The biggest announcements at WWDC 2023: Vision Pro and iOS17
Apple's annual keynote event, WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), kicked off on Monday, June 5th, revealing the company’s most anticipated products and tech trends. This year, the company’s great get-together offered a first glimpse of important software updates, iOS 17 and revamped watchOS 10, as well as amazing hardware releases, including its 'revolutionary' new augmented reality product, Vision Pro headset. Let’s see what it implies for the Apple community and the whole world of technology. Here's our round-up of all the major WWDC 2023 announcements.
Vision Pro headset
Credit: Apple
The most expected augmented reality novelty, Apple’s sensational headset has been rumored for years and finally becomes available early next year for $3,499, though only for the US users. Providing a completely new way of digital interaction, Apple Vision Pro runs on visionOS and features a fully three-dimensional user interface in a see-through screen. The latter means the mixed-reality headset allows users to easily switch between a fully immersive VR mode and a partially physical environment to keep them aware of their surroundings. Solely controlled with voice commands, gestures, and eyes, Apple Vision Pro represents an ultra-high-resolution display system with a separate battery pack, which is undoubtedly handy not to weigh it down on a user’s head. The exclusive headset has an all-new App Store, can be used to watch movies and play video games on a giant virtual screen, and is highly efficient for work with built-in Microsoft Office tools and video conferencing applications.
iOS 17
Credit: Apple
One of the main WWDC 2023 reveals is the new version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 17. Already available to download, the updated iPhone software promises a bunch of quality-of-life improvements. First of all, the company introduced the Live Voicemail function to let users receive real-time transcriptions of voicemails, while the enhanced functionality of Facetime allows leaving you a video message if you don’t pick up a call. Another creative feature of the new version is personalized contact posters enabling users to customize individual designs, either with photos or Memoji, for each contact on their list. Synchronization capabilities have been expanded as well. With Name Drop, users will straightforwardly share media files, Internet traffic, or contact info by just bringing two iPhones or an Apple Watch in close proximity to each other. Moreover, there’s one more notable upgrade in Messages: now live photos can be turned into animated stickers and videos are transformed at will into GIFs to share with friends
15-inch MacBook Air
Credit: Apple
Further, at WWDC, Apple unveiled the bigger-screen version of its popular MacBook Air. Powered by the company’s own M2 silicon chip, the upgraded laptop features a larger 15.3-inch display, an 18-hour battery with an 8-core CPU, weighs just over 3 pounds, and measures only 11.5 mm thin, which makes it the world’s thinnest 15-inch laptop available. The starting price for the US market is listed at $1,299 and $1,199 for education.
Mac Studio and Mac Pro with M2 chipset
Credit: Apple
As for the major PC announcements, the tech giant introduced a new Mac Studio, which comes with Apple's latest more powerful M2 Max and Ultra chips. Essentially, M2 Ultra, the most powerful silicon chip ever created, is the combination of two previously-known M2 Max chips, featuring a 24-core CPU and supporting up to a 76 GPU core. As a direct replacement for the previous series of chips launched last year, M2 Ultra promises a huge boost in PC performance and unsurpassed capabilities, including up to 192GB of memory and simultaneous support of up to six Apple Pro Displays. The price for M2 Max starts from $1,999, while M2 Ultra is available for $3,999.
watchOS 10
Credit: Apple
It’s been eight years since the Apple Watch took the market by storm, so the new watchOS is what Apple's avid fans were looking forward to. In the latest software for the device, Apple has focused on users' Smart Stack of widgets with the complete redesign of the interface. Users are to interact with the gadget via widgets, which are easily revealed by turning the watch's Digital Crown. Like the previous versions, watchOS 10 puts a high priority on physical activity and health, bringing a set of new mental health (the Mindfulness app) and active features, like cycling and hiking metrics. The fist one evaluates a user’s state of mind and can be accessed from an iPhone as well. The new OS is compatible with iPhone XS, iPhone XR or later with iOS 17, and with Apple Watch Series 4 and later.
As you can see, Apple is all about creativity and innovation. Every year, the company’s annual WWDC brings together the brightest minds in the industry and introduces Apple's newest products. What is the most notable announcement of WWDC 2023? Share your opinion in the comments below.
