Craig Federighi, Apple software chief, made a pitch for more Mac and iPad gaming at WWDC22. Screenshot: Apple
Mac is not the preferred platform for most gamers, but Metal 3 in macOS Ventura shows Apple hasn’t given up. And iPadOS 16 is getting support for a wider range of game controllers.
These are just a couple of gaming features Apple is bringing to Mac and iPad.
iPadOS 16 brings some of the most-requested iPad features, including floating app windows and full external display support. Screenshot: Apple
The wraps came off iPadOS 16 during the keynote for WWDC22 on Monday, and Apple fulfilled the requests of many iPad power users by adding support for resizable, floating app windows. And there’s also full support for external displays. There are many other changes as well.
“Our vision for iPadOS is to create a distinct experience that’s built on the best of iOS with powerful capabilities from macOS, combined with features that are uniquely iPad,” said Craig Federighi, SVP of software engineering. “All of this comes together to deliver our most versatile release this year in iPadOS 16.”
Don't miss a thing from WWDC22. Photo: Cult of Mac
One of Apple’s biggest events is right around the corner. This year’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote promises to deliver our first look at the company’s next-generation software updates for iPhone, iPad, Mac and more. And it’s all happening on June 6.
Just like past WWDC keynotes, this year’s will be streaming online, so you’ll be able to watch it in its entirety as it all unfolds. Here’s how.
Apple is hosting a limited event at Apple Park for WWDC22. Photo: Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons; Image: Apple
Lucky attendees who get to visit Apple Park for a special WWDC22 developer day are getting the red carpet treatment, including caviar for breakfast.
The menu for the event includes a smoked salmon and caviar bagel made from “house smoked salmon, mascarpone cream, Tobiko black caviar, Persian cucumber, [and] micro horseradish,” which asks more questions than it answers. What on earth is micro horseradish?
You might be lucky enough to win an invitation to attend WWDC22 in person, but not if you don't request an invite soon. Image: Apple
Apple is now accepting requests to attend its next developers conference in person. WWDC22 in June is mostly online, but a fortunate few developers and students will be able to watch the keynote from Apple Park. The company will soon randomly select the lucky group who can attend from all the requests it receives.
The submission window isn’t open for long – don’t procrastinate.
The 2022 iteration of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference will start June 6. Apple promised Tuesday the event will showcase the latest innovations in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — which is code for unveiling the next major upgrades for these operating systems.
WWDC22 will be online-only for most people, but a fortunate few developers and students will be able to watch the keynote from Apple Park.
Larry David once played a verbose, neurotic app approval officer in a skit for Apple. But curb your enthusiasm (womp womp) … the video never aired. Clearly someone at Apple didn’t think it was pretty, pretty, pr-et-ty good enough to be shown to customers.
However, the video — apparently shot as a possible intro for 2014’s Worldwide Developers Conference — has been leaked online by Sam Henri-Gold of the dearly departed Unofficial Apple Archive, a former repository of Apple videos no longer around. While Henri-Gold only shared a snippet, the whole video was later posted to YouTube. Check it out below.
Conversation Boost in iOS 15 lets AirPods enhance the audio in face-to-face communication. Screenshot: Apple
iOS 15 will bring a range of improvements to AirPods. Apple’s wireless headphones will get easier to find, and they can fill in as hearing aids in noisy environments. And Apple plans another tweak or two as well.
Songs that offer a surround sound experience could be right around the corner for Apple Music subscribers. Photo: Apple
Apple launched the promised new Spatial Audio service for Apple Music on Monday. The feature was announced in May, and the wait is over. Spatial Audio allows songs seemingly come from all around the listener, even from above. If the track has been mixed to support it, of course.
Apple took the wraps off iOS 15 on the opening day of its WWDC conference. Screenshot: Apple
iOS 15 just made the jump from rumor to reality. Apple is bringing major new features to FaceTime, Messages, notifications, and more. Many of the applications that come bundled with iPhone are getting updates, like Apple Maps and Weather.
However, some features people had been hoping for didn’t make the cut, like interactive widgets.
The current iPadOS multitasking system is useful but limited. Improvements are expected in iPadOS 15. Photo: Apple
The iPad software upgrade expected to be unveiled Monday will improve the way users work with multiple on-screen applications, according to a last-minute report from a reliable source. iPadOS 15 also will include widget improvements and other changes.
Get ready for updates to five operating systems. And maybe a pair of new MacBooks. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
June 7 will be the single most important day of 2021 for Apple. It’s the start of the annual Worldwide Developers Conference where the company will ceremoniously unveil fresh operating system updates for iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and more.
