Apple Officially Announces WWDC 2025
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Right on schedule, Apple has officially announced that its 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC25) will kick off the week of June 9, 2025. As usual, we expect Apple to open the event with a keynote highlighting its next-generation software releases for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro, and beyond.
Apple made the official announcement today, but little has changed from previous years. Even the date is what we expected, as WWDC is nearly always held during the second week of June; the only exception was in 2020 when Apple delayed it to June 22 due to the global health pandemic.
It’s fair to say that things were in quite a bit of flux that year, and Apple was forced to pivot to an “all-new online format.” This required more prep time, especially in an era when most folks weren’t even working regularly at Apple Park. By the following year, Apple had sorted out all those logistical details and decided that the online format was the way to go.
It seems quaint now, but WWDC was strictly an in-person event for years — and it wasn’t cheap to attend. Apple has broadcast the WWDC keynote for over a decade, but that’s not what WWDC is really about. The main conference, which is primarily aimed at helping developers build better apps, offered a limited number of spaces and forced developers to compete in a lottery for the privilege of buying a $1,600 ticket.
The pandemic showed Apple that an in-person event allowed it to invite a much broader number of developers — an effectively unlimited number of attendees. That means that rather than limiting it to around 5,000 developers, any one of its 30 million registered developers could participate — and do so at no charge.
This year’s WWDC is no different. It’s open free to all developers, and Apple will undoubtedly have its WWDC app updated soon with the schedule for this year’s conference, allowing virtual attendees to pick their sessions and join in online.
We’re excited to mark another incredible year of WWDC with our global developer community. We can’t wait to share the latest tools and technologies that will empower developers and help them continue to innovate.
Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations
Nevertheless, Apple is once again hosting an in-person event on June 9 for those who want to congregate at Apple Park. The Keynote and Platforms State of the Union will be shown in an auditorium setting, and attendees will be able to meet with Apple experts one-on-one and in group labs and take part in special activities. There’s naturally limited space here, and those who want to attend should visit the WWDC25 website right away for more information and to apply for a spot. There’s no charge to attend (other than travel expenses), but you’ll need to be chosen through “a random selection process.” Applications close on April 3.
What to Expect at WWDC25
As with every year, the highlight of WWDC25 will be Apple’s 2025 software releases. Expect iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, tvOS 19, visionOS 3.0, and more.
With rumors that Apple is getting more serious about home products, there’s also a possibility it could take the opportunity to unveil the long-rumored homeOS. This partly depends on whether it will have a new product ready to show off to accompany it. Several new home accessories, including a wall-mounted smart Home Hub, are in the works, but they’ve reportedly been delayed until later this year. Still, that doesn’t mean Apple can’t preview some of these at WWDC.
We haven’t heard much about iOS 19, except that it’s slated for a massive design overhaul. However, few new Apple Intelligence features are coming, since Apple is still hard at work on delivering what it’s already promised for iOS 18, including the more personalized Siri.
Unlike last year, when Apple’s worldwide marketing chief, Greg Joswiak, dropped a hint about AI by saying that WWDC was going to be “Absolutely Incredible,” this year’s tweet is considerably less cleverly coy, merely telling people to “save the date.”
Is that a hint at new calendar capabilities? Probably not. In fact, there’s reason to believe that iOS 19 may be more of a “caretaker release” when it comes to new features. If the rumors of a UI redesign are true, Apple will already have its hands full with that, and there are plenty of bugs in iOS 18 that still need to be squashed. It wouldn’t be the first time a new iOS release was light on features and big on fixes.
We’re also not expecting any major hardware releases this year. There’s a slight possibility of a Mac Pro, as those have always been unveiled at WWDC. There have only been four Mac Pros over the past 20 years, announced during WWDC keynotes in 2006, 2013, 2019, and 2023. While Apple announced a Mac Studio earlier this month, it only has an M3 Ultra chip. Some have suggested there could be a Mac Pro waiting in the wing with an M4 Ultra, but it’s also possible Apple may skip the Ultra entirely this year.
Similarly, as we mentioned earlier, Apple might show off one or more of its rumored home devices, but most reports say they’re nowhere near ready to ship. A new HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K might be low-hanging fruit here, as these are expected to get only modest upgrades and could be a good way to usher in homeOS.
However, Apple has cleared the deck of any potential hardware updates. The Mac lineup is stable, with everything except the Mac Pro now using Apple’s latest M4 chips (even the Mac Studio can be configured with an M4 Max instead of an M3 Ultra). Ditto for the iPad Pro, which was the first to get the M4 chip last year, and the other iPads that have all been refreshed in the past six months. Meanwhile, iPhone and Apple Watch releases are fall events.
So, there’s every reason to believe this year’s WWDC could once again be entirely about software updates. Apple used WWDC23 to show off the Vision Pro and WWDC22 to unveil a series of M2 MacBooks, but WWDC21 and WWDC20 had no tangible hardware announcements.
