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Apple Event

Apple is holding a big event on September 9th, 2024, to announce the next iPhone and Apple Watch. Given the event is being held exactly 10 years after the Watch was announced, we can expect some interesting Watch-related news. But most people will be more interested in the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro we expect to see announced. We’ll also likely see an update to the Watch Ultra and Watch SE, as well as updates to the AirPods and AirPods Pro. We might even see a new Mac Mini!

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Jay Peters
While Craig Federighi suffers through Siri questions at WWDC...

Apple CEO Tim Cook got to appear in a shiny Variety profile about F1 and Apple’s entertainment efforts. Poor Craig.

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David Pierce
Here’s how Craig Federighi explained the Siri delay.

After WWDC, iJustine asked Apple’s software boss about the state of Siri a year after the big announcement, and Federighi’s answer was basically that Apple’s still working on it. Fair enough! But then he drops this masterclass of corporate-speak:

“We were not able to take the approach we were taking to the quality level in the time frame that initially we thought we could.”

In other words: Siri still bad. Federighi’s right that the bar is high, and that if it’s not great it’s not anything. We’ll see if Siri can get there.

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Jay Peters
Liquid Glass? Fine. Changing the Finder icon? Hell no!
Hang on, did the iPad just become a computer?

Apple won’t give us a Mac-powered tablet. But it may have finally done the next best thing.

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Jay Peters
DualSense controllers are getting improved pairing.

Apple, at WWDC: “This year, the frameworks that power input across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro are getting major upgrades, with easier pairing for PlayStation DualSense controllers across all of your devices.”

PlayStation, on X: “Want to pair your DualSense controller to multiple devices at once?
An update planned for later this year enhances pairing functionality.”

Seems useful, whenever this rolls out.

Apple WWDC 2025: the 13 biggest announcements
Play

Big changes are in store across Apple’s platforms, from a design refresh to major multitasking improvements for the iPad.

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Jay Peters
Cyberpunk 2077 needs a bit more time for Mac.

As of October 2024, it was set to launch “early next year,“ but now the Ultimate Edition of the game will launch on the Mac App Store “later this year,” according to a footnote at the end of Apple’s Platforms State of the Union video. At least the game is out on Switch 2.

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Jay Peters
A better mouse pointer on iPad!

So pointy! Apps are getting a real menu bar, too.

A photo from WWDC of iPadOS 26.
Image: Apple
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Hayden Field
Apple’s ChatGPT integration makes it easier to search for more context on images and shop for things they see.

Apple is pushing visual intelligence features that build on Apple Intelligence, allowing users to go beyond searching for context using their device’s camera and now also “search and take action on anything they’re viewing across their apps.” The feature can also recognize when a user is looking at something they may like to attend and pre-populate a calendar event with time and place.

“Users can ask ChatGPT questions about what they’re looking at on their screen to learn more, as well as search Google, Etsy, or other supported apps to find similar images and products,” according to Apple. To access the feature, a user can act like they’re taking a screenshot — they will then be prompted to either save the screenshot or search using Apple Intelligence.

Image: Apple
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Richard Lawler
watchOS 26 adds a new ‘wrist flick’ gesture to quickly dismiss notifications.

At WWDC 2025, Apple just showed off a new update coming to its wearables this fall.

Once watchOS 26 is available, Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 wearers will be able to dismiss notifications, silence times and alarms, and ignore calls just by turning their wrist over and back like this (below), in addition to the existing double tap gesture.

Animated GIF showing a person’s arm turning to dismiss a notification on an Apple Watch
watchOS 26 ‘wrist flick’
Image: Apple
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Hayden Field
Apple’s Image Playground now integrates with ChatGPT.

Apple is updating Genmoji and Image Playground with new styles, powered in part by ChatGPT. With Image Playground, users can now tap into ChatGPT to change a friend’s photo into the style of an oil painting, for instance.

Image Playground sends the description you write out, or your image, to ChatGPT to create the results, but “nothing is shared with ChatGPT without your permission,” according to Apple.

A simulated screenshot of Image Playground on a MacBook restyling a woman’s selfie to look like a drawing.
New styles in Image Playground
Image: Apple
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Hayden Field
Apple Intelligence takes on language barriers in messages and phone calls.

Apple announced at WWDC 2025 that it’s debuting live translation Apple Intelligence features that allow you to translate between languages in Messages, FaceTime, and phone calls.

For a phone call, that’ll mean live translation aloud as you talk, and with FaceTime, it means live captions displayed on the screen. It’s all powered via Apple-built models that run on-device.

Simulated iPhone screenshots showing Live Translation for text messages, FaceTime chars, and voice calls.
Live Translation
Image: Apple
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David Pierce
Typing indicators in group chats!

There’s a bunch of good new stuff in group messaging for Apple Messages — polls, better notification management for unknown senders, and more — but the best quality-of-life thing here is definitely typing indicators for group chats. This is going to make chaotic family messaging so much less chaotic.

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Hayden Field
Apple gives developers access to its on-device Apple Intelligence model.

This year at WWDC, Apple announced it’s opening up access for any app to tap into the on-device large language model at the core of Apple Intelligence, giving developers direct access. It will “ignite a whole new wave of intelligence experiences” in the apps users frequent, per Apple, and it cuts out cloud API costs due to on-device access.

Simulated iPhone animation showing AllTrails AI chatbot features powered by Apple Intelligence.
AllTrails using Apple Intelligence
Image: Apple
WWDC 2025 live blog: a fresh new look at iOS, macOS, and more

Software redesigns, some new names, and probably more AI. Probably.

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Alex Heath
We’re at Apple Park!

We were just driven around the spaceship in a golf cart that may or may not have had party speakers. The keynote is scheduled to start in less than an hour. More to come soon.

Alex Heath / The Verge