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Tim Cook’s in the pressure cooker. It’s early June and the vibes are decidedly off in Cupertino. The hype leading up to Apple’s last two developer conferences felt much different. There was anticipation in 2023 for a potentially groundbreaking new headset. In 2024, there was a sense of urgency leading up to the company’s AI announcements and whispers that Siri might actually, finally be good at something. But 2025? Well, things are different. The Vision Pro was the big announcement at that 2023 show, and it’s, uh, still around. Apple has reportedly cut production due to slow sales, and you can get one at a steep discount on eBay. Maybe the price is wrong. And the big AI announcement last year? How’s that going? As it stands, Apple Intelligence is stalled out. The features that Apple managed to deploy are underwhelming, and the meaty update to Siri has been delayed — maybe even for years. It sounds like the whole thing was a real fiasco inside Apple, and publicly, the company took down an ad showcasing Siri features that simply don’t exist yet. Ouch. And then there’s the legal stuff. In 2021, a court in California ordered Apple to let developers add links allowing customers to make purchases outside of their apps. The company was also supposed to come up with a rationale for whatever commission it decided to take on those purchases. Apple’s subsequent compliance with this order was so poor that Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers got fed up and blocked the company from taking any fees on those purchases and recommended the case for criminal contempt proceedings — all detailed in a seething 80-page decision. Meanwhile, in the EU, regulators have fined Apple for practices that fail to comply with the DMA’s antitrust rules, Fortnite is back in the App Store, and oh yeah, President Donald Trump keeps waving tariffs around in Tim Cook’s face with a cockamamie plan to convince him to build iPhones in the US. What’s a beleaguered tech CEO to do in times like these? Here’s what I’d like to see at WWDC: Apple showing a little humility. I do not want to see a two-minute Hollywood production of Craig Federighi jumping out of a helicopter or whatever with his expensive haircut flapping in the wind. I would like to see Tim Cook take the stage and own up to the company’s recent missteps. Doesn’t he owe this particular audience some kind of apology after a judge put him on blast for choosing the worst option for developers at every turn? Shouldn’t he at least acknowledge that the company got out over its skis showing us Apple Intelligence demos on the same stage last year that, by some accounts, were pure vaporware? It would be the right thing to do, but one early indication makes it seem unlikely Apple will choose this path. Daring Fireball’s John Gruber’s annual Talk Show episode usually features guest appearances by Apple executives who provide color on the big WWDC announcements. But Gruber says that this year, for the first time since 2015, Apple has declined the invitation to join. Notably, Gruber published a blog earlier this year taking critical aim at Apple’s mishandling of AI features. Coincidence, I’m sure! This is a strong indicator that Apple will choose the more familiar option: project confidence and keep smiling. Instead of a sincere acknowledgement of its misjudgments, we’ll probably see it paper over the disastrous Apple Intelligence rollout with a sleek new redesign and a new OS naming convention for funsies. They’ll keep pretending that the Vision Pro is a beloved innovation and not just collecting dust on the shelves of early adopters. They’ll keep insisting that notification summaries and a text prompt image generator constitute a worthwhile AI feature set. The new Siri capabilities featured in this demo from last year’s WWDC still haven’t arrived. Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge The trouble is, I don’t think it’ll be enough this time. Apple’s force of personality has sustained it through past missteps, but I don’t think the same playbook will work through the current crisis. The stock price is down from its highs earlier in the year — about flat from last June — a federal judge is breathing fire at Tim Cook, and it’s obvious to anyone with an iPhone 16 that Apple Intelligence is half-baked at best. And the vibes? Way, way off. But the thing about a vibe is that you can turn it around. WWDC is Apple’s chance to talk directly to arguably its most important audience: developers. Apple executives would do well to remember that it was apps that made the iPhone what it is today. If developers are going to follow Apple into the next era of AI or XR or whatever the shift may be, then now would be a good time to show them a little humility. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

We expect to see new designs, new branding, and more at Apple's WWDC 2025. Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on Monday with the company's standard keynote presentation—a combination of PR about how great Apple and its existing products are and a first look at the next-generation versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and the company's other operating systems. Reporting before the keynote rarely captures everything that Apple has planned at its presentations, but the reliable information we've seen so far is that Apple will keep the focus on its software this year rather than using the keynote to demo splashy new hardware like the Vision Pro and Apple Silicon Mac Pro, which the company introduced at WWDC a couple years back. If you haven't been keeping track, here are a few of the things that are most likely to happen when the pre-recorded announcement videos start rolling next week. Redesign time Reliable reports from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman have been saying for months that Apple's operating systems are getting a design overhaul at WWDC. The company apparently plans to use the design of the Vision Pro's visionOS software as a jumping-off point for the new designs, introducing more transparency and UI elements that appear to be floating on the surface of your screen. Apple's overarching goal, according to Gurman, is to "simplify the way users navigate and control their devices" by "updating the style of icons, menus, apps, windows and system buttons." Apple's airy, floaty visionOS