WWDC 2025 is around the corner: what will Apple give us?
Did you know that the very first WWDC was held in 1983? The event introduced developers to Apple BASIC and gave them assorted bits of information about the company’s software environment. By that year, Apple was already a recognizable name in the personal computer industry: established in 1976, the trendsetter-to-be went public in December 1980, and its IPO was the second largest to that of Ford Motor Company.
In 1987, the conference was extended to become not just a meeting place for software engineers but a hotspot for everyone enthusiastic about Apple’s upcoming software releases, development tools, and technologies. Up to the turn of the century, WWDC was regarded as a rather niche communication platform, but then things changed: in 2002, Steve Jobs used the event to announce significant new hardware and software products as well as the transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X.
Since then, the conference has been one of the events where Apple showcases what it is up to. Let’s see what they have prepared for 2025, scheduled from June 9 to June 13 in Apple Park in Cupertino, California.
WWDC 2025: major announcements
Apple plans to unveil the next versions of its operating systems (iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16) and Solarium UI, the biggest refresh of their visual components since 2013.
Regarding the systems, it is expected that:
- iOS will have the Camera app redesigned and have the AI-powered (that’s Apple Intelligence there) Siri on board, integrated into everything;
- iPadOS will get a Mac-style menu bar and the new Stage Manager 2.0, the interface enabling multitasking, plus the new Siri;
- and macOS will be thoroughly redesigned to make it a better fit for the otherwise cohesive Apple ecosystem (plus some compatibility fixes).
Solarium UI is rumoured to be loosely based on visionOS, Apple's operating system for the Vision Pro headset, which means glass-like, translucent icons, menus, windows, and system buttons, plus floating tab bars for easier navigation. The interface aims to simplify user control and navigation.
There will also be news on the releases of watchOS 12, tvOS 19, and visionOS 3.
Regarding Apple Intelligence, the respective features are expected to be switched off by default, which means you will have to opt in to use them. Moreover, there are hardware requirements attached to the offer: iPhone 15 Pro or later, M1 Macs or newer. Apple promises to do the vast majority of processing on the device itself, seeking to satisfy the users’ craving for privacy, but occasional upstreams to the cloud are not ruled out.
While there are rumours about devices like “iPhone Air,” it is unlikely that Tim Cook will give any new hardware at this year’s WWDC. There are other dedicated events for that, after all.
All in all, the conference will surely be an interesting event for both professional Apple devs and brand enthusiasts with a penchant for tech. As usual, one might say.
