Apple Is Getting Ready to Show Off iOS 18 on June 10
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Apple shared some additional details today about this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including the schedule for the big Keynote address where it’s expected to take the wraps off iOS 18 and the rest of its upcoming major software updates.
In a newsroom announcement, Apple confirmed its Keynote will kick off WWDC at the usual time of 10 a.m. PT on June 10, the first day of the week-long event. The Keynote will feature “groundbreaking updates coming to Apple platforms later this year” in a roster that’s expected to feature iOS 18 as the headline act, joined by iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, watchOS 11, macOS 15, and likely even visionOS 2 for the Apple Vision Pro.
While the rumor mill has been rife with reports and leaks of new generative AI features coming in iOS 18, today’s announcement offers no mention of these, nor even any meaningful hints. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not coming; Apple already teased this in March with Greg Jozwiak’s conspicuously capitalized “Absolutely Incredible” tweet.
There aren’t too many surprises in this year’s schedule. The Keynote will be streamed on all the usual platforms, including Apple’s website, Apple’s official YouTube channel, and the Apple TV app. Developers will also be able to watch it in the Apple Developer app. If you miss it, on-demand playback will be available afterward.
While the WWDC Keynote is the highlight for most of us, it’s just the start of the excitement for Apple Developers, who will be able to delve deeper into the new features and APIs for third-party apps to take advantage of at the Platforms State of the Union at 1:00 p.m. PT. This will also be streamed, but only on the Apple Developer app.
As with all WWDC events since the COVID-19 lockdowns, Apple is hosting this one almost entirely virtually. That turned out to be a great change for developers, as it’s blown open the doors of WWDC so that anyone can attend from anywhere without the need to enter a lottery and pay a hefty registration fee to get tickets to the live event. Apple is inviting a few developers to a “viewing party” at Apple Park, where they’ll watch the same recorded video as the rest of us but will be able to partake in a few other activities like a tour of the campus, the Apple Design Awards, and an evening dinner.
What to Expect at the WWDC 2024 Keynote
iOS 18 will almost certainly be the most prominent announcement at this year’s event, with Apple expected to add new generative AI features ranging from Siri improvements and intelligent transcription and summarization of voice notes to generative playlists in Apple Music.
Many of these will also find their way into iPadOS 18, which could have a few surprises of its own. This is especially true considering Apple’s debut of the M4 chip in the iPad Pro earlier this month, which seems designed to take advantage of powerful new AI features. By comparison, we’ve heard little about macOS 15 and watchOS 11, but Apple will likely have a few new tidbits there.
We’ll also learn the name Apple has chosen for macOS 15, which will undoubtedly be inspired by the title of another California landmark. Apple has been using this theme since 2013, when it ran out of cat names, but there are still plenty of potential options in California. Apple has trademarked a few of these, including Sequoia, Mammoth, Diablo, Miramar, and Pacific. Still, it’s not limited to those, and it’s anybody’s guess where it will end up this year.
While WWDC is primarily about software, Apple occasionally tosses in a few hardware announcements. WWDC is often used for entirely new product categories, such as the Vision Pro in 2023 and, perhaps less significantly, the HomePod in 2017. However, Apple also uses the opportunity to unveil new M-series chips and Macs, such as the first M2 Macs at WWDC22 or the 15-inch MacBook Air last year.
However, new hardware doesn’t always show up, and considering the past two banner years, this could be a quiet one on that front. WWDC21 had no hardware announcements, and in 2020, Apple only announced its new Apple silicon platform for the Mac, which wasn’t a product, per se.
Considering how little we’ve heard, a hardware-dry WWDC seems likely this time around. Apple’s iPad and Mac lineups are mostly where they need to be, and while some feel that an M3 Ultra should be on deck, there’s reason to believe the M3 is primarily an interim chip to fill the gap while it waited for a better chip fabrication process to be ready. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also believes Apple will skip the M3 versions of the Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro until next year when the M4 equivalent chips are ready.
Besides, it will be hard for Apple to top last year’s Vision Pro announcement, and with everything that’s supposedly coming in iOS 18, a software focus makes much more sense this year.
