Tim Cook's AI Focus At WWDC Will Be 'Biggest Change In Apple's Operating System Design' Since 1980s, Says Top Analyst Gene Munster: 'Monumental Day'

Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster thinks Apple Inc.'s AAPL upcoming developer conference, WWDC, will be "monumental."

What Happened: Munster expressed his optimism about Apple after the company's head of marketing, Greg "Joz" Joswiak, teased AI as the theme of WWDC 2024.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, will take place in June.

Munster thinks this will usher in "the biggest change in Apple’s operating system design since the mid-80s point-and-tap/click interface."

Apple launched Lisa, the world's first commercial computer with a graphical user interface or GUI, back in 1983. Since then, computers have evolved from being designed for mouse clicks to taps thanks to touch screens.

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However, Munster says the next evolution for user interfaces is generative AI and he thinks Apple will announce its take on this during WWDC.

"WWDC on June 10 will likely preview how Apple's iOS and MacOS will incorporate generative AI. This would allow the OS to seamlessly interface with apps."

Munster expects generative AI features to be added across all the core Apple apps like iMessage, Mail, Calendar, and Notes, among others. He also thinks Apple could unveil an AI-powered version of Siri, which would make it the biggest upgrade to Apple's voice assistant in recent years.

One of the examples of Apple integrating generative AI in iOS would be summoning an Uber using just a voice command, like "Get me an Uber to the airport."

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Munster thinks iOS 18 and the Uber app will then process the command and do all of the tasks involved in booking a cab in the background.

But Munster tempered expectations from Apple, noting that rivals Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have already made progress in this regard, with Copilot and Gemini, respectively.

"This would be a huge step forward for Apple, but it would not be as significant relative to what's already happened."

Why It Matters: Apple has been slow to catch up with its rivals in the generative AI space.

The Tim Cook-led company has recently acquired a Canadian AI startup DarwinAI, but reports suggest it could license Google's Gemini AI to offer generative AI features in iOS 18.

iOS 18 is also being touted as the "biggest" software update in iPhone's history, with reports pointing at AI upgrades and home screen redesign. There could be more changes in tow, but we will know more during WWDC.

Price Action: On Thursday, Apple stock was down 0.34% in premarket trading after closing at $173.31 on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro.

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