What will happen this year at Apple’s WWDC

The Apple WorldWide Developers Conference (WWDC) is about to start, the international conference of developers, which this year will be held from 7 to 11 June next. The great gathering of the Apple world will again be suspended in hyperspace due to the pandemic, but the program will be equally rich and interesting, with over 200 sessions and workshops, curated by a thousand experts of the Bitten Apple. The novelty of this year will be the opening of “Pavillions”, virtual spaces, “pavilions” in fact, where developers can participate in sessions, workshops and activities on specific topics, alongside the inevitable forums where they can find answers to thousands of questions that the developers will want to ask to solve questions of an eminently technical nature. To close the event will be the delivery of the Apple Design Awards, which “will celebrate the creative art, craftsmanship and technical achievements of Apple developers”.

What will probably be the news that Tim Cook will announce in his opening keynote? Many will concern operating systems, the new version of the iPadOS is expected, born only two years ago and which should increasingly distance itself from the iOS from which it was born, both in terms of look and user experience. The new macOS has been under test for some time, which should carry the number 12, with some new apps (especially Health) and the possibility of customizing the control center. New functions are expected for the Apple Watch, also in this case the Health app should be in first place, but many uncertainties surround the Apple smartwatch. More likely announcements of new software for Apple TV, a product on which the company has been focusing a lot of attention lately. And on the hardware front? There is no rule to respect, in some years the WWDC has been the scene of exciting presentations, in others not, so it is reasonable to expect everything and nothing. Some argue that they could be about new processors, given the success of the M1, others are talking about a new MacBook Pro. And then there are the AirPods, which have not had updates since 2020 (if we don’t count the arrival of the AirPods Max supertops), and that would be perfect now that Apple Music has switched to high quality lossless listening. The last chapter concerns subscription services, which have become increasingly important in the Cupertino offer, so it is easy to foresee some news on this front as well. Among the “bookmakers” the focus is on Stocks +, Mail +, Maps + and Health + but, obviously, nothing is certain, even if all these services would certainly make the transition to the “Apple One” package more interesting for many consumers.

These are the hypotheses, then there are the “visions”, developed online by those who carefully study the nuances of Apple’s communication to make accurate “predictions”. The invitation to WWDC 2021 features the face of a Memoji in the foreground, a personalized icon that can be sent to others in static or animated form. In this case the Memoji wears glasses, and this has opened the field to the hypothesis of the arrival of the Apple Glass, which however appears highly unlikely.