WWDC 2024 is finally here, and Apple showcased the software that'll be powering the next generation of iPhones, iPads and MacBooks – and it kicked off with Craig Federighi leading an Apple crew jumping out of a damn airplane. Let's go, then.
Apple of course announced iOS 18, WatchOS 11 and macOS Sequoia, but the event also featured new software for the Apple Vision Pro, which has only been out for a few months. The company also had a deep dive on AI, which it's deeming "Apple Intelligence". AI will now be center stage across the entire Apple ecosystem, whether you're looking to proofread an email or send "Genmojis" – AI-generated emojis – to friends and family.
Apple TV Plus Turns Five
After claiming Apple TV Plus is the most critically acclaimed streaming service, Tim Cook announced a new lineup of original shows coming to the service. These include new shows and movies like Dark Matter and The Instigator, along with new seasons for acclaimed TV shows like Fly Me To The Moon and Pachinko.
VisionOS 2
Apple Vision Pro is the newest hardware platform, and it's heading into its sophom*ore year, thanks to VisionOS 2. This update will bring spatial photos to VisionOS, letting you use machine learning to create what's essentially a 3D photo out of anything in your photo library. You can then share these spatial photos with other people in a new live share mode.
VisionOS 2 is also bringing more display sizes for the Mac, so instead of just having a 16:9 4K display in the Vision Pro, you can have your Mac display in a large, ultrawide display. The best ultrawide monitors are godsends for productivity, so this is a huge change.
For gaming, Apple has developed a tabletop API, so developers can create unique boardgames you can play through the Vision Pro that will, for example, project a game on a table, rather than needing to rely on a box with a bunch of tiny parts. No more losing game pieces.
If you weren't in the US when the Vision Pro released, too, you'll be happy to know that Apple has announced the international launch for Apple Vision Pro.
iOS 18 – The Most Secure iOS Yet?
Fresh off an airplane, Craig Federighi debuted iOS 18 at WWDC 2024. This update finally allows you to arrange app icons on the home screen. Apple has also expanded dark mode to change the colors of your app icons, making the iPhone home screen your own in a way we just weren't able to do before, at least if we weren't using an Android device.
iOS 18 also brings smart device controls right to Control Center. Craig demoed this with a garage door, which he was able to close right from the quick menu. To enable this, Apple has released a new Controls API so that any Smart Home device can theoretically be controlled through Control Center.
Apple is also letting you lock down individual iOS apps, stopping anyone from accessing them without passing a FaceID check. So, if you let your friend hold your phone, they can't sneakily open your messages app to snoop around if you don't want them to. iOS 18 also changes the way Bluetooth devices connect, making them ask you for permission to access other devices connected to your iPhone. These are a huge security improvements, and other smartphone OS manufacturers should really consider implementing similar solutions.
As for Messages, Apple has introuduced Messages from Satellite, which will work on similar technology to its emergency services, which means you never have to worry about your messages not going through. Plus, even when you're relying on the satellite to send your iMessages, they're still end-to-end encrypted.
The Apple Photos app gets a complete redesign in iOS 18, reorganizing it into a single view, with a handy button at the bottom that'll filter through your photo library. For example, you can filter out your screenshots and downloaded photos to find images of family and friends.
AirPods Get New Gestures
If you've ever wanted to respond to a notification while in a crowded train, you know how annoying trying to answer Siri's questions can be. To solve this, Apple has introduced new gestures to AirPods, so you can respond to notifications by nodding your head, rather than needing to blurt out responses out loud, even when your hands are full.
Apple InSight Makes Watching Movies Better on Apple TV
Apple announced a new feature for AppleTV that lets you access cast and trivia info while watching TV and movies. If you're anything like me, you're constantly scrolling through IMDB while watching pretty much anything. Amazon Prime already has a feature kind of like this, but honestly this should be in every streaming service.
The Cupertino company also added a new Snoopy themed screensaver to Apple TV with dynamic animations whenever you're not actively watching something.
WatchOS 11 Brings Training Load to its Fitness Loadout
Apple Watch was already focused on fitness, but WatchOS 11 brings an activity load feature that lets you rate the effort you've put in to any workout, so the OS can fine-tune its fitness recommendations. It also lets you track the effort you're putting into each of your workouts, so you can be more aware if you're going extra hard and should take a quick break to avoid injury.
