The Worldwide Developer Conference or WWDC is one of Apple’s most vital annual events where software updates take the center stage. At WWDC 2025, Apple is expected to showcase changes to the iOS and macOS that will substantially improve how we interact with the iPhone, iPad, and the Mac. But that are not all the announcements, as Apple will also discuss improvements to all of its interface running on different categories of devices. Besides software, we might witness some hardware announcements too.
Here’s everything you need to know about the potential announcements Apple is likely to make in June this year at WWDC 2025.
WWDC 2025: When will it happen?
WWDC typically takes place in the first half of June every year, though the dates change every year. Apple likes to kick off the event with a keynote on a Monday, and will continue the tradition this year.
Apple has already confirmed WWDC 2025 will be inaugurated with a keynote on June 9, with various developer sessions through June 13.
How and where can I watch WWDC 2025?
WWDC 2025 will be hosted online and is free to watch for all. The livestream for the keynote, as well as various subsequent sessions, can be found on the dedicated page on Apple’s website and Apple’s official YouTube channel.
However, Apple will give a select few the opportunity to attend the conference in person and interact with technical experts at the Apple Park in Cupertino. This is open to a limited number of developers, who can apply here, and winners of the Swift Student Challenge (2023 to 2025).
With WWDC being Apple’s biggest non-hardware event of the year, we expect several announcements on the future of software and user experience across its many devices. Below, we will talk about all the changes we expect to see at the conference this year.
iOS 19
With the iPhone being the biggest contributor to Apple’s revenue, iOS is easily the most vital product to be discussed at the annual conference. 2025 is the year of iOS 19. Although a stable release will come with the iPhone 17 series later this year, Apple will preview the next generation of iOS.
While nothing concrete is known of the update, we have seen numerous rumors about a massive shift in the iPhone’s software experience. As one of the most reliable sources behind Apple’s developments, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has claims iOS 19 will be “one of the most dramatic software overhauls” in the history of the iPhone. This year’s update is expected to bring a significant visual revamp for the first time since iOS 7 was released in 2013.
With the upcoming update, Apple is expected to enact fundamental changes in how iOS looks and operates. iOS 19 is expected to borrow largely from the Apple Vision Pro’s translucent visual elements and systematically overhaul multiple features, including the look and style of icons, menus, touch controls and buttons, menus, and even system apps. Apple aims to achieve visual consistency across multiple platforms and simplify how we interact with devices.
Apple is also expected to refine system animations with a focus on translucency. And while, iOS 19 has a supremely long list of new features, some of the features yet to be delivered from last year’s iOS 18 are also expected to hop on. This primarily includes the promised set of Apple Intellgence features that have yet to be available.
Apple Intelligence
Apple has gradually released several promised Apple Intelligence features with spaced out iOS 18 updates since the iPhone 16 launch back in September. With the latest iOS 18.4 launching soon, eligible devices are set to gain features such as Priority Notifications, improvements to Image Playground, and availability of Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. These add to the already available features, such as notification summaries, writing tools, Genmoji, Clean up in Photos, and Smart Replies and Summaries in the Messages and Mail apps. In addition, Apple is expected to expand Intelligence features to more languages and regions.
Some of the Apple Intelligence features showcased previously remain unreleased, and are expected to get picked up this year. The most important of them all is the more personalized Siri with awareness of your personal information as well as the actions you perform on your Apple devices.
At WWDC last year, Apple gave us a glimpse of a smarter version of its virtual assistant, Siri. It was subsequently updated to perceive requests and fetch responses to queries using ChatGPT, but a broader update was promised to arrive some time in 2025. However, recent developments suggest while Siri upgrades may be part of iOS 19, they might not ship immediately.
In addition to more natural conversations and better context, Apple also teased Siri’s ability to view what’s on your screen for additional context when answering your queries. These features might be delayed too.
Apple might build on improvements to existing Intelligence features to buy some time before the major overhaul.
The odds against a more personalized Siri
Earlier in March, Apple said these upgrades would finally arrive sometime “in the coming year,” indicating they might not even be ready to ship in time for the iPhone 17 launch. The unreasonable delay has become a topic of embarrassment for Apple and has amounted to legal trouble, with a group of users suing Apple — and seeking a class action status for their lawsuit — for misleading information about the timeline of releasing these features.
With this being a touchy subject for the average consumer, Apple might skip any boastful claims from the keynote. Though with deeper control over apps being yet another facet of the overhauled assistant, some later sessions may be dedicated to educating developers.
iPadOS 19
Alongside iOS 19, Apple will also showcase the version of the operating system especially tuned to larger screens on the iPad. Like its mobile variant, iPadOS 19 is expected to come with radical changes to the interface, with more fluid elements.
The exact changes for iPadOS 19 have yet to be detailed, but we expect similar treatment in terms of simplified menus as iOS 19. With iPadOS also enabling a desktop-like interface through Stage Manager or by attaching an external display, we could see it adopt simplified app windows inspired by visionOS and better support for tiling multiple open windows like we saw on macOS last year.
macOS 16
Like iOS 19, macOS is also slated to be part of Apple’s plan to overhaul interfaces visually to improve how we interact with Mac devices. Bloomberg’s Gurman expects this to be the biggest upgrade since Big Sur in 2020. The objective of these updates is to consolidate all of Apple’s operating system to look and function similarly.
