, which gives developers access to a 3-billion parameter on-device model. The model supports 15 languages, processes both text and images, and is optimised for performance on Apple Silicon. Apple's 3B parameter language model can handle a wide variety of text-based tasks, including summarising, extracting key information, understanding and improving text, handling brief conversations, and creating original content. It now faces direct competition from Google's Gemma 3n, which runs on phones, tablets, and laptops. The model supports text, image, and audio inputs, includes advanced video processing capabilities, and operates with a dynamic memory footprint of just 2 to 3 GB, enabled by Google DeepMind's per-layer embeddings innovation. Its audio features support reliable speech recognition and spoken language translation. The model is also built to interpret combinations of different input types for more complex use cases. Though the two models share similar goals, Gemma 3n is a better fit for developers and users, thanks to its multimodal capabilities and open-source approach. Google collaborated with Qualcomm Technologies, MediaTek and Samsung's System LSI business to optimise performance in a wide range of hardware. In contrast, Apple Intelligence takes a hybrid approach, combining on-device processing with cloud-based computation. While Apple's neural processing units (NPUs) handle fast tasks locally, more complex queries often rely on server-side processing, which requires an internet connection. "Apple doesn't report benchmarks for their AIs, reporting on an ill-documented head-to-head evaluation. But even by their standards, Apple's latest on-device models are mostly worse than the open Gemma 3-4B from Google or Qwen 3-4B," said Ethan Mollick, professor at Wharton University, in a post on X. On the LMArena leaderboard for text-based tasks, the Gemma 3n scored 1293 points. In comparison, OpenAI's o3-mini scored 1329 points, and the o4-mini scored 1379 points. Lately, Google has been pushing AI deeper into the Android ecosystem, letting smartphone users run large language models locally without needing an internet connection. To support this, the company introduced Edge Gallery, a new Android app that allows users to download and use its AI models directly on their devices. The app is available through the Google AI Edge GitHub repository, and an iOS version is expected soon. "This app is a resource for understanding the practical implementation of the LLM Inference API and the potential of on-device generative AI," the company said in a blog post. Google has the advantage of the Android ecosystem as well. As of 2025, Android's global user base ranges from 3.9 billion to 4.5 billion, making up approximately 71 to 72% of smartphone operating systems in use. iOS trails with 1.56 to 1.8 billion users, holding a market share close to 28 to 29%. However, Apple is stepping up its AI game with features that feel genuinely useful. Live Translation helps you chat across languages in real time, even on calls. Image Playground and Genmoji let you create expressive, custom visuals. Visual Intelligence can understand what's on your screen and take action. And for fitness buffs, Workout Buddy delivers live motivation based on your workout stats. In a recent interview, Apple's marketing chief, Greg Joswiak, said that Apple's approach to AI is different from its competitors. Rather than offering a standalone AI app or chatbot, Apple is integrating generative AI quietly and deeply into the operating system. "There's no app called Apple Intelligence. Sometimes, you're doing things and you don't even realise you're using Apple Intelligence or, you know, AI to do them," said Joswiak. Apple claims its on-device model outperforms Qwen-2.5-3B across all supported languages, and holds up well against Qwen-3-4B and Gemma-3-4B in English. Meanwhile, its server-based model compares favourably with Llama-4-Scout, though it still lags behind larger models like Qwen-3-235B and GPT-4o. Yet, Siri received barely a mention during WWDC 2025. Addressing this, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi explained that the company had a two-phase architecture and working demos in place, but the quality and reliability fell short of Apple's internal standards, particularly when handling unpredictable and open-ended queries. Although parts of the system were functional, Apple chose not to release a product that did not meet its bar. Apple may be playing the long game, but in the fast-moving world of AI, time is a luxury it can't afford. With Google setting the pace, Apple now faces a future where quiet integration alone may no longer be enough.

Apple heads into annual showcase reeling from AI missteps, tech upheaval and Trump's trade war

After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to create artificial intelligence, Apple will try to regain its footing Monday with its annual showcase for the next generation of software powering the iPhone and other popular products After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple will try to regain its footing Monday at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The presummer rite, which attracts thousands of developers to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, is expected to be more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event during the previous two years. In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri. But heading into this year's showcase, Apple faces nagging questions about whether the nearly 50-year-old company has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that turned it into a tech trendsetter. Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset, Apple this year is expected to focus on an overhaul of its software that may include a new, more tactile look for the iPhone's native apps and a new nomenclature for identifying its operating system updates. Even though it might look like Apple is becoming a technological laggard, Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson contends the company still has ample time to catch up in an AI race that's "more of a marathon, than a sprint. It will force Apple to evolve its operating systems." If reports about its iOS naming scheme pan out, Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That would mean the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 -- as it would be under the current sequential naming approach. Whatever it's named, the next iOS will likely be released as a free update in September, around the same time as the next iPhone models if Apple follows its usual road map. Meanwhile, Apple's references to AI may be less frequent than last year when the technology was the main attraction. While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, Apple still hasn't been able to soup up Siri in the ways that it touted at last year's conference. The delays became so glaring that a chastened Apple retreated from promoting Siri in its AI marketing campaigns earlier this year. "It's just taking a bit longer than we thought," Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last month when asked about the company's headaches with Siri. "But we are making progress, and we're extremely excited to get the more personal Siri features out there." While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple's biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. "While much of WWDC will be about what the next great thing is for the iPhone, the unspoken question is: What's the next great thing after the iPhone?" said Dipanjan Chatterjee, another analyst for Forrester Research. Besides facing innovation challenges, Apple also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to Google's illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth $20 billion annually to Apple while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commission on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system. On top of all that, Apple has been caught in the cross-hairs of President Donald Trump's trade war with China, a key manufacturing hub for the Cupertino, California, company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president's first administration, but he has had less success during Trump's second term, which seems more determined to prod Apple to make its products in the U.S.. "The trade war and uncertainty linked to the tariff policy is of much more concern today for Apple's business than the perception that Apple is lagging behind on AI innovation," Husson said. The multi-dimensional gauntlet facing Apple is spooking investors, causing the company's stock price to plunge by nearly 20% so far this year -- a decline that has erased $750 billion in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, Apple now ranks third behind longtime rival Microsoft, another AI leader, and AI chipmaker Nvidia.

Apple heads into annual showcase reeling from AI missteps, tech upheaval and Trump's trade war

CUP (AP) -- After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple will try to regain its footing Monday at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The pre-summer rite, which attracts thousands of developers to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, is expected to be more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event during the previous two years. In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri. But heading into this year's showcase, Apple faces nagging questions about whether the nearly 50-year-old company has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that turned it into a tech trendsetter. Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset, Apple this year is expected to focus on an overhaul of its software that may include a new, more tactile look for the iPhone's native apps and a new nomenclature for identifying its operating system updates. Even though it might look like Apple is becoming a technological laggard, Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson contends the company still has ample time to catch up in an AI race that's "more of a marathon, than a sprint. It will force Apple to evolve its operating systems." If reports about its iOS naming scheme pan out, Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That would mean the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 -- as it would be under the current sequential naming approach. Whatever it's named, the next iOS will likely be released as a free update in September, around the same time as the next iPhone models if Apple follows its usual road map. Meanwhile, Apple's references to AI may be less frequent than last year when the technology was the main attraction. While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, Apple still hasn't been able to soup up Siri in the ways that it touted at last year's conference. The delays became so glaring that a chastened Apple retreated from promoting Siri in its AI marketing campaigns earlier this year. "It's just taking a bit longer than we thought," Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last month when asked about the company's headaches with Siri. "But we are making progress, and we're extremely excited to get the more personal Siri features out there." While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple's biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. "While much of WWDC will be about what the next great thing is for the iPhone, the unspoken question is: What's the next great thing after the iPhone?" said Dipanjan Chatterjee, another analyst for Forrester Research. Besides facing innovation challenges, Apple also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to Google's illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth $20 billion annually to Apple while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commission on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system. On top of all that, Apple has been caught in the cross-hairs of President Donald Trump's trade war with China, a key manufacturing hub for the Cupertino, California, company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president's first administration, but he has had less success during Trump's second term, which seems more determined to prod Apple to make its products in the U.S.. "The trade war and uncertainty linked to the tariff policy is of much more concern today for Apple's business than the perception that Apple is lagging behind on AI innovation," Husson said. The multi-dimensional gauntlet facing Apple is spooking investors, causing the company's stock price to plunge by nearly 20% so far this year -- a decline that has erased $750 billion in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, Apple now ranks third behind long-time rival Microsoft, another AI leader, and AI chipmaker Nvidia.