Big changes are anticipated for iPadOS 15, and some nice enhancements are also predicted for iOS 15. The improvements in macOS 12, watchOS 8 and tvOS 15 are likely to be more modest.
But the show won’t stop there. While WWDC is supposed to be about software, there’s a good chance we will see new MacBooks announced Monday as well.
A MacBook Pro concept could be a first look at a 16-inch model Apple is about to release. Concept: Antonio De Rosa
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives thinks overhauled 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros will be among Apple’s announcements at the usually software-focused Worldwide Developers Conference next week.
Recent rumors provide a pretty decent picture of what the new MacBook Pro might look like. The updated laptops supposedly will be a pretty major rethink of the pro-grade, M1-powered notebook Apple introduced last November. Among the changes will be a redesigned chassis, built-in SD card reader and HDMI port, a MagSafe charger and a faster M2 chip. However, the next-gen MacBook Pro supposedly will not come with an LED Touch Bar.
It’s high time iPhone Home screen widgets grew up. They were one of the best additions to iOS last year, but they are still too limited. Fortunately, iOS 15 will reportedly make widgets much more interactive.
There are a few other changes expected in the new iPhone system software update, but none are as important as this one.
Look closely and you’ll see the Unicode for the laptop emoji in the WWDC 2021 image released Monday. Photo: Apple
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.
Set your alarms! The WWDC 2021 keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. PST. Image: Apple
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.
No one knows the App Store better than Phil Schiller. Photo: Apple
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.
Home screen widgets in iPadOS 14 can only be placed along the left edge. Photo: Apple
Apple gave the world its first look at iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 at WWDC 2020 on Monday. And while these are still closely linked, one of the signature features added to the iPhone version, the App Library, isn’t making the jump to the iPad version.
And placement of Home screen widgets is very limited for tablet users.
Tim Cook's interview aired the day before WWDC. Photo: CBS
Tim Cook talked taxes, WWDC secrets, and how the iPhone can play a small, but important role in changing the world for the better in an interview aired over the weekend on CBS Sunday Morning.
“I’m full of secrets and it’s hard not to overflow right now,” Cook said. “But I’ve been trained well.” On other topics, however, he was a lot more open.
Following cancellation of its face-to-face conference, Apple is going online with WWDC, starting June 22. Photo: Apple
Apple announced Tuesday it will host its 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference virtually, beginning June 22. It will be available to view using the Apple Developer app, streamed on the Apple Developer website and free for all registered developers.
Apple did not give any details of a keynote event to announce various products, but is expected to hold one on the conferences opening day.
Most developers are just fine with WWDC 2020 being online-only. Photo: Apple
Apple’s decision to cancel the 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, and move to an online-only format was not only a good idea but a no-brainer, according to an international survey of more than 2,200 independent software programmers.
WWDC 2020 will go ahead, but as an online-only event. Photo: Apple
Apple on Friday confirmed that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference will go ahead in June with “an all-new online format” and not take place at a conference center as has happened since the first WWDC in 1987.
The high-tech giant said the approach was essential amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but that it was determined to deliver a full program with an online keynote and developer sessions. Apple has also confirmed it will commit $1 million to local San Jose organizations to offset revenue loss as a result of WWDC going online-only.
COVID-19 could force Apple to cancel WWDC. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
The chances of Apple having to cancel — or drastically change the format of — its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) have ramped up significantly, with Santa Clara County banning all mass gatherings.
Both Apple’s Cupertino campus and the WWDC venue in San Jose fall within those county limits. The ban, announced Monday night, is currently planned to last for only three weeks. However if the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus continues it’s highly possible that gets extended.
Can Apple reinvent the Mac as a gaming powerhouse? Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Apple is reportedly working on a new “gaming-focused” Mac that it will unveil at WWDC, a sketchy new rumor claims.
This machine would cost up to $5,000 and be a Mac rival to gaming PCs. It would take aim at the fast growing “e-sports” market, which Apple has not previously catered to. Could such a machine turn Apple into a gaming powerhouse? Anything’s possible, I guess. But I’ll only believe it when I see it.
It's the app developers have dreamed of. Photo: Apple
To showcase the increasing utility of its WWDC app, Apple changed the app’s name to something that sounds relevant all year long. The app formerly known as the WWDC app is now know as the Apple Developer app.
While Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference takes place for just one week in June, the WWDC app increasingly included “in-depth information” from Apple experts throughout the year. And the new name is just the beginning — Apple plans to make the app even more useful for developers.