The tech world is full of cycles. Things are always bundling and unbundling, going from minimalist to maximalist, embracing nostalgia before diving head-first into the future. And right now, it appears, we’re doing glassy again.
Through it all, we spend a lot of time talking through Apple’s ongoing approach to AI. The supposedly Siri-centric future of everything remains basically on hold, as Apple tries to make the tech work, but Apple Intelligence figures into a lot of the company’s new software. It seems Apple has gotten back to what it does best: making the tech just work for people. But there’s simply no way to watch this year’s WWDC without thinking of Apple’s 2024 pitch for a completely new way to think about and use our devices — and the comparatively straightforward stuff it’s shipping a year later. How you feel about the next era of Apple software will depend entirely on how you feel about what might have been, and what might still be.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started: