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The company is expected to announce its next major OS update soon, giving developers a chance to get their apps ready ahead of the larger rollout this fall. The company’s Worldwide Developers Conference is just around the corner, and at WWDC 2024, Apple is sure to announce some of the key features of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, as well as upcoming updates for watchOS, macOS, visionOS, and more.
But given the current tech environment, it seems likely that Apple will follow its rivals and make a big push into the realm of generative AI, which may be a major focus of the keynote, since those are the only two words that investors care about these days.
With the constant flow of Apple rumors, we’ve been hearing bits and pieces about what will be announced at WWDC. We don’t expect any big hardware announcements at the event, but we won’t really know until Tim Cook wraps it up. After all, we saw the first appearance of the Apple Vision Pro at the last WWDC.
Either way, here’s what we can expect from Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote.
When is WWDC 2024?
WWDC 2024 will be held from June 10 to June 14. Various events will be held throughout the week, but the main event will be Apple’s keynote speech. AppleApple Developer app, Apple TV app, and Apple’s YouTube channel.
During the keynote, Apple tends to announce many of the key features for the next major versions of its flagship operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and possibly visionOS. While Apple has previously announced new hardware at its WWDC keynotes, we don’t expect to have to worry about much this time around.
artificial intelligence
While Apple tends not to utter the word “AI” much during its events, there’s no escaping the tech industry’s biggest buzzword of the past two years. Generative AI is quickly seeping into many aspects of our lives, and Apple seems poised to get a piece of that pie.
Apple is not thought to have its own AI chatbot ready for primetime yet, but while it’s hard at work developing one, the company has reportedly signed a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iOS 18. Apple is still interested in a deal with Google to bring its Gemini AI assistant to iPhones, but that may be a long way off, while Siri is set to be upgraded across compatible devices using Apple’s own large-scale language models.
Apple’s approach to generative AI in both iOS 18 and macOS 15 is said to be practical, based on helping regular people in their daily lives, rather than just letting them quickly generate long pieces of text that you can sell as e-books and make quick money from. Instead, you’ll see GAI features like suggested replies for emails and messages, TL;DR text summaries, transcription of voice notes (finally!), and improved photo correction tools in the core apps.
Apple is expected to do as much AI processing as possible on the device and send the rest to its data centers. This raises the question of how Apple will ensure user privacy, one of the company’s core values. Apple will need to clearly explain how it will keep user information safe as it travels between devices and data centers.
iOS 18 / iPadOS 18
As usual, is coming to many iOS and iPadOS apps, perhaps most notably to Messages.
GMSA’s Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a more advanced messaging protocol than the 30-year-old SMS. RCS is also more secure than the old SMS. It offers improved media sharing capabilities, including high-resolution images, videos, audio clips, etc. RCS enables proper group chat and also supports Wi-Fi messaging.
But Apple has long resisted bringing RCS to its platform, something Google has done for years, in order to keep iMessage a closed environment. Of course, iMessage itself has many of the same features as RCS. Apple CEO Tim Cook once responded to someone who asked him to improve Android’s text messaging compatibility so they could share videos with their mother by saying, “Buy your mom an iPhone.”
Apple made its stance on RCS clear last year, possibly to comply with stricter EU regulations. The company said it would enable RCS support in 2024, so it makes sense to see the feature debut in iOS 18. This means messaging between iOS and Android should be much better in the near future (though texts from Android devices still show up as green bubbles on iPhones). Meanwhile, Google has only just started allowing Android users to send messages up to 15 minutes after they’ve been sent.
Gurman also noted that Apple will likely support the ability to generate custom emojis based on what you write in text messages, and you’ll be able to change the color of app icons on your home screen, seemingly eliminating the need to lock apps into a strict grid system.
Apple Music An auto-generated playlist feature is also expected to be added, modelled on the OpenAI-powered tools developed by Spotify. Custom routes and topographical maps ( ) are expected to come to Apple Maps. Additionally, Apple is rumoured to be adding an audio recording tool to Notes, which would work well with the expected transcription feature and option to display mathematical notation.
Other core apps are also reportedly set to see some changes, including generative AI features in productivity apps like Keynote and Pages. Mail, fitness, and health apps are also expected to get new features, but details have yet to be leaked.
calculator
This long-awaited update deserves its own section. Yes, the Calculator app is said to be coming to iPhone and Mac. Sarcasm aside, the improvements look like they’ll actually be useful, with Notes app integration, improved unit conversions, and a sidebar that lists your recent activity. The app is also said to be coming to iPadOS.
macOS 15
If I were to take a wild guess right off the bat, I’d say Apple will name the next macOS after a famous California place. Seriously, that would be the least shocking thing Apple could do on a keynote stage.
Many iOS app updates Changes to Apple Music, Notes, productivity, and more are expected to make their way to macOS 15. Rumors suggest that Apple is reorganizing the System Preferences app based on the importance and priority of each category, with the General tab expected to appear at the top and Sounds and Notifications at the bottom of the list.
Elsewhere, Siri’s menu bar icon will get a new look with a flat monochrome design replacing the current colorful version, and there may also be some welcome accessibility upgrades, such as shortcuts options that will let users trigger certain settings and actions using custom voice phrases.
Apple Hardware
Last year’s WWDC was the year Apple finally unveiled the Vision Pro, 15-inch MacBook Air, Mac Pro with M2 Ultra, and Mac Studio. However, we can’t expect any big announcements from Apple on the hardware front this time around.
company just The company has updated its iPad lineup, but it seems a bit early to announce new laptops given the and Of course, the iPhone will remain a secret until September, as will the next Apple Watch, but Apple may take the opportunity to put M3 or M4 chips into other desktop systems that are stuck on the M2 generation.
Peripherals and other devices may also be revamped: There’s always the chance that Apple could unveil a version of the AirPods Max with a USB-C charging port.
January 2023, Garman The new Apple TV box is expected to arrive in the first half of 2024, so there’s still plenty of time for that to happen. It’s also possible that Apple will add a camera to the Apple TV, in which case you won’t need it for use on the biggest screen in your home.
Apple Vision Pro
One thing we’re hoping to see on the hardware side is for Apple to reveal more about its future plans for the Vision Pro. Until now, the headset has only been sold in the US, but that could change in the coming weeks and months. The company suggests that the next phase of the rollout will include Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the U.K. However, there isn’t much information on the visionOS 2 leak so far, so it’s unclear what updates the mixed reality operating system will receive.
Everything else
Rumors have also been quiet regarding watchOS updates, and while there will certainly be some notable changes to Apple’s wearable operating system, after last year’s major overhaul, we may be seeing a relatively minor upgrade to watchOS.
While tvOS rarely gets much attention during Apple’s keynotes, we’re sure to see an update at some point during WWDC — we might have to wait until the Platforms State of the Union event at 4 PM ET to find out the latest updates, as will CarPlay and HomePod.
Keep in mind that none of this is a sure thing until Cook, Craig Federighi and the others take the WWDC keynote stage and start discussing the future of Apple’s products and services, but based on reporting from several Apple-focused journalists with a track record of getting it right, we expect many of the updates and announcements listed above to be announced.
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