Last year there was obvious excitement about Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). The company is about to unveil AI capabilities, and the high-tech world is hoping to unveil an AI platform that can compete with Google and Openai. The demos that Apple showed at the time were persuasive, but the follow-through was overwhelming, and both developers and consumers wanted more.
Aph's broader struggle with AI has become more clear over the past year. Personalized intelligence ambitions faced delays, and new tools were unconsistent. Apple's vision for sale in 2024 – seamless blend of on-device AI, improved Siri interactions, and powerful new developer capabilities are yet to be fully realized.
Apple Intelligence features include some mischievous developments with hiccups. The personalized version of SIRI introduced last year is delayed. This is a context-aware assistant that allows users to understand user behavior across the app, as Apple has built a new Siri as the basis for its AI strategy. Without it, the company's AI value proposition would look surprisingly thin.
This also meant that developers were unable to make the most of the new AI-powered SIRI, and users were unable to rely on their assistants to perform in-app actions as promised. For developers, it is a lost opportunity to build a more interactive and intelligent app experience. For consumers, that is another promise. It also raises concerns for Apple about the fact that the AI stack will actually be compared to increasingly powerful rivals such as Openai, Google, and Microsoft.
With WWDC 2025 around the corner, expectations for Apple Intelligence for consumers are more cautious than last year. Today, most developers and analysts are tools that allow for smoother integration of AI into native apps and enable you to use the AI that Apple is building. (I expect a lot from the front of Siri.)
One of Apple's best opportunities is to enable AI-assisted app development. The rise of tools like Cursor, Replit, and Bolt.New makes code generation so easy that even developers and non-developers can make their products come faster.
AI-driven apps have discovered that the web is an effective distribution platform. For example, ChatGpt gained massive traction on the web before launching native apps for iOS and Android. At the same time, tools like WordPress, Hostinger, Canva, and Figma can now allow non-technical users to create simple apps using natural language prompts. Apple also needs to modernize here.
Ideally, new AI tools should allow more developers to create apps and post them to the app store. This enriches the iOS app ecosystem and opens up new revenue opportunities for Apple. This is even more important as a portion of the App Store revenue is under threat.
Apple has made several announcements, but many have not yet come to fruition. Xcode's coding assistant, Swift Assist, was unveiled last year, but has not been widely released. Apple is also working on human-driven AI coding tools and plans to open access to its own AI models for developers. The goal is to lower the barriers to building iOS apps for both professionals and newcomers.
However, there are two things to consider. The control of the web as an application delivery platform and new regulations prohibiting Apple from charging fees in the US for payments outside of apps.
The second part is especially big. In April, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers asked Apple to remove restrictions on linking to external payment methods for digital purchases on apps in the US app store. More importantly, the ruling also prohibited Apple from charging fees for these types of payments. On Wednesday, a US court refused to appeal Apple and stayed in the ruling.
This means that developers encourage customers to purchase subscriptions and add-ons outside the app store. This is probably also a discounted rate compared to the app store prices.
The ruling could spur other regulators and pressure them to approve Apple and App Store fees for third-party payments. Earlier this week, Apple reported that in 2024 it generated $1.3 trillion in billing and sales, resulting in 90% of its value generation without paying a committee to Apple A. But even the remaining portion of the $130 billion means billions of revenue from the company.
Of all this, Apple needs to reaffirm the value of its ecosystem. It's not clear whether Apple will cut the committee, but it will be interesting to see what App Store will launch the company and make native iOS apps a more advantageous tool for developers.
As WWDC 2025 approaches, Apple is in an extraordinary position that they have to share better stories. Its AI ambitions are being challenged not only by faster competitors, but also by changing legal and economic realities. To be successful, Apple needs to demonstrate that it can be delivered with AI for end users and developers who will strengthen their ecosystems. Especially in a world where AI accelerates everything, Apple can't afford to fall behind.