This year’s WWDC kicks off on June 6 in Cupertino, and with long-rumored products expected to be unveiled, it could be the biggest event yet. Here’s what you can look forward to…
iOS 16
Unless Apple has made any last-minute changes to its naming system, the chances are that we’ll see iOS 16 unveiled at the June conference. Due to the sheer number of iPhones in existence, iOS is often the show-stopper at any WWDC, introducing new features, tools, and capabilities to make iPhones even more advanced.
In his Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman has suggested that this year’s iOS updates won’t be significant, and there’ll be no major redesign, but that Apple will offer enhancements to notification and introduce new health-tracking features. “On the iOS side, I’m looking for some fairly significant enhancements across the board, including an update to notifications and new health-tracking features,” he said in his report. “I’m not expecting an end-to-end redesign of iOS’s interface, even though it hasn’t changed much since iOS 7 nearly a decade ago. But there might be a new iPadOS multitasking interface,” Gurman teased.
macOS 13
As well as a further unification of iOS and macOS to allow for more apps and experiences cross-platform, some expect that Apple will add features like Widgets to the Mac, with the ability to place a Widget anywhere on the desktop. The Weather app could also make its way from iOS to Mac, especially now that Apple has acquired Dark Sky and incorporated lots of cutting-edge features. Apple could also bring its new App Library from iOS to the Mac, to allow users to clearly see which apps and software they have on their machines, and Time Machine could be overhauled to add iCloud Backups for the first time.
Some speculate that Apple could allow users to unlock their Mac with their iPhone, similar to how they currently can with an Apple Watch, whilst touchscreen controls could come to the Mac, too. An Alarm clock could come to the Mac, and Apple could finally port the Health app to the Mac to allow users to better monitor their health and fitness from a larger dashboard.
watchOS 9
Although not quite as important as iOS and macOS, watchOS is also expected to be given some additional features this year. Though we’re unlikely to see any design changes, we could see Apple add body temperature readings for the first time, as well as glucose monitoring, though that’s likely for the Apple Watch Series 8 which we won’t see until September. As with iOS, Apple could add car crash detection to the Watch, which could make the device even more life-saving. As for wishlist features, some hope Apple will add Wrist ID: the firm filed a patent for technology that would shine light onto the user’s wrist and generate a field image of the area and act as unique as a fingerprint, allowing the Apple Watch to recognize who has put the Apple Watch on and unlocking it – truly futuristic tech! Apple could finally appease consumers by allowing third-party watch faces on the Watch, too, opening up a new ecosystem and economy for third-party developers and designers.
Are you looking forward to WWDC? Let us know and check back soon for the latest!
