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Arguably one of the biggest events on the tech industry calendar, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC, aka "DubDub"), takes place starting June 6 with a main stream from Apple Park. It is a given that Apple will discuss improvements to all of its operating systems. What else should the company's IT department consider at the event?
New Macs and the road to M2
Apple began its transition to Apple Silicon at WWDC 2020. Two years later, all Macs now run some sort of M1 chip, the Mac Pro is expected to come out of its shell soon, and the company is already moving toward the M2 lineup.
We know that Apple's Macs are increasingly in business, so corporate buyers will be looking for information on what to expect from the lineup and whether to buy now or postpone their buying plans until the M2 range appears. We've heard conflicting reports about the M2, but I expect a 5nm chip with around 10-20% performance improvements over existing models.
WWDC isn't a hardware event, but there's a chance we'll see the first M2 or the last updated M1-based Mac Pro.
Mobile device management
Apple is building the API for third-party MDM companies to manage Apple devices in business and education. The company purchased Fleetsmith in 2020 and leveraged these technologies in Apple Business Essentials.
We know that Apple is paying more and more attention to the enterprise market, which means we may see additional improvements to the MDM APIs it provides, including additional support for enabling Google and Microsoft authentication. Single sign-on can be improved, and along with improved windows on the Apple tablet, some developers hope that Xcode will become an iPad app.
Integration between iCloud and third-party online document storage services should also improve, as everyone has now moved away from kexts.
A new frontier?
Services like Music, TV, Fitness and Arcade represent how much of a bank Apple already has in terms of customer experiences across new platforms. The company's apparent focus on sports entertainment will add an extra dimension to this offering.
While we likely won't see anything more than a preview (if any) of the Apple Glass AR product the company apparently showed off to admins this year, it's likely Apple will share new AR-centric features that developers can exploit to create AR content. possibly called 'reality operating system'. I imagine some of this will be about additional ways to apply machine vision intelligence to everyday life, as well as optimizations to Siri to make it a context-aware predictive search engine, helping you, your customers and your staff with information. they need for the job in question.
I think Apple might be trying to undercut their offering a bit here. I'm also curious to see if it offers a preview development kit to help build apps now for its future glasses, even if we don't actually see them.
the ipad thing
As mentioned above and recently here, Apple is expected to announce improved multitasking capabilities in iPadOS 16. This should make the iPad an even more credible alternative to a Mac (or PC), which will likely give many businesses pause. looking to upgrade existing equipment. I also imagine we'll see improvements to Apple Device Manager to make it easier to manage shared devices.
The future of the app store
Apple's decision to publish a report on its fraud prevention work on the App Store and the company's continued work to fine-tune deals means it knows it needs to show leadership in its App Store projects. The best forum for this leadership will be WWDC. While I don't expect him to capitulate to some of the pressures he's facing (he won't suddenly adopt sideloading), I do hope he'll share his vision for the next decade of the App Store with developers at the event.
And more…
Additional highlights for developers? Swift 6.0 and additional measures to protect privacy and security in the Apple ecosystem, enhancements to Apple's offering to advertisers, and additions to iCloud+. For this article, I haven't considered other changes currently discussed, including iOS 16 improvements, health features, Apple Watch improvements, or claims that Mac system preferences will become settings.
Watch the opening speech
The keynote address takes place at 10 am PDT. It will be available on Apple's YouTube channel, its events website, and in its Event and Developer apps.
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