Apple will reveal its next “Big Thing” on Monday – you need to know

On Monday, June 5, starting at 7 p.m., Apple will open this year’s WWDC developer conference with a keynote speech. The conference itself is a specialist event for software developers – but the kick-off event is exciting for all Apple fans and those interested in technology, as it showcases upcoming iPhone features and often new hardware.

This year should be particularly exciting as insiders expect two new devices – and one of them marks an Apple milestone.

What to expect from Monday’s event:

iOS 17: The main innovations

It is certain that Apple will talk about the new version of the iPhone operating system iOS 17. Because one of the main reasons for the WWDC is that software developers can already try out new things and integrate them into their apps, so that as many applications as possible are already prepared at the start in September.

In the keynote, Apple usually shows the most interesting innovations, not only for iOS, but also for iPadOS, watchOS, macOS and tvOS – so the operating systems of the other device groups.

After iOS 16 brought many visible changes last year, iOS 17 will see minor changes, they say. Instead, commonly used aspects of the operating system will be expanded, including:

Still, that shouldn’t be all; Apple often does a good job of keeping upcoming features a secret with iOS. For Europe, however, there could be an important innovation: “Side Drawers”.

This is called the ability to install apps from sources other than the app store. Apple had long resisted this, but is being forced to do so in the European Union (EU) – and apparently is now doing so.

This allows app providers to offer their apps without Apple’s mandatory in-app payment method, which always earns Apple a significant portion of its revenue.

What’s new in iPadOS, WatchOS, and macOS

Insider Mark Gurman believes that there will be major changes to the Apple Watch with WatchOS 10 this year. What exactly these should look like is still largely unclear. New widgets, more customization options for the available buttons, maybe a new home screen – as far as forecasts go.

The rumor mill about the Mac operating system macOS and the Apple TV operating system tvOS gives nothing concrete – the keynote will provide surprises here.

Little more can be said about iPadOS. Due to its proximity to iOS, many of the innovations presented there should also come here – such as the calendar app. It’s also conceivable that the lock screen customization options will now come to tablets as well. This could be interesting, as there is of course significantly more room for widgets and other information on the iPad displays.

Apple’s AR glasses Reality Pro should actually come

For several years there has been repeated speculation about VR or AR glasses from Apple. Last year, several sources were relatively certain that the Apple glasses would be presented – they were wrong.

A performance this year is also not really certain – because Apple has of course not officially confirmed such a thing yet. But there are increasing indications that the ‘Reality Pro’ – as it is popularly called – will actually be part of the keynote on Monday.

According to Gurman, the “wearable” looks like ski goggles and offers both a virtual reality mode (i.e. a pure virtual image) and an augmented or mixed reality mode. This means that it can show the wearer both a purely artificial image (VR) and the real image, enriched with virtual elements (AR or MR).

The built-in technology is likely to be extremely high quality and expensive: 4K OLED screens, an Apple silicon chip of the type found in today’s Macs, more than a dozen cameras to capture the wearer’s surroundings and facial expressions, even more an iris scanner as a security feature is suspected.

The battery should not be in the glasses themselves, but in a small battery pack that is connected to the glasses with a cable and can be attached to the belt or put in a pocket.

But even if the Reality Pro is presented on Monday, it will probably take some time before customers can actually put it on: mass production cannot start until September, they say, and the price is also high: the first glasses will probably cost $ 3,000, a cheaper version should be on the market in 2025 at the earliest.

Nevertheless, Apple could – again – be the company that adopts a new technology late, but then successfully brings it to market. Until now, all AR and VR glasses have led a niche existence.

A bigger MacBook Air and more?

Another new announcement at WWDC is probably cheaper than the glasses: a new MacBook Air. Apple presented a completely revised version of the cheapest MacBook model last year.

However, the new MacBook Air was only available in one size, with a 13-inch display. This is useful, but may be too small for some customers. It is therefore expected that Apple will introduce a MacBook Air with a 15-inch screen on Monday.

Other than that, it should match the smaller model and come with the same M2 chip, it is said.

It should be exciting whether Apple will use the new product to throw old devices out of the store. So far, the predecessor model of the MacBook Air with an M1 chip is also available, as well as an old MacBook Pro with a 13-inch display and much of the same equipment as the new MacBook Air.

Where can you see the keynote?

Like every year, the WWDC keynote will be broadcast live. It will be available to stream on Monday, June 5, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. directly on the Apple website or in the Apple TV app. The live stream will also be available on Apple’s YouTube channel.

Watson will report in detail.

Sources

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(t-online/dsc)