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Apple Sending WWDC 2026 Invites to Special Event Lottery Winners
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deckard666
macrumors 65816
This forum in a nutshell - first comment rather than congratulating them and being positive was “what’s the point” ?
I find it hard to believe if on a Nintendo forum you were invited to Nintendo‘s headquarters that would be seen as a negative or on a Porsche forum down to the Porsche headquarters….
I find it hard to believe if on a Nintendo forum you were invited to Nintendo‘s headquarters that would be seen as a negative or on a Porsche forum down to the Porsche headquarters….
Mac Fly (film)
macrumors 68040
Why is Apple involved in the Volkswagen Driver’s Club? 🤭
winxmac
macrumors 68020
Camp 1 - people who would like to attend WWDC in person and watch a live presentation
Camp 2 - people who would like to attend WWDC in person and are okay with the pre-recorded video
Maybe next year, since it's going to be the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, there will be a live presentation instead of just watching a pre-recorded video. One can hope.
Your interpretation is incorrect. When you attend a live concert, you know some of the songs or the lyrics of some of the songs that will be sung but for a live product announcement, or in this case, new software releases, you have very little to no idea what will be presented, unlike when watching a pre-recorded video which you can watch it on site or watch it remotely like everyone else. The pre-recorded video has been seen by the video editors and people within Apple which does not feel the same as 2019 and earlier events.
As early as 2023, or even 2022, Apple should have gone back to presenting live instead of streaming a pre-recorded highly edited video. I believe Apple still have nightmares after announcing the Pro Display in 2019 with how the live audience reacted to it.
Camp 2 - people who would like to attend WWDC in person and are okay with the pre-recorded video
Maybe next year, since it's going to be the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, there will be a live presentation instead of just watching a pre-recorded video. One can hope.
Your interpretation is incorrect. When you attend a live concert, you know some of the songs or the lyrics of some of the songs that will be sung but for a live product announcement, or in this case, new software releases, you have very little to no idea what will be presented, unlike when watching a pre-recorded video which you can watch it on site or watch it remotely like everyone else. The pre-recorded video has been seen by the video editors and people within Apple which does not feel the same as 2019 and earlier events.
As early as 2023, or even 2022, Apple should have gone back to presenting live instead of streaming a pre-recorded highly edited video. I believe Apple still have nightmares after announcing the Pro Display in 2019 with how the live audience reacted to it.
I’ve been in the Apple ecosystem for over two and a half decades, closer to three, and I still remember Steve Jobs talking about the difference between people who build things and people who spend money on status symbols. I believe he referenced luxury cars at the time. The point stuck, Apple was meant to sit firmly with the creators.
Fast forward to today, and it feels like that edge has softened. At the very moment the industry is pivoting hard into AI, Apple appears to be trailing, leaning heavily on third-party integrations rather than defining the space themselves. Meanwhile, much of their recent output has centred on incremental updates, design tweaks, new colours, emojis, refinements rather than leaps.
Where is the next “insanely great” moment?
There’s also a noticeable shift in focus. Apple has doubled down on the mass consumer market, which makes commercial sense, but it has left a gap in the pro and creative space the very audience that helped define its identity. For those of us working in high-end production, that absence is increasingly felt.
Apple events used to feel like genuine inflection points. Now they often come across as highly polished, self-congratulatory presentations that stop short of delivering truly transformative solutions. Yes, the scale of Apple means anything they release carries impact and attention but when you look at the broader landscape, competitors are pushing ahead more aggressively in both features and direction.
The ecosystem is still strong, arguably best-in-class, and that’s what keeps many of us here. But with figures like Jony Ive and Elon Musk influencing the frontier of technology and design elsewhere, it raises a fair question....Is Apple still leading or is it now playing catch-up?
Fast forward to today, and it feels like that edge has softened. At the very moment the industry is pivoting hard into AI, Apple appears to be trailing, leaning heavily on third-party integrations rather than defining the space themselves. Meanwhile, much of their recent output has centred on incremental updates, design tweaks, new colours, emojis, refinements rather than leaps.
Where is the next “insanely great” moment?
There’s also a noticeable shift in focus. Apple has doubled down on the mass consumer market, which makes commercial sense, but it has left a gap in the pro and creative space the very audience that helped define its identity. For those of us working in high-end production, that absence is increasingly felt.
Apple events used to feel like genuine inflection points. Now they often come across as highly polished, self-congratulatory presentations that stop short of delivering truly transformative solutions. Yes, the scale of Apple means anything they release carries impact and attention but when you look at the broader landscape, competitors are pushing ahead more aggressively in both features and direction.
The ecosystem is still strong, arguably best-in-class, and that’s what keeps many of us here. But with figures like Jony Ive and Elon Musk influencing the frontier of technology and design elsewhere, it raises a fair question....Is Apple still leading or is it now playing catch-up?
chrono1081
macrumors G3
chrono1081
macrumors G3
Yes. Although developers go for the presentation they also go for the networking and the live lab sessions where they can talk to the engineers.
Congratulations to those who are attending. Looking forward to seeing WWDC and all the new software versions.
AppleTO
macrumors 65832
I’m hoping that once Tim goes they will switch back to live events. The pre-recorded videos couldn’t be any more cringy. I greatly miss the days of live presentations.
DocMultimedia
macrumors 68030
I have a feeling we wouldn't have seen that (AI looking) girl having Siri do amazing things if they had done a live presentation. They really need to show reality in these pre-recorded mini movies. They really are starting to feel more stale every time they use them. I'm really bored of the zoom in/out clip from above the ring. Was cool the first time. Not the tenth.
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
Yea, there is no point in doing anything live while Tim is still around. He has the stage presence of a cardboard cutout that’s waiting to be unfolded..
I've quit watching them altogether. Not just WWDC, but the iPhone releases and such, too. Once something is different/interesting, maybe I'll go back. Instead, I just read the highlights after the fact, on here or Ars.
Hots
macrumors newbie
I share similar suspicions.
I do understand that way more developers apply than slots are available, but certain people win every year -- and I'm not talking about media passes, Student Scholarship winners, or Design Award finalists.
Of course, it's not impossible to get a lucky streak where you just happen to get drawn every single year. But as the years go by, the likelihood gets lower and lower, and when sampled over all the developers you might meet, the ones that have reach, audience, and constant online activity seem to have a disproportionately higher percentage. I would love to be proven wrong -- public drawing like an NBA draft lottery? -- because I think every developer deserves to go.
If they really want to reward certain people who are trumpeting their brand and expanding their reach, I wish they would just do it above-board: Just give them a media pass or call it an "influencer invite" like they already do with iJustine and MKBHD for releases and announcements. Calling it a lottery and then somehow awarding someone every single year (minus the COVID years) just doesn't inspire trust.
Someone I tutor and work with started making apps during COVID, but she just doesn't like to broadcast or post to social media, and has been wanting to meet with the engineers and developers ever since the conference came back. She doesn't have an app on the store and started wondering if it was because she wasn't public or profitable enough, and if that was the reason, like the lottery was gaslighting her. Of course I tell her no, but her teammates and friends are also getting rejected when they apply, and it's discouraging her from getting into CS because she feels like it's shadow-elitism, like some unwritten, unspoken rule that she has to be someone special before getting an invite … which would be fine if she knew what the rules were! 😬
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I know that feeling. I have done this now for the past 4 years, and always the same. I am not convinced it is random as some people have been going for several years in a row, and not once for me either.
Not that it is a big deal, BUT it would be nice to see inside the campus vs outside.
Plus last year I believe it was quite warm in the sun, so that is how I make myself feel better for not being there 😉
Digital Dude
macrumors 68000
I wouldn’t go, even if I received an invite. I can watch the same corny stream from my armchair in far more comfort than sitting in that sterile environment. Come to think of it, I can’t even remember the last time I was motivated enough to watch the darn thing.
AppleTO
macrumors 65832
I bet the “lottery” has something like priority tiers. Important people being on higher tiers, and the no-name devs on the bottom.
Not sure I agree with the conspiracy theorists on here. I've applied 4 times, got a ticket on my 3rd last year, not this year. Getting to attend DubDub was an unforgettable experience so hope those who haven't yet been get their turn at some point.