The tech world’s attention is once again focused on Apple. Recently, Apple officially announced that WWDC25 (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference) will kick off at 1:00 AM on June 10th, Beijing time. This year’s event will continue to follow an online-first format and will run until June 14th. Global members of the Apple developer community can participate for free, setting the stage for a grand tech event that will shape the future of Apple’s technologies.
The keynote on the opening day is expected to be the “main event,” where Apple will unveil the updates coming to all platforms later this year. After that, at 4:00 AM, the “Platforms State of the Union” session will delve deeper into new tools, covering iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS, providing developers with new technical development ideas and guidance.
System Interface Innovations and Feature Upgrades
As is customary for Apple, new versions of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and other systems are likely to be revealed at this conference. iOS 26 is expected to make bold attempts at interface interaction, with the search bar moved to the bottom of the screen to align with ergonomic designs, making it easier for users to trigger search functions quickly, especially during single-handed operation. The home screen icons will no longer be confined to traditional rounded rectangles, introducing adaptive shape switching that can display more creative arrangements based on app characteristics and content needs. The Control Center will also be deeply optimized, adopting a modular design where users can drag and group commonly used controls, building a personalized control interface.
Battery optimization has always been a core demand of users. iOS 26 introduces advanced smart algorithms that not only recognize users’ daily habits, such as high-usage periods and frequently used apps, but also adjust the device’s CPU and GPU power consumption based on different scenarios (like gaming or video playback) to significantly extend battery life without sacrificing smooth performance. In terms of AI integration, iOS 26 may break the monotony of voice assistants by supporting third-party voice assistant integration, allowing users to choose based on personal preferences. The Health app will undergo a major upgrade, deeply integrating AI technology to automatically detect subtle changes in users’ life patterns, such as sleep schedule changes or exercise fluctuations. Based on these, it will provide sleep improvement advice, stress relief solutions, and personalized exercise plans. A new “Mood Tracking” tool will analyze users’ facial micro-expressions (captured by the phone’s camera), voice tone variations (recorded by the microphone), and interaction frequency data to generate professional psychological trend charts, helping users detect potential emotional fluctuations and manage their mental health more comprehensively. The camera feature also gets an upgrade, simplifying the camera interface to just two core buttons—”Photo” and “Video”—while expanding the viewfinder for a broader field of vision. Professional photographers will also be able to manually adjust ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and output RAW images for more room in post-production editing.
Interestingly, the naming conventions of iOS 26 will apply to all devices, including the iPhone, Apple Watch, etc. Meanwhile, iPadOS and macOS will adopt the visual design style of visionOS, from color schemes and icon design to layout, aiming to create a more unified and smooth cross-device user experience across Apple’s entire platform.
AI and Gaming Ecosystem Breakthroughs
Apple’s AI initiatives are becoming more ambitious. The highly anticipated “Project Mulberry Health Service,” a kind of “AI doctor,” will deeply integrate data from Apple Watch’s heart rate, blood oxygen, and activity tracking with daily activities recorded by iPhone. By leveraging powerful AI analytics, it will offer personalized exercise, diet, and sleep plans. It’s said that this service may be released as a “Living+Health+” subscription, though pricing details haven’t been disclosed yet. Still, it has already attracted significant attention in the health tech field. Apple also plans to open AI model interfaces to developers, enabling third-party app creators to tap into local computing power to implement features like text generation, image optimization, and smart recommendations, enriching the app ecosystem. Additionally, iOS might create an integration pathway for third-party AI models, such as Google Gemini, which could appear as an option. Siri will also undergo a significant upgrade, learning from users’ email and message histories to better understand their needs. In iPhone 15 Pro and newer models, Siri will support more than 20 rounds of continuous conversation, making human-computer interaction more natural and smooth.
Regarding gaming, Apple is working on a dedicated gaming app, similar to Microsoft’s Xbox app, which will be pre-installed on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. This app won’t just be a game launcher but will deeply integrate achievement systems and global leaderboards, allowing players to track their ranking against others. It will also include a complete friend management system, supporting friend additions, game group creation, and multiplayer matchmaking. This app may eventually replace Game Center, transforming it into the largest mobile gaming platform, reshaping the mobile gaming social landscape.
iPadOS Upgrades and Hardware Expectations
iPadOS’s updates are equally impressive. When the iPad Pro is connected to the Magic Keyboard, it will feature a Mac-like global menu bar, blurring the lines between tablets and laptops, greatly enhancing iPad’s professionalism and convenience in office settings. The new multi-tasking tool, Stage Manager 2.0, further optimizes window management, supporting flexible resizing of app windows. Users can adjust the display ratio of different apps according to their task requirements. The cross-app drag-and-drop feature has also been enhanced, such as directly dragging images from a document editing app into a design software, which improves work efficiency and truly transforms the iPad into a productivity tool.
Although this conference will focus on software updates, hardware new releases are also highly anticipated. The new Mac Pro, equipped with M4 chips, is expected to make a quantum leap in performance, meeting the high demands of professional fields like graphic design and film production. The HomePod with a touchscreen might break the traditional interaction model of smart speakers, allowing users to control music playback and view information more easily via touch. The new AirPods Pro 3 will not only optimize sound quality but may also include a camera, support gesture controls, and even add real-time translation features to facilitate international communication and learning. The upgraded AirTag 2 may see improvements in positioning accuracy and battery life, making item tracking even more precise and efficient.
This WWDC25 conference promises to bring multiple innovations in systems, AI, gaming, hardware, and more. Whether it’s the new technical tools developers have been eagerly waiting for or the functional upgrades that regular users care about, Apple continues to explore uncharted territory in tech innovation. As we approach the official opening of the conference on June 10, let’s stay tuned to see how the final technical breakthroughs and feature innovations unfold.
