Think Intelligent

Some late thoughts on WWDC24…

First off, we have to talk about the brand identity for this event. Apple has always been known for its sleek and minimalist design, and they’ve embedded those principles into their events since the pandemic forced the company to do pre-recorded keynotes. Although we lost the magic of live demos, these keynotes are brand experiences, with over-the-top dynamic camera shots, speaker transitions, and motion graphics systems.

I’m usually in the lobby/waiting queue before the event starts. It’s the one place where you get a tease of the motion graphics elevated by Apple’s curated playlist (which I record and Shazam… of course!). It’s sort of amazing how the visual aesthetic of their events subtly underlines the new UI/UX advancements, and this one was clearly centered around the new Siri makeover.

The rainbow-ish glow that follows the outline of the Apple icon mimics the new full-screen, edge-wrap that ripples across your phone for Siri. Even the sort of bounce effect that triggers is reflected in one of the graphics. It’s overall futuristic and elegant while also being on-brand not just with Apple, but WWDC24. Though, I should mention that it’s similar to last year’s WWDC with the bubble effect and I do think this style will get boring if overused in the next few years.

The event itself was solid and all the features with iOS expected. Mark Gurman broke “Apple Intelligence” a few days before, but it was still amazing to see how stupidly simple the name was the day of. It was the softest throw and they hit a home run. They positioned their AI similarly to how the Vision Pro was positioned. Rooted in productivity, rather than gimmicks (let’s ignore the GenMojis…). Simplicity over the fantastical. It’s not “artificial,” it’s “Apple.” Just like it’s not “VR,” it’s “spatial.”

A key difference is that this will be immediately used in mass while the Vision Pro continues to lag, so much so they’re reorganizing to pause the Pro line and create a cheaper headset.

But Apple did what Apple does best: wait to get the story right. They nailed it here. Their AI doesn’t come off as threatening nor invasive. It’s personal and private (or real and boring which is good). It has a smarter Siri that can execute useful commands and queries that should have been the case a while ago, but I’m glad it’s finally here.

The opt-in ChatGPT feature felt a little bolted on as they ramp up their own LLMs, but it’s a perfect tactic to keep Apple in the game momentarily, especially as the news always likes to say Tim Cook has lost the magic. I think it was a good idea to specifically call out GPT-4o in the keynote, if anything to keep Wall Street happy as iPhone sales slow. I’m very pro Apple taking help from other companies, like when savior Bill Gates came in 1997.

The idea of making the iPhone house different LLMs (including maybe Gemini down the road) is genius. In the wild west of iterative models and awful branding, Apple comes off as the familiar, safe home for the everyday masses to use AI. It’s as they say, “AI for the rest of us.” Though, I think there’s a better way of saying that without making me think I’m behind the curve.

Overall, this is a winner of an event. Now we just have to wait to see if people actually use Siri and AI, and if it does erode humanity as some fear.

In Other News…

• Inside Out 2 had a $155M opening weekend. A massive win for Pixar after a couple of disappointing performances, but also a bit of false hope that masks the gravity of a completely dying theater industry.
• BeReal was sold for €500M. As a daily user, I’m happy, but also baffled that they had a successful exit as far as social media apps these days go. Good for them.
• Sean Tresvant has been Taco Bell’s new CEO. I love seeing a brand guy running the ship. He’s clearly thinking methodically about the brand and cares about the customers. Also, I love a good Cheesy Gordita Crunch at 2am…
• Yahoo, after buying Artifact, has come out with their own AI-powered news app built with Artifact’s key offerings. Nice to see it live on.
• Star Wars show The Acolyte on Disney+ is getting a bad rep so far. I think it’s a solid show still even without Dave Filoni at the helm and haters gonna hate.