Apple WWDC25 Kicks Off Today — Here’s What to Expect from the Keynote

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC25) opens today, and the spotlight is on the keynote address starting at 8:00 p.m. East Africa Time. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the presentation will largely center on sweeping visual updates and productivity enhancements across Apple’s platforms, rather than a bold leap forward in artificial intelligence.

The keynote is expected to unveil redesigned interfaces for iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS, all receiving a more unified look inspired by the Vision Pro’s aesthetic. Internally codenamed “Solarium,” this revamp emphasizes transparency, lighter design elements, and a more refined UI, with changes coming to app icons, toolbars, and navigation menus. macOS will continue its tradition of location-based branding, with this year’s release named macOS Tahoe.

In a shift from previous versioning, it is believed that Apple will transition to a year-based naming system across platforms—introducing iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26—named for 2026. While the operating systems are getting major cosmetic overhauls, the updates are also focused on practical features aimed at boosting productivity and everyday usability.

Gurman notes that while Apple will formally introduce its “Apple Intelligence” initiative, its umbrella branding for AI features, the actual innovations in this space remain modest. Users can expect system-wide translation for calls and messages, improvements to the Shortcuts app, and a new ability for developers to tap into Apple’s own large language models. Genmoji, Apple’s generative emoji feature, is also receiving a minor update, allowing users to combine existing emoji to create new ones.

However, Gurman argues that these additions are unlikely to impress industry observers, especially as competitors like Google, Meta, and Microsoft continue to push aggressive AI advancements. Notably, Apple’s long-promised revamp of Siri will not be part of this year’s showcase. The more capable LLM-powered version of the voice assistant, dubbed “LLM Siri” internally, is still at least a year away.

Apple will also highlight improvements made since last year, including updates to developer tools such as Xcode. A previously announced feature, Swift Assist, which had struggled with accuracy issues, is now being reintroduced with support from third-party models like Anthropic’s Claude.

For users, updates will also include redesigned core apps like Safari, Phone, and Camera, a new Games app bringing Arcade and downloads under one roof, and a new systemwide Preview app for editing and managing PDFs on iPhone and iPad. Vision Pro users can expect better navigation through eye-scrolling and new support for hand controllers.

All of this signals Apple’s intent to streamline and polish its ecosystem while beginning to lay the foundation for future AI capabilities. But as Gurman notes, WWDC25 is more about platform refinement than redefining Apple’s AI identity—at least for now.

The keynote will be livestreamed on Apple’s website, the Apple TV app, and YouTube.