We’re now just days away from Apple’s annual June developers conference, WWDC, where they are expected to take the stage and unveil new versions of their operating systems. Along with the software, there is much speculation that Apple will debut new hardware at the event, possibly completely changing their MacBook lineup. Here’s what we’re expecting to see on Monday.
iOS 10
While there haven’t been many rumors or leaks, iOS 10 looks to be a somewhat minor update. The operating system has remained largely the same since the release of iOS 7 in 2013, so it’s possible that we’ll see design tweaks to change the look of the operating system. A system wide dark mode is another possibility, which has widely been rumored since the debut of Apple’s WWDC branding which features a darker theme this year.
Apple Music is also said to receive a major update soon. The “New” tab in the app will likely be replaced by a “Browse” tab making it easier to browse through the vast library of music available on Music.
macOS 10.12
As we reported a few weeks back, Apple is likely going to drop the OS X and change the naming of the Mac OS to macOS to match the branding of their other operating systems. Siri is also said to be making her way to the Mac, with a colorful dock icon being leaked. On the Mac, Siri will be accessible through that dock icon, a menu bar icon, keyboard shortcut, or through everyone’s favorite “Hey Siri” command.
Updates to Apple’s Continuity feature are also expected. A new feature in Continuity could allow your iPhone to unlock your Mac when its within a close range, eliminating the need to enter a password. The feature will likely use Bluetooth LE to unlock the Mac and could utilize TouchID from the iPhone to keep both devices secure.
tvOS 2 & watchOS 3
Apple has said that new versions of both operating systems are coming at WWDC, even though it is currently unclear as to any new features that would be added. Siri improvements and design changes to match any that are made with iOS will probably be the main changes in the new updates.
Hardware
While it is possible that Apple will decide to release hardware updates at the event, sources are saying that it is unlikely to happen and Apple will save their announcements for later in the year. Recent leaks have shown a MacBook Pro with a OLED touch panel in place of the function keys that look likes it could be an interesting new feature. A recent rumor out of Japan has suggested that such new MacBooks could be unveiled at some point in June and ship in August. Either way, new Macs would be the only hardware that we’d expect to see at WWDC, if we see any at all.
That’ll do it for our rumor roundup for WWDC 2016. This year’s keynote takes place Monday, June 13th at 10:00 AM (PDT), which is 1:00 PM for those of us on the east coast. As always, TechInform will be tweeting our thoughts live and will share our thoughts on the website after the keynote is over.
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