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It will soon be Apple’s turn to announce its next major OS update, giving developers a chance to prepare their apps ahead of the wider rollout this fall. The company’s Worldwide Developers Conference is just around the corner, and Apple is sure to announce some of the key features of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 at WWDC 2024, as well as upcoming plans 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 take place from June 10 to June 14. Various events will be held throughout the week, but the most anticipated event will be Apple’s keynote speech, scheduled for June 10 at 1:00 pm ET.
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.
How to watch WWDC 2024
As always, Apple presentations are available to watch online. Apple used to limit streaming to its homepage and apps, but thankfully that restriction has been loosened over the years. AppleApple Developer app, Apple TV app, and Apple’s YouTube channel.
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. BloombergMark GarmanApple is still interested in a deal with Google to bring its Gemini AI assistant to the iPhone, but that may be a while off.
Meanwhile, Siri is set to be upgraded across compatible devices using Apple’s own larger language models, and it will reportedly become possible to use the voice assistant in certain apps to perform more specific functions (such as opening documents or sending emails), but Apple isn’t expected to roll out this Siri upgrade until early 2025.
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 enhancement tools in the core apps.
Apple is expected to do as much AI processing as possible on-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, new function Many iOS and iPadOS apps will be coming to RCS, perhaps most notably 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. Offers end-to-end encryptionIt 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 for years, Apple has refused to bring RCS to its platform, something Google had long asked Apple to do, 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 finally backed down on its stance on RCS last year, likely to comply with strict EU regulations. The company said it would enable RCS support in 2024, so it’s no surprise to see the feature debut in iOS 18. This means messaging between iOS and Android should improve significantly in the near future (though texts from Android devices will still show up as green bubbles on iPhones). Meanwhile, Google has started letting Android users edit RCS messages within 15 minutes of sending them.
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 You might get An auto-generated playlist feature is also on the way, following Spotify’s OpenAI-based tool released in 2023. Custom routes and topographical maps (which debuted on the Apple Watch last year) are said to be coming to Apple Maps. Additionally, Apple is rumored to be adding an audio recording tool to Notes, which would work nicely 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 on iPhone and Mac is said to be getting a major overhaul. 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 Be expected 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 a hardware bonanza, with Apple finally unveiling the Vision Pro, as well as the 15-inch MacBook Air, M2 Ultra-equipped Mac Pro, and Mac Studio. But this time around, Apple isn’t showing us much promise on the hardware front.
company just While Apple has updated its iPad lineup, it may be a bit early to announce new laptops, given that it updated its MacBook Pro and iMac in October and refreshed its MacBook Air in March. 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 and even M4 chips into its other desktop systems, many of which are still stuck on the M2 generation.
Peripherals and other devices may also be revamped: There’s always the possibility that Apple could unveil an (official) version of the AirPods Max with a USB-C charging port.
January 2023, Garman report 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, meaning you won’t need an iPhone or iPad to have FaceTime chats 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. Multiple Reports 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.
What not to expect at WWDC 2024
WWDC is first and foremost a software developer conference, so don’t expect any major hardware updates — rumors are thin on the ground, and Apple already released a new MacBook Air and iPad earlier this year.
That being said, teeth There are still some Macs running on the M2 chip (or a variant of it), and the Mac mini and Mac Studio are a bit overdue for an update, considering the M3 was released late last year. Apple updated the Mac Studio at WWDC last year, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see new models with the M3 Max and (yet to be released) M3 Ultra chips, or maybe skip the M3 generation entirely and move to the M4 found in the new iPad Pro.
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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