Apple is diving into AI. Here’s what to expect at WWDC today

In the past, Apple has used the event to unveil ambitious products like its $3,499 Vision Pro headset. This year, however, the company isn’t expected to show off any new hardware. Instead, the spotlight will be firmly fixed on its software — the kind that power iPhones, iPads and Mac computers — and the new AI tools being woven into them.

Monday’s announcements couldn’t come soon enough for the company. Since the beginning of the year, Apple — once the most valuable companies in the world by market cap — has fallen behind the likes of Microsoft and NVIDIA, two firms that have seen their fortunes flourish thanks to a brewing AI revolution. During that same period, Apple also began to wind down its decades-long work on an autonomous electric car, with many staffers on that project being shifted to work on the company’s burgeoning AI efforts.

Whatever the outcome, all eyes are on Apple to see how it navigates its entry into a field that rivals have already found considerable success in.

The keynote is set to begin at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern, and we’ll be updating this story as the company lays out its AI vision. Here’s what we expect Apple to announce.

Siri, evolved

Voice assistants like Apple’s Siri — which the company originally acquired in 2010 and began building into iPhones in 2011 — can seem underwhelming compared to options like ChatGPT’s voice chat. That’s about to change.

In addition to sounding more like a natural conversation partner, Siri could be able to interact with files and activate specific features inside apps when asked, Bloomberg reported. Siri will also likely serve as a launching point for some of the AI features baked into other corners of Apple’s software; users could ask, for example, Siri to summarize webpages or delete emails.

AI in everything

Apple could take a seemingly measured approach to integrating AI features into its software, with a focus on practicality over showstopping innovation, according to reports.

That could include tools built into Safari and Messages, according to Bloomberg. People will reportedly be able to use AI to automatically generate responses to incoming texts and emails, retouch photos and craft custom emojis to liven up a conversation.

Some apps, like Notes and Voice Memos, may gain the ability to transcribe and summarize the contents of audio recordings, according to AppleInsider. That summary feature could also exist in other places, too: Users should be able to view truncated versions of web content, articles in Apple News, and whiz through auto-generated summaries of incoming notifications.

An improved on-device search experience is said to be heading to iPhones and Macs as well, giving people the power to find and perform specific actions inside apps without having to open them first. What’s more, that search feature is said to be taking on some chatbot-like tendencies, including the ability to ask questions that will be answered with help from large language models.

The catch? Well, there are a few.

Bloomberg reports that at least some of these features will only be available on higher-end devices, such as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. And even though the company is generally proud to fly a pro-privacy flag, at least some of these features could require data to be ferried to remote servers for processing, rather than being handled solely on our devices.

It’s also unclear whether Apple will eventually have to start charging for access to these tools. Samsung, which already launched AI features in its newest Galaxy phones, only guarantees they’ll be free until the end of 2025.

iOS 18 changes

Apple’s AI tools will likely make their debut in the upcoming iPhone iOS 18 software release — these are typically launched alongside new iPhones in September. Tech-savvy users can get an early preview of the company’s work in early developer previews, including one that could go live as early as today, as well as more polished public betas that will likely arrive in a few weeks.

Not every upgrade will revolve around AI.

The iPhone’s home screen is said to allow for more free-form designs, according to Bloomberg and AppleInsider. Support for RCS — a more modern messaging standard that Apple begrudgingly embraced at the end of last year — should make texting between iPhones and Android devices feel more up-to-date. And expect a handful of tweaks to the company’s existing apps, from an improved version of the iPhone’s Calculator app to “custom” routes for Apple Map’s navigation feature.