What began in 1983 as a modest gathering of the company's devoted developer community, the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has ballooned into one of the most popular events in the tech industry and a launchpad for some of Apple’s most ubiquitous products, such as the iPhone and iPod.
This year’s event, which takes place from June 5 through 9 at Apple Park, the company’s Cupertino, California campus, will broadcast live on various platforms so fans in India and around the globe can tune in as well.
Apple is expected to showcase its latest advancements in software and operating systems to its developer community, but rumors are also swirling about a big hardware announcement that could potentially be a bombshell in the virtual and augmented reality (AR/VR) market.
Let’s take a look at the top five most-anticipated announcements from this year’s WWDC2023:
Without a doubt, the most anxiously awaited announcement that could come out of WWDC this year is the potential launch of Apple’s first ever AR/VR headset -- which would also make it Apple’s most anticipated announcement in years.
Despite the fact that the company has not officially acknowledged the product, much less given any details about its development, analysts and enthusiasts are certain that Apple has big plans for AR/VR technology. Patent filings show that the company has been working on the technology for years, and AR has been incorporated into some functions of the most recent iPhones and iPads.
Taking into account that there is already significant progress at the software level from Apple with its ARKit for developers, a mixed reality (VR/AR) headset could be the start of a new market for the tech giant.
Journalists and commentators say that the headset, rumored to be called “Reality Pro,” could, at the switch of a dial, change between AR and VR settings and Apple may be including as many as a dozen cameras into the headset to track movement and hand gestures.
Some analysts even suggest that the launch of the AR/VR headset could be an iPhone-type moment for Apple, which has been in a product innovation slump for the past five or so years.
“The headset will be a risky, but potentially monumental launch for Apple. It will herald mixed reality as its next major product category, offering a glimpse of a future where people are interacting with the world via headsets and not pocketable touch screens,” wrote Bloomberg Chief Correspondent Mark Gurman.
It may be risky, but it could be a great time for Apple to make the move. A new player on the block could be a boon for the headset market which saw a 20.9% decline in sales in 2022, according to IDC, which mentioned a lack of competition within the market as one of many potential factors.
It can be said with a high degree of certainty that Apple will announce its latest version of its iPhone operating system, iOS 17, at this year’s WWDC because it has done so with each version since the iPhone’s inception.
iOS 17 is rumored to include improvements in the interface design, security, privacy, personalization and integration with other Apple devices.
Some have reported new features, including a dark mode that adapts to the environment and the user's schedule, a more dynamic home screen with interactive widgets, deeper integration with Siri, Apple's virtual assistant, and compatibility with augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications.
There will probably be other surprises related to iOS 17, and we’ll just have to wait for those to come during the presentation. However, the software update wouldn’t reach users until the next iPhone (iPhone 15) is revealed, which could come as early as September 2023.
Apple has shown that manufacturing its own Apple Silicon processors was a truly wise decision, reaching important milestones of power and performance that have put specialized chip manufacturers like Intel in a bind.
For some time now Apple has been rumored to release its most powerful chipset yet, the M2 Ultra, and WWDC2023 could be the perfect setting for its big unveiling.
In January of this year, Apple announced the launch of its M2 Pro and M2 Max systems on a chip (SoCs) that supercharge MacBook Pro and Mac mini, and the M2 Ultra chipset would sit at the top of the new line, replacing the M1 Ultra, “currently the most powerful Apple-made processor in the Mac range,” according to Trusted Reviews.
For Mac users, new computers using the updated chipset can expect more power and better performance. In April, Macworld made a prediction about the specs for the unreleased M2 Ultra chipset: CPU up to 24 cores; GPU up to 76 cores and up to 192GB of RAM.
A powerful announcement like this could also help supercharge WWDC2023!
Another hot hardware launch for Apple’s developer conference could be the release of the 15-inch MacBook Air, a significant leap from its current 13-inch displays.
The MacBook Air series is Apple's most popular and best-selling laptop due to its lightweight and easily portable design. However, some users have been asking for a larger display, which would improve working and multimedia content watching experiences, without having to resort to buying the “Pro” model laptops that are much more expensive.
According to several analysts and leakers, Apple may be preparing to launch the 15-inch MacBook Air at WWDC2023. The laptop would reportedly have the same current M2 chipset with several options for different CPU and GPU configurations to suit users’ needs.
The screen would be the main attraction of this larger MacBook Air, which could have a higher resolution than the current one and perhaps use OLED technology to improve contrast and color. The 15-inch MacBook Air would be priced slightly higher than the 13-inch model, but still very competitive against the MacBook Pro series.
If announced, this would become an ideal option for those looking for a large laptop, without needing the features and super power of more expensive options.
As with the iPhone operating system, Apple has announced a new version of its Mac operating system, macOS, at its WWDC conferences for over a decade.
Last year the company revealed its macOS 13 Ventura operating system, and although the announcement of a macOS 14 would be important to the developer ecosystem, not many significant changes for end users are expected.
Among the possible changes that macOS 14 will bring are a redesign of the interface, improvements in performance and security, and new productivity and entertainment features.
Perhaps of most interest is Apple’s continued push to integrate its different platforms. With this in mind, macOS 14 could potentially include some of the rumored features of iOS 17, including dark mode, widgets and interactive notifications. Once the new version is announced, a "preview" could be quickly available to developers.
While the rumors swirl ahead of WWDC, we won’t know the full extent of the impact of the conference until the days to come. We are definitely hoping, however, that WWDC2023 will be one for the history books in terms of big, exciting reveals.
By Sergio Ramos Montoya, Social Geek
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