Ahead of next week’s WWDC 2021, Apple is highlighting the young developers who have won its Swift Student Challenge. The annual contest exists to reward up-and-coming coders who are on Apple’s radar. They typically win some great Apple swag for their troubles.

This year, for its second virtual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple handed out prizes to 350 next generation Swift coders from 35 countries and regions. They had to submit an original Swift playground in order to win a spot. Apple seizes upon this year’s competition to show off the diversity of the people who entered.

A tip that a new MacBook will be unveiled at WWDC 2021 in two weeks could be hidden in the image Apple released Monday for the developers conference. It appears in the reflection in a pair of glasses.

Noted Apple tipster Jon Prosser apparently moved quickly to confirm the report.

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference is scheduled for June 7, and on Monday the iPhone-maker revealed that the all-important keynote address for WWDC 2021 will be held at 10 a.m. PDT on that day. This is almost certainly when they wraps will come off the next major upgrades for iOS, macOS and the company’s other operating systems.

New hardware is possible but far from certain.

Apple fellow Phil Schiller took the stand Monday in the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit and during testimony revealed the cost of the annual Worldwide Developers Conference: $50 million. He’s in charge of both WWDC and App Store so he brings unique insight to the ongoing court battle.

This is one of many details the long-standing Apple executive talked about on the stand.

Apple will kick off this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7. And, for the second year running, this will be an all-virtual event, the company said Tuesday.

The WWDC festivities will run through that week, offering what Apple calls “unique insight into the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.”

We didn’t get the new Apple hardware we expected during this week’s WWDC keynote, but we did get a whole bunch of hot new software. Get our take on upcoming updates to Apple’s biggest platforms — macOS Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7 and more — in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine.

Don’t miss our roundup of all the cool “hidden” iOS 14 features that Apple couldn’t squeeze into its slick virtual keynote. We’ll also toss in the rest of our coverage of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, plus some handy how-tos and reviews. Read it all in the free mag (which you can download from the App Store) or in the links below.

Apple exec Craig Federighi says the company’s production team “moved mountains” to put together this week’s online-only WWDC keynote. And, while he won’t go so far as to commit to future virtual keynotes, he did say that Apple was very happy with it — and will be looking see what aspects of the presentation it can use in the future.

That’s one of the insights gained from listening to the latest episodes of Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee’s Waveform podcast, which features an interview with Federighi, Apple’s senior VP of software engineering.

Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi and VP of product marketing Greg Joswiak discuss all the news coming out of Monday’s WWDC keynote in an interview with Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber.

Topics include the transition to Apple Silicon, the virtual WWDC, iOS and iPad OS 14, macOS Big Sur, tvOS 14 and watchOS 7. They even touch on issues like the current App Store controversy, which may trigger a Department of Justice investigation into Apple.

Check it out below.

Monday’s WWDC 2020 keynote was very polished and a little fast-paced for me. This year, the entire Worldwide Developers Conference is virtual due to COVID-19, and the presentations flowed seamlessly from presenter to presenter, leaving little time for someone drawing to catch a breath. I ended up with five pages of drawings in my notebook.

I sketched out the important new features coming in iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7 and more. For a quick visual recap of the highlights of the WWDC 2020 keynote, check out my sketchnotes below.

On today’s special edition of The CultCast: Catch our reactions to all the great stuff announced at the WWDC 2020 keynote. We highlight our favorite features from iOS 14, MacOS Big Sur, tvOS, iPadOS and watchOS, and so much more.

Today’s episode is supported by CleanMyMac X, an all-in-one utility from MacPaw that takes care of your Mac’s health. It’s a macOS cleaner, a performance monitor, a malware remover and occasionally, a lifesaver. And until July 5, you can go to macpaw.com/cultofmac to get CleanMyMac X with a 30% discount.