Apple's Stumble: Has It Fallen Behind in the AI ​​Race?

Apple's AI event was hailed as "disappointing" by analysts. The lack of a new Siri and the focus on the "Liquid Glass" design reveal a new strategy. Find out what it means for your iPhone.

After months of huge anticipation, Apple's big unveiling of the future of its artificial intelligence has been hailed by Wall Street analysts as "disappointing" and a "failure." But is this apparent stumble a simple mistake or a calculated strategic move? The answer reveals a lot about the future of your iPhone.

Apple's June 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was marked in red on the tech industry calendar. The Cupertino company was expected to present its robust response to its rivals' AI advancements. However, the event left many with a sense of anticlimax, focusing attention not on an AI revolution, but on a cosmetic redesign and incremental upgrades.

This approach raises an uncomfortable question for the brand's legion of fans: Has Apple lost its innovative edge just as AI is redefining technology?

Suggestion: A comparison chart showing Google and OpenAI's AI advancements versus Apple's WWDC announcements, visualizing the perceived gap.

The main source of disappointment was the notable absence of the promised "smarter, more versatile" version of Siri. Apple had raised high expectations for a fundamental overhaul of its AI-powered virtual assistant, but the reality was a cold shower. Craig Federighi, Apple's chief software officer, admitted that the project "needed more time to reach our high standard of quality," confirming that the update won't arrive until 2026 at the earliest.

This delay didn't go unnoticed. Analysts like Dipanjan Chatterjee of Forrester Research described the silence surrounding Siri as "deafening," while Angelo Zino of CFRA called the event a "fail." For many, it was the clearest sign yet that Apple, for the first time in a long time, is visibly behind.

For years, Apple has been the pacesetter, defining the user experience the rest of the industry strives to emulate. However, in the AI ​​race, the tables seem to have turned. Companies like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI are integrating advanced AI much more rapidly and visibly into their core products.

The delay of Siri, Apple's flagship AI product, is the most obvious symptom of a larger strategic problem. The company, known for its secrecy and tight control over its ecosystem, appears to be struggling to adapt its development culture to the breakneck speed demanded by the AI ​​revolution.

Failing to deliver a revolutionary functional innovation, Apple appears to have opted for a classic strategic distraction tactic: an aesthetic innovation. The event focused heavily on two key announcements: a new design language called "Liquid Glass" and a change in its operating system name to iOS 26.

Liquid Glass is the most significant visual redesign of Apple's software in a decade. It introduces a translucent aesthetic to menus and toolbars, allowing icons and windows to refract and reflect what's behind them. It also adds more app resizing options and gives icons a more curved look.

"This year's event wasn't about disruptive innovation, but rather about careful calibration, platform refinement, and developer enablement, positioning for future developments rather than unveiling game-changing technologies." – Francisco Jeronimo, IDC Analyst.

This focus on design can be interpreted as a way to make existing devices feel “new” and fresh, keeping the user base satisfied while the company buys crucial time for its underlying AI technology to mature.

Along with the redesign, some new features were announced, such as the Games app to centralize the gaming experience and Workout Buddy, an AI-powered workout assistant for the Apple Watch. However, these were seen as incremental platform improvements, not the major leap forward the market had hoped for.

WWDC 2025 revealed an Apple in full transition: more cautious, more strategic, and, for the first time, visibly defensive in the most important technological revolution of the decade. The big question is whether its loyal user base and investors will have the patience to wait.