MACFORMAT INVESTIGATES
What to expect from Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference
a new Home Screen to the iPad to bring it more in line with the iPhone. As part of this shift, it will be possible to place Widgets wherever we want them on the Home Screen.
macOS 12
The introduction of macOS Big Sur was a big deal. So big, in fact, that Apple called it macOS 11, making a clean break from Mac OS X. There will not be a similar overhaul of the Mac’s operating system this year. It will be more about evolution than revolution, bedding in and building on the changes of WWDC 2020. One fairly significant thing that might change though is the naming structure, with the software becoming macOS 12. This will make it more akin to what happens on Apple’s mobile operating systems than we’ve been used to on the Mac – we had differently named versions of OS X from March 2001 until November 2020. The new version of macOS will likely not be available to the public until towards the end of the year.
Catalyst, the tool that allows developers to have their apps also run on a Mac at native Mac resolution, will get some attention, particularly given the power now offered by the M1 iPad Pro. Despite all this, Apple execs still insist that the various Apple platforms will remain separate and distinct. Marketing chief Greg Joswiak told The Independent: “We’re quite proud of the fact that we work really, really hard to create the best products in their respective category.” There is no doubt though that they are becoming ever more similar, particular when it comes to finding differences between using an iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard and some Macs. We will see the continuation both of this convergence and Apple’s insistence that the different platforms really are different at WWDC 2021.
watchOS 8
Wearables are an increasingly big deal for Apple, and the Apple Watch is absolutely critical to that strategy (alongside AirPods, of course). Apple is almost certain to unveil the latest version of the device’s operating system – watchOS 8. Health is always a central part of what Apple does with the Watch, and that will no doubt be reflected in watchOS 8, with speculation that there will be a version of the iOS Health App made available for your wrist. At the moment there are disparate health and fitness tools across different apps on the Watch. There are already some features, such as Fitness+ and Time to Walk, that are Watch-centred and largely independent of iPhone, and this could be increased to give the wearable more value in its own right.
M2 chip
One of the highlights of WWDC 2020 was CEO Tim Cook announcing that Apple was going to use its own silicon – the M1 chip. Clearly, this was merely the start of a process, and we should hear more about the next gen – the M2 chip – this time around. There are reports that the chip is in mass production and it could be used in MacBooks sold this year. No doubt there will be more and
macOS: expect more evolution than revolution
more popular pieces of third-party software moving to run natively on Apple silicon and we will hear about that too. And rest assured that if there is a new chip, there will be lots of speed comparisons and other mind-blowing numbers to show us just how powerful it is.
Gaming
Despite the arrival of Apple Arcade with iOS 13 in September 2019, it feels like Apple has never fully committed to gaming in the way a company of its means could have. The company did recently expand the Apple Arcade catalogue, though, to include Timeless Classics and App Store Greats. The service will likely get a mention during the keynote, and hopefully its expansion will continue, with some exciting new originals announced. Further growth of the aforementioned
Catalyst could also help the Mac become more of a gaming platform, enabling you to play your favourite iPad games on your Mac.
What else?
Other things likely to be unveiled at this year’s WWDC include a design upgrade for tvOS. A ‘children’s mode’ with parental controls could be announced and would make sense giving the expanding amount of content available from Apple TV+, not to mention third-party providers.
In recent times, Apple has been a bit more open to having its services and tools both on and available to third parties – whether that’s Apple TV+ on Samsung, LG and other TVs, or the recent opening up of the Find My network to non-Apple products. We could hear more about this at WWDC as the company looks to repel regulatory pressure both in Europe and the US. However, Apple will not allow developers to bypass its payment systems, and the subsequent 15% or 30% cut that Apple takes, unless forced to by a court, and there are legal battles to be fought (see p6) before that might happen.
While WWDC tends to focus on apps and operating systems rather than hardware, we have good reasons to be optimistic – there’s the mouth-watering prospect of new M2 Macs (maybe even a ‘pro’ 30in iMac), plus we may see those long-anticipated Apple Glasses. Glow and Behold indeed!