Elliot Mintz and Justin Yates | 06/19/2025

 

Apple unveiled new software updates during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The show was headlined by Apple’s latest operating systems coming this fall: iOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS26. Updates include a comprehensively upgraded UI called Liquid Glass, enhanced Apple Intelligence capabilities, and features that strengthen continuity between Apple devices. The company described the announcement as, “introducing our broadest design update ever, a more helpful Apple Intelligence, and exciting new features across all our platforms.”

Despite advancements in Apple Intelligence, Apple appears to trail competitors on AI efforts. The company’s new OS introduces AI-powered visual intelligence for searching, asking questions, and editing photos, already integrated into devices like the Galaxy S25 and XCover7 Pro. It also comes with language intelligence that enables live translation in Messages, FaceTime, and Phone. Broadly, the focus of Apple Intelligence centers around implementing AI in more places to enhance everyday workflows. The increase of on-device AI enables secure offline information processing. Furthermore, better continuity between Apple products is designed to improve interoperability. To support the implementation of AI within Apple Intelligence, Apple announced the launch of Foundation Model framework. This framework allows over 30 million developers to work with Apple’s on-device foundation language model to enable seamless integration of Apple Intelligence into third party apps. Apple operating systems may have a potential advantage of an integrated suite of AI that seamlessly fits into already widely familiar devices.

Another major highlight of the announcement is Apple’s plan to deliver one universal UI system for the first time. The dynamic and transparent layout of Liquid Glass attempts to provide a more focused and clear view of content on Apple devices. However, implementing Liquid Glass in enterprise environments such as field service may be challenging, as screen visibility in sunlight is critical. Developers have raised concerns that the transparency of Liquid Glass could reduce contrast, making content harder to read in visually demanding environments. On the other hand, the transparent overlay may improve certain use cases in Apple devices. For example, on the Apple Vision Pro, Liquid Glass can offer a clear overlay of instruction and information for frontline workers.

On top of the changes in overlay, Apple announced other additions to the Vision Pro operating system to advance enterprise applications. For the first time, the operating system introduces collaborative features enabling Vision Pros to serve as a shared interface for teams, allowing nearby workers to collaborate on the same app or task. Additionally enhanced visual features were announced for visionOS 26 including spatial browsing, embedding 3D models in websites, and a new AI computational algorithm that creates multiple perspectives for 2D photos. These functions support advanced visual use cases and greater synergy in technically demanding workplaces.

Alongside Apple’s new OS are features for AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, and AirPods Pro 2. Apple announced that studio-quality audio recordings will be coming to these devices. The new audio recording enhances sound quality and enables recording on the go and in noisy environments with Apple’s Voice Isolation. In potentially loud environments like warehouses, the improved suppression of background noise could make Apple devices a more viable solution.

Although Apple remains a consumer-focused company, WWDC 2025 highlighted many ways its devices can be leveraged for enterprise use cases. The data security of on-device AI can impact industries where privacy is crucial such as healthcare and public safety. The new operating systems bring improved capabilities for on-site work that can be implemented in areas like manufacturing and warehousing. As Apple continues to make gradual improvements, its devices will become more viable for frontline workers, especially as most of the workforce is highly familiar with its products. Rugged vendors are increasingly making their devices “smartphone-like” to fend off this competition, and iOS has still not taken over as the primary operating system in frontline enterprise environments.

Exhibit: On which operating system do the smartphones used by frontline workers in your organization primarily run?