WWDC 2025 preview: No major AI announcements, big iOS redesign and more coming on 9 June

Apple's highly anticipated Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is scheduled for June 9-13, 2025, with the keynote address set to begin at 10 AM PDT (10:30 PM IST) on the opening day. While updates across its software platforms, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS, are confirmed, sources suggest that this year may not bring significant advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Apple is reportedly designating 2025 as a "gap year" for major AI developments, according to industry insider Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, leading to expectations of a less impactful AI presentation. Nevertheless, enhancements to the Apple Intelligence suite are anticipated, primarily aimed at developers. A key initiative involves allowing third-party developers access to Apple's on-device foundation models, which feature around 3 billion parameters. These models can perform tasks such as text summarization and autocorrect but are expected to be less robust than the cloud-based solutions offered by competitors. Furthermore, Apple is exploring collaborations with AI firms like Google and Anthropic to incorporate their technologies into its own suite, extending its existing partnership with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Unlike previous years, WWDC 2025 is not expected to showcase new hardware. Instead, Apple intends to emphasize software updates, including a significant redesign of its operating systems to foster a more cohesive user experience across its devices. The forthcoming iOS update may be branded as iOS 26, reflecting an effort to unify naming conventions across its platforms. Users can look forward to translucent menus, subtle motion effects, and visually appealing elements inspired by the visionOS interface, all aimed at enhancing navigation and aesthetics as they transition between iPhones, iPads, and Macs. iOS 26 is expected to introduce a series of new features, complemented by an upgraded software development kit (SDK) that will provide developers with deeper integration capabilities, including Writing Tools. Enhancements to UI testing tools and SwiftUI are also anticipated, featuring a built-in rich text editor. While the keynote may not spotlight groundbreaking AI advancements, Apple is reportedly engaged in ambitious projects behind the scenes, including larger language models with parameters of 7B, 33B, and even 150B, a next-gen Siri with better contextual understanding, and a web-based search assistant similar to ChatGPT. More significant AI updates are anticipated for WWDC 2026, suggesting that this year's announcements will serve as foundational steps toward deeper AI integration within the Apple ecosystem.