It’s WWDC time! Every year, Apple kicks off its World Developers Conference with a few hours of consecutive announcements, which usually cover things from iOS to watchOS, sometimes! – new hardware.
Didn’t have time to tune in? We got it! We’ve compiled all the most important news in an easy-to-disassemble summary.
iOS 16
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- The lock screen is receiving a review. It will allow more customization, as well as support for widgets, including widgets for third-party applications. Notifications are now “in charge” from the bottom of the screen, while a “Live Activities” API will allow developers to update notifications in real time (think about tracking sports results). Read more about the new lock screen here >>
- You can edit or “forward” recent messages to iMessage, or mark a thread as unread.
- SharePlay (which allows you to stream a synced movie with a friend, for example) will now work on iMessage, not just FaceTime.
Image credits: Apple
- Live Text can translate and replace text that you detect in a photo, making it easier for you to read something like a menu in a language you don’t know. You can read more about it here >>
- Apple is coming in to buy now, pay later; Apple Pay Later will allow you to split an Apple Pay purchase into four interest-free payments; Apple says it will work anywhere Apple Pay works.
- Apple’s big Maps revision hits a bunch of new places this year, including “France, Switzerland, New Zealand, Belgium, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands.” Support for multi-stop routes is also being improved.
- Apple News will now allow you to follow news focused specifically on your favorite sports / teams.
- If you use Family Sharing to limit your children’s iPad connection time, these children will now be able to request more time via iMessage.
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- You can now have a shared library with your family; when you take a photo, you can change whether a photo goes to the shared library or just to your personal library.
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- Apple says it has reimagined the Home app “from scratch.” All your devices in different rooms come together on one screen, including a side-scrolling view of all your HomeKit-enabled cameras.
Image credits: Apple
- CarPlay is also undergoing a massive overhaul: Apple is basically looking to take over the entire instrument cluster in your car. It will support things like speed readings, fuel gauges, AC control, etc .; what works where, of course, will depend on what the carmaker allows. Apple says it expects more news here “by the end of next year.”
- Shareplay will now have deeper support for games, making it easier for you to start games / battles directly with friends.
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- iPadOS will get a new desktop-style window management feature called “Scenario Manager” that lets you run multiple applications with windows / overlays on the screen at once. Learn more about iPadOS 16 here >>
Apple Watch
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- Four new clock dials: Astronomy, Lunar, “Game Time” and “Metropolitan”.
- New “banner” notifications will keep you up to date without always taking care of your entire screen.
- Apple Watch will be able to keep track of some new running metrics, such as vertical swing (“how much you move up and down” as you run), step length, and ground contact time.
- The iOS fitness app will now be enabled even for those without an Apple Watch, so everyone can close those rings.
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- Sleep Tracker will use your heart rate monitor and accelerometer to determine how much time you spent in four different sleep stages (Awake / REM / Core / Deep) while trying to detect some Zzz.
- Apple Watch will be able to track your “A-fib history” to help doctors monitor your cardiac arrhythmia and determine if treatment is helping.
M2
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Apple shook the industry with the introduction of its bespoke M1 chip set, which combined ridiculous performance with wild energy efficiency – it’s remarkably fast, but somehow your laptop’s battery will still last all day.
He has now returned with the aptly named M2. Apple says the M2 CPU is 18% faster than the M1, while the GPU is 35% faster.
New MacBooks
New MacBook Airs and Pros! They are abandoning the shape of the Air cheese wedge, opting for a more standard flat design, even though it is only 11.3 mm thick.
With all the video calling more than ever, Apple has been busy calling the MacBook Air’s built-in camera, promising twice the resolution (at 1080p) and much improved performance in low light.
It has a 13.6-inch liquid retina display, TouchID built into the keyboard and MagSafe support. Apple says it will offer a slim charger with 2 USB-C ports and that the new MacBook Airs will support fast charging to bring the battery to 50% with 30 minutes of charging. It starts at $ 1,199, sending it “next month.” Read more about the new MacBook Air M2 here >>
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Not to be outdone, the 13-inch MacBook Pro will also receive the M2 treatment, with Apple promising CPU gains of up to 40% over the MacBook Pro M1. The Pro will start at $ 1,299, will also be shipped “next month.” Learn more about the new MacBook Pro M2 here >>
macOS
The next major release of macOS will be called “macOS Ventura”. Here’s what Apple highlighted for Ventura:
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- The aforementioned “Stage Manager” will also come to macOS, presented as a way to focus on one or two applications at a time. You can “group” running applications; playing in a group will minimize other applications while placing the selected group in front and center.
- Spotlight is getting some review; you can get rich results in a new scrolling view and allow you to do things like quickly preview a found file without opening it.
- The Mail application is receiving support for undoing mailing, scheduled sending, and scheduled reminders. Mail search is getting smarter and smarter, it automatically corrects spelling mistakes and knows how to search for synonyms. Read more about the new Mail app here >>
- Safari will now be able to use “passwords” instead of passwords, a system created in conjunction with Google and Microsoft to sign in to websites and applications with biometrics (such as fingerprint sensors or facial recognition) without a text-based password when mixing.
- Apple’s game development-focused Metal API is learning some new tricks, such as scaling up and faster resource loading.
Image credits: Apple
- Continuity Camera: Your iPhone’s camera is almost certainly much better than the one built into your laptop, so Apple will allow you to use your iPhone’s camera for video calling on macOS. Plugging your iPhone into your laptop sounds a little silly, but the impact on quality is probably worth it for important calls. There’s also a wild “desktop view” feature that uses the iPhone’s wide-angle lens, combined with tricky image manipulation, to capture what you’re doing on your desktop in a simulated top view. Read more here >>
Image credits: Apple