The Apple developer conference is actually all about software – but not this year. There was a chip premiere and new Macbooks. The group also announced that it would be able to make purchases via installment payments in the future.
Seven years after the launch of the Apple Watch, iPhone customers continue to have to wait for the introduction of a major new product category. It is an open secret in California’s Silicon Valley that Apple is working on an epoch-making project, namely its own glasses for virtual and augmented reality. Nevertheless, Apple boss Tim Cook did not once mention the words “Virtual Reality” (VR) or “Augmented Reality” (AR) in his keynote speech at the WWDC developer conference on Whit Monday.
The apple company also wants to compete with payment providers such as PayPal and Klarna and announced that purchases will be possible in future via installment payments. The offer will apply wherever Apple’s payment system is accepted. Users could split sums of money into up to four individual payments – without interest or fees.
New M2 processor
At the start of WWDC, Cook and his team also presented a whole series of further developments and detailed improvements in order to optimize the already very successful Apple products a little further. The US company also announced a new processor for its new Mac computers. Apple brought its first computer chip, the M1, onto the market two years ago and thus turned its back on its former in-house supplier.
The M1 success story will be continued with the new generations of Macbook Air and Macbook Pro laptops with the M2 processor. The M2 chip system is said to offer more performance than Apple’s first M1 chip with the same power consumption. Among other things, the M2 has a quarter more transistors, emphasized Apple technology boss Johny Srouji.
iOS 16
On the iPhone, the new iOS 16 operating system brings, among other things, more options for personalizing the lock screen with so-called widgets for functions such as displaying the weather forecast. Smartphones with the Google Android operating system have long been able to display widgets on the lock screen. Apple will also offer developers a live interface through which, for example, the arrival time of a ride service or the status of a game can be displayed on the lock screen in real time.
In Apple’s SMS alternative Messages, you will be able to correct and withdraw messages for a while. In the future, routes with up to 15 stops can be planned in the map app. In the future, apps will be able to integrate images from Apple’s “Look Around” street views – which will benefit real estate applications, for example. The Apple Watch will also be able to track sleep phases and remind users to take their medication.
With the new “Freeform” app, Apple wants to offer a kind of digital whiteboard on which multiple users can share and edit not only text, but also drawings, photos and videos across devices.
Owners of an older iPhone model also benefit from the iOS innovations, as iOS 16 runs on all Apple smartphones from the iPhone 8 onwards. However, the older iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 models are no longer able to run the very latest operating system allow. Despite shortening software support from six to five years, Apple is doing pretty well compared to the Android competition. Smartphones with the Google operating system usually stop being supplied with the latest Android system after three or four years.
At WWDC, Apple also tried to show prospects for success beyond the iPhone and Macintosh computers. Apple is getting more involved in the financial business and will expand its Apple Pay payment system with an installment model. Apple Pay Later allows users – initially only in the US – to split the cost of a purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with no interest or fees for consumers. For this, Apple collects a fee from the credit and debit card issuers involved.
Big plans with car software CarPlay
Apple also showed stronger ambitions in the automotive sector. Although the mysterious Apple Car is not in sight here either, the company has big plans for its CarPlay car software. Until now it was used to bring content from an iPhone to the infotainment screen. The upcoming version should now also offer access to car functions such as controlling the air conditioning – and also be able to operate the entire instrument cluster with the speed display, for example.
The first vehicles that use this will be presented at the end of next year, it was said. Among the manufacturers that Apple says are participating in the project are Mercedes, Audi and Porsche, as well as Ford, Renault, Nissan and Volvo, among others. Google has been working for years to offer manufacturers an Android version for vehicle functions in addition to its CarPlay competitor Android Auto.
WWDC start after two Corona years
For Apple, the start of WWDC 2022 was also a step towards normality after two Corona years. But the company did not yet dare to welcome over 5,000 developers in Silicon Valley like it did in 2019. Only a few hundred developers and a few journalists were allowed to visit the futuristic company headquarters in Cupertino, the Apple Park, following a lottery. Apple reached the masses by broadcasting the recorded event on the Internet.
All WWDC participants had to wait for Apple’s data glasses, which have been speculated about for years, regardless of whether they were sitting in the Californian sun or at home in front of the screen. Most recently, expectations were fueled by media information that the company had presented its board members with a prototype of a headset that could combine digital content and images from the environment for the user. However, anyone who listened and looked closely on Whit Monday was able to recognize additional software components that could help Apple with such a device. These include improved voice control and text recognition not only in photos, but also in videos in the future.