will apparently serve as the inspiration for its next-generation software design. Credit: Apple Any good software redesign needs to walk a tightrope between freshening up an old look and solving old problems without changing peoples' devices so much that they become unrecognizable and unfamiliar. The number of people who have complained to me about the iOS 18-era redesign of the Photos app suggests to me that Apple doesn't always strike the right balance. But a new look can also generate excitement and encourage upgrades more readily than some of the low-profile or under-the-hood improvements that these updates normally focus on. The redesigned UI should be released simultaneously for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. The Mac last received a significant facelift back in 2020 with macOS 11 Big Sur, though this was overshadowed at the time by the much more significant shift from Intel's chips to Apple Silicon. The current iOS and iPadOS design has its roots in 2013's iOS 7, though with over a decade's worth of gradual evolution on top. An OS by any other name With the new design will apparently come a new naming scheme, shifting from the current version numbers to new numbers based on the year. So we allegedly won't be seeing iOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, or visionOS 3—instead, we'll get iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26. The new numbers might be a little confusing at first, especially for the period of overlap where Apple is actively supporting (say) macOS 14, macOS 15, and macOS 26. But in the long run, the consistency should make it easier to tell roughly how old your software is and will also make it easier to tell whether your device is running current software without having to remember the number for each of your individual devices. It also unifies the approach to any new operating system variants Apple might announce—tvOS starts at version 9 and iPadOS starts at version 13, for example, because they were linked to the then-current iOS release. But visionOS and watchOS both started over from 1.0, and the macOS version is based on the year that Apple arbitrarily decided to end the 20-year-old "macOS X" branding and jump up to 11. Note that those numbers will use the upcoming year rather than the current year—iOS 26 will be Apple's latest and greatest OS for about three months in 2025, assuming the normal September-ish launch, but it will be the main OS for nine months in 2026. Apple usually also waits until later in the fall or winter to start forcing people onto the new OS, issuing at least a handful of security-only updates for the outgoing OS for people who don't want to be guinea pigs for a possibly buggy new release. Seriously, don’t get your hopes up about hardware Apple showed off Vision Pro at WWDC in 2023, but we're not expecting to see much hardware this year. Credit: Samuel Axon Gurman has reported that Apple had "no major new devices ready to ship" this year. Apple generally concentrates its hardware launches to the spring and fall, with quieter and lower-profile launches in the spring and bigger launches in the fall, anchored by the tentpole that is the iPhone. But WWDC has occasionally been a launching point for new Macs (because Macs are the only systems that run Xcode, Apple's development environment) and occasionally brand-new platforms (because getting developers on board with new platforms is one way to increase their chances of success). But the best available information suggests that neither of those things is happening this time around. There are possibilities, though. Apple has apparently been at work behind the scenes on expanding its smart home footprint, and the eternally neglected Mac Pro is still using an M2 Ultra when an M3 Ultra already exists. But especially with a new redesign to play up, we'd expect Apple to keep the spotlight on its software this time around. The fate of Intel Macs It's been five years since Apple started moving from Intel's chips to its own custom silicon in Macs and two years since Apple sold its last Intel Macs. And since the very start of the transition, Apple has resisted providing a firm answer to the question of when Intel Macs will stop getting new macOS updates. Our analysis of years of support data suggests two likely possibilities: that Apple releases one more new version of macOS for Intel Macs before shifting to a couple years of security-only updates or that Apple pulls the plug and shifts to security-only updates this year. Rumors suggest that current betas still run on the last couple rounds of Intel Macs, dropping support for some older or slower models introduced between 2018 and 2020. If that's true, there's a pretty good chance it's the last new macOS version to officially support Intel CPUs. Regardless, we'll know more when the first betas drop after the keynote. Even if the new version of macOS supports some Intel Macs, expect the list of features that require Apple Silicon to keep getting longer. iPad multitasking? Again? The perennial complaint about high-end iPads is that the hardware is a lot more capable than the software allows it to be. And every couple of years, Apple takes another crack at making the iPad a viable laptop replacement by improving the state of multitasking on the platform. This will allegedly be another one of those years. We don't know much about what form these multitasking improvements will take—whether they're a further refinement of existing features like Stage Manager or something entirely new. The changes have been described as "more like macOS," but that could mean pretty much anything. Playing games People play plenty of games on Apple's devices, but they still aren't really a "destination" for gaming in the same way that a dedicated console or Windows PC is. The company is apparently hoping to change that with a new unified app for games. Like Valve's Steam, the app will reportedly serve as a storefront, launcher, and achievement tracker, and will also facilitate communication between friends playing the same game. Apple took a similar stab at this idea in the early days of the iPhone with Game Center, which still exists as a service in the background on modern Apple devices but was discontinued as a standalone app quite a few years ago. Apple has been trying for a few years now to make its operating systems more hospitable to gaming, especially