If you have not had the time to catch up on Apple’s WWDC keynote, here is our list of the conference’s biggest reveals.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote was full to the brim with important news and announcements, including software updates and new features for their various devices.
iOS 15
Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi notes that the latest major update to iOS will focus on four points: staying connected, finding focus, using intelligence and exploring the world. iOS 15 will improve Facetime by implementing spatial audio, portrait mode, and SharePlay features. The new OS will also give users the ability to set “Focus” statuses that will filter out app notifications based on settings such as “Work” or “Personal”.
iPad OS
iPad OS 15 will come with more quality of life updates revolving around multitasking. The new system, called Split View, comes with a menu of multiwindow configurations that will streamline the process of working on multiple apps at once. iPads will also get home screen widgets, similar to the ones released on iOS 14, but on a bigger screen.
MacOS
Apple’s next macOS release will be named macOS Monterey. The new operating system features “universal control” which allows users to use a single mouse-and-keyboard setup to navigate across multiple apple devices — an addition that will improve the synergy within the Apple device ecosystem. This feature will make it possible to copy and paste text from one device to another, or drag footage from an iPhone to Final Cut Pro on a MacBook.
Live Text
Apple’s new Live Text feature is essentially an advanced Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool. Live Text, a feature built into your iPhone’s camera, can recognise text in a photo, allowing you to copy and paste text from one app to another — a convenient feature that can work for blackboard notes and phone numbers alike.
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Privacy Updates
Security and privacy updates were also unveiled. The “App Privacy Report” option will provide a summary of app permissions including location data, access to photos, etc. so that users can catch any unwanted behaviour. Siri’s speech recognition is currently localised on the cloud. In future updates, Siri’s operation will be conducted on-device, which means that Apple servers will not have access to your audio recordings. As an added plus, Siri will be able to operate without an internet connection.
Hardware Updates
Apple’s M1 processor was designed specifically for the Mac, delivering up to 3.5x faster CPU performance, 6x faster GPU performance, and a doubled battery life compared to Intel-based Macs. Seeing as the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini are currently the only M1-powered devices, fans were clamouring for an M1 based 15-inch MacBook Pro during the months leading up to WWDC. A new lineup was regrettably not announced in the software-heavy keynote, though, much to the dismay of Apple loyalists.
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