What Analysts Think Of Apple WWDC's First Day, Including iOS 15 And Privacy

Apple Inc AAPL commenced its Worldwide Developers Conference, also known as WWDC21, on Monday, presenting online for the second straight year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysts, of course, paid attention.

“iOS 15 was introduced and is very focused around new device privacy protections, various notifications/lock screen changes, and a revamped iMessage feature set,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a note.

The analyst, who has an Outperform rating and a price target of $185 for the company, noted that by doubling down on privacy features, Apple has positioned itself directly on “a collision course” with Facebook, Inc FB around how users can block data tracking.

There was other news, as well.

“Today, Apple unveiled macOS Monterey, the latest version of its desktop operating system that comes with new ways for users to connect and work more fluidly across their Apple devices,” Ives further wrote.

Apple’s updates during the event were broadly in line with expectations and mostly incremental in nature, Credit Suisse's Matthew Cabral and Dan Knauff said in a separate note.

The company “looks to embed AI/ML-driven curation and customization locally,” the Credit Suisse analysts noted while adding, “We view privacy and Apple’s ability to use on-device intelligence for curation/customization as potential advantages in the post-IDFA digital ad world, but recognize meaningful monetization likely takes time to ramp.”

Cabral and Knauff maintained a Neutral rating for Apple, with a price target of $150.

APPL Price Action: Shares of Apple are up 0.59% at $126.65 Tuesday at publication.

(Photo: macOS Monterey via Apple)