Jun 1, 2017
Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference is scheduled for the week of June 5, 2017. While the event garners global interest every year, it feels extra special this year as it marks the tenth anniversary of the iPhone.
I still remember the day when Steve Jobs unveiled first iPhone back in Jan 09, 2007. ‘Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along and that changes everything’ was his introductory words. It is not an exaggeration to say that the iPhone (and iOS by extension) did change our world for good.
As developers, we keenly look forward to every WWDC. At this year’s event, the announcements aimed at the developer community are likely to focus on the next version of iOS, some new hardware announcements and if news reports are to be believed a hint of the next big thing.
To start off, expect to see a preview of the next major update for iOS – the iOS 11. Possible updates to iOS are:
Aside from iOS 11, Apple can be expected to announce macOS 10.13 and the next versions of tVOS and watchOS.
We could see a sneak peak of iPhone 8 in the WWDC Keynote. iPhone 8 may incorporate following features:
Apple may introduce the touch panel to MacBook Air and roll out a new version with improved processors and flash storage. Also we are expecting new versions of iMacs as it has been a while since the line was updated.
As Steve Jobs would say, this year’s ‘one more thing’ is expected to be what is dubbed as a ‘Siri Speaker’. It is believed to be an Intelligent Personal Assistant to compete against the likes of Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Phil Schiller said in a recent interview: ‘there is a lot of talk in the industry about voice-driven assistants and we believe deeply in voice-driven assistants that’s why invest in Siri… but that doesn’t mean you’d never want a screen. So the idea of not having a screen, I don’t think suits many situations”. It is believed to be an indication of what Apple has in store. Amazon unveiled the wifi enabled Echo Show recently with a seven-inch screen. So it will be interesting to see Apple’s play in this space and the possibilities for the developer community.
So, from a developer perspective, the key announcements will be:
All in all, it promises to be an exciting event next week.