Dan Ives slams Apple’s tech showcase as ‘an episode out of ‘Back to the Future” and turns up the heat on Tim Cook over ‘elephant in the room’

According to Dan Ives, a top analyst at Wedbush Securities known for his prescient, albeit oft-times bullish, calls on Silicon Valley’s giants, was bearish Apple

The atmosphere at this year’s WWDC, he wrote in a July 30 re note, “felt an episode out of ‘Back to the Future’”—especially when it came to Apple’s treatment of artificial intelligence

While fellow titans are racing to put AI front and center, Apple’s WWDC presentation was notable for its near silence on the subject. “Barely no mention of AI,” Ives remarked in his report, calling it “the elephant in the room.” He noted this was a stark contrast to the fever pitch seen at rival developer events

Analysts, investors, and developers tuned in with expectations of a grand reveal that would clarify Apple’s ambitions for the “AI Revolution.” Instead, they watched as the company leaned on traditional strengths—hardware and a strong services story—leaving the future of Siri and Apple’s broader AI roadmap conspicuously vague

This omission has become a growing concern for analysts Ives, who believe Apple is at a crossroads. “It’s becoming crystal that any innovation around AI at Apple is not coming from inside the walls of Apple Park,” he wrote, referencing the company’s famed Cupertino headquarters

While Apple has historically prided itself on building transformative nology in-house, Ives argues those days may be over

Apple’s traditionally cautious apach to M&A, Ives suggests, may be holding it back at a time when speed is everything. “AI nology on the enterprise and consumer landscape is happening at such a rapid pace Apple will not be able to catch up with an internally built solution,” he warned

The muted AI narrative at WWDC comes during a broader period of transition for Apple

While demand for iPhones—a bellwether for the company—remains globally robust, with particular imvement in China after a year of tough competition, the company faces mounting headwinds

Trade tensions, evolving supply chain risks, and increasing pressure from lower-priced rivals in Asia have stressed Apple’s core

For now, analysts are keeping faith with Apple’s near-term performance

But Ives is steadfast: the next chapter—centered on AI—will define Apple’s future

Under his stewardship, Apple refined its operational efficiency, reinvigorated its services division, and dered massive fits through established hits the iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch

But as Fortune‘s Geoff Colvin reported, “suddenly his weaknesses are on display in the AI era.” A chorus of analysts has joined Ives in arguing that Cook’s operational excellence and supply-chain mastery may not be enough to win the future, as the AI era upends the industry’s priorities

Apple’s “Apple Intelligence” initiative, which was supposed to position Siri and other features at the forefront of consumer AI, has failed to capture investor or developer enthusiasm

Meanwhile, key AI executives have left: Apple’s top AI executive Ruoming Pang recently defected to Meta, just weeks after another top Apple AI scientist, Tom Gunter, resigned

Simultaneously, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams—a long-touted Cook successor—is set to retire, forcing a broader management overhaul

These departures have intensified debate Apple’s innovation pipeline

Critics argue that under Cook, Apple has not dered any genuinely transformative new duct since the Jobs era, with most recent hits— AirPods or the Apple Watch—refining rather than redefining duct

The risk, analysts warn, is existential: If smart devices shift into new AI-centric paradigms and Apple fails to respond forcefully, the company’s platform risks obsolescence

Re firm LightShed Partners rocked investors and the press in July by calling for a regime change

Analysts Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone insisted Apple needs a duct-focused CEO, not one centered on logistics

They warned Apple’s lack of compelling innovation in AI and the relatively stagnant gression of Siri could irreversibly erode its competitive edge as Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI press forward

Cook’s defenders argue Apple has a unique position: its platform lock-in gives it time to execute a measured AI response

And historically the company has rarely been first-mover—its success derives from perfecting existing nologies, not inventing them

Nevertheless, with AI’s foundational impact compared to the internet or electricity, allowing the competition to set the pace could be dangerous

Ives is still backing Cook, with reservations. “Patience is wearing thin among investors and importantly developers,” he warned

The coming months, particularly as Apple’s duct cycle heats up in September and beyond, may ve pivotal—not just for the company’s balance sheet

Ives said Wedbush believes Cook will be Apple CEO for another five years, at least, but there are mounting challenges, from the “tariff iPhone quagmire,” with Apple’s manufacturing operations in China directly exposed to trade uncertainty, to President Donald Trump’s displeasure with India as an alternate supply chain solution, to “missing the AI foundational strategy.” He , “this chapter will define Cook’s legacy.” “It’s time for Cook and Cupertino to face the new reality of this quickly morphing AI-driven landscape,” Ives wrote. “Because if they do not change, it will be a historic strategic black eye for Apple in our view.” For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft

An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing

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