A lot as I get pleasure from writing critical articles for Macworld, it’s enjoyable every so often to be foolish. Earlier this month, for instance, I wrote a pretend script for the WWDC25 keynote that includes, together with some comparatively believable launch predictions, an unplanned laser homicide and Mike Rockwell being reborn as a cyborg. It’s good to let free infrequently.
So positive, I like a joke as a lot as the subsequent man. Until, that’s, the subsequent man occurs to be Craig Federighi, who presumably now has the job title Vice President, Banter And Shenanigans. I gained’t fake to know the person in his day-to-day work routine; maybe he sits in silence brooding on the sorrows of the world. All I do know is that when showtime arrives, he turns right into a pressure of dad-joke nature.
Which might be, effectively, quite a bit. Each June I tune into the WWDC keynote questioning how far his tacky humorousness might be indulged and the way a lot the already punishing broadcast time might be elongated to permit for skits and bits and normal time-wasting buffoonery. It’s not that these segments are unfunny, precisely: they typically elevate the gentlest of light smiles. It’s extra that they’re a bit… cringe. They’re not precisely what you’d anticipate from an organization with an unlimited advertising finances attempting to place itself as a hip way of life selection.
“How will we crack the youth market, Craig?”
“How a couple of grey-haired man doing satan horns as he jumps out of a airplane, Phil?”
“Good!”
Anybody hoping for a extra sombre-minded WWDC25 was in for disappointment. It began with Federighi in an F1 racing automotive (when he takes off the helmet! His hair! Is massive!), and ended with an excruciating comedian music about App Retailer critiques. (The joke, notice, was that apps are nice and everybody loves them. Searing stuff.) And nearly the worst half is that the 85 minutes in between had been largely performed fully and relentlessly straight, so the doubtful comedy didn’t even serve to interrupt up the boring bits. It was like a marriage speech the place one of the best man will get all his jokes out of the way in which in the beginning after which spends an hour thanking the bridesmaids.
With Apple, an extra of comedy is mostly a giveaway that the corporate is attempting to keep away from speaking about one thing else. The corporate’s CEO spent a criminally giant portion of the iPhone 15 launch bantering with Mom Nature, in concept as a result of the surroundings is vital, however primarily as a result of the iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Sequence 9 had been uninteresting merchandise and there wasn’t a lot else to debate. It was the ethics of comfort and the humor of distraction. I like jokes which are made purely to be humorous. This felt extra calculated.
In the end, my suspicion is that this yr’s mirth-heavy WWDC mirrored the inconvenient fact that Apple Intelligence has been a little bit of a stinker. It was equally unappealing for the corporate to confess this, or for it to make a lot more guarantees it could actually’t maintain; higher to refill time with horseplay and tomfoolery. And expectantly, the corporate’s critics can have been cringing so arduous that they had been bodily unable to write down uncomplimentary articles.
Foundry
Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which incorporates all of the Apple information you missed final week in a useful bite-sized roundup. We name it Apple Breakfast as a result of we expect it goes nice with a Monday morning cup of espresso or tea, however it’s cool if you wish to give it a learn throughout lunch or dinner hours too.
Trending: High tales
Maintain on. Did Apple Intelligence simply develop into… good?
Apple’s newest gaming efforts gained’t transfer the needle.
Alex Blake explains why Mac energy customers ought to rush to improve to macOS 26 Tahoe this fall.
RIP Mickey Mouse glove: macOS Tahoe has a new set of cursors.
Apple made a haptic ‘F1’ trailer that you want to really feel to consider.
Podcast of the week
We speak in regards to the scorching new stuff from Apple, together with Liquid Glass, iPadOS windowing, Reside Translation, and extra on episode 938 of the Macworld Podcast!
You possibly can catch each episode of the Macworld Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our personal website.
The rumor mill
Sorry Siri followers, don’t anticipate these delayed Apple Intelligence options till 2026.
iOS 26 seemingly factors to the upcoming launch of AirPods Professional 3.
Xcode 26 code raises hopes for a cheaper Imaginative and prescient Professional, however there’s in all probability nothing to see right here.
Software program updates, bugs, and issues
macOS 26 Tahoe fixes a main pet peeve of Google Chrome customers.
watchOS 26 kills off 5 traditional Apple Watch faces.
iOS 26 lastly makes it tremendous easy to assign a customized iPhone ringtone.
And with that, we’re executed for this week’s Apple Breakfast. In the event you’d prefer to get common roundups, join our newsletters, together with our new electronic mail from The Macalope–an irreverent, humorous tackle the newest information and rumors from a half-man, half-mythical Mac beast. It’s also possible to comply with us on Fb, Threads, Bluesky, or X for dialogue of breaking Apple information tales. See you subsequent Monday, and keep Appley.