WWDC 2025: Apple is still behind on AI, but does it matter?

Artificial Intelligence can instantly proofread your writing and make suggestions to tweak the tone of a message, paper or presentation. Going into this year's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) event, there's been a lot of speculation about what Apple would, or wouldn't, say about Apple Intelligence and updates to its Siri personal assistant. After all, it was at the same event last year that Apple first unveiled Apple Intelligence with great fanfare, so interest has been riding high. Given how disappointing the reality of those features have been compared to the impressive demos and grandiose vision that Apple shared last year, the anticipation has been even greater. Alas, while the company did make a number of glitzy announcements about design and naming and offered up some specific new Apple Intelligence-powered features, there wasn't much steak behind the sizzle on the AI front. In fact, Siri was only mentioned once, and it was to basically say more will be coming later this year. Making iPad more functional The most important announcement from the show had nothing to do with AI, but with bringing a true computer-like user interface to the iPad. The next version of iPadOS will finally bring a true multi-application, multi-windowing environment to Apple's tablet as well as a file system, nested folders and all the other things you expect on a PC. In essence, it will make the iPad Apple's first real touch-based computer, something that a lot of people will undoubtedly be excited about. A new interface On the design front, the company spent a great deal of time showing off their new Liquid Glass user interface design - inspired by the VisionPro OS - and made it clear it will become the consistent new look across all of Apple's devices. They also announced year-based naming conventions for all their operating systems, including iOS, MacOS, iPadOS, etc. They will all be tagged as version 26, so named since they're expected to all launch later this fall and be the standard for most of 2026. Smarter intelligence On the AI front, despite Apple pulling back noticeably from their AI-first messaging of last year, they did still announce several new features that will leverage AI capabilities. The new Visual Intelligence features for iOS and iPadOS, for example, will allow you to easily do visual searches of both objects around you and the content on your screen via screenshots. In essence, it's an easier way to do image-based searches, which is a handy capability that not everyone takes advantage of. In a hint of things to come, you can also use it to do things like take a screenshot of an event announcement and have it automatically added to your calendar. For app developers Apple also announced the ability to access the small on-device AI models that Apple has built into iOS and iPadOS via a new extension to the operating system. Over time, that should lead to some interesting new AI-powered features in apps that choose to leverage these capabilities, but it's still far from an overall AI-driven experience. AI still waiting for its moment In spite of the disappointment that AI enthusiasts may feel about this lack of news from WWDC, however, it's certainly worth pondering whether it's really going to matter to most people - at least right now. Yes, there are some amazing AI-powered capabilities on Android via Google's Gemini, on Windows thanks to its partnership with OpenAI, and across all the hot new AI tools, such as Perplexity, Claude and many others. And yes, it's a bummer that the more advanced capabilities - such as digital agents and personalized digital assistants - aren't yet available on Apple devices. In truth, however, most people still haven't really started using most of these tools on a regular basis. Oh sure, there are definitely AI diehards who are using these capabilities all the time and who sing their praises on a regular basis. Normal folks who just want to use their phones, computers, tablets and other devices to do the kind of stuff they've been doing - communicating, researching, planning, gaming, watching entertainment, etc. - are still perfectly capable of doing so even without AI. The thing that most people are just starting to discover about AI-based capabilities is that they often require changing habits in order to really best take advantage of them. As easy as that may sound, most of us are creatures of habit and asking us to change how we do things is actually harder than most people realize. In addition, it takes training - someone showing you how to really use these new tools - to understand their full capabilities and, as of now, there's precious little of that. Instead, companies are assuming that people can just figure all these new capabilities out and, well, we all know what happens when you assume.... Over time, as we all have more exposure to these new AI-powered capabilities, get a better sense of what they're capable of, and start to learn about how to use them, I have little doubt that we will all become very accustomed to them and will very much notice if they aren't there. In the meantime, however, we're in the early stages of the AI revolution and their presence - or not - still isn't as big a deal as many people believe. So, back to Apple and their situation. Knowing how eager the company is to stay towards the front - but not necessarily lead - on major technology evolutions, I'm certain they wish they did have more new Apple Intelligence features they could talk about right now. In fact, given how important the services side of their business is - and how many opportunities for creating for-pay AI-powered capabilities exist - it's critical both strategically and economically for the company to start creating meaningful AI features. At the very least, it would be great if they could deliver on the impressive vision they demonstrated last year sometime soon. But in the larger arc of time, I feel confident that - as long as they start delivering AI capabilities before mainstream users demand them - the slow rollout of Apple Intelligence features and a more advanced Siri will end up being little more than a bump in the road. In fact, there's a part of me that thinks they might even turn it around and talk about how they'll deliver AI when the capabilities are ready and, most importantly, when we're ready for it. That's a typical kind of Apple message and, honestly, something that, in the end, might just work. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.

WWDC 2025: Apple Faces AI, Regulatory Challenges As it Woos Developers

Apple's WWDC 2025 to be held from June 9 to June 13 The event is being hosted in Cupertino, California A number of software upgrades expected from Apple Apple is facing an unprecedented set of technical and regulatory challenges as some of its key executives are set to take the stage on Monday at the company's annual software developer conference. On the technical side, many of the long-awaited Artificial Intelligence (AI) features Apple promised at the same conference a year ago have been delayed until next year, even as its rivals such as Alphabet's Google and Microsoft woo developers with a bevvy of new AI features. Those unfulfilled promises included key improvements to Siri, its digital assistant. On the regulatory front, courts in the US and Europe are poised to pull down the lucrative walls around Apple's App Store as even some of the company's former supporters question whether its fees are justified. Those challenges are coming to a head at the same time US President Donald Trump has threatened 25 percent tariffs on Apple's best-selling iPhone. Apple's shares are down more than 40 percent since the start of the year, a sharper decline than Google and also lagging the AI-driven gains in Microsoft shares. Apple has launched some of the AI features it promised last year, including a set of writing tools and image-generation tools, but it still relies on partners such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI for some of those capabilities. Bloomberg has reported that Apple may open up in-house AI models to developers this year. But analysts do not believe Apple yet has what technologists call a "multi-modal" model - that is, one capable of understanding imagery, audio and language at the same time - that could power a pair of smart glasses, a category that has become a runaway hit for Meta Platforms. Google said last month it would jump back in to this category, with partners. Such glasses, which are far lighter and cheaper than Apple's Vision Pro headset, could become useful because they would understand what the user is looking at and could help answer questions about it. While Apple has focused on its $3,500 (roughly Rs. 2.99 lakh) Vision Pro headset, Google and Meta have seized on the smart glasses as a cheaper way to deploy their AI software prowess against Apple in its stronghold of hardware. Meta Ray-Bans all sell for less than $400 (roughly Rs. 34,280). Analysts say Apple needs to answer that challenge but that it is not likely to do so this week. "I'm not trying to replace my phone - this is a complementary thing that gives me more world context, because it's got a camera and it sees what I see, and I can talk to it in natural language," said Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative Strategies. "Apple is not positioned to do that." To be sure, Apple's rivals are not decisively ahead in smart glasses. Anshel Sag, principal analyst with Moor Insights and Strategy, said Meta's Ray-Bans still lack some features and Google has not yet landed its "Gemini" model in a mass-market pair of glasses yet. "Meta has the undisputed lead, but Google is catching up fast and probably has the best-suited AI for the job," Sag said. "Vision Pro is great, but it's a showroom product that developers can use." But Bob O'Donnell, CEO of TECHnalysis Research, said it remains far from clear that smart glasses will gain wide acceptance. O'Donnell also said it is not certain that Apple is at any particular disadvantage if it partners with a company such as Google, OpenAI or even a smaller firm like Perplexity for core AI technology. So far, O'Donnell said, there is not yet strong evidence that consumers are basing major hardware-purchasing decisions on AI features. "There's an argument to be made that it's OK that (Apple) is behind because, except for the bleeding edge, most people don't care," O'Donnell said. © Thomson Reuters 2025

