CUPERTINO
(CALIFORNIA) — Analysts on Tuesday said that this year,
Apple highlighted its one of the core strength: delivering a unified and
seamless experience across all its hardware and added an additional visual
appeal to it — the biggest visual overhaul after iOS 7.
Apple has previewed iOS 26 at its flagship developer
conference ‘WWDC 2025’ here — a major update that brings a beautiful new
design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps users rely on
every day. The new design provides a more expressive and delightful experience
across the system while maintaining the instant familiarity of iOS.
Counterpoint Research Director, Tarun Pathak, told IANS
that the updated visual design, featuring the new "liquid glass"
aesthetic, is set to further enhance user engagement across Apple's device
ecosystem.
“However, two announcements particularly captured our
attention: ‘On-device AI for Developers’ and ‘iPadOS Reimagined’. The ability
for developers to access Apple's on-device models through the Foundation Models
framework, coupled with the introduction of Apple Intelligence across iPhone,
iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, is a positive move in its AI
journey where it is being perceived as being behind wrt the competitors,”
Pathak explained.
However, AI of 2025 is different to the AI hype of 2024.
Users are still getting warmed upto AI use-cases and “we have not see a killer
use case yet”.
The most impactful revelation came from the iPadOS
updates. These enhancements will solidify the iPad's position as a robust
device for both content creation and consumption on the go, Pathak noted.
The tech giant showcased watchOS 26, offering a beautiful
new look and even more intelligence for a more personalised experience, to
support users in staying active, healthy, and connected.
A new design with Liquid Glass makes features like the
Smart Stack, Control Center, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and
controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS.
According to Prabhu Ram, VP at CyberMedia Research (CMR),
Apple adopted a fundamentals-first approach, emphasising user interface (UI)
enhancements over AI. Rather than chasing speculative AI trends, Apple focused
on delivering immediate, tangible value to users.
“A key highlight was the introduction of on-device access
to Apple’s large language model through the new Foundation Models framework.
This move signals a decentralised AI strategy, empowering developers to create
differentiated experiences directly on Apple devices,” Ram told IANS.
However, the success of this approach will hinge on
developer adoption, the strength of Apple’s tooling, and the company’s ability
to iterate quickly.
Apple’s tightly integrated hardware ecosystem gives it a
significant advantage and a unique opportunity to lead in AI monetization.
However, this window of opportunity may close rapidly if Apple fails to keep
pace, especially as agentic AI and cross-platform innovations accelerate
elsewhere, said Ram.
