Predictions for WWDC Keynote 2013
As you maybe aware Apple are holding their WWDC event this week. This is a yearly event where developers like me can learn about new features, how to use old features and ask the Apple engineers questions about the frameworks. Most people don’t really care about all this it’s mostly for developers. The main attraction is the Keynote address on Monday, which is where Apple release new goodies and new operating systems. Below is my predictions of what we will see at the WWDC.
Firstly I’ll start with what we won’t be getting.
New iPhones – Apple haven’t release iOS 7 yet so no new iPhone until September time.
New iPad Mini – as above plus it’s only been just over 6 months since lats one, also the new retina version people are waiting for won’t arrive until next year.
New iPad – same as above.
New Apple TV – Apple won’t release a new TV at WWDC, but they might open old ones to allow apps to run on it.
New iMacs – no chance of this the new version were only released recently, and no retina versions either.
New iWatch – just NO.
The big thing with the WWDC is its aimed at developers so you would usually only see new OS’s for us to play with and new hardware to develop with.
Now for what we can expect.
iOS7
Design
This is a no-brainer, the whole reason for the WWDC is to show us developers how to use the new features within iOS7. The biggest question mark this year is how will it look and feel. For those who don’t follow Apple as religiously as I do here is a quick bit of history.
iOS has stayed pretty much the same over the years with new features and toys, but the general look is the same. Last year Apple got rid of Scott Forstall who was the head of iOS, prompting a huge debate over the future of iOS. Scott has been replaced by Jonathan Ive who is a brit and was head of hardware. His attention to detail and design is one of the reasons the iPhone and iPads have looked and felt so good. This is especially true in the iPhone 5 and iPad mini, which look beautiful. Scott Forstall had always been a big fan of skeuomorphism, which is a huge subject just Google it and you’ll see, the simple definition is making apps look like real world items. A good example of this is the Calendar App which has leather effect to make it look like a real world diary.
There have been reports that Apple have had to pull in more staff and even use Mac OSX teams to finish iOS 7 which, suggests a big change. The general feel is a less complicated and more flatter design, but if the WWDC app is anything to go by not completely flat. These design changes will be across the whole of iOS so every app with look different. There are lots of questions being raised about a hardware designer being in charge of software. I don’t think this will be an issue, as the basic structure of iOS won’t change it will just look cleaner and less shiny. Lets us be honest millions of people know how to use iOS if you change that it could turn users away
New Stuff
I expect an upgraded version of iCloud to try to fix some of the issues we have recently had.
Flickr and Vimeo integration to go along side Twitter and Facebook.
New Lockscreen possibly with widgets but more likely just new lockscreen to match the new iOS look.
Improved notification center.
Improved app switching (multi tasking)
iRadio looks like a string possibility, especially as Apple have been running an ad campaign in the UK about people using their iPhones for music. This is expected to be like Spotify music service with huge tie in to iTunes for buying the songs.
I also expect some new photo service as Apple’s new ads in the UK focus on music and pictures. This could mean a new service or uprated photostream, the other possibility is an iCamera, but that’s unlikely, if Apple are taking that route, then the new camera will be on iPhone 5S.
New toys for developers, There has been rumours that Apple are going to make some of the protected frameworks available to developers like Siri, messages, phone, etc. This is possible, but I think full integration will not happen it will just be some select functions.
AirDrop is another possibility, for those who don’t know this is a clever way to transfer files between macs on the same network. This could be expanded to include iOS, but I think the files will be restricted to photo’s, video’s and text files.
Improved Maps is also pretty much guaranteed as Apple try to compete with Google.
There are bound to be other tweaks and improvements but, some will be protected under NDA until new iPhone release.
Mac OSX
A new version will be announced along with lots of new feature “over 200 new features” is the usual quote. There will be more iOS feature in Mac and possible full Siri for Mac. Apple will also give the apps a boost, but I can’t see any major changes to the OS.
Performance Tweaks
Maps for users and Mapkit for developers
Name unknown yet but lots of speculation.
New Macbook Air’s
The big hardware announcement will be new Macbook Air’s with retina screens, this seems to be pretty certain. There is also a possibility for uprated spec Macbook Pro’s, but I think this will be for both retina and non-retina. I don’t think the non retina versions are going anywhere soon.
New Mac Pro’s
Upgraded Mac Pro’s are over due as they appear to have remained unchanged for a long while. I have a feeling if they do upgrade them it may be a blink and you miss it moment as the big focus will be iOS 7 and Mac OSX.