We are simply hours from Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. For followers of the Cupertino firm, there’s all the time anticipation main up to the corporate’s WWDC keynote. This 12 months, that suspense is in excessive gear, because the world awaits Apple’s response to the factitious intelligence growth sweeping the tech business.
The iPhone maker has been characteristically tight-lipped about what’s to come throughout its WWDC keynote on June 10, however there’s been loads of hypothesis about what the corporate would possibly showcase. Here’s what we all know to date, beginning with how to watch the occasion.
Read extra: WWDC 2024 Live Blog
Watch this: Apple’s AI at WWDC Will Take a Different Twist
How to watch Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote at the moment
The WWDC keynote begins at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on Monday, June 10. You can catch it on Apple’s occasion web site or on the corporate’s YouTube channel.
Apple has already shared the WWDC 2024 livestream hyperlink, the place you may also set a reminder to be notified earlier than the occasion.
What to anticipate at WWDC
WWDC is a software-focused occasion, which means we do not sometimes see quite a lot of {hardware} updates (You’ll doubtless want to look forward to Apple’s anticipated fall occasion to hear in regards to the subsequent iPhone.) Last 12 months’s builders convention was a notable exception, with the revealing of the Vision Pro. Based on rumors and hypothesis, it is doubtless Apple will this 12 months concentrate on touting its software program capabilities and AI-powered updates.
Read extra: CNET’s iOS 18 want listing for the iPhone
‘Apple Intelligence’
Amid a wave of AI releases from corporations like OpenAI, Microsoft, Samsung and Google, Apple undoubtedly has some catching up to do. That’s why AI will doubtless be a centerpiece of this 12 months’s WWDC.
We anticipate to see these new AI capabilities woven into iOS 18, though maybe extra subtly. A report from Bloomberg suggests Apple will incorporate AI by the use of options like voice memo transcriptions, sooner search and a extra conversational Siri. It may additionally introduce an AI function that summarizes information tales, paperwork and notifications, primarily giving a “smart recap” of what you have missed.
Bloomberg additionally notes that Apple’s AI will “create custom emojis on the fly, based on what users are texting.” This AI initiative will reportedly be referred to as “Apple Intelligence.” It’ll be opt-in and will work with newer Apple units just like the iPhone 15 Pro and iPads and Macs with an M1 chip or newer, Bloomberg says.
Some of those updates will reportedly be powered by on-device AI that works with out an web connection, permitting the corporate to lean into its concentrate on privateness and safety. More advanced duties, like summarizing massive paperwork, may very well be despatched to the cloud for processing. AI capabilities can even seem in MacOS 15, in accordance to Bloomberg, with the Apple Watch getting an upgraded Siri, too.
Read extra: From iOS 18 to Siri Upgrades, New AI Features to Expect on the iPhone
There are additionally reviews that Apple is working with OpenAI to combine the corporate’s tech into iOS 18. Previous reviews pointed to Apple holding related talks with Google about incorporating its Gemini AI system, but it surely seems these discussions finally could not have led to a partnership.
We’ll doubtless discover out in regards to the subsequent technology of Siri, powered by AI.
The subsequent model of Siri
It’s doubtless Siri will probably be a serious focus of this 12 months’s WWDC keynote occasion (the invite appears to tease as a lot). The assistant may morph right into a extra clever and superior digital assistant; in reality, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple is coaching it on massive language fashions to enhance the accuracy and sophistication of its responses. It may additionally get higher at dealing with duties with multiple step, like first making a GIF with a set of pictures and then sending it to one in every of your contacts. This revamp may assist Siri develop into extra highly effective and context-aware — a welcome (and overdue) improve, as my colleague Sareena Dayaram factors out.
More customizable and accessible options on iOS, iPadOS and VisionOS
We’ll most likely see a variety of updates throughout Apple’s working methods, together with comparatively minor tweaks that would nonetheless really feel like a giant deal for customers. For occasion, reviews recommend that with the arrival of iOS 18, iPhone customers will probably be in a position to place app icons wherever they need on their Home Screen, in accordance to MacRumors. That means you can have gaps or empty rows between icons, providing a bit extra flexibility (and a function that has lengthy existed on Android).
Apple has already introduced some accessibility-related updates throughout iOS, iPadOS and VisionOS which are slated for launch later this 12 months, like Eye Tracking on iPad and iPhone, and Live Captions on VisionOS. So we could hear extra about these updates and get a precise timeline of their availability.
Apple would possibly give extra particulars about how the iPhone will assist RCS texting, which ought to enhance texting between iPhones and Android telephones.
Will Apple point out RCS?
Another function we would get updates on is RCS messaging on iPhone. Late final 12 months, Apple mentioned it might undertake RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging, a protocol that replaces SMS (Short Message Service) and is able to most of the identical options as iMessage, together with typing indicators, high-resolution media sharing and end-to-end encryption. Because RCS is already accessible throughout a variety of Android units, this could make texting between Android telephones and iPhones extra seamless (though it is unlikely these dreaded inexperienced bubbles will ever go away).
Apple’s adoption of RCS could be a well timed change to reiterate, given the Department of Justice’s ongoing antitrust swimsuit towards Apple. The swimsuit accuses the iPhone maker of hindering competitors and says the corporate “undermines cross-platform messaging” by not making its iMessage service accessible on Android. WWDC could be an excellent time for Apple to spotlight its efforts to bridge that hole.
New, AI-packed chips
It would not be WWDC with out discuss of chips. We’ll doubtless hear in regards to the subsequent iPhone’s processor, presumably referred to as the A18. It’s anticipated to carry — shock, shock — higher AI efficiency, in accordance to Taiwanese information outlet Economic Daily News and analyst Jeff Pu. This would align with Apple’s new M4 chips in its up to date iPad Pro tablets, which the corporate says are extra highly effective and environment friendly and function improved machine studying for AI-based duties. Now, it is the iPhone’s flip to get an AI improve.
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