WWDC Outlook 2022: iOS and WatchOS may receive major upgrades may release new Mac computers

Beijing, April 11, early morning news, Apple has announced that the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will be held online for the third consecutive year. Apple is expected to make major upgrades to systems such as iOS and WatchOS at the conference, and may also release new Mac computers. Meanwhile, some Apple employees are objecting to the strict return-to-office policy.

Apple's WWDC this year will be held on June 6. The conference will last a full week and will also mark the third consecutive year that Apple has held this conference online. Although the new crown virus precautions are being relaxed in many areas of the United States, Apple is still insisting on holding the conference online. This may be because organizing an offline conference takes several months, and organizing an offline conference is completely different from preparing for an online event, so it will be a challenge for Apple to prepare for both online and offline conferences. At the same time, Apple also needs to avoid last-minute cancellations of offline events due to the continued uncertainty of the new coronavirus outbreak.

One of the changes this year, however, is that Apple will allow some students, developers and media reporters to attend pre-recorded keynotes offline at Apple's campus in Cupertino, California. If the situation with the new coronavirus outbreak worsens, Apple can simply cancel this portion without serious consequences.

So what are the specifics of this year's conference? Apple initially made ambitious plans to use WWDC 2022 as a launch event for a mixed reality headset. Apple has been preparing for this product for a long time. However, there was also news a few months ago that Apple may miss this hardware release date and instead announce the product at the end of this year or next year.

At this point, it still seems unlikely that Apple will launch the headset in June. However, iOS 16, codenamed "Sydney", will make a lot of references to the headset and how it will interact with the iPhone. This is likely to indicate that the headset will be launched within the software cycle of iOS 16. This cycle will begin in June and continue through iOS 17 next fall, though it's possible that Apple will simply provide early previews of upcoming augmented and virtual reality software. It is possible that the outside world may even see this headset with the rOS operating system.

There may also be news of other Apple hardware at this conference. Apple is preparing to launch some new Mac computers in the next few months, and WWDC may be the most appropriate occasion for the launch. Two years ago, Apple announced at WWDC that Mac computers would gradually shift from Intel processors to Apple's own processor chips.

Sources say that there will be two new Mac computers coming to market in the middle or second half of this year. The new MacBook Air could be one of them. Other new models being designed include a new Mac mini and 24-inch iMac, as well as a low-end MacBook Pro to replace the outdated 13-inch model. products such as the new Mac Pro and iMac Pro are also in development.

The main focus of WWDC, however, will continue to be software. Apple's iOS 16 (codenamed "Sydney"), WatchOS 9 (codenamed "Kincaid"), macOS 13 (codenamed "Rome ") and tvOS 16 (codename "Paris") will be the highlights of the conference. The new version of iOS will see a full range of optimizations, including updates to the notifications feature and new health tracking.

While the current version of iOS has not changed much from iOS 7 nearly 10 years ago, the iOS user interface is still not expected to undergo an end-to-end redesign. iPad OS may get a multitasking interface. And the Apple Watch may get a major upgrade in its exercise and health tracking features.