Apple Unveils Some AI Improvements With iOS 26, But Leaves Users Waiting for Others

A new software development kit will allow app builders to utilize the large language models that power Apple Intelligence. Apple (AAPL) on Monday announced a number of design and AI-related improvements with its iOS 26 coming this fall. However, those looking for some of Apple's highly anticipated updates, including AI-enhanced Siri features, are going to have to wait. Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said during the tech giant's Worldwide Developers Conference Monday that the Siri features "need more time to reach our high quality bar" and that more information will be released "in the coming year." Apple has previously suggested the release of its more personalized Siri, potentially capable of performing tasks within other apps, may not come until at least 2026, which Morgan Stanley warned could hurt iPhone sales. For now, Apple unveiled a software development kit called Foundation Models Framework that will allow developers to build apps using the AI large language models within Apple Intelligence. "We think this will ignite a whole new wave of intelligent experiences in the apps you use every day," Federighi said. The company also showcased its iOS 26, the latest software update for iPhones, Macs, and other devices coming this fall (and a naming shift away from what would have been iOS 19). It includes AI-powered live translation features with an expanded slate of languages, new Genmoji capabilities including integration with ChatGPT, and Apple's first major aesthetic redesign in years, referred to as "liquid glass." Other announcements included a new Games app, a revamped CarPlay interface, and a streamlined Photos app that brings back separate tabs for users' camera roll and albums. Still, the lack of new AI Siri features is glaring as Apple faces growing pressure to prove it can compete with other tech leaders with artificial intelligence. Last month, ChatGPT maker OpenAI took what could be seen as a step toward competing with Apple in offering AI devices with plans to acquire io, an AI startup launched by former Apple design head Jony Ive. Shares of Apple turned slightly lower shortly after WWDC began. The stock was down 1% in recent trading Monday and has lost about a fifth of its value so far in 2025.

Apple's Siri Revamp Said to Be Delayed Due to These Challenges

Apple isn't expected to release its upgraded Siri assistant until 2026 Apple Intelligence, the company's AI software features that were unveiled last year, has been rolled out to eligible devices in recent months. However, one of the promised upgrades was an upgraded version of Siri, which has reportedly faced multiple delays. A new report sheds some light on the challenges faced by the company, as it attempts to rebuild Siri to compete with more advanced voice assistants from rivals like Google, OpenAI, and Perplexity that all offer support for AI features. Citing employees who recently left the firm, the Financial Times reports that Apple has faced technological challenges while attempting to introduce support for large language models (LLMs) on its Siri voice assistant. These upgrades were expected to enable Siri to deliver more conversational responses, with up-to-date information. Apple previously admitted that the Siri upgrades it promised last year were delayed and not expected to arrive until next year. According to the report, the company attempted to integrate its own LLMs with the existing version of Siri, which already features some machine learning technology. This led to software bugs that have delayed the development of the product. Currently, users can ask Siri to control various system settings, or use a built-in ChatGPT button to access information on the internet. Apple's rivals reportedly built their voice assistants without using existing software, which means these fresh projects (ChatGPT, Gemini AI, and Perplexity) were less complicated, which reduced the number of bugs in the software. Another reason why Apple's Siri upgrade faced delays was due to the company's decision to rely on "smaller" AI models, and keeping all user data on the device, to protect user privacy. The company's rivals use much larger AI models and process user data on the cloud, which means that they are faster. While the upgraded version of Siri has yet to launch (Apple has taken down its ads related to that feature), the company has rolled out features like Genmoji, Visual Intelligence, Writing Tools, to compatible devices. These include the iPhone 15 Pro models, as well as the company's current iPhone 16 lineup. According to recent reports, Apple is not expected to make any major announcements related to Siri and AI at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that begins on Monday. The company is said to be working on a major software redesign for iOS and iPadOS, and some of these changes are also expected to make their way to other operating systems, including macOS.

Apple faces AI, regulatory challenges as it woos developers at annual conference

Apple WWDC 2025 event arrives amid concerns over its AI capabilities, potentially overshadowing trade policy worries. Lagging behind competitors like Microsoft and Alphabet in AI innovation, Apple faces pressure to demonstrate its strategy. With shares down 19% this year, the company's AI struggles, coupled with slower growth projections and a premium valuation, raise questions about its appeal to investors.Apple is facing an unprecedented set of technical and regulatory challenges as some of its key executives are set to take the stage on Monday at the company's annual software developer conference. On the technical side, many of the long-awaited artificial-intelligence features Apple promised at the same conference a year ago have been delayed until next year, even as its rivals such as Alphabet's Google and Microsoft woo developers with a bevvy of new AI features. Those unfulfilled promises included key improvements to Siri, its digital assistant. On the regulatory front, courts in the US and Europe are poised to pull down the lucrative walls around Apple's App Store as even some of the company's former supporters question whether its fees are justified. Those challenges are coming to a head at the same time US president Donald Trump has threatened 25% tariffs on Apple's best-selling iPhone. Apple's shares are down more than 40% since the start of the year, a sharper decline than Google and also lagging the AI-driven gains in Microsoft shares. Apple has launched some of the AI features it promised last year, including a set of writing tools and image-generation tools, but it still relies on partners such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI for some of those capabilities. Bloomberg has reported that Apple may open up in-house AI models to developers this year. Also Read: Apple WWDC 2025 Live Updates: Major software-related updates expected at iPhone maker's annual event But analysts do not believe Apple yet has what technologists call a "multi-modal" model - that is, one capable of understanding imagery, audio and language at the same time - that could power a pair of smart glasses, a category that has become a runaway hit for Meta Platforms. Google said last month it would jump back in to this category, with partners. Such glasses, which are far lighter and cheaper than Apple's Vision Pro headset, could become useful because they would understand what the user is looking at and could help answer questions about it. While Apple has focused on its $3,500 Vision Pro headset, Google and Meta have seized on the smart glasses as a cheaper way to deploy their AI software prowess against Apple in its stronghold of hardware. Meta Ray-Bans all sell for less than $400. Analysts say Apple needs to answer that challenge but that it is not likely to do so this week. "I'm not trying to replace my phone - this is a complementary thing that gives me more world context, because it's got a camera and it sees what I see, and I can talk to it in natural language," said Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative Strategies. "Apple is not positioned to do that." To be sure, Apple's rivals are not decisively ahead in smart glasses. Anshel Sag, principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, said Meta's Ray-Bans still lack some features and Google has not yet landed its "Gemini" model in a mass-market pair of glasses yet. "Meta has the undisputed lead, but Google is catching up fast and probably has the best-suited AI for the job," Sag said. "Vision Pro is great, but it's a showroom product that developers can use." But Bob O'Donnell, CEO of TECHnalysis Research, said it remains far from clear that smart glasses will gain wide acceptance. O'Donnell also said it is not certain that Apple is at any particular disadvantage if it partners with a company such as Google, OpenAI or even a smaller firm like Perplexity for core AI technology. So far, O'Donnell said, there is not yet strong evidence that consumers are basing major hardware-purchasing decisions on AI features. "There's an argument to be made that it's OK that (Apple) is behind because, except for the bleeding edge, most people don't care," O'Donnell said.

