What to Expect at WWDC 2021: iOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8, New MacBook Pro?

[BMcCoy]

Almost like you never heard of https://appletrack.com/leaderboard/ before.

They don’t like you mentioning that site round these parts… as it provides evidence that Prosser is a very reliable and accurate leaker - especially over the last year with his exclusive leaks of the AirTags, AirPods Max and iMacs designs. And that just doesn’t suit the narrative of Prosser is “dubious” and is “just guessing”….

 

[unchecked]

One thing I want in iOS is the ability to end workouts on my phone when I couldn't end it on my watch because it's wet with sweat.

I used to swim with it and it'll be fine, but my Apple Watch screen hasn't been really responsive the past year when it's wet. I would just stop for a few minutes until it asks me if I'm ending the workout, at that point the screen may or may not be able to register me ending the workout.

 

[Carlson-online]

Allow multi user iPad ! It already exists for education ….

 

[Flight Plan]

I am looking forward to WWDC, and hearing about all the news. But I’ve decided to avoid spending too much time in conjecture this weekend. Whatever we say, and even to a point, whatever we think today (Saturday, as I write this) really won’t matter much on Monday, Tuesday, and later next week.

So I’m going to just focus on having a good and productive weekend, and we’ll suss out all the news in due time.

Have a great weekend everybody!

 

[Treq]

I would love a major redesign of iOS. Bring back depth, and context clues. Maybe not the full skeuomorphism with green felt and leather stitching, but buttons or at least larger and defined clickable screen areas, and some drop shadows to separate backgrounds.

The calendar is a mess. On the month view all I get is a single grey dot on the day I have something scheduled. Not very useful if you have things scheduled pretty much every day. How about some colored dots and multiple ones to show that I have different appointments on that day... and for god's sake give me some vertical lines or shading. The upcoming/week view needs more color to make it clear what kind of appt each item is. Not just a little colored line at the side.

It's like they wanted to make it aesthetically pleasing to some people at the expense of usefulness. It reminds me of an assignment I would have had in my 2D design class back in college: Draw a car/house/boat/anything using the fewest lines as possible while still making it discernible. A fine exercise, but one that makes the user/viewer work harder to decipher the content instead of making it as easy as possible to use the interface at a glance.

I know I and others who feel as I do, have been complaining about this since iOS 7 but the issues are still there and I still feel iOS 7 was a big misstep and a horrible design change.

 

[Joniz]

What to Expect at WWDC 2021

I always expect mild disappointment.

And I’m more right than most of those tech people.

 

[Fidgit]

Expect this from Gpu department for the 16 and 32 cores MBP
This is becoming hilarious comparing with the competition

I’d be astonished if Apple produced a gpu that could rival the 4th fastest consumer card that nvidia produce - would be exactly the sort of disruption that that segment needs though.

 

[Fidgit]

I always expect mild disappointment.

And I’m more right than most of those tech people.

Sounds a fun way to live.

 

[HarryWild]

"There will be no Touch Bar, with Apple instead returning to a traditional function row of keys...."

Finally, Apple making MacBook Pro for users again!

 

[Greenlee]

is iOS 15 getting released this Monday or what??

 

[zombierunner]

I want OLED ProMotion Macs and iPads. Figure it out Apple.

 

[Applestock]

I’d hope for a HomePod 2 with Thread and WiFi 6 support

I’d be astonished if Apple produced a gpu that could rival the 4th fastest consumer card that nvidia produce - would be exactly the sort of disruption that that segment needs though.

Makes me worry crypto miners will start hogging mac channel inventory.

 

[killr_b]

I thought apple stopped dropping hardware at the dev conferences?

 

[Applestock]

I want OLED ProMotion Macs and iPads. Figure it out Apple.

It won’t be OLED. It’s clear their plan is OLED for smaller screens and Mini/micro LED for larger screens unless new breakthroughs happen in OLED tech development. OLED can’t produce enough light on bigger screens. MiniLED on iPad is 3x as bright as Samsung OLED tablets. But I agree that they need to figure out software support for high refresh HDR across the system, not just supported videos.

 

[BradMacPro]

Apple's 32nd annual Worldwide Developers Conference will ...

....

macOS 12

As little as we know about iOS 15, we know even less about macOS 12, the next-generation version of the Mac's operating system. We do expect it to be labeled macOS 12, however. For a long time, macOS updates were labeled as 10.x, but with the launch of macOS Big Sur, Apple jumped to macOS 11. We've already had 11.x software updates, so the next-generation version of macOS will be macOS 12.

Apple will also give the operating system the name of a California landmark. Apple has been using California landmark names since 2013, and so far, we've had Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, and Big Sur.

There's no word yet on what Apple will use for macOS 12, but the company has trademarked Mammoth, Monterey, and Skyline. Trademarks aren't a good guide to names, though, because Apple has used several names without trademarking them.

SNIP

There are too many other Skyline references in other states. The original Mammoth is long since extinct (elephant like species) so only Monterey makes sense.