A new Vitals app is also coming, which will monitor your vitals over time and give you a heads up whenever something is out of the norm. The app will also give you a possible explanation if anything is drastically different.
Apple is finally bringing better menstrual cycle tracking to the Apple Watch, which will help you notice if there's anything out of the ordinary with your monthly cycle.
iPadOS 18 Finally Has a Calculator
Apple gave us a sneak peek at iPadOS 18, and of course, most of the new features in iOS 18 are making their way to the new iPad. But Apple is adding a new floating tab bar to many of its apps that takes advantage of the larger touch screen to make navigating each app much easier without fussing with a bunch of menus.
Apple is also using the increased horsepower in its iPads to seriously soup up animations across the board, making the iPad feel like a much more premium device. Plus, these new animations are supported by a new API, so any app developer can implement them into their apps.
But most importantly, after 14 years, Apple has finally put a calculator app on the iPad. But it's not simply a calculator: Apple has also implemented a Math Notes function into calculator, so you can do scratch math with your Apple Pencil, making it easier to solve more complicated math problems without needing to rely on pencil and paper. Notes is also getting all the new math features, too.
macOS Sequoia
The Mac has always been the best centerpiece for any Apple home, but macOS Sequoia makes it even better. Apple has taken a page out of Windows 11's playbook, letting you mirror your iPhone right on your Mac desktop. iPhone mirroring will also let you drag and drop files between your iPhone and your Mac, making video editing for social media a dream come true. You can edit a video in Final Cut and then export the finished product straight to your iPhone.
macOS Sequoia has finally evolved Keychain to be a fully-fleged password manager, letting your generate and store all your passwords in one, secure, place. This app will be available across all of Apple's platforms, but it will also be available on Windows, which may make it one of the best password managers when it gets released later this year.
Safari is getting a complete overhaul, with a viewer setting that brings videos to the front of any page, and you can also get a quick summary of any article you're reading at the click of a button.
Apple is also using its Metal gaming API to create a unified gaming platform across all of its devices, and this is all enabled by the Games Porting Toolkit 2, which will make it much easier for game developers to port their games to macOS. Games like Control and Frostpunk 2 are heading to macOS. Control is ancient history at this point, but Frostpunk 2 is coming to macOS right around the same time as it's launching on PC. More of this, please.
We also got a walkthrough of Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay on macOS, and it looks incredible. Ubisoft also took the opportunity to announce that the new Assassin's Creed is also coming to iPad. Only time will tell if the game actually runs well on a Mac.
Apple Intelligence Brings 'Personal Intelligence' to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS
Generative AI has been at the forefront of the tech industry all year, and of course Apple had to throw its hat in the ring, calling it Apple Intelligence. At least the abbreviation stays the same.
While it's easy to look at AI as some kind of arcane tool that isn't super useful, these AI features are being pitched as a boon for anyone. Apple highlighted smart notifications, for instance, which will use an on-device LLM (large language model) to prioritize important notifications, so you're not constantly being buried under meaningless garbage.
Apple is also implementing AI generation into all of its apps, letting you send generated messages to friends, or even popping them into a Pages document. This will also improve Siri, letting you ask more specific questions and actually get relevant results. You can ask for a photo that a friend sent you a few days ago, and thanks to the new model, it'll be able to sift through all the photos on your device intelligently based on the command.
With any system-wide AI implementation, though, security is a huge concern. All of the data used for these computations is handled on-device, thanks to the NPUs (neural processing unit) that Apple has been working into its chips since the M1 launched back in 2020. For heavier AI lifts, Apple is also introducing Private Cloud Compute. While putting your data in the cloud is inherently risky, Apple is claiming that none of your data will be stored in its servers. Plus, when your device decides it needs cloud help with an AI request, it will only send the relevant information to that request, so you don't have to hand over all of your data for every little request.
The new 'Apple Intelligence' allows for major improvements to Siri. Not only can the classic voice assistant better follow what you're trying to say, even if you stumble on your words, but it can keep up a conversation between commands. This means you can ask for the weather in NYC, and then after getting that information, you can simply say 'What restauraunts are around there', and Siri will be able to follow the thread of the conversation. This doesn't seem like a huge deal, but it's a nice improvement.
You can also finally use Siri through text, by double tapping the bottom of your iPhone. This is going to be especially useful if you're in a loud environment, as you won't have to rely on your phone being able to pick up your voice.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
