Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference begins today at 10 am PT/1 p.m. ET with Tim Cook’s typical speech. While last year’s event will be remembered as the event that finally introduced Vision Pro to the world, the company hopes to make WWDC 2024 even more memorable as it finally outlines its plans for artificial intelligence. A few things we can expect: a big Siri revamp, Mail injecting Apple’s Ajax LLM to offer email reply suggestions, and even a new look — and new features — for Apple Photos.
You will find information on how to stream the event live here.
The WWDC kick-off is different from other Apple keynotes in that it’s the start of a weeklong online and in-person event, which will run from June 10-14. The company started opening things up more to the public during the pandemic, but it’s important to remember the reason for the season: Just like Google I/O and Microsoft Build before it, the event’s real purpose is to showcase the latest developer updates.
AI everything
Concern that Apple is lagging behind in gen AI was enough to prompt Cook to promise big things on shareholder calls. In fact, the CEO took the decision to comment on future plans. In May, he promised the company would “break new ground” in genetic AI, adding, “We believe it will unlock transformative opportunities for our users.”
Will Apple’s attempt to break new ground actually be groundbreaking? I expect it to be big on promises for developers, highlighting how genetic AI will affect future versions of the company’s various operating systems — with an emphasis on iOS. Rumors surrounding Apple’s approach to the world of large language models have been swirling for some time.
Early reports suggested that the company was meeting with Google about possible Gemini integration for iOS. This would be a huge win for Google, with the model playing a key role in two operating systems that represent a combined 96% of the world’s mobile telephony operating systems market. More recent reports, however, point to a partnership with OpenAI. Like I/O before it, I’d expect to be sick and tired of all the AI talk by the time the company is over.
After the collapse of its electric car project, Apple reportedly poached a number of employees from its internal artificial intelligence efforts. Given how fresh this news is, it’s safe to say the company is still keeping up with the competition there. With that in mind, I expect a lot of the AI-related news to come out on the back of the OpenAI deal.
iOS 18 with more artificial intelligence
Along with this partnership, we expect iOS 18 to be the focus of the event. There are plenty of reasons for what’s reportedly “one of the biggest — if not the biggest — iOS updates in the company’s history.” It’s going to be so big, in fact, that Sarah took time out of her busy schedule to put together the rumored updates. I don’t want to repeat her work, so I’ll distill some of the rumors here. Read her story for more.
- Siri is getting a long-awaited makeover, thanks to Apple’s creative AI work. The update will make the smart assistant more capable with the ability to instantly edit photos, delete emails and other everyday tasks. The update is also said to bring an improved voice, notification summaries and an advanced version of Siri for the Apple Watch.
- AI will also infiltrate the Safari browser for smarter search, Notes for summarizing, and Voice Memos for transcriptions (something Google has been touting for some time now).
- Generative AI even comes to emoji, allowing users to customize and create their own in Messages.
- Apple is also said to be relaxing layout restrictions so users can place icons and widgets wherever they want on their home screen.
- Even Mail will get new AI-enabled features, like asking Siri to make emails sound more professional and suggesting Ajax-generated email replies.
Apple has announced that RCS (Rich Communication Services) is coming to Messages, to make Android users feel slightly less bad — still green bubble, mind. Reports indicated it would have arrived last fall, but that ship has apparently sailed. This coming fall, on the other hand, seems like a good bet, especially with the whole DOJ looming.
debut in macOS 15
Every time Tim Cook says “AI,” an investor gets his wings. While iOS will undoubtedly be the big focus of the operating system, Apple still has news in the works for desktops. We’ll get the official name for macOS 15. What’s the California place name with the most AI? Alameda? Alcatraz? RodAI Drive?
Many of the iOS updates should also make their way to macOS, including those to Siri, Notes, and Safari. Apple’s office apps are also said to be getting improved artificial intelligence. This includes help with Pages, Keynote, and the Xcode developer environment.
System Settings will continue Apple’s long-standing work to transform macOS into iOS, with a design refresh. Apple should also revise some key accessibility features. And don’t forget the most exciting update of all, some big plan changes to the Calculator — the app you use the most, but somehow you never manage to think about.
Hardware updates
While recent years have seen major hardware updates, due to developments in Mac silicon and last year’s headset preview, WWDC is not a hardware event. In fact, the latest buzz from the rumor mill points to a central presentation that is very light on hardware. Bloomberg is now he even suggests the event will be completely devoid of new material.
Note that Apple made an unusual choice to host a standalone virtual iPad event almost exactly a month before WWDC. The May 7 event introduced new versions of the iPad Pro and iPad Air. Much to the dismay of many, AI did not play a major role in the event. After all the fanfare surrounding models like GPT and the big fuss Google is making about Gemini integration in Android, Apple should come out with a surprise next week.
That said, the new M4 chip just made its iPad debut. MacBooks featuring the chip and its more powerful siblings can’t be far off. Neither is the upcoming iPhone A18 chip, which the company will almost certainly claim is “the most advanced smartphone chip for AI” or something like that.
