Apple’s WWDC keynote was jampacked with new announcements, prime among which were the launches of iOS 16 and two new laptops powered by the fresh M2 chip. watchOS 9 was also unveiled alongside the new version of iPadOS, among other things. Here’s a look at everything that was announced at the Apple event.
iOS 16
The latest iPhone software version gets major enhancements for the lock screen experience, which include custom fonts and colors, widgets, and a dynamic manner for wallpapers to appear. To keep the wallpapers in focus, the notifications on the lock screen will now be bunched up at the bottom rather than at the top.
A Live Activities feature also makes its way onto the lock screen of iOS 16. This means things like live scores of an ongoing sports event, details of an oncoming Uber ride, and more will be displayed on it.
iOS 16 brings with it improvements to Messages as well. You can now edit typos out of sent messages, recall messages that you didn’t mean to send, and mark threads as unread. Moreover, SharePlay will soon be directly integrated into Messages.
Furthermore, the new software supports fresh Dictation methods to switch between voice and touch. Live Text for videos also gets introduced with support for camera view to translate on the move. Apple Maps receives enhanced 3D details and the ability to set up to 16 stops on the route.
watchOS 9
Along with new watch faces, watchOS 9 brings with it support for different religious calendars. A Medications app will be launched for it, allowing users to track their medications in detail. The Fitness app will bring new metrics for health tracking and it will now be available for more iPhone users.
M2 chip
As was rumored, Apple has launched its M2 chip that will power next-gen Mac and possibly iPad devices. The M2 grabs 20 billion transistors and offers 100GB/s of unified memory performance which is 50 percent more than M1.
The M2 features 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores that allow it to deliver 25 percent better performance with the same power consumption levels. There’s a new 10-core GPU and fresh neural and media engines as well.
13.6-inch MacBook Air
The M2-powered MacBook Air that has been unveiled at WWDC offers 40 percent faster Final Cut Pro performance than the M1 MacBook Air. Despite this, it can still deliver all-day battery life, which means you can use the laptop for 18 hours of video playback.
The new MacBook Air gets MagSafe support, two thunderbolt ports, a 1080p FaceTime HD, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Its Liquid Retina display is 25 percent brighter than before and can support 1 billion colors.
13-inch MacBook Pro
There’s even a Pro model to consider for those who’d like to take advantage of the M2 chip. The new model can deliver 40 percent better overall performance and 30 percent better gaming performance. The M2 MacBook Pro will allow up to 24GB of unified memory for better multitasking.
macOS Ventura
The biggest feature of macOS Ventura is called Stage Manager and it basically moves all windows to the side to provide better focus to the user. Safari gets better battery efficiency, while the Mail app gets an Undