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What Will Apple Announce At WWDC? Repairing Broken iOS, Fighting Android, MacBook Air Disappointment

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This week sees Apple step out into the public eye at its Worldwide Developer Conference. As Tim Cook prepares his opening keynote, I look forward to thinking about what he might reveal, what that says about Apple’s focus, and what areas need focus.

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Following the numerous bug fixes and fire-fighting that iOS 11 has had to accomplish in the last year, it makes sense or iOS 12 to not be as feature-heavy as previous updates to Apple’s mobile platform. I’m expecting the internal focus to have been on stability and bug-catching, rather than any significant changes to the OS.

That’s not to say that WWDC’s announcement will be just …’iOS 12 will be faster, and more efficient with better access to the internet’, there still needs to be some sparkle and showmanship offered to the faithful, the analysts, and the geekerati in attendance. I’m expecting to see three key features.

The first will be in the UI of iOS, and an increased focus on both gestures and working with the notched display. Given the expectation of three new handsets with iPhone X like design traits being released in September, the lessons leafed from iOS 11 on the iPhone X will no doubt be on show in iOS 12.

Secondly, Apple will be looking for more ways to keep consumers inside its ecosystem and cloud-based services, and it looks like health is going to be a key facilitator. This, of course, brings the Apple Watch closer to iCloud, it brings the iPhone’s sensors and collection of health data closer to the surface, and it creates another lock-in to the platform to prevent existing users jumping to Android.

The increase on health focus also keeps people locked into Android and increases the barriers to jumping to iOS, so I feel this strategy is more about preventing loss rather than persuading people to switch. The ‘switch pressure’ is going to come in the third major area.

That is going to be personal data security. Apple has already made a big play about not holding on to excess levels of personal information, and promoting the security of the platform for end-user data. That will allow clear water between the functionality of the two platforms and their respective ethical approaches.

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Compared to iOS, there seems to be less drive from Apple to push macOS forwards. Over the last few years, any of the major changes to macOS have tended to bring the desk-bound OS closer to iOS, be through cloud services, shared features, and the simplification of the user interface. This strategy is unlikely to change.

There’s not been a huge amount of discussion online about new goals for macOS, so I’m expecting a similar approach to iOS with a focus on an energy-efficient OS, that offers more power on demand, and keeps user data secure. Some rumors point to integrated ‘universal’ apps between iOS and macOS, and while this smells right interns of corporate direction, it may be to much of a jump this year - especially if the focus on iOS 12 is stability. That said some more common frameworks and tools for developers would signal this path without fully committing to it.

David Phelan

In the current world the expectations are high that Apple will provide a headline-grabbing feature of some kind, and as Forbes’ David Phelan points out, the clue may lie in the graphics used to introduce the event. With multiple UI elements on show, but given a 3D form, the hints are there that Apple is going to move to incorporate more tools for Augmented Reality. ARKit is already present for iOS developers, and macOS now allows for external Graphics Cards to be used to beef up performance.

All the elements are there to push forward to a united AR space - something that would deliver headlines and not distract from the basics of getting everything stable in the core operating systems.

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As a secondary product, Apple Watch is expected to pick up changes to improve the fitness and personal health data collected - matching up with the new iOS goals - and a subtle upgrade to the UI with a new ‘Pride’ watchface.

In previous years WWDC has seen the launch of new hardware - typically from the second tier products such as the MacBook laptops, Mac machines, and the lower-priced iPhone handsets.

While many will be hoping for Apple to change the awkward butterfly keyboard in the MacBook family, that would represent a major change in the middle of the product cycle. If the MacBooks and MacBook Pros are going to get an update it is likely to be limited to a small bump in memory, processor speed, and other easily changed chips.

I’ve argued before that the MacBook Air is in need of an update and I think that WWDC would be the perfect time, but back in the practical world Apple is likely to leave the MacBook Air as is. Perhaps a new entry-level MacBook may take its metaphorical plea at the $999 price point?

The other hardware question is around a new iPhone. While the main release of Apple’s smartphones will happen in September, the question of an update to the iPhone SE continues to linger. There is the potential for an iPhone SE 2 to be announced at WWDC’s keynote - it would make for a headline-grabbing ‘one more thing’ but Apple has not announced a new iPhone at WWDC since the iPhone 4 in 2010. A new iPhone, even at the low-end of the market, would dilute the message around the software that Tim Cook may want to emphasize.

This year’s WWDC is going to have a lot of charts, impressive numbers, talk of doing things “that only Apple can do”, but in terms of leaps forward I’m not expecting any significant steps. Which is a good thing, because the reliability of iOS is a key selling point of Apple’s smartphone, and that trust has been damaged since WWDC 2017.

Tim Cook’s challenge this year is not to show off Apple’s visionary skills, nor its proficiency in hardware. It is to remind the community and the public that its software is stable, reliable, and trustworthy.

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