WWDC 2025 is make or break for Apple Intelligence — here's why
WWDC 2025 is going to be a big deal for Apple users. Not only are we expecting to see a big redesign for iOS 19/ (or iOS 26), but it also marks one year since Apple went all in on AI and announced Apple Intelligence.
Of course Apple Intelligence hasn't really been the resounding success that Apple probably hoped. It's not been a disaster, but WWDC 2024 turned out to be the one thing Apple typically tries to avoid doing — overpromising and underdelivering. Nearly a year later, many of the promised Siri features are still missing in action.
Considering Apple was already late to the party with AI, and the troubles it's had, the pressure is on at WWDC 2025. It's make or break, and if Apple doesn't ease the biggest concerns about Apple Intelligence then it risks it ending up like Siri did 10 years ago.
The biggest issue with Apple Intelligence is that Apple realized AI was going to be a big deal much later than everyone else. Apple wasn't ignoring AI, but in the years before ChatGPT exploded in popularity, the company wasn't that interested in investing large amounts of money into AI development — especially with no clear end goal.
According to a report from Bloomberg, it wasn't until after ChatGPT arrived that Apple's software chief Craig Federighi used generative AI for himself and realized how useful a tool generative AI could be. But by that point Apple was seriously far behind its rivals, and wouldn't be able to catch up easily.
This is apparently where the main problems with Siri come in, since Apple attempted to catch up by tacking the new LLM-powered Siri onto the older voice assistant. This hasn't worked out, not only because of the delays but also because it apparently caused a bunch of problems that have been described as "whack-a-mole."
All that inevitably made the controversial rollout of Apple Intelligence even more problematic. Not because the features that were released were bad, though things like news summaries proved too problematic to keep around.
Apple Intelligence itself didn't land until iOS 18.1 arrived in late October, a month after iOS 18 and the iPhone 16 were released. iOS 18.2 was where the real improvements came into play, and that didn't arrive until late December. iOS 18.3 and 18.4 landed throughout the first few months of 2025, but by that point the number of useful new features had dropped dramatically.
The problem wasn't the state of Apple Intelligence, though, and more of how Apple handled it. Simply put, it looked like Apple didn't want to be seen lagging behind its rivals, then overestimated what it could accomplish.
WWDC is where Apple tells us what's going on with all its software, and it would be a mistake not to give Apple Intelligence the attention it needs. This is the first anniversary of its reveal, and despite all the problems Apple can't afford to be seen ignoring it.
I'm not saying that WWDC needs to be an all-Apple Intelligence show. Google I/O did that, and it was far too much AI for any normal person to handle. But that doesn't mean Apple can brush AI to the wayside and treat it like Siri was treated for so many years.
If that happens, Apple might as well be throwing in the towel on the AI race. We all know that the company is behind the likes of Google and OpenAI, but that doesn't mean the company's AI ambitions are dead. There's plenty of time to improve, and potentially catch up.
In a best-case scenario Apple would admit that it dropped the ball with Apple Intelligence, and pledges to do better going forward. I don't see that happening. Apple is not known for willingly admitting its mistakes.
But I also don't see Apple spending a great deal of time on AI either. Not just because it has a bunch of major design revamps to get us through in a keynote that can only be so long. But also because I'm sure Apple doesn't want to risk making the same mistakes as last year. No doubt we'll be hearing a lot of impressive specs about Apple Intelligence and its adoption, and maybe some reveals on different smaller features that may be on the way.
And that should be enough. AI isn't the focus of this year's releases based on what we've heard, and it shouldn't dominate the show. But it does still need attention and improvements so it can continue to grow.
Apple has already made plenty of mistakes with AI, from jumping on the bandwagon late to screwing up the launch of the features when they were ready. So it's imperative that the company get itself into gear, and come up with an adequate strategy for future updates and AI features.
WWDC is going to be the starting point for all of that, and the attention Apple Intelligence gets at the show is going to lay the groundwork for the next few years of Apple AI rollouts. And while we can't expect Apple to roll out another wave of announcements like the ones we saw last year, it needs to avoid ignoring the topic completely.
Otherwise, if AI is just going to get tossed to the side because of some early hurdles, then Apple probably shouldn't have bothered investing in it in the first place.
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