Reports leading up to WWDC have indicated that iOS 26 will feature a major design overhaul inspired by visionOS, the operating system for Apple’s Vision Pro headset. The redesign has been described as the biggest update to iOS since iOS 7, and it will be the main focus of the event.
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman has even suggested that Apple will use the “Liquid Glass” redesign to distract from its failure to roll out promised Apple Intelligence features – like a more personalised, context-aware Siri, which was heavily promoted at last year’s developer conference and in the months thereafter, but turned out to be vaporware since it did not work as advertised in internal testing.
However, in a last-minute “key points to watch at WWDC” post on X, Kuo has argued that above all at this year’s event, Apple will make pains to explain how upcoming AI features will work on devices (“though no major breakthroughs are expected”) and that the company will even offer a development timeline for their launch.
According to Kuo, Apple’s on-device AI focus will “likely” include “rebranding Apple Intelligence/Siri,” demonstrations of AI integration at the OS level to improve user experience, the rollout of tools for third-party developers to incorporate AI into their apps (which we’re already expecting), and a strengthening of privacy protections.
Lastly, Kuo says Apple will tout partnerships with other AI service providers, similar to its current deal with OpenAI to leverage ChatGPT via Siri. This is probably an allusion to Apple’s reported partnership with Google to make Gemini an optional Siri extension, with Siri able to hand requests over to Gemini for more in-depth AI-powered answers.
Move Over Siri?
Kuo’s predictions raise some intriguing questions. The argument has been put forward that the Siri brand is tarnished, and introducing a new AI chatbot powered by large language models under a new brand would signify a clean break from the past. But if Apple were to rebrand Apple Intelligence/Siri, this could be interpreted as an implicit acknowledgement that its original AI strategy has failed.
There is also the danger that Siri is already indelibly intertwined with Apple Intelligence in the public consciousness. Given the amount of marketing that has been spent on Apple Intelligence, or “AI for the rest of us,” as Apple calls it, it’s fair to react to Kuo’s claim about a rebranding with some skepticism.
If Apple does have plans to rebrand Siri to launch the AI chatbot it has been working on – said to be on par with recent ChatGPT models – then a new name and persona for the virtual assistant could potentially revitalize its image. But Apple would have to ensure that any new product lives up to its promises, otherwise another misstep could be potentially disastrous.
Either way, we’ll learn more about Apple’s plans very soon.
Apple’s WWDC 2025 keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Apple will live stream the event on its website, on YouTube, and in the TV app. If you’re not able to watch live, we’ll have a live blog and coverage of the announcements here at MacRumors, plus we’ll be live tweeting the event on the MacRumorsLive account.
This article, “Could Apple Ditch Siri Name in Major AI Rebrand at WWDC?” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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