Apple WWDC 2023 Major Announcements | Apple Vision Pro Headset, iOS 17 and more

Yesterday, Apple held a key event of its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023. Let's talk about the main announcements.

First 15-inch MacBook Air

The first announcement of the conference was the MacBook Air with a 15-inch screen. According to Apple, the thinnest 15-inch laptop in the world.

Characteristics:

• Case Thickness: 11.5mm
• Weight: 1.5 kg
• Screen diagonal: 15.3 inches
• M2 with 8-core processor and 10-core graphics accelerator
• Battery: 18 hours of battery life
• FaceTime camera: up to 1080p resolution
• Touch ID
• Displays a billion colors at up to 500 nits of brightness
• Maximum configuration: 24 GB RAM and 2 TB storage
• Six stereo speaker system with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos support
• Ports: MagSafe, two Thunderbolts and an audio jack
• Colours: Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Space Gray
• Price: from $1299
• On sale: from June 13

The company claims the new MacBook Air is 12 times faster than previous Intel-based models.

Long-awaited Apple Vision Pro

The first Apple augmented reality glasses were presented at the conference — the very ones that have been rumored for the last few years.

The Vision Pro headset is positioned as a revolutionary device that will replace your laptop in the workplace, the phone in many everyday tasks and the TV while watching movies.

What Apple Vision Pro headset consists of and how it works:

• You can control it with eye movements, hands and voice (using Siri);
• The frame is made of aluminum and the glass on the front can activate the transparency mode when needed and dims in VR mode (EyeSight technology);
• The glasses support Bluetooth accessories and allow you to connect a Mac to transfer a picture from it to the virtual space;
• Two chips: M2 and R1;
• Six microphones, multiple sensors and cameras, surround sound speakers;
• Own operating system: visionOS;
• Up to 2 hours of battery life, external battery, which is connected by wire via MagSafe;
• MicroOLED displays with a resolution of more than 4K;
• Optic ID: wearer recognition technology through eye scanning;

• Can be used as a movie theatre, chat via FaceTime, play titles from Apple Arcade, open apps, browser and more;
• The headset allows you to work in proprietary applications, mount videos, type on a virtual keyboard and enter text by voice;
• The user will be able to use the headset's sensors to make a detailed 3D avatar for use in applications.

The revolutionary headset will be priced at $3,499 and will go on sale in early 2024.

iOS 17 and iPadOS 17

The conference also presented the next versions of operating systems for iPhone and iPad — iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. Their stable versions will be released in the fall, and before that public beta testing will be held.

iOS 17

Calls. You can now set a personalized cover image for your contacts to display when you receive a call or in your contact list. The process is similar to the lock screen customization that was introduced in iOS 16.

iMessage has added many features already familiar to us from Telegram:

• Ability to create your own animated stickers;
• Sending geolocation;
• Transcription of audio messages and voice mail: the text will be displayed on the screen during the playback of the recording;
• Search by filters and quick transition to the beginning of the dialogue;
• Automatic notification to relatives when you have reached the desired point (for example, when you return home late at night).

AirDrop has received a feature called NameDrop. It allows you to send content from one iPhone (or Apple Watch) to another when you bring them close to each other.

Keyboard. The input hint algorithm now relies on a more modern language model, and the action to return to the original word (if the algorithm corrected the input in vain) has been simplified.

Other updates:

• Siri can now be called without the word "Hello" (the same applies to the new macOS);
• The Photos app will start recognizing your animals too;
• Apple Maps can now work in offline mode;
• There is a new application for keeping a personal diary called Journal. It will save collections of events that you might like to keep: photos, music you listened to on a particular day, your route.

iPadOS

• Now there is a lock screen setting, as in iOS 16;
• Added Live Activit and Health app;
• Widgets became interactive (previously they just displayed information);
• Animated stickers from iOS 17 will be supported in iPadOS 17;
• You can now interact with PDF in live editing mode with other users.

MacOS 14 Sonoma

The new version is named after a city in the Sonoma Valley.

• The main feature is the ability to add widgets to the desktop without restrictions. They will sync with the iPhone and change their color depending on the installed wallpaper;
• Game Mode: the system will accelerate to make games work better;
• Video conferencing: presentation slides can now be displayed behind the speaker, 3D reactions have appeared;
• Web Apps: Now, just like on the iPhone, you can make a web app from any tab in Safari;
• Safari has added profiles with which you can create sets of tabs for specific tasks.

WatchOS 10

The new version of the OS brings a new approach to providing information to users.

• Smart Stack: The most important information is now presented in the form of tiles that are stacked in a Smart Stack. The importance of the information will be determined depending on the context: in the morning, information about the weather and scheduled meetings will be in the foreground, and before the event or trip, tickets from the Wallet will come to the fore;
• Offline maps added to Apple Maps;
• Weather, Stocks, Home, Maps, Messages, World Clock and more have been redesigned to make the most of display space;
• Two new watch faces: Palette and Snoopy. The first changes the color scheme depending on the current time, and the second transfers the heroes of the Peanuts comic book to the Apple Watch;
• Compass: The Compass app will now automatically mark the last point with a cellular connection so you can get to that location faster in an emergency.
• Features for cyclists: When you start a cycling session on your Apple Watch, your paired iPhone will open Live Activity with live workout details like speed, heart rate, and more;
• WatchOS 10 also added new features for tourists and the Mindfulness app for tracking emotions.

The beta version for developers is available from today.

Other announcements

• New M2 Ultra chip;
• AirPods will receive adaptive sound: the volume of the music will change depending on what is happening around you (can be turned on optionally in the quick settings);
• Death Stranding will arrive before the end of the year on Mac. Kojima himself announced this at the conference;
• Disney has already adapted their content for Vision Pro.