‘Custom apps? Floating bar? Seems familiar.’
‘Artificial intelligence (AI) is coming to your watch? How cute.’
‘Real-time translation is new for you? Welcome. We have already translated text and voice.’
Samsung Electronics' U.S. branch reacted to this on the 9th (local time) right after the opening of Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC25). Most of the new AI features introduced by Apple at this year's event are the same as those that Samsung Electronics showcased when it launched the Galaxy S24 series last year.
◇ Listing functionalities similar to ‘Galaxy AI’ released a year and a half ago
Apple held the WWDC25 today at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, unveiling new features to be provided through its AI service 'Apple Intelligence' starting this fall. The core of the service is providing real-time translation through on-device AI technology, which executes AI functions on the device itself without needing a server connection. Translation will be provided in the form of real-time subtitles during phone calls, text messages, and even video calls (FaceTime). However, Korean support for FaceTime was not announced this time.
Apple has also improved the performance of the cartoon emoji created last year. It allows users to input a description of the desired emoji for the AI to generate it. The functionality to mix existing emojis to create new shapes has been added. Additionally, the image generation tool 'Image Playground' has been enhanced by integrating with ChatGPT. Apple noted, 'You can also experience entirely new styles, such as oil painting styles,' adding, 'When an idea pops into your head, you just need to select 'any style' and describe what you want.'
In addition, new features include ▲'call screening' where AI identifies the caller's information and notifies the user whether to take the call when an unknown number calls ▲a functionality that summarises recorded call contents in the phone app's call log ▲'visual intelligence' that allows users to recognize objects illuminated by the camera or displayed on the iPhone screen and find related information ▲a feature that analyzes 2D photo images from the camera and converts them into 3D.
Apple Watch introduces a new AI feature called 'Workout Buddy,' which encourages users through the analysis of exercise data. The mixed-reality (MR) headset 'Vision Pro' will also have the 'Persona' feature improved by Apple Intelligence, which shows the image of the person on the other end of the call.
Most AI features that Apple will introduce at the end of this year are the same ones that Samsung Electronics revealed last year through its on-device AI-based 'Galaxy AI.' AI features that find information on the screen were also showcased on Galaxy smart devices through collaboration with Google.
The upgrade of the voice recognition assistant 'Siri,' which garnered expectations from the development stage of Apple Intelligence, was not disclosed this time. Apple announced last year that it would launch a 'Siri 2.0' version that combined Siri with generative AI to enhance usability this year. Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, said that 'more time is needed to meet high-quality standards' for Siri 2.0.
◇ Disclosed OS changes after 12 years, but market reaction is ‘tepid’
In this event, Apple unveiled a new user interface (UI) called 'Liquid Glass' along with its new AI features. It changes notification panels, icons, and search boxes to be translucent so that the background can be faintly seen even with the window open. Liquid Glass will be applied across all product lines, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro.
Along with this, Apple decided to standardize the names of operating systems (OS) that have been different for each product, such as iPhone (iOS18), iPad (OS18), and Watch (OS11), starting in October, the beginning of the fiscal year, to align them by year, such as 'iOS26.'
Apple announced that it would make a complete overhaul of the OS design it has maintained since the release of the iOS7 in 2013 with the introduction of Liquid Glass, but the market reaction has been lukewarm. This is because it only revealed software changes focused on 'design' without introducing new hardware, and there were no announcements from Apple, a latecomer in the AI field, to bridge the gap with competitors.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) stated, 'If it were another year, a massive software upgrade alone would have been enough to excite the customer base of over 2.3 billion active Apple devices and shareholders, but this WWDC is garnering more attention for what was not announced than for what was.' It added, 'Apple's full return to AI is still far off.' Bloomberg noted, 'While it emphasized design elements over software innovation and introduced a few new AI features that may be welcomed by Apple fans, it did not make a significant impression on investors.'
Apple's stock closed at $201.45, down 1.21% from the previous trading day. Consequently, its global market capitalization rank has fallen to 3rd, behind Microsoft and Nvidia.