6 innovations in 2025 that prove Apple still has what it takes

2025 was a solid year for Apple. The company refreshed a wide range of its devices, delivering faster processors, slimmer designs, and improved reliability across its entire product lineup. It also rolled out Liquid Glass—one of its most dramatic UI overhauls yet—across all operating systems.

With 2025 drawing to a close, I revisited Apple’s recent launches—both iterative and ambitious—to highlight the year’s six most creative and innovative announcements.

Edge Light

Now that many businesses have switched to the remote or hybrid format, online meetings have become the new norm for lots of people. This shift has enabled certain employees to embrace the digital nomad life and work on the go. Not all environments, however, are suitable or well-prepared for virtual conferences.

For years, macOS and third-party video calling services have supported subject isolation and custom backgrounds to conceal messy setups. macOS Tahoe 26.2 elevates the experience by introducing Edge Light, a virtual ring light built into your screen.

If you’re taking a call in a dim room, you can enable the option with the click of a button. Your Mac’s screen will display an intense light beam that borders its edges to illuminate your face. You can control the temperature and intensity or turn it off altogether. The feature may be minor, but its underlying mechanism is undeniably genius.

Square selfie sensor

macOS 26.2’s ring light isn’t Apple’s sole 2025 camera-related innovation. Traditionally, iPhones and smartphones in general pack rectangular front camera sensors that are positioned vertically. That’s why you need to hold your phone sideways to take a landscape selfie.

With the iPhone Air and 17 series, the company retired the rectangular sensor in favor of a square one. This enables you to choose to snap a portrait or landscape selfie without needing to rotate your phone. The Camera app is smart enough to pick an orientation automatically—based on whether others are posing next to you and other factors. And don’t worry, Apple lets you still take widescreen selfies the old-fashioned way if you really want.

iPhone Air

Speaking of the iPhone, Apple introduced its first truly new design in 2025, and the iPhone Air deserves some recognition—not just for being the slimmest iPhone ever, but for the internal innovations that helped bring this iPhone Air’s vision to life. The rear camera bump—or Plateau in marketing lingo—manages to house the iPhone Air’s processor and most of its essential components. The rest of the device is predominantly occupied by the battery.

Another design innovation that helped achieve this breakthrough is the USB-C port. Apple 3D printed it using titanium powder to produce a connector that is slimmer and tougher than a regular port. While the Air certainly has its limitations, we can’t help but admire how remarkable a technical achievement it is.

M5 neural accelerators

The M5 chip delivered an impressive graphics boost, but far more interesting are the neural accelerators that Apple embedded inside the GPU cores. While the M-series chips have always bundled a Neural Engine to power on-device AI tasks, the new technology brings further enhancements.

Specifically, the accelerators speed up graphics-centric AI features, such as image generation in compatible apps. With first- and third-party developers continuously baking new artificial intelligence perks into their software, the M5 chip’s neural accelerators are bound to positively impact those users who really need to squeeze as much power from their GPU.

Foundation Models framework

Another AI-related 2025 innovation is Apple’s Foundation Models framework. With the new model, developers can now leverage the company’s LLMs to power in-app features. Not only can compatible tools work offline and privately, but the approach also spares devs and users from paying recurring fees for third-party cloud solutions. If your favorite app hasn’t adopted the API yet, you can experiment with the Foundation Models on your own by tying them to actions in the built-in Shortcuts app.

Apple Music AutoMix

Apple’s creative use of AI this year also extends to its music streaming service. Apple Music introduced a new subscriber-exclusive feature dubbed AutoMix, which replaces the classic crossfade function, bringing DJ-style transitions to the Music app. It works by analyzing the tracks you’re playing and applying advanced techniques, such as beat matching and time stretching. This blends the songs more naturally, and it honestly still impresses me every time it occurs.