in macOS. The company has added a low-latency Game Mode to macOS and comprehensive support for modern wireless gamepads from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. The company's Game Porting Toolkit stops short of being a consumer-friendly way to run Windows games on macOS, but it does give developers of Windows games an easier on-ramp for testing and porting their games to Apple's platforms. We'll see whether a unified app can help any of these other gaming features gel into something that feels cohesive. Going home Might we see a more prominent, marketable name for what Apple currently calls the "HomePod Software"? Credit: Jeff Dunn One of Apple's long-simmering behind-the-scenes hardware projects is apparently a new kind of smart home device that weds the HomePod's current capabilities with a vaguely Apple TV-like touchscreen interface. In theory, this device would compete with the likes of Amazon's Echo Show devices. Part of those plans involve a "new" operating system to replace what is known to the public as "HomePod Software" (and internally as audioOS). This so-called "homeOS" has been rumored for a bit, and some circumstantial evidence points to some possible pre-WWDC trademark activity around that name. Like the current HomePod software—and just about every other OS Apple maintains—homeOS would likely be a specialized offshoot of iOS. But even if it doesn't come with new hardware right away, new branding could suggest that Apple is getting ready to expand its smart home ambitions. What about AI? Finally, it wouldn't be a mid-2020s tech keynote without some kind of pronouncements about AI. Last year's WWDC was the big public unveiling of Apple Intelligence, and (nearly) every one of Apple's product announcements since then has made a point of highlighting the hardware's AI capabilities. We'd definitely expect Apple to devote some time to Apple Intelligence, but the company may be more hesitant to announce big new features in advance, following a news cycle where even normally sympathetic Apple boosters like Daring Fireball's John Gruber excoriated the company for promising AI features that it was nowhere near ready to launch—or even to demo to the public. The executives handling Apple's AI efforts were reshuffled following that news cycle; whether it was due to Gruber's piece or the underlying problems outlined in the article is anyone's guess. Apple will probably try to find a middle road, torn between not wanting to overpromise and underdeliver and not wanting to seem "behind" on the tech industry's biggest craze. There's a decent chance that the new "more personalized" version of Siri will finally make a public appearance. But I'd guess that Apple will focus more on iterations of existing Apple Intelligence features like summaries or Writing Tools rather than big swings. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Apple has officially shared the details of its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025. Notably, WWDC 2025, with the tagline "On the horizon," will be a week-long event from June 9 to June 13. It will be an online event, free of charge, and will bring together developers from across the globe to learn about the latest Apple tools and technologies. According to Apple, a special in-person event will also take place at Apple Park on June 9, at which 1,000 developers and students will attend. Things will kick off on June 9 at 10 AM PDT with Apple Keynote, where viewers will witness the launch of new operating systems: iOS 19, iPadOS 19, WatchOS 12, macOS 16, and visionOS 3. The keynote can be viewed live on Apple's official website, the Apple TV app, and Apple's YouTube channel. Later that day, at 1 PM PDT, Apple will stream the "Platforms State of the Union" session. In this, developers will learn about the new tools and features available across Apple operating systems. Apple has planned over 100 technical sessions over one week of the event, which will also be accessible online. Apple experts will discuss everything from app development to machine learning to game design. Interested developers can schedule one-to-one sessions and online Labs with Apple experts for guidance. For the second year in a row, Apple will also highlight young talent through the Swift Student Challenge, where 50 standout students will get a chance to visit Apple Park for a three-day experience. Apple is expected to introduce a slew of Apple Intelligence features, such as intelligent battery management and a virtual health assistant. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the upcoming visionOS 3 update is also speculated to be significant. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of April): 1,811 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

It is time for Apple developers and enthusiasts to mark their calendars: Apple has officially announced the date of this year's Worldwide Developer Conference, or WWDC. In 2025, WWDC will be held online only from June 9 to June 13. “We’re excited to mark another incredible year of WWDC with our global developer community,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “We can’t wait to share the latest tools and technologies that will empower developers and help them continue to innovate.” As usual, the keynote on June 9 will be streamed online on Apple's official website, the company's YouTube channel, and the Apple Developer app. Developers and students will also have an opportunity to watch the keynote at Apple Park, meet with Apple experts, and participate in group labs and special activities. To most developers, WWDC is all about learning new dev tools and capabilities for their projects. For regular users, though, the most exciting part is the latest iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and other updates. In 2025, Apple is expected to announce a big iOS revamp (the biggest since iOS 7) and talk a lot about its AI efforts, which, so far, are not doing very well. Although Apple plans to host a special celebration on June 9, all four days of the conference will be held online, with free access for developers and students. You can learn more about the event on its official website. Microsoft, on the other hand, has its annual developer conference scheduled for May 19-22. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of February): 874 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend