On June 5, a major Apple presentation took place, opening the annual WWDC23 developer conference — during the event, which lasted more than 2 hours, new Macs were announced, including a 15-inch MacBook Air and Mac Pro with M2 Ultra, updates to iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, and watchOS 10, as well as the very first mixed reality headset Vision Pro for $3499, which will go on sale in early 2024.
What new devices and software updates are we expecting at the presentation?
Reality Pro / XR Pro — the highly anticipated first mixed reality headset from Apple, which has been in active development for seven years (twice as long as the first iPhone) and marks the company's entry into a new product category for the first time since the release of the Apple Watch in 2015. Based on previous rumors and insider reports, the headset will be an ultra-premium device with a body made of glass, carbon fiber, and aluminum — according to preliminary data, the price will reach $3000. The novelty will be available for sale after the release of the iPhone 15 — in December or early 2024. It will run on a special operating system called xrOS and looks like a high-tech pair of ski goggles, equipped with a new magnetic connector for power, has a curved front with an additional external screen to display the user's facial expressions and eyes, and several external cameras for video transmission and spatial positioning/orientation and control. The headset will also feature a pair of 4K screens, an M2 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and an additional external battery that will connect via cable and look like an elongated MagSafe Battery Pack. The power consumption of the future Apple headset is such that it will be able to operate for about 2 hours on a single charge. Despite the very modest price tag, Apple does not plan to make significant profits on the headset — it is reported that the price is close to the cost price, and the margin in this case is record low, as Apple aims to establish itself in the market. According to Bloomberg, Apple expects to ship 900,000 units in the first year — for comparison, it sells over 200 million iPhones annually — and hopes to eventually ramp up and unlock potential similar to the Apple Watch.
The Vision Pro headset for $3499, new Macs, and iOS 17. The main announcements of the Apple presentation at WWDC23.
All expected announcements from today's Apple presentation — in one picture.
New Macs. At WWDC 2020, Apple announced its transition from Intel x86-compatible processors to its own M-series ARM processors — it initially planned to complete the transition by the end of 2022 and almost succeeded (only the Mac Pro remains). Today, at least two new Macs are expected — a 15-inch MacBook Air, which everyone has been waiting for since last year along with a 13-inch version, and updated Mac Studio desktop computers with M2 Max and M2 Ultra processors (code names Mac 14,13 and Mac 14,14/J475) to replace last year's models with M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips. And while the M2 Max is already a known processor found in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro 2022, the M2 Ultra is a completely new "chip" with a 24-core CPU, 76-core GPU, and 192 GB of memory. It is likely that the M2 Ultra in its full configuration will eventually become the basis for the new Mac Pro in a case half the size, which everyone has been eagerly awaiting. Several Macs on future M3 chips are also in development — in particular, there is information about a MacBook Air, a base 13-inch MacBook Pro, as well as top-end MacBook Pro and iMac, but their time has not yet come (expected in fall 2023).
New versions of Apple OS — iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, and watchOS 10. Of course, one of the main themes of WWDC will traditionally be the next key OS versions and service updates. Among the most notable changes that have been actively discussed in recent months:
installation of apps from third-party sources (not the App Store), AI feature for voice imitation Personal Voice, and using the iPhone lock screen as a "smart" display in iOS 17;
change of the voice command to activate the Siri assistant — instead of "Hey Siri," just "Siri";
SharePlay feature for shared viewing and listening of content, as well as shared games will expand to the Apple headset;
redesign of the Apple Watch interface in watchOS 10 with a focus on widgets and updates to key apps — they will be better adapted for the larger displays of the Apple Watch Ultra and standard models;
integration of new features from iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 into macOS 14 to ensure their support on Mac computers.