The five-day Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2025, one of Apple’s big events of the year, will officially kick off on Monday, June 9, with a keynote from CEO Tim Cook and other company executives at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, US, starting from 10:30 PM IST onwards.
WWDC is where Apple typically showcases its latest developer-focused software updates and features, including plenty of news relating to iOS, Vision Pro, etc. However, this year’s WWDC arrives at one of the most pivotal moments in the company’s history. There have been several question marks about Apple’s AI strategy and whether it plans on taking bold steps to catch up with rivals in an industry rapidly being transformed by AI.
AI is also emerging as the new user interface that threatens the stronghold of companies such as Apple over smartphones and app distribution. For instance, OpenAI recently announced it is acquiring io, a startup founded by Jony Ive, Apple’s former industrial designer, for $6.5 billion. Ive is also collaborating with OpenAI to build a new AI hardware product that could potentially match the success of the iPhone.
So, the stakes at WWDC 2025 appear to be higher than ever. Yet, AI is not expected to take centre stage at Monday’s keynote. At WWDC 2024, Apple introduced Apple Intelligence, its response to the rise of chatbots and AI models sparked by OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. But the rollout of Apple Intelligence has been sluggish and the features limited. The promise of an AI-powered, revamped Siri has also been delayed indefinitely.
Apple WWDC 2025: Why it matters
Apple is grappling with regulatory challenges that go well beyond its perceived position in the AI race. For starters, the tech giant could potentially lose its annual $20 billion-dollar paycheck from Google for default placement of the latter’s search engine in the former’s Safari web browser.
Last year, a US district court ruled that Google had established an illegal monopoly of the online search market through ‘exclusionary’ deals with smartphone makers and browser developers like Apple. Google could be barred from having such arrangements with Apple, if the court rules against it in the search antitrust remedies trial.
In another regulatory setback, Texas became the second state in the US (after Utah) to adopt a law requiring Apple and Google’s app stores to verify the age of their users and obtain parental approval before minors can download apps on the app stores or make in-app purchases.
Story continues below this ad
App store owners such as Apple and Google clashed with social media giants like Meta and X over the legislation, as both sides sought to shift age verification responsibilities onto each other. Tim Cook even urged Texas Governor Greg Abott to reconsider or veto the legislation, according to a report by Wall Street Journal.
But the one that is likely to have the most significant impact on Apple and its developer ecosystem is the April 30 court ruling directing the company to end several App Store practices that, a US district court said, were designed to circumvent a previous injunction in the Epic Games case.
These practices included a new 27 per cent fee Apple imposed on app developers when its customers complete an app purchase outside the App Store. Now, Apple is fully prohibited from restricting where developers can place payment links for users to make purchases outside of the app.
The April 30 ruling could potentially take a bite out of Apple’s lucrative App Store revenue as it effectively blocks the company from charging commissions on every in-app transaction. The ruling further paved the way for the return of Epic Games’ Fortnite to the Apple App Store.
Story continues below this ad
In this context, what does Apple have in store for WWDC 2025? Here’s what to expect.
Apple WWDC 2025: What to expect
Some of the biggest announcements to come out of WWDC 2025 will be the revamped design of iOS as well as a new naming convention, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Instead of naming the latest version of the operating system iOS 19, after iOS 18, the company is likely to skip ahead to iOS 26 which will be followed by iOS 27, iOS 28, iOS 29, etc, in the future.
Apple is also expected to announce a major shift in the aesthetics of its software in order to make the visual elements more consistent across the company’s myriad products like the Vision Pro, Apple Watch, iPad, and more. The Tim Cook-led company is also expected to take another shot at social gaming by introducing a new pre-installed gaming app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV devices.
On the AI front, Apple is expected to open up access to its foundational AI models. This means that third-party software developers could get access to the company’s large language models (LLMs) in order to build AI features within their respective apps for iPhones and other Apple devices. Reports also suggest that Apple’s health app could be integrated with an AI health chatbot as well as other AI-powered insights and personalised health suggestions for users.
Story continues below this ad
iMessage may also get new AI features such as translation and polls with AI-generated suggestions, according to a report by 9to5Mac. The Apple AirPods may also get an upgrade with a live-translate language feature to translate conversations in real-time. The AirPods could get new head gestures such as nods or headshakes to answer incoming calls or read messages, as per reports.
But it is unlikely to make any other hardware-related announcement. Apple’s refreshed lineup of iPhones and other gadgets are generally announced at an event held sometime in September or October this year.
The WWDC 2025 keynote on Monday is going to be livestreamed starting from 10:30 PM IST onwards. You can watch the keynote live via the Apple Developer app, on Apple’s website, or by visiting the company’s official YouTube channel. You can also follow along with The Indian Express’ live blog in case you don’t want to miss out on any updates during the event.