Can a redesign save Apple’s software?

There’s a running theory in tech circles that says, basically, AI is the new UI. Not long from now, some people argue, you simply won’t need a homescreen full of app icons or a traditional web browser or really anything other than an interface to an AI assistant and agent that accomplishes everything on your behalf. Is that the actual future, absurd AI boosterism, or something in between? Who knows! But the ranks of the AI believers seem to grow every day.

Apple, however, appears poised to go… a different way. On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay and David discuss some of the rumors surrounding WWDC, including the possibility of a huge redesign and a new naming scheme for all of Apple’s software. It’s all eminently reasonable, if slightly confusing. But is it a coat of paint on an old idea, when what Apple actually needs to do is ship the better Siri it has promised for so long? We have many thoughts. (Oh, and a party speaker update.)

Finally, in the lightning round, it’s time for another edition of Brendan Carr is a Dummy, plus some talk about the impending launch of the Switch 2, and Elon Musk’s exit-ish from the federal government. It’s been a busy May for tech news, and it appears there’s a lot more to come.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first in party speakers:

And in the lightning round: