Apple’s development conference kicks off in San Jose

Speculation focuses on a new iPhone SE and updates to Siri

Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) kicks off today in San Jose, California.

Before we get into what to expect, we have to add the standard boilerplate: Apple has confirmed nothing at this point, so everyone at this stage is guessing. Sure, a few of the “leaks” might be legitimate, but good luck separating those from the hundreds of random guesses available online. Keep in mind also that the WWDC is primarily a software event. Don’t expect to see a new iPhone Xs, or 9, or whatever they’re calling their next flagship smartphone. What you’ll probably see is the software that will be launched on that phone.

That being said, a new iPhone is a favoured prediction for today’s event. Actually, it’s an old iPhone with a lot of upgrades. The successor to the Apple SE, which originally launched in 2016 and uses the iPhone 5C design could be announced. There has been a lot of discussion about whether a new SE would stick to the original 5C body or ditch it in favour or a iPhone X bezelless (meaning the screen reaches edge-to-edge) design. Apple apparently still thinks there is a market for smartphones with a 4-inch screens, as opposed to the 5.8-inch screen found on the iPhone X.

Speculation about the SE has been heavy recently, and it is still the only iPhone announced outside of Apple’s normal September launch window, at least going back to 2012. Maybe history will repeat itself.

Other heavy favourites include a new operating systems for the Macintosh and Apple’s mobile devices, although expectations for a new iOS focus mainly on stability, not innovation.

Also expect to hear news on augmented reality and Siri. Since Apple launched its ARKit development kit in September, it has set off a race between Google and Apple to develop the platform. Most of the analysis so far suggest Apple’s announcement will focus on privacy issues for multi-user devices.

The other major tech race at the moment is the development of digital assistants, and Siri needs some big news. She is losing the development race to Alexa and Google Assistant.

Apple’s Homepod, a Siripowered smart-speaker that launched last summer and was supposed to be a competitor to the Google Home and Amazon Echo, was a disappointment, with the device receiving a lot of criticism.