Key Apple announcements at WWDC 2022
View(s):By Mahesh De Andrado
Apple’s recently held WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) had a slew of new things that the company brought to the table. Just to give you a teaser, these developments include iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, and watchOS 9, just to name a few. So let’s dive straight into it and see some memorable announcements that Apple has in store for its users.
iOS 16
iOS 16 in all its glory (Image Credits: iJunkie)
Straight off the bat, Apple unveiled the latest version of their mobile operating system iOS 16. Starting things off with the lockscreen, iOS 16 will now allow users to add widgets like the weather. Furthermore, you can also customize the font and color of elements on the screen. We’ve seen this on Android for a while now with skins such as MIUI and EMUI, and Apple seems to have joined the fray as well. iOS 16 also has a gallery of wallpapers that you can pick and choose from too.
If you’re bothered by the plethora of notifications on your lockscreen from various apps you use, fear not, as notifications will simply roll up from the bottom or you can choose just to hide them as well. In addition, activities such as your currently playing music or your workout progress will also appear at the bottom of your lockscreen (similar to how Android does it).
In terms of focusing on productivity during work hours, iOS’s Focus Mode also got a bit of a facelift. While previously Focus mode could cut down on notifications, the new and improved focus mode extends this to apps as well. So you can basically filter out unwanted content from apps such as Messages, Calendar, and Mail. You can even have Safari filter out tabs that are not related to your work.
Messages now has the ability to edit sent messages (especially useful if you made typos in work or official messages) and you can also unsend a message if you sent one by mistake. Lastly, you can also mark an entire message thread as unread. While that might not be a mindblowing feature, if you find it useful, then by all means, you can make use of it. Speaking of messages, iOS 16 is also improving dictation, where you can now seamlessly switch between typing and voice dictation.
One cool thing to note is that dictation can also pick up on emoji detection just by the tone of your voice. Adding to this, Live Text allows you to select text from images (akin to how Google Lens works) and improves on it by giving you quick actions such as translations and even currency conversions.
Improvements to Apple Pay were also shown. One particular improvement was how Apple Wallet can authenticate your identity to apps that need it. For example, it can authenticate your age and check if you’re old enough to buy alcohol via Uber Eats. In addition, Apple Pay is slated to support payment installments and even order tracking with shipping tracking information.
With improvements in Dictation, iOS 16 allows you to seamlessly switch between typing and voice dictation (Image Credits: IDropNews)
The new M2 Chip: more power and more efficient
There’s no denying that Apple took the world by storm when it announced the M1 Chip, the company’s own ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) that would be both CPU and GPU for its lineup of Macbooks and desktops. They proved to be on par and sometimes even faster than their Intel based counterparts with rave reviews coming in with regard to their sheer performance and power efficiency. The M2 chips aim to deliver even more performance and efficiency, with Apple claiming gains of upto 18% faster CPU performance than that of the M1, and around 35% faster GPU performance.
The new M2 chips will have their debut appearance in the new Macbook Air and Macbook Pro 2022 models. The Macbook Air will feature a 11.3mm thick body, a 13” display that is 25% brighter than its predecessor, a front facing 1080p camera and Magsafe charging. Because it packs the new M2 chip, Apple claims upto a 40% bump in battery performance, rated at 18 hours of video playback along with dial port USB-C charging with fast charge, giving you 50% charge in just 30 minutes.
The Macbook Pro bumps all this up. It packs a 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, upto 24GB of RAM and upto 2 TB of SSD storage. Apple claims 20 hours of battery time and almost three times faster ProRes video conversions compared to previous generation Macbook Pros. While the Macbook Air starts off at $1,199, the Macbook Pro will start off at $1,299.
macOS 13
While the hardware of the Macbooks got an upgrade, the software side wasn’t left out either. With macOS 13 codenamed “Ventura”, Apple introduced Stage Manager, a desktop-style window management feature that allows you to run multiple windows/apps on screen. While this makes sense for the iPad, for macbooks, users can now group running apps together. Tapping on a group will minimize all other open apps, bringing said group into focus.
An interesting take was Apple’s view on gaming. Metal 3 upscales low-resolution frames using AI. This means you can run games using fewer resources while also increasing your framerate (FPS). Think of it as Apple’s take on Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and AMD’s FidelityFX. Could we see Apple gaming becoming the next big thing?
If you use the Mail app on MacOS, then you’ll be happy to note that it’s getting a few changes as well. You can undo send, scheduled send and set up timed reminders. There’s also advances in searching within Mail where it will correct typos you made, and also search for synonyms. In terms of security, Safari will now be able to use “passkeys” as opposed to traditional passwords. Built in tandem with Google and Microsoft, the feature allows you to login to websites using your fingerprint or facial recognition without having to enter any text passwords.
Get better video calls on your Mac, every time
Ventura will also allow users to use their iPhone as a webcam. With Continuity Camera, users are now able to hook up their iPhones to their Macs and use them as a webcam. That’s not all though. Continuity can automatically recognize and use the camera on your iPhone when it’s close by without you having to wake or unlock your iPhone.
You can even connect your iPhone to your Mac wirelessly. But wait, there’s more. Continuity Camera unlocks additional features such as Center Stage, Portrait mode, and Studio Light. The latter illuminates a user’s face while dimming the background. A really cool feature that is in Continuity Manager is Desk View. This makes use of the iPhone’s Ultra Wide camera and some image processing to basically give you an overhead view of the surface your macbook is on.This allows you to take a top down view which you can then use for tutorials and stuff.
And there you have it. The key announcements from Apple’s WWDC 2022. You can find a full breakdown of everything announced online, but these are the ones that I feel are the most interesting.
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