WWDC 2018 Starts June 4, iOS 12 & MacOS 10.14 Likely to Debut
Apple has announced their annual Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) will begin on Monday, June 4. The event, which is to be held in San Jose California, will last through June 8.
Though aimed at developers, WWDC events are significant to a wider audience because Apple usually debuts their next major operating system versions during a keynote presentation at the start of the conference.
Based on prior events, WWDC 2018 will almost certainly see the first public unveiling of iOS 12 for iPhone and iPad, MacOS 10.14 for Macs, tvOS 12 for Apple TV, and watchOS 5 for Apple Watch. Occasionally, new hardware products are launched at WWDC keynote presentations as well, though it’s uncertain if that will be the case this year.
iOS 12 is rumored to focus mostly on performance and stability, but include a handful of notable new features like a compatibility mode that allows iOS apps to run on Macs. New Animoji, Animoji support for FaceTime, new emoji characters, improvements to Parental Controls, enhancements to Siri, and likely a variety of other minor enhancements and adjustments. Mixed rumors suggest that iOS 12 could include a minor redesign to the Home Screen, but a report from Bloomberg suggested that has been put off until iOS 13.
MacOS 10.14 is rumored to gain the ability to run iOS apps directly on a Mac through a cross-platform compatibility mode. It has also been reported that macOS 10.14 will include a focus on performance and stability improvements, perhaps in response to some of the complaints about macOS 10.13 High Sierra.
There have also been mixed rumors about a slightly redesigned iPad with Face ID debuting some time this year, as well as a potentially lower cost MacBook Air, or the merging of MacBook and MacBook Air lines.
As usual with Apple software and hardware rumors, it’s best to take them all with a grain of salt until any official announcement from Apple has been made.
The WWDC conference is popular and developers will need to register and then participate in a lottery program to be selected. Tickets to WWDC 2018 will cost $1,599, while there will be free scholarship tickets available for a limited number of student developers as well.
You can visit the Apple WWDC 2018 Site here if interested in learning more.
Sigh, sigh, sigh. I am beyond sick to death of the ridiculous and arbitrary yearly upgrade cycle for the Mac OS. I will probably never install High Sierra, let alone whatever California landmark comes along next.
In America there is a saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” and oh how does that apply to software updates!! Why bother updating? If what you have works for you, do not update. There is downside for loss and problems, with what upside? I will never install macOS High Sierra on my work Mac either.
I do hope the next version is much better and has some actual features and positives, otherwise I will stay on Sierra for another year or two, it works for me so there is no need to disrupt the status quo.
Even I, the self proclaimed Apple expert, look forward to new things from Apple.
Let us hope that the known bugs in 11.x.x are fixed.
Why don’t they focus on security again. So that not every single Israeli startup can crack it.
Interesting artwork that they’ve created for this event. I could be wrong but some of the objects don’t seem to be part of the Human Interface Guidelines. I wonder if we’ll see any notable aesthetic or style guide changes this year.
News flash: Apple, in its enthusiastic drive towards innovation & being seen as a ‘leader’ in its field, have abolished the screen in all future Apple laptop models.
This will give it the competitive advantage of lowering its ridiculously over-priced computers to more affordable levels after a drop in sales over the last year e.g. $4,099 Aus dollars for basic 15″ Macbook Pro.