Apple heads into annual showcase reeling from AI missteps, tech upheaval and Trump's trade war

After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple will try to regain its footing Monday at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The presummer rite, which attracts thousands of developers to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, is expected to be more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event during the previous two years. In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri. Apple had intended the planned Siri upgrade to herald its long-awaited attempt to become a major player in the AI craze after getting a late start in a phenomenon that so far has been largely been led by OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and an array of cutting-edge startups. Instead, as Apple heads into this year's showcase, the company faces nagging questions about whether the nearly 50-year-old company has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that turned it into a tech trendsetter. Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset, Apple this year is expected to focus on an overhaul of its software that may include a new, more tactile look for the iPhone's native apps and a new nomenclature for identifying its operating system updates. Even though it might look like Apple is becoming a technological laggard, Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson contends the company still has ample time to catch up in an AI race that's "more of a marathon, than a sprint. It will force Apple to evolve its operating systems." If reports about its iOS naming scheme pan out, Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That would mean the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 - as it would be under the current sequential naming approach. Whatever it's named, the next iOS will likely be released as a free update in September, around the same time as the next iPhone models if Apple follows its usual road map. Meanwhile, Apple's references to AI may be less frequent than last year when the technology was the main attraction. While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, Apple still hasn't been able to soup up Siri in the ways that it touted at last year's conference. The delays became so glaring that a chastened Apple retreated from promoting Siri in its AI marketing campaigns earlier this year. "It's just taking a bit longer than we thought," Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last month when asked about the company's headaches with Siri. "But we are making progress, and we're extremely excited to get the more personal Siri features out there." While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple's biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. "While much of WWDC will be about what the next great thing is for the iPhone, the unspoken question is: What's the next great thing after the iPhone?" said Dipanjan Chatterjee, another analyst for Forrester Research. Besides facing innovation challenges, Apple also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to Google's illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth $20 billion annually to Apple while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commission on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system. On top of all that, Apple has been caught in the cross-hairs of President Donald Trump's trade war with China, a key manufacturing hub for the Cupertino, California, company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president's first administration, but he has had less success during Trump's second term, which seems more determined to prod Apple to make its products in the U.S.. "The trade war and uncertainty linked to the tariff policy is of much more concern today for Apple's business than the perception that Apple is lagging behind on AI innovation," Husson said. The multi-dimensional gauntlet facing Apple is spooking investors, causing the company's stock price to plunge by nearly 20% so far this year - a decline that has erased $750 billion in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, Apple now ranks third behind longtime rival Microsoft, another AI leader, and AI chipmaker Nvidia.

Apple WWDC 2025: iPhone maker woos software developers amid AI, regulatory challenges

Apple WWDC 2025 is taking place as the company faces technical and regulatory hurdles, its AI advancements lag behind competitors like Google and Microsoft, impacting its stock value. Delayed AI features and potential App Store regulation coincide with tariff threats. While rivals advance in smart glasses, analysts debate the importance of AI in consumer hardware decisions, suggesting partnerships could mitigate Apple's perceived disadvantage.Apple is facing an unprecedented set of technical and regulatory challenges as some of its key executives are set to take the stage on Monday at the company's annual software developer conference. On the technical side, many of the long-awaited artificial-intelligence features Apple promised at the same conference a year ago have been delayed until next year, even as its rivals such as Alphabet's Google and Microsoft woo developers with a bevvy of new AI features. Those unfulfilled promises included key improvements to Siri, its digital assistant. On the regulatory front, courts in the US and Europe are poised to pull down the lucrative walls around Apple's App Store as even some of the company's former supporters question whether its fees are justified. Those challenges are coming to a head at the same time US President Donald Trump has threatened 25% tariffs on Apple's best-selling iPhone. Apple's shares are down more than 40% since the start of the year, a sharper decline than Google and also lagging the AI-driven gains in Microsoft shares. Apple has launched some of the AI features it promised last year, including a set of writing tools and image-generation tools, but it still relies on partners such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI for some of those capabilities. Bloomberg has reported that Apple may open up in-house AI models to developers this year. But analysts do not believe Apple yet has what technologists call a "multi-modal" model -- that is, one capable of understanding imagery, audio and language at the same time -- that could power a pair of smart glasses, a category that has become a runaway hit for Meta Platforms. Google said last month it would jump back in to this category, with partners. Such glasses, which are far lighter and cheaper than Apple's Vision Pro headset, could become useful because they would understand what the user is looking at and could help answer questions about it. While Apple has focused on its $3,500 Vision Pro headset, Google and Meta have seized on the smart glasses as a cheaper way to deploy their AI software prowess against Apple in its stronghold of hardware. Meta Ray-Bans all sell for less than $400. Analysts say Apple needs to answer that challenge but that it is not likely to do so this week. "I'm not trying to replace my phone -- this is a complementary thing that gives me more world context, because it's got a camera and it sees what I see, and I can talk to it in natural language," said Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative Strategies. "Apple is not positioned to do that." To be sure, Apple's rivals are not decisively ahead in smart glasses. Anshel Sag, principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, said Meta's Ray-Bans still lack some features and Google has not yet landed its "Gemini" model in a mass-market pair of glasses yet. "Meta has the undisputed lead, but Google is catching up fast and probably has the best-suited AI for the job," Sag said. "Vision Pro is great, but it's a showroom product that developers can use." But Bob O'Donnell, CEO of TECHnalysis Research, said it remains far from clear that smart glasses will gain wide acceptance. O'Donnell also said it is not certain that Apple is at any particular disadvantage if it partners with a company such as Google, OpenAI or even a smaller firm like Perplexity for core AI technology. So far, O'Donnell said, there is not yet strong evidence that consumers are basing major hardware-purchasing decisions on AI features. "There's an argument to be made that it's OK that (Apple) is behind because, except for the bleeding edge, most people don't care," O'Donnell said.

Apple WWDC 2025 event to put focus on 'existential risk' of AI struggles

Apple WWDC 2025 event arrives amid concerns over its AI capabilities, potentially overshadowing trade policy worries. Lagging behind competitors like Microsoft and Alphabet in AI innovation, Apple faces pressure to demonstrate its strategy. With shares down 19% this year, the company's AI struggles, coupled with slower growth projections and a premium valuation, raise questions about its appeal to investors.Apple Inc. shares have been heavily tethered to US trade policies this year, but its annual developer's conference could refocus Wall Street's attention on a potentially bigger problem: its struggles with artificial intelligence. The iPhone maker's WWDC event kicks off Monday and isn't expected to feature much in the way of major AI releases. That could shine a light on Apple's shortfalls with the critical technology, threatening further weakness for its shares with few obvious catalysts on the horizon to turn things around. "It's hard to argue that Apple's lack of standing with AI isn't an existential risk, and it would be a real surprise if it came out with a significant AI development or application at WWDC," said Andrew Choi, portfolio manager at Parnassus Investments. "If it can paint a future where it is integrating and commoditizing AI, that would be compelling, because otherwise, what is going to get people to buy their next phone for a lot more money?" Shares are down 19% this year, making them by far the biggest drag on the Nasdaq 100, which has advanced 3.6%. While much of the selloff reflects Apple's exposure to President Donald Trump's tariffs and political uncertainty, its struggles with AI have been another significant headwind. The conference marks the one-year anniversary of the introduction of Apple Intelligence, which sparked an initial wave of optimism that the AI features it unveiled would prompt consumers to upgrade their iPhones in droves. That proved premature, however, as features failed to impress and were repeatedly delayed, culminating with an AI-version of the Siri digital assistant getting postponed for the foreseeable future. Also Read: Apple WWDC 2025 Live Streaming: Date, time and where to watch the event in India The lack of a robust AI offering stands in contrast to some Big Tech peers. Alphabet Inc. recently debuted a number of well-received AI features, and Microsoft Corp. is trading at all-time highs on AI optimism. Apple also faces potential competition from ChatGPT owner OpenAI, which said last month it's acquiring io, a device startup co-founded by Jony Ive, the legendary designer and former Apple executive. Of course, Apple still offers plenty of attractive characteristics, including a huge user base, its high-margin services business, and immense profitability that it taps to return capital to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. Those attributes still make the stock appealing to Mark Bronzo, chief investment strategist at the Rye Consulting Group, despite lagging in AI. "I expect its AI features will be more functional than cutting edge, and that means there's nothing exciting about Apple where you'd want to own it over Nvidia, Microsoft, or Amazon, which have strong growth from their AI stories," he said. "The flip side is that Apple's cash flow and services business mean it can maintain its P/E in a downturn. It can sometimes be useful to be in a boring stock if the market goes sideways." Still, Apple's AI struggles add to other investor concerns. Apple's revenue growth is projected to be about 4% in fiscal 2025, compared with 14% for Microsoft or 11% for Alphabet. It also trades at 27 times estimated earnings, well below a recent peak around 34, but a premium to its average over the past decade of 21. Last week, Needham became the latest Wall Street firm to downgrade the stock. Generative AI innovations from competitors "open the door for new hardware form factors that threaten iOS devices," analyst Laura Martin wrote, cutting her rating to the equivalent of neutral. Fewer than 60% of the analysts tracked by Bloomberg who cover the company recommend buying, the lowest such rate among the seven most valuable US technology companies, which include Microsoft, Nvidia Corp., Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet, Meta Platforms Inc. and Broadcom Inc. "Apple is growing at a single-digit pace without much ability to expand its margins, plus it faces risks from tariffs and China exposure while competitors make inroads with AI and it trades at a premium price," said Choi. "There's nothing compelling about all that." Also Read: iOS 19 or iOS 26: New iPhone operating system set for overhaul at Apple WWDC 2025

Craig Federighi Says 'Building A Chatbot' Was Never The Goal, Promises Apple Intelligence's Focus Is To 'Meet You Where You Are' - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple's AAPL senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, says Siri won't morph into a ChatGPT rival anytime soon, insisting that 'building a chatbot' was never the company's goal. What Happened: Speaking to Tom's Guide after WWDC 2025, Federighi said that Apple Intelligence aims to "meet you where you are," weaving AI into familiar apps rather than forcing users into a dedicated chat experience to get things done. Federighi acknowledged conversational bots can act "as a therapist" and help people "brainstorm, do all kinds of things," but added that a chatbot was never the plan. "When some of these Siri capabilities I mentioned [last year] didn't show up, people kind of went like, well... what happened, Apple? I thought you were going to give us your chatbot. Well, that honestly...was never our goal," Federighi explained. See also: Tim Cook Explains Why Apple's 'F1' Movie Bet With Lewis Hamilton Serves More Than Just iPhone Sales Federighi said the company postponed last year's high-profile Siri revamp after testing showed version 1 "would not meet our customer expectations or Apple standards," a decision he called proof that "there's no need to rush out with the wrong features." Apple executives chose reliability over deadlines, warning it "would've been more disappointing to ship something that didn't hit our quality standard." Why It Matters: The Apple SVP's stance contrasts with OpenAI chief Sam Altman, who recently hailed ChatGPT as a "life advisor" teens consult before making big decisions. Instead, Apple is rolling out on-device tools such as Call Screening and Hold for Me in the Phone app, plus Live Translate across Messages, FaceTime and calls, keeping the assistance "contextually relevant" inside each workflow. The same translation engine will appear across macOS Tahoe, iPadOS 26 and watchOS 26 this fall. That said, Apple's stock slid for a second straight session as analysts called the WWDC 2025 announcements "incremental" and "too little, too late" on artificial-intelligence progress. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the lack of new AI features startled him, and Forrester's Dipanjan Chatterjee described the "silence surrounding Siri" as deafening. Goldman Sachs, however, told clients to look past the sell-off, reiterating its Buy rating and $253 price target that suggests roughly 25% upside. Read next: OpenAI Looks To Raise $40 Billion From Global Investors Including Saudi Arabia's PIF, India's Reliance Industries To Accelerate AI Models And Stargate: Report Photo courtesy: DenPhotos / Shutterstock AAPLApple Inc$199.220.22%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum29.72Growth32.90Quality76.94Value9.02Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

WWDC 2025 Not Expected To Have Any Major AI Breakthroughs, But Apple Analyst Says Watch Out For These 3 Key Points - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple Inc. AAPL is expected to highlight its artificial intelligence strategy at WWDC 2025, but according to top analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, no breakthroughs are anticipated, although the company can still meet market expectations. What Happened: On Monday, Kuo, an analyst at TF Securities, took to X, formerly Twitter and shared three key points to watch out for at Apple WWDC 2025. He explained Apple's focus at WWDC 2025 will be on AI advancements, while other updates like UI changes and OS improvements will take a secondary role. Kuo stated that Apple is not expected to unveil any major breakthroughs in AI technology during the event. See Also: Pierre Ferragu Takes Apple To Task For Dismissing The AI Revolution: 'Has Its Head In The Sand' However, with low market expectations, Apple could still meet them by clearly explaining how AI will work across its devices and offering a roadmap for its future development. "No major breakthroughs in Apple's AI technology are expected," he stated, adding, "Still, with the market's limited expectations, Apple can meet them by clearly explaining how AI features will work on devices and outlining a development timeline." Kuo also pointed out that Apple's AI announcements in the past year were optimistic but were met with a lack of significant AI rollouts. He said that while Apple's hardware and chip development can support AI services, the company has yet to differentiate itself in the AI space, and there is no guarantee of a competitive advantage just because of its hardware. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It's Important: Apple's AI plans are under significant scrutiny, as the company attempts to catch up with rivals like OpenAI, Microsoft Corporation MSFT and Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google. Though WWDC typically focuses on software, previously it was reported that Apple may unveil three hardware products this year: a redesigned Mac Pro featuring Apple Silicon, a new 'HomePad' smart display possibly linked to a new homeOS and an updated AirTag 2. WWDC 2025 marks Apple's final major event ahead of the iPhone 17 launch this fall, making it a likely opportunity for hardware reveals. The event runs from June 9 to 13, with the keynote livestream scheduled for June 9 at 1 p.m. ET. Price Action: Apple shares have fallen 16.37% so far this year, though they have climbed 140.76% over the past five years, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings show a downward price trend for Apple across short, medium and long-term periods. Additional metrics can be found here. Photo Courtesy: Lester Balajadia on Shutterstock.com Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Alibaba, JD See Sales Soar In 618 Festival, Apple And Xiaomi Emerge As Top Selling Brands Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. AAPLApple Inc$204.471.91%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum39.35Growth32.87Quality79.52Value9.03Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$174.903.00%GOOGLAlphabet Inc$173.703.26%MSFTMicrosoft Corp$470.380.58%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Apple's Dull Developer Event Mirrors Its Lackluster AI Strategy | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. On Monday (June 9), the company's much anticipated 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) saw the reveal of new features for Apple Intelligence, the Cupertino giant's privacy-centric, on-device AI framework that spans iPhones, iPads, Macs and Vision Pro. Despite the breadth of its rollout, the underlying strategy underscores a fundamental tension. Apple is betting that measured integration, meticulous design and a deep commitment to user privacy will matter more than rapid innovation in generative AI. Investors were less convinced, with the company's stock closing down 1.2% for the day. Apple, long known for excitement and innovation, delivered nothing particularly exciting or innovative during the first day of the WWDC. Regarding an upgrade to the long-standing Siri AI voice assistant, Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said the company needed "more time to meet our high-quality bar," The Wall Street Journal reported. This restrained approach stands in contrast to rivals like Amazon, Google and Microsoft, which are embracing large language models and enterprise-scale AI solutions in aggressive and sometimes experimental ways. While those companies are deploying AI agents in business software and cloud infrastructure, Apple is offering tightly integrated, narrowly scoped capabilities such as real-time voicemail transcripts, enhanced Spotlight search, call screening and translation. The question observers may find themselves asking is whether Apple is playing a longer game or simply falling behind. Read also: Why Generative AI Is a Bigger Threat to Apple Than Google or Amazon Apple's core value proposition with AI is intelligence without surveillance. Most new features announced at WWDC are processed on-device, with Apple promising that user data will never be harvested for training purposes. In an era of heightened regulatory scrutiny and consumer distrust, this stance resonates. However, the limitations are equally apparent. On-device models are necessarily smaller and less powerful than the sprawling models hosted in the cloud. This design choice limits the sophistication of Apple's offerings, particularly for enterprise use cases that may require deeper contextual reasoning, custom training and real-time collaboration across users and systems. Apple's Foundation Models Framework, introduced at WWDC, is a step toward opening its AI infrastructure to third-party developers. However, for developers building serious enterprise applications -- from legal document review to customer support automation -- Apple's AI stack may be insufficient, The Wall Street Journal reported. In the context of the broader AI economy, Apple risks strategic drift. Most enterprise AI innovation is happening in the cloud, powered by APIs and platforms that allow fine-tuning, multi-modal inputs and integration with vast data sets. Apple's refusal to enter this space leaves it reliant on consumer hardware cycles and developer goodwill -- both of which may wane as competitors offer richer, more adaptable platforms. "Cupertino's stance on privacy and user data, and its closed ecosystem, may have Apple winning the hearts and minds of consumers but losing the generative AI war, despite having a 58% share of the U.S. smartphone market to Android's 42%," Webster wrote. "Unless something changes, Apple may end up playing the role of smartphone, mobile OS and App Store, just like it does today -- with an App Store that comes chock-full of everyone else's GPT app innovations." Apple attempted to deflect some criticism with a redesign of its software ecosystem. Dubbed Liquid Glass, the new user interface across iOS, iPadOS and macOS features translucent, layered interfaces meant to evoke the coming of a "Glasswing" iPhone in 2027, Bloomberg reported. These visual updates underscore Apple's traditional strength in design rather than transformative AI innovation. However, AI is just one of several concerns. The company also faces tariffs that threaten its hardware profit margins. President Donald Trump is also pressuring Apple to alter its overseas production model -- a supply chain strategy the company has employed for decades. Meanwhile, the company's services division, which drives gross profit margins of 74%, is facing legal scrutiny. Questions surround App Store fees and payments Apple gets from Google for being its default search engine.

Apple's AI Siri Update Reportedly Facing Uphill Battle | PYMNTS.com

The tech giant is holding its annual event this week, though investors are pessimistic about the chances of a major AI announcement, the Financial Times (FT) reported Sunday (June 8). Recently departed employees told FT that Apple has been hit by challenges with updating Siri with the use of cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) that can provide more sophisticated responses to spoken prompts. Apple has been trying to develop its own LLMs over the machine learning technology that powers Siri, a product used in hundreds of millions of its bestselling devices, to create a truly conversational assistant. Former executives said that the process of integrating the technologies has led to bugs, something rivals like OpenAI did not face when building generative AI-based voice assistants. "It was obvious that you were not going to revamp Siri by doing what executives called 'climbing the hill,'" one former exec said, referring to the process of gradually developing the product instead of rebuilding it from scratch. "It's clear that they stumbled." The FT also noted that updates to Siri form a major component of Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI features announced at the company's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) last year and designed to increase hardware sales. The report follows one from last week by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) about a host of problems facing Apple, leading to a 20% drop in its stock price, its worst performance in at least 15 years. Experts expect the WWDC to demonstrate how much Apple lags competitors in AI, that report said. While rivals such as Microsoft and Google have used their developer events to highlight rapid progress in AI, Apple's event could highlight how far it still has to go in AI. "Apple will be much more cautious about overpromising and will refrain from showing features that aren't yet ready for prime time," said Craig Moffett of research firm MoffettNathanson. However, AI is just one of several concerns. The company also faces tariffs that threaten its hardware profit margins. President Donald Trump is also pressuring Apple to alter its overseas production model -- a supply chain strategy the company has employed for decades.

Apple admits to delays in Siri AI overhaul at lackluster WWDC...

Apple admitted it needs more time to complete its long-delayed overhaul of the Siri voice assistant - the latest sign that CEO Tim Cook is struggling to meet investor demands for innovation in artificial intelligence. The Cupertino, Calif.-based firm revealed bumps in AI development on Monday at its Worldwide Developers Conference, a yearly event that used to represent the cutting edge with software engineers -- but which lately has lost its cachet. "This work needed more time to reach our high quality bar and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year," Apple software chief Craig Federighi said regarding the delays to Siri's AI overhaul. Apple unveiled plans to allow app developers to use the large language model that powers its AI systems, dubbed "Apple Intelligence." Apple also announced a sweeping design overhaul of its operating systems featuring a sleek new look called "Liquid Glass." Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, an Apple bull, said the event showed "slow and steady improvements" but was "overall a yawner." "WWDC laid out the vision for developers BUT was void of any major Apple Intelligence progress as Cupertino is playing it safe and close to the vest after the missteps last year," Ives said in a note to clients. During the event, Apple touted a "live translation" tool that works for real-time conversations. The company also plans to rename its operating systems updates based on the year they are released, rather than the sequential numbers they've used in the past. Elsewhere, Apple unveiled a "Call Screening" in which iPhones will automatically answer calls from unknown numbers and ask the caller why they called. The company is also partnering with OpenAI's ChatGPT to add image generation to its "Image Playground" app. Apple shares were down more than 1% during the keynote presentation. "Has there actually been an exciting WWDC in the last decade?" X user @MikeYelovich wrote in a post. "This feels like what ChatGPT thinks people want from Apple." Analysts had widely expected this year's event to be underwhelming, with minor software improvements, such as an AI-powered writing assistant, taking center stage. "There's no way Writing Tools is the first apple intelligence thing they brag about at wwdc," joked Interaction co-founder Marvin von Hagen. "Every single time i've seen this menu was against my will." The company also detailed enhancements to its "Visual Intelligence" app, which allows users to seamlessly identify products through their iPhone cameras. Federighi said the plan to open up Apple's "Foundation Models framework" to developers and users would have a transformational effect - allowing them to use an advanced AI model without even needing an internet connection. "This will ignite a whole new wave of intelligence," said Federighi, who cited examples such as apps using the AI model to recommend nearby hiking trails or create practice exams for students. Despite the lukewarm reception, Apple is still in an "enviable position given its large installed base of users" and still has time to catch up to its rivals, said Paolo Pescatore, an industry analyst and founder of research firm PP Foresight. Apple is focused on ensuring its major AI products are ready for prime time rather than risk a backlash from its fans. "While it might seem others are leading the AI race, it is not a sought-after feature among users and there's no revenue uplift - for now," said Pescatore. "Considering the negative perception, Apple needs to tread carefully not to frustrate and disappoint its loyal base of iPhone users." Apple is locked in a fierce competition with rivals like Google and Sam Altman-led OpenAI - the latter of which recently acquired famed iPhone designer Jony Ive's firm with an eye toward developing its own hardware product built specifically for AI.

Apple unveils iOS 26, AI changes and 'liquid glass' design -- but...

After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during an annual developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology. The presummer rite, which attracted thousands of developers from nearly 60 countries to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, was subdued compared with the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event in the last two years. Apple highlighted plans for more AI tools designed to simplify people's lives and make its products even more intuitive. It also provided an early glimpse at the biggest redesign of its iPhone software in a decade. In doing so, Apple executives refrained from issuing bold promises of breakthroughs that punctuated recent conferences, prompting CFRA analyst Angelo Zino to deride the event as a "dud" in a research note. In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri -- a goal that has yet to be realized. "This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar," Craig Federighi, Apple's top software executive, said Monday at the outset of the conference. The company didn't provide a precise timetable for when Siri's AI upgrade will be finished but indicated it won't happen until next year at the earliest. "The silence surrounding Siri was deafening," Forrester Research analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said. "No amount of text corrections or cute emojis can fill the yawning void of an intuitive, interactive AI experience that we know Siri will be capable of when ready. We just don't know when that will happen. The end of the Siri runway is coming up fast, and Apple needs to lift off." The showcase unfolded amid nagging questions about whether Apple has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that has made it a tech trendsetter during its nearly 50-year history. Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset and its AI suite, Apple took a mostly low-key approach that emphasized its effort to spruce up the look of its software with a new design called "Liquid Glass" while also unveiling a new hub for its video games and new features like a "Workout Buddy" to help manage physical fitness. Apple executives promised to make its software more compatible with the increasingly sophisticated computer chips that have been powering its products while also making it easier to toggle between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. "Our product experience has become even more seamless and enjoyable," Apple CEO Tim Cook told the crowd as the 90-minute showcase wrapped up. "Liquid Glass" applies a translucent design aesthetic to the the entire company's lineup of platforms. It's primary attribute adds transparency to menus and toolbars, allowing icons and open panes to refract and reflect whatever's behind it. On larger platforms, it also allows for more resizing options for app displays. Icons also recieve a more curved look than before. IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Apple seemed to be largely using Monday's conference to demonstrate the company still has a blueprint for success in AI, even if it's going to take longer to realize the vision that was presented a year ago. "This year's event was not about disruptive innovation, but rather careful calibration, platform refinement and developer enablement -- positioning itself for future moves rather than unveiling game-changing technologies," Jeronimo said. Besides redesigning its software. Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That means the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 -- as it would be under the previous naming approach that has been used since the device's 2007 debut. The iOS 26 upgrade is expected to be released in September around the same time Apple traditionally rolls out the next iPhone models. Apple opened the proceedings with a short video clip featuring Federighi speeding around a track in a Formula 1 race car. Although it was meant to promote the June 27 release of the Apple film, "F1" starring Brad Pitt, the segment could also be viewed as an unintentional analogy to the company's attempt to catch up to the rest of the pack in AI technology. While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, the delays in a souped-up Siri became so glaring that the chastened company stopped promoting it in its marketing campaigns earlier this year. While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple's biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. Besides grappling with innovation challenges, Apple also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to Google's illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth $20 billion annually to Apple while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commissions on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system. On top of all that, Apple has been caught in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's trade war with China, a key manufacturing hub for the Cupertino, California, company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president's first administration, but he has had less success during Trump's second term, which seems more determined to prod Apple to make its products in the U.S. The multidimensional gauntlet facing Apple is spooking investors, causing the company's stock price to plunge by 20% so far this year -- a decline that has erased about $750 billion in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, Apple now ranks third behind longtime rival Microsoft, another AI leader, and AI chipmaker Nvidia. Apple's shares closed down by more than 1% on Monday -- an early indication the company's latest announcements didn't inspire investors.

Apple heads into annual showcase reeling from AI missteps, tech upheaval and Trump's trade war

After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple will try to regain its footing Monday at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The presummer rite, which attracts thousands of developers to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, is expected to be more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event during the previous two years. In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri. But heading into this year's showcase, Apple faces nagging questions about whether the nearly 50-year-old company has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that turned it into a tech trendsetter. Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset, Apple this year is expected to focus on an overhaul of its software that may include a new, more tactile look for the iPhone's native apps and a new nomenclature for identifying its operating system updates. Even though it might look like Apple is becoming a technological laggard, Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson contends the company still has ample time to catch up in an AI race that's "more of a marathon, than a sprint. It will force Apple to evolve its operating systems." If reports about its iOS naming scheme pan out, Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That would mean the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 -- as it would be under the current sequential naming approach. Whatever it's named, the next iOS will likely be released as a free update in September, around the same time as the next iPhone models if Apple follows its usual road map. Meanwhile, Apple's references to AI may be less frequent than last year when the technology was the main attraction. While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, Apple still hasn't been able to soup up Siri in the ways that it touted at last year's conference. The delays became so glaring that a chastened Apple retreated from promoting Siri in its AI marketing campaigns earlier this year. "It's just taking a bit longer than we thought," Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last month when asked about the company's headaches with Siri. "But we are making progress, and we're extremely excited to get the more personal Siri features out there." While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple's biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. "While much of WWDC will be about what the next great thing is for the iPhone, the unspoken question is: What's the next great thing after the iPhone?" said Dipanjan Chatterjee, another analyst for Forrester Research. Besides facing innovation challenges, Apple also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to Google's illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth $20 billion annually to Apple while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commission on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system. On top of all that, Apple has been caught in the cross-hairs of President Donald Trump's trade war with China, a key manufacturing hub for the Cupertino, California, company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president's first administration, but he has had less success during Trump's second term, which seems more determined to prod Apple to make its products in the U.S.. "The trade war and uncertainty linked to the tariff policy is of much more concern today for Apple's business than the perception that Apple is lagging behind on AI innovation," Husson said. The multi-dimensional gauntlet facing Apple is spooking investors, causing the company's stock price to plunge by nearly 20% so far this year -- a decline that has erased $750 billion in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, Apple now ranks third behind longtime rival Microsoft, another AI leader, and AI chipmaker Nvidia.

Apple unveils software redesign while reeling from AI missteps, tech upheaval and Trump's trade war

(AP) -- After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, tried to regain its footing Monday during an annual developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology. The presummer rite, which attracted thousands of developers from nearly 60 countries to 's headquarters, subdued compared with the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event in the last two years. highlighted plans for more AI tools designed to simplify people's lives and make its products even more intuitive. It also provided an early glimpse at the biggest redesign of its iPhone software in a decade. In doing so, executives refrained from issuing bold promises of breakthroughs that punctuated recent conferences, prompting CFRA analyst to deride the event as a "dud" in a research note. In 2023, unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri -- a goal that has yet to be realized. "This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar," , Apple's top software executive, said Monday at the outset of the conference. The company didn't provide a precise timetable for when Siri's AI upgrade will be finished but indicated it won't happen until next year at the earliest. "The silence surrounding Siri was deafening," said analyst said. "No amount of text corrections or cute emojis can fill the yawning void of an intuitive, interactive AI experience that we know Siri will be capable of when ready. We just don't know when that will happen. The end of the Siri runway is coming up fast, and needs to lift off." The showcase unfolded amid nagging questions about whether has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that has made it a tech trendsetter during its nearly 50-year history. Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset and its AI suite, took a mostly low-key approach that emphasized its effort to spruce up the look of its software with a new design called "Liquid Glass" while also unveiling a new hub for its video games and new features like a "Workout Buddy" to help manage physical fitness. executives promised to make its software more compatible with the increasingly sophisticated computer chips that have been powering its products while also making it easier to toggle between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. "Our product experience has become even more seamless and enjoyable," CEO told the crowd as the 90-minute showcase wrapped up. IDC analyst said seemed to be largely using Monday's conference to demonstrate the company still has a blueprint for success in AI, even if it's going to take longer to realize the vision that was presented a year ago. "This year's event was not about disruptive innovation, but rather careful calibration, platform refinement and developer enablement -- positioning itself for future moves rather than unveiling game-changing technologies," Jeronimo said. Besides redesigning its software. will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That means the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 -- as it would be under the previous naming approach that has been used since the device's 2007 debut. The iOS 26 upgrade is expected to be released in September around the same time traditionally rolls out the next iPhone models. opened the proceedings with a short video clip featuring Federighi speeding around a track in a Formula 1 race car. Although it was meant to promote the release of the film, "F1" starring , the segment could also be viewed as an unintentional analogy to the company's attempt to catch up to the rest of the pack in AI technology. While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, the delays in a souped-up Siri became so glaring that the chastened company stopped promoting it in its marketing campaigns earlier this year. While has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. , 's biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former design guru into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. Besides grappling with innovation challenges, also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to 's illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth annually to while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commissions on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system. On top of all that, has been caught in the crosshairs of President trade war with , a key manufacturing hub for the , company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president's first administration, but he has had less success during Trump's second term, which seems more determined to prod to make its products in the . The multidimensional gauntlet facing is spooking investors, causing the company's stock price to plunge by 20% so far this year -- a decline that has erased about in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, now ranks third behind longtime rival , another AI leader, and AI chipmaker . 's shares closed down by more than 1% on Monday -- an early indication the company's latest announcements didn't inspire investors. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. , source