 

[BradMacPro]

It won’t be OLED. It’s clear their plan is OLED for smaller screens and Mini/micro LED for larger screens unless new breakthroughs happen in OLED tech development. OLED can’t produce enough light on bigger screens. MiniLED on iPad is 3x as bright as Samsung OLED tablets. But I agree that they need to figure out software support for high refresh HDR across the system, not just supported videos.

If LG can use OLED on a 65" TV, why can't Apple use it on a 29.5" iMac (Pro)? Seems enough light there, but they probably will go mini-LED backlit LCD screen instead.

 

[Realityck]

How about Apple Arcade is adding cloud based games as something to shock everyone at WWDC. Perhaps a new way to make EPIC uncomfortable, offering a way for game engines to drive a expansion of Apple Gaming.

A few days ago you had

Apple Arcade Hasn't Received Any New Games in Two Months

As of today, Apple has failed to add any new games to Apple Arcade for two months. Prior to April 2, the company added new games to Apple Arcade...

www.macrumors.com

As of today, Apple has failed to add any new games to Apple Arcade for two months. Prior to April 2, the company added new games to ‌Apple Arcade‌ intermittently on Fridays, similar to how Apple TV+ content is released, but since the launch of new categories of games two months ago, the service has seemingly taken a backseat.

Maybe this is way too radical a thought, but hey its been discussed a lot more online then what's new with iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and MacOS 12.

 

[allan.nyholm]

Could it be that the Messages app on newer macOS would allow for multiple colored chat bubbles like in past macOS versions?

 

[Apple_Robert]

I am looking forward to WWDC, and hearing about all the news. But I’ve decided to avoid spending too much time in conjecture this weekend. Whatever we say, and even to a point, whatever we think today (Saturday, as I write this) really won’t matter much on Monday, Tuesday, and later next week.

So I’m going to just focus on having a good and productive weekend, and we’ll suss out all the news in due time.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Smart move. There are too many people that are wrong on the internet for me to leave and my personality compels me to stay, even when I am the wrong that has been wrong.

 

[Xak444]

I'm curious to see if well get any AR/VR OS or information on that.

 

[Applestock]

Software wishlist (announce next week):
- Better software HDR support (games & apps, even system UI)
- Notifications improvements w/enforced categories (person to person direct message, system, game, etc.)
- iOS & iPadOS screen sharing
- multiuser iPadOS support
- iPadOS full widget support
- more interactive widgets
- AppleTV adds support for spatial audio for AirPods, share with more than 2 headphones

Apple One/subscription improvements:
- Release of all the stuff already announced for music
- iBook library + subscription
- local newspapers access through AppleNews+
- iCloud drive API improvements and increase storage tiers

My hardware wishlist (over the next year):
- 24.5”, 30”, and new 32” monitors. 24.5” is pulled from new iMac for ~$5-600. 30” is 5.5k XDR for ~$1500. New 32” is new MiniLED XDR (10s of thousands of zones) and up to 120Hz when two thunderbolt cables are connected for ~$4000. Only Apple Silicon machines with SoCs above M1 can drive it at 120Hz.
- redesigned 14”/16” MBPs as rumored
- redesigned large iMac that integrates the 30” XDR screen, starting at $2,200 to about $5000 for top end SoC similar to those that will go into new MBP (up to 20 CPU cores and 64 GPU cores).
- iMac Pro that integrates the new 32” screen and other top end components like webcam (iPad pro’s front facing camera and faceID) /ports/speakers/mic, starts at ~$5500 (12CPU/16GPU/32GB/1TB), goes to ~$12-15k For top end (40CPU/128GPU/1TB/16TB)
- new redesigned mac mini pro as rumored, mirrors the SoC options of the new MBPs
- redesigned 14” Mac book air, keeps wedge shape but is thinner and straight edged.
- new iPhones and watches, wont get into details other than 120Hz is a must
- iPad mini in new design language with faceID and pencil support.
- announce, but potentially not release, 1st generation AR/VR headset.
- new AirPods, better battery life and spatial audio support

 

[seanmills1020]

please rename tvOS to moofOS.

 

[ninethirty]

Yay, it's the what to expect article, right on time the Friday before. I love predictability.

Hoping for: iPadOS 15 to exceed expectations.

Also hoping for: No MBP so Prosser can be proven wrong. But seriously, for the 3rd time, here's my take: MBP tease, release closer to fall.

What a weird thing to hope for.

 

[Axemantitan]

macOS 12 will probably be the last Intel version similar to Apple’s transition from the last PowerPC boxes to Intel (OS X 10.4, OS X 10.5, No Snow Leopard 10.6)

I can see 11 being the last Intel version, with 12 being AS-only. It would make sense as to why they would jump to 12 so early. (We are only on 11.4 right now.)

 

[Realityck]

I can see 11 being the last Intel version, with 12 being AS-only. It would make sense as to why they would jump to 12 so early. (We are only on 11.4 right now.)

Can't do that, you have recent x86 products released. Thats a great way to chase away customers.