wwdc

This year’s WWDC theme has bee uncharacteristically telegraphed: AI. Apple has been drawing more attention than normal to the neural engine found in Apple Silicon chips, they’ve published OpenELM (on-device language model), actually mentioned AI in press releases/events, and are actively working on contracts with OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Google (Gemini). What this translates to is, likely, a whole new Siri and perhaps additional SDKs for integrating Generative AI and/or Chat Bot experiences into applications on Apple platforms....

As telegraphed, WWDC this year introduced a new product and platform: Apple Vision Pro and visionOS. Apple calls this “Spatial Computing” instead of AR/VR and they technology behind it (hardware and software) is pretty impressive. I’m still of the mindset that there is no killer set of features that’ll make this go mass market, and as a result, will still be very expensive and niche. Funnily enough, the sessions refer to this as xrOS (the original leaked name), visionOS, and “Apple’s spatial computing platform” which means that marketing came in really late and changed the name....

Another year, another WWDC anticipatory waiting time. Uncharacteristically, Apple has somewhat telegraphed what to expect from the big event this year: The Augmented Reality Headset. As Project Titan continues to not come to fruition, Apple’s next big thing is xrOS (leaked way back in 2019 as StarBoard) and xrOS runs on a headset similar to the Oculus Rift and Valve Index. What we expect to see is how it is controlled (gestures and/or Siri)....

WWDC this year was a hybrid event with media and select developers watching the pre-recorded keynote from Apple Park (and getting access to the new Developer Center) while the rest of us watched online. Tours of the Developer Center showed off some really nice conference rooms, workspaces, and a theater. Overall, seems like Apple is putting money down to try to win over developer perception as the current looming legal and regulatory pressure continue to eat away at developer trust in Apple....

While Apple is trying to convince its employees to return to the office, it’s also that time of year when the fruits of their labor are shared with the rest of the world. This year, there is a special event: the unveiling of the Developer Center. This may be a sign that next year that the event will be in person, but, I think that outside of the talks (those can still be prerecorded), Apple should focus on having the week just be labs and hands on time with their engineers so that those who cannot afford the trip can still enjoy what has been a good conference experience remotely (thanks COVID)....