Apple unveils iOS 26 and a new 'liquid glass' design

(AP) -- After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, tried to regain its footing Monday during an annual developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology. The presummer rite, which attracted thousands of developers from nearly 60 countries to 's headquarters, was subdued compared with the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event in the last two years. highlighted plans for more AI tools designed to simplify people's lives and make its products even more intuitive. It also provided an early glimpse at the biggest redesign of its iPhone software in a decade. In doing so, executives refrained from issuing bold promises of breakthroughs that punctuated recent conferences, prompting CFRA analyst to deride the event as a "dud" in a research note. In 2023, unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri -- a goal that has yet to be realized. "This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar," , Apple's top software executive, said Monday at the outset of the conference. The company didn't provide a precise timetable for when Siri's AI upgrade will be finished but indicated it won't happen until next year at the earliest. "The silence surrounding Siri was deafening," analyst said. "No amount of text corrections or cute emojis can fill the yawning void of an intuitive, interactive AI experience that we know Siri will be capable of when ready. We just don't know when that will happen. The end of the Siri runway is coming up fast, and needs to lift off." The showcase unfolded amid nagging questions about whether has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that has made it a tech trendsetter during its nearly 50-year history. Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset and its AI suite, took a mostly low-key approach that emphasized its effort to spruce up the look of its software with a new design called "Liquid Glass" while also unveiling a new hub for its video games and new features like a "Workout Buddy" to help manage physical fitness. executives promised to make its software more compatible with the increasingly sophisticated computer chips that have been powering its products while also making it easier to toggle between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. "Our product experience has become even more seamless and enjoyable," CEO told the crowd as the 90-minute showcase wrapped up. "Liquid Glass" applies a translucent design aesthetic to the the entire company's lineup of platforms. It's primary attribute adds transparency to menus and toolbars, allowing icons and open panes to refract and reflect whatever's behind it. On larger platforms, it also allows for more resizing options for app displays. Icons also recieve a more curved look than before. IDC analyst said seemed to be largely using Monday's conference to demonstrate the company still has a blueprint for success in AI, even if it's going to take longer to realize the vision that was presented a year ago. "This year's event was not about disruptive innovation, but rather careful calibration, platform refinement and developer enablement -- positioning itself for future moves rather than unveiling game-changing technologies," Jeronimo said. Besides redesigning its software. will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That means the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 -- as it would be under the previous naming approach that has been used since the device's 2007 debut. The iOS 26 upgrade is expected to be released in September around the same time traditionally rolls out the next iPhone models. opened the proceedings with a short video clip featuring Federighi speeding around a track in a Formula 1 race car. Although it was meant to promote the release of the film, "F1" starring , the segment could also be viewed as an unintentional analogy to the company's attempt to catch up to the rest of the pack in AI technology. While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, the delays in a souped-up Siri became so glaring that the chastened company stopped promoting it in its marketing campaigns earlier this year. While has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. , 's biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former design guru into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. Besides grappling with innovation challenges, also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to 's illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth annually to while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commissions on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system. On top of all that, has been caught in the crosshairs of President trade war with , a key manufacturing hub for the , company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president's first administration, but he has had less success during Trump's second term, which seems more determined to prod to make its products in the . The multidimensional gauntlet facing is spooking investors, causing the company's stock price to plunge by 20% so far this year -- a decline that has erased about in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, now ranks third behind longtime rival , another AI leader, and AI chipmaker . 's shares closed down by more than 1% on Monday -- an early indication the company's latest announcements didn't inspire investors. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. , source

WWDC 2025: Apple highlights AI in apps, but not in Siri

Apple's visual lookup expands search capabilities within apps. Apple's WWDC 2025 was a high-gloss showcase of what looked like a reworked windows vista and some more AI features. The company spent over an hour talking about the updates it brought to "Apple Intelligence" across Messages, Mail, Notes, Photos, Maps and Facetime. Smart summaries, priority messages, image generation, it was all there, wrapped in the usual sleek language of privacy, performance, and polish. However, while Craig Federighi animatedly walked us through summaries and Genmojis, there was an unmistakable absence at the core of Apple's AI vision - Siri. Also read: At WWDC 2025, Apple puts design first again with iOS 26, macOS 26 Tahoe and iPadOS 26 And when it did, it was mostly to say the features Apple promised last year still aren't ready. That's not a minor omission. Siri is supposed to be Apple's interface to the future. Instead, it was barely a footnote. Apple didn't ignore Siri entirely. They gave it a passing mention to confirm that its long-awaited upgrades will have to wait a little longer. The smarter, more helpful, more conversational Siri that Apple pitched at WWDC 2024 still isn't shipping. This isn't just about one missed deadline, it is disappointment. Especially when you consider that Apple spent over a decade positioning Siri as the future of interaction. Today, it isn't even the present. Siri was supposed to be the bridge between Apple Intelligence and everyday users. Instead, Apple handed that job to OpenAI's ChatGPT yet again. That's right, rather than putting Siri front and center, Apple now lets you route queries to a third-party assistant. It's a smart fallback, but it's also a quiet admission that Siri just can't keep up. To be fair, many of the new AI features Apple introduced look useful, Smart replies in Mail and Messages, notification summaries that surface what matters, the new Image Playground feels thoughtful too. But none of that is exactly new or better than what we already have with google. The one thing that they did improve on was visual lookup, which is basically their version of "Circle to search", that works across apps and not just the web. But all of it is fragmented, it is spread across apps with no unified voice, no central interface Apple has chosen to embed intelligence in functions, not in conversation. Which would be fine, except it's still selling Siri as its AI interface. You can't have it both ways. If Siri is the assistant, it needs to do more than set timers and mangle dictation. It needs to have both hands on the steering wheel. Right now, it is sitting in the back. Also read: Apple WWDC 2025: iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe and all the big announcements made at the annual developer event Apple isn't the only company making assistants. But it might be the only one moving this slowly. Just weeks earlier, Google I/O painted a very different picture of what AI could be. Google showed Gemini as not just a brain behind apps, but as a full-blown assistant. It wasn't perfect, but it was clear: Google believes AI assistants are how people will interact with their devices in the future. Samsung, while uneven, is pushing hard on Galaxy AI and real-time call translation. Microsoft is turning Copilot into a desktop AI layer. Even Meta is stuffing its assistant into every messaging surface it can find. Meanwhile, Apple is still stalling. It's an odd contradiction: Apple has the best AI marketing name in the game, but the assistant that should embody it, the one users expect to talk to, still doesn't have the presence, personality, or power to lead it. WWDC 2025 had all the flash and polish we've come to expect. But at the center of all the noise was a pronounced silence. The assistant that started it all, the one that was supposed to lead us into the AI future, is still being promised, still being fixed, still not ready. If Apple isn't ready to show us a smarter Siri now, one has to wonder, will it ever be?