Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off early next week in San Jose and there has been plenty of speculation about what will be announced. Tech Guide has rounded up all the rumours to give you the lowdown of what we can expect to see.
WWDC 2018 will be held at the McEnery Convention Centre with the keynote kicking off at 10am on June 4 – which is 3am June 5, Sydney time.
This event obviously focuses on software and is attended by the world’s best developers who get to hear first-hand what Apple’s new operating systems will offer.
Whenever Apple announces new software for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV, developers get to open a brand-new toolbox of possibilities for them to create new and exciting apps.
But that’s not to say Apple won’t be unveiling any new hardware.
The company has often used the occasion of WWDC to showcase new devices.
At last year’s conference, Apple introduced HomePod, the iMac Pro, and updated iMac line-up and new MacBooks.
Here’s what we can expect to see:
iOS 12
The updated operating system for iPhone and iPad was supposed to offer a radical redesign of the home screen and a redesigned app grid but, according to Bloomberg, this has been shelved to focus on operational performances.
Last year’s iOS 11 gave the lion’s share of new features to the iPad but we expect iOS 12 to be more in favour of the iPhone.
One of the biggest rumours is cross-platform functionality where apps created on iOS will run in MacOS as well. This would ramp up the number of apps available for Mac.
We’re also expecting a revamped Mail app, new camera functionality, even better ways to organise your photos and, of course, more animojis which can also be integrated into FaceTime calls.
Expect to see new health apps and even more ways to monitor your fitness as well as updates to AR and VR kits.
macOS 10.14
The latest software for the Mac might cross the bridge, as we mentioned, to allow apps designed for iOS to work on this computer platform.
This way, developers can create apps that will work with or without a touchscreen.
Last year Apple redesigned the iOS App Store, we suspect this year the Mac App Store will get a makeover.
We’re hoping, a long overdue upgrade to the Mail application will finally arrive.
But the most intense speculation surrounds what this update will actually be called.
The naming convention for the Mac operating system has been based on Californian landmarks including Mavericks, Yosemite El Capitan, Sierra and High Sierra.
This year there are several candidates – Mohave, Monterey, Sequoia, Ventura, Mammoth, Miramar and Redwood.
watchOS 5
Not a lot has been said about watchOS 5 apart from new watch faces.
Perhaps we may even finally be able to access third-party watch faces created by other developers.
We’re also hearing there may be the option for users to remap the digital crown and button functionality as well as a customisable control centre.
tvOS 12
Like watchOS, tvOS rumours are few and far between but there has been a solid wish list of features users would love to see.
These include Dolby Atmos support, a Safari browser and the ability for multiple users instead of being just limited to one.
We’d also like to see Foxtel Now included as an app for Apple TV
If Apple decided to include an antenna so you can watch live TV on the next model of Apple TV 4K, it would put serious pressure on other products like Telstra TV and Vodafone TV.
HARDWARE
We’re still holding out hope that we will see some hardware revealed at WWDC.
The vibe we are getting tells us we may see something significant including a new iPhone.
One of the strongest candidates for an upgrade is the iPhone SE which was basically an upgraded iPhone 5.
This time out the new entry-level device may have a larger screen and look more like the iPhone 6.
It would not surprise us for Apple to tease even more iPhone X models with larger screens before they are formally unveiled in September.
Tech Guide will be in San Jose for the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference so stay tuned for all the news and announcements.
