Investing.com — The most closely watched element of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference this year will be how the company integrates a revamped Siri across its operating system and ecosystem, with particular focus on whether it lays the groundwork for agentic AI workflows, Citi said following an expert call with IDC analysts.<\/p>\n
Citi told investors in a note on Friday that the key question is whether Apple will demonstrate autonomous agents capable of completing multi-step tasks on behalf of users, such as managing reservations, shopping decisions, and travel logistics across applications.<\/p>\n
New developer tools and APIs enabling third parties to build AI-native experiences on iOS will also be closely watched, according to the bank.<\/p>\n
However, Citi cautioned against expecting a landmark moment. “This year’s WWDC will likely mark Apple’s AI catchup phase rather than be a breakthrough AI moment,” the firm wrote, summarizing IDC’s view that the conference represents a necessary foundational step rather than a truly differentiated AI experience.<\/p>\n
On iPhone demand, IDC experts told Citi that hardware design rather than AI remains the primary demand driver in the near term.<\/p>\n
IDC now expects global and China iPhone demand to decline 5% and 3%, respectively, this year, an improvement from prior estimates of down 8% and 9%.<\/p>\n
A meaningful AI-driven upgrade cycle is seen as unlikely in the near future, partly because many upcoming Apple Intelligence features will run on existing devices from the iPhone 16 family onward.<\/p>\n
On Services monetization from agentic AI, Citi said the opportunity is real but not imminent, with Apple needing to first demonstrate the value of Apple Intelligence before meaningful monetization becomes realistic.<\/p>\n
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