While the name for macOS 16 won’t be officially revealed until WWDC — or through leaks a few weeks leading up to the event, trademarks filed by Apple may shed some light on the topic. Apple typically names macOS updates after landmarks in California, and two trademarks that have remained unclaimed so far are Skyline and Rincon. Apple might use either of the two to christen the next macOS edition.
As with iOS 19, Apple is expected to delve into translucent and fluid design elements for the macOS update. We expect to see more desktop-specific Apple Intelligence features, though with Apple’s general sluggishness with its AI rollout, they may not launch this year.
Lastly, even though there isn’t solid to indicate Apple bring more game studios onboard, we hope to see more titles being adopted for the ecosystem.
watchOS 12
Unlike upcoming versions of iOS and macOS, there have been fewer rumors foretelling any visual upgrades to the interface on the Apple Watch. Last year, Apple introduced changes in the form of a Live activities tracker and a Smart Stack for widgets that can be accessed straight from the homescreen by rotating the crown button.
With watchOS 12, the biggest anticipation is not visual but rather in terms of features. Apple may predominantly be looking to make AI-powered health insights accessible through supported Apple Watch models. One can expect these insights to be identical to the daily Readiness and Energy Scores provided by competitors such as the Galaxy Watch 7 and the Pixel Watch 3. We could also expect more personalized health routines or coaching features during physical activities.
With limited processing power on the SiP driving the Apple Watch, we can expect most of the processing happening on the iPhone while the Watch acts as a mere interface for collecting data and showing brief or momentous overviews. Similarly, it remains to be seen if the Apple Watch also gets the upgraded version of Siri.
Additionally, Apple is reportedly working to bring high blood pressure alerts to the Apple Watch Series 11 and Watch Ultra 3. Since these features will require specialized hardware, we don’t expect them to trickle down to existing models. Future generations of the Apple Watch might come with more powerful hardware and a camera to enable Visual Intelligence-like functionality, though the chances of that happening this year are very lean. We don’t expect existing Apple Watch models to receive these features either.
Beyond AI upgrades, watchOS 12 could be expected to bring new watch faces for the Apple Watch. We can’t say just yet what these would look like but can hope some AI insights seeping through the watch faces as well.
visionOS 3
visionOS is Apple’s software for its premium mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro. Since visionOS itself is the substrate for Apple’s upcoming ambitious design change, we may not see many visual changes.
While the original software on the headset focused largely on entertainment and immersive experiences, visionOS 2 brought a host of improvements, expanding how Apple’s premium headset can be used alongside other Apple products, such as Mac, and used as a replacement for large physical displays, and expanded applications to control the headset with eye movements.
There aren’t many rumors about what we could expect of the next iteration of software for the premium headset, Apple might add better support for VR games. It has been in talks with Sony to support PlayStation VR controllers on the Vision Pro, which means we might see some iPad-ready AAA titles, such as some Resident Evil titles but with VR support.
tvOS 19
Among all the operating systems, Apple’s interface for the Apple TV box has received the least attention in terms of rumors. With the previous update, tvOS received updates in the form of improve dialogues, subtitles, spatial audio support, and improved access to connected devices listed in the Home app.
Though there aren’t sufficient rumors or leaks indicating what some of the new features may be, we expect Apple to inject some AI features for better content discovery. Meanwhile, more personalized stats from the Apple Watch we discussed above may also feature on the TV as part of Apple’s push to integrate fitness features into it. Furthermore, we hope for some improvements to Home controls.
HomePod with a display
Apple’s smart speaker lineup hasn’t been refreshed in over two years, which suggests new models could arrive this year. For starters, Apple is said to be working on a new HomePod Mini with a far better Wi-Fi 6E protocol. This, however, may not arrive until the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, several rumors point to yet another upgrade in the HomePod family — bringing a display that attaches to the smart speaker. Smart speakers with displays have already been explored by plenty of brands, including Google, Amazon, and Meta. What Apple is expected to do differently is attach the display with a robotic arm to move the display around to face you as you move in your physical space.
While the display is said to be identical to an iPad, the said HomePod is suggested to run a distinct interface, called “homeOS.” It is also suggested to be driven by an A18 chipset to enable Apple Intelligence features.
In addition to the sophisticated hardware, Apple might launch a simpler model with a display attached to the base of a HomePod speaker, pretty much like an Amazon Echo Show. The abundance of rumors suggests Apple might launch these smart speakers at WWDC 2025.
New hardware
Apple often releases new hardware on the sidelines of WWDC, and while most of the popular categories of products have already been refreshed, some less popular ones might be refreshed at this year’s event. Before going over potential launches, let us take you through all the products Apple is unlikely to launch at WWDC.
Since the iPhone 16 launch last September, Apple has launched myriad new products. The list includes the following:
That means, we shouldn’t expect Apple to release new products in these categories. While the list is nowhere short, Apple could add several more products this year, and it might start with the second generation of AirTag.
The AirTag 2 with improved range up to 90 meters (about 300 feet) and better privacy features is expected to arrive soon, and may be launched at WWDC 2025. It is rumored to be equipped with an improved Ultra Wideband chip which will contribute to better precision tracking.
In addition, Apple is expected to launch the M5 iPad Pro, a new 4K Apple TV box, and the second-generation Studio Display, though conservative assumptions suggest Apple would launch them after the iPhone 17 launch in September.