Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, known as WWDC, is likely to be a low-key affair after the consumer electronics giant overpromised and underdelivered with last year's conference. Apple stock has been in a slump heading into the show.
WWDC 2025 begins on Monday at 10 a.m. PT with a keynote presentation led by Chief Executive Tim Cook.
At last year's WWDC, Apple made a big splash with announcements about artificial intelligence, including a revamped Siri personal assistant. But Apple has postponed many of those AI features, branded Apple Intelligence, after running into development snags.
"This year will lack the wow factor we saw the past two years with Vision Pro in 2023 and Apple Intelligence in 2024," Deepwater Asset Management analysts Gene Munster and Brian Baker said in a blog post.
Apple is years behind Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and others in the AI race, they said. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company was too cautious in its approach to the generative AI trend when it emerged, Munster and Baker wrote.
WWDC 2025 likely will focus on a new look for Apple's operating systems and the company opening its AI models to software developers, the Deepwater analysts said.
On the stock market today, Apple stock rose 1.6% to close 203.92. But year to date, Apple is down more than 18%.
Apple To Discuss Only What It Can Deliver Soon
At WWDC, Apple is widely expected to rename its operating systems by fiscal year of release instead of by what generation software it is. So, the next iPhone operating system after the current iOS 18 will be iOS 26.
Apple also will give its operating systems a fresh new look and design, according to news leaks.
News reports say Apple will avoid talking about its delayed AI-powered Siri. It plans to discuss only those features it can confidently expect to deliver by this fall.
Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani said expectations for WWDC 2025 are "rightfully tempered."
"The largest announcement will likely be Apple opening its foundation models to app developers so that they can be leveraged for on-device AI," Daryanani said in a client note Tuesday.
In addition, Apple may announce more AI partners for Apple Intelligence beyond OpenAI. They could include Perplexity and Google's Gemini, he said.
Apple Stock Faces 'Bearish Narrative'
Despite those announcements, there will be "nothing that will change the popular narrative that 'Apple is behind on AI,'" Daryanani said. "We continue to think this narrative underestimates Apple's strategy, which is to focus on smaller-scale, on-device models and efficient large-scale models while sitting out on the AI capex arms race."
Some AI initiatives such as the new Siri and a rumored virtual health coach likely will be postponed until 2026, he said.
"We think Apple wants to avoid a repeat of last year where they debuted a bunch of AI features that have subsequently been delayed," Daryanani said.
On Friday, Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives pushed back on the "bearish narrative" that Apple doesn't have a valid AI strategy. Ives believes Apple is at the start of an "AI monetization period."
"We estimate roughly 25% of the world's population will eventually access AI through an Apple device over the next few years," he said in a client note. "Apple is late to AI, but they are essentially a toll collector on its unmatched global ecosystem."
On Wednesday, Needham analyst Laura Martin downgraded Apple stock to hold from buy, citing slowing growth prospects and AI challenges.
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