WWDC on 9 June: What is (not) expected

Samuel Buchmann

3-6-2025

Translation: machine translated

Apparently, Apple's developer conference this year will focus on operating systems. There will be no new hardware or big announcements about AI. An overview of the rumours.

Little artificial intelligence, no hardware

The pressure on Cupertino is growing. Google, OpenAI and other suppliers are pulling further and further ahead with their chatbots. OpenAI recently even announced a 6.5 billion deal with Jony Ive. The legendary former Apple designer is to develop a mysterious AI gadget.

Rumours suggest that Apple is not planning its next major AI offensive until 2026. There are only likely to be smaller announcements this year. For example, developers will be given access to Apple's Foundation Model in order to integrate Apple Intelligence into their apps. However, the LLM from Cupertino seems unattractive. It only supports around three billion parameters - OpenAI's GPT4 is estimated to manage 1.8 trillion (1800 billion).

Those waiting for new hardware are also likely to be disappointed by WWDC 2025. According to «Bloomberg», there are no devices waiting in the wings. This is not unusual. Hardware announcements at the developer conference are the exception rather than the rule. Apple rarely unveiled new Macs in the summer - and two years ago the Vision Pro.

New naming scheme

The next operating system for the iPhone «should actually be called iOS 19», macOS version 16, watchOS version 12 - and so on. But according to rumours, Apple is switching to a new naming logic: all operating systems will be numbered 26 - why not 25 for the current year? Because the versions will spend most of their lives in 2026. After all, it is several months after the announcement at WWDC before they are released.

A tradition that Apple seems to be sticking to: macOS will continue to be given an additional name alongside its number. This year it will be «Tahoe», after the famous lake on the border between California and Nevada. The full name of the new operating system would therefore be «macOS 26 Tahoe».

Big redesign

If the leaks are to be believed, a substantial redesign is on the cards for all operating systems. The new look is probably based on visionOS, the operating system of Apple's Vision Pro AR headset. This apparently means rounder icons as well as floating, semi-transparent controls and menus that are visually reminiscent of glass. However, the leaks suggest that this will not stop at aesthetic adjustments; the navigation and operation will also be revised.

All in all, the user interfaces between the devices should become even more similar. With iPadOS 26, for example, the iPad should feel more like a Mac, which could make it more attractive for office work. One particular focus is on better multitasking and window management. This makes sense, given the new iPads with powerful chips such as the M4.

New gaming app

Apple is apparently planning a new, cross-platform app for games. The company wants to use this to incentivise studios to develop more games for Apple devices. According to the leaks, the new app will be a combination of launcher, leaderboards and communication hub.

All of this sounds suspiciously like the existing «Game Centre». In contrast, however, the new app combines both the games from Apple Arcade and those from third-party providers that are currently only available in the App Store. This would make it a centralised hub for everything to do with gaming, instead of users having to search for their games in different places. On macOS, it should even work for games outside of the App Store.

We'll find out next Monday what's behind all the leaks and whether Apple will pull a surprise out of its sleeve after all.

Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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