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Are the Craig Federighi memes at every Apple event getting a bit too silly now? Hammering an F1 car around the rooftop of Apple Park in a completely undisguised attempt to promote the Apple Original Films’ forthcoming F1 movie, while Tim Cook did his worst Toto Wolff impression (“you’re losing time at turn six, Craig”), did stretch the dad joke concept a little too far.
Until we saw the hair.
Oh, the hair. Obviously CGI’d and biblically over the top, it was hard not to raise at least a wry smile when Federighi removed his race helmet to reveal a quaffed barnet that was almost twice the size of his head.
I’ll admit I couldn’t help but titter. A little bit.
But while WWDC 2025 started with silly hair, it ended with what might be my favourite Apple operating system update in recent memory. And I didn’t see it coming.
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I’m also hopeful that this is good news, finally, for Apple Intelligence – although not for the reasons you might think.
Look – SQUIRREL!
I had one big question for Apple at WWDC this year: would they acknowledge the delayed Apple Intelligence features? Granted – they have done so already via statements to the press, but this WWDC keynote represented a full year since the more advanced Siri stuff was promised.
Thankfully, they did reference it… in passing, and in the most predictably non-committal way possible. But it was there.
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“We’re continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal,” said Federighi at the top of the iOS section. “This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year.”
Then, faster than a gear change in an APXGP F1 car, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering turned our attention to a fancy new design language called Liquid Glass. It’s translucent, as the name suggests, and derived from the interface design that can already be found in visionOS.
It looks really nice, and it’s also carried across all of the new operating systems (which now follow the year of use – 26, in this case – instead of consecutive build numbers). But Liquid Glass is simply a once-in-a-decade visual overhaul. It’ll make everyone’s iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, iPad, and Apple TV feel like it’s had a lick of paint. But it won’t change your life. Or make you more productive.
It was one of the biggest “LOOK – SQUIRREL!” moments Apple has ever dished out. They wanted to divert attention away from the delayed Apple Intelligence features and their continued tumble into AI obscurity against a backdrop of their once-darling Jony Ive joining forces with OpenAI’s Sam Altman. Doing so with a fancy new design language was akin to reaching for the most reliable weapon within their arsenal.
The rest of the WWDC keynote was a tour de force of long-overdue but highly welcome changes across the entire OS lineup – but one in particular has got me incredibly excited.
iPadOS 26
I noted in a recent Tech Diary video that Apple needed to do one thing with iPadOS, and that was to make it more like macOS.
Good news. That’s exactly what they’re doing with iPadOS 26.
A new windowing system with “familiar” controls (they’re red, orange, and green). Window tiling. Precise window resizing. The ability to place windows wherever you want on the screen. A supercharged Files app. Preview. Background tasks.
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iPadOS 26 is, basically, a touchscreen version of macOS. As it should be. As it should always have been.
Why didn’t they do this ages ago?
Who cares. It’s happening now. And I genuinely can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Why this matters
I’ve said numerous times that I’m bored with consumer-facing AI. I therefore won’t labour the point today, but I do feel that it has all got a bit out of hand.
No one asked for the ability to turn static photos into moving videos (it’s never not creepy). We’ve managed without writing assistance for decades. I don’t know anyone who has lamented the inability to use their phone for translation purposes while travelling. We’ve always managed. We’ll continue to manage.
I think Apple feels the same. I’ve long suspected that the AI revolution caught them off guard and left Tim and co. in a position where they’ve had no choice but to run at breakneck speed to catch the back of the pack, carelessly throwing out their versions of AI features while secretly cursing the need to.
Liquid Glass and all of the OS updates revealed yesterday were more than a vehicle to divert our attention. They were Apple’s attempt to quietly suggest that we should reduce the focus on AI and turn our attention back to what matters: enjoyable, usable tech, which has features built into it that are genuinely useful. They can’t say that, obviously, because it would be akin to being the person at the back of the room at a party who wants the music turned down. But they really do have a point.
That’s why the new spotlight features in macOS Tahoe are such a big deal. It’s why the addition of the Journal app to the Mac and iPad matters. It’s why the ability to ‘flick’ notifications away on your Apple Watch will become second nature.
Does Apple Intelligence power any of that stuff? Some of it, of course. But who cares what’s going on beneath the bonnet? I don’t. And I certainly don’t want it turning into a marketing behemoth.
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I want a return to a simpler, more usable tech landscape without so much focus on AI. And I think Apple does, too.
Final thought (for now)
As always, I won’t be jumping on the developer betas of the new Apple operating systems. I value my ability to get work done way too much for that. But I will dive into the public betas once they reach some form of stability.
Until then, I’ll reserve my judgement on what Apple announced yesterday.
Regardless, I’m ‘pumped’, as they say, about iPadOS 26 and the apparent desire of Apple to reduce the focus on AI. It’s about time (on both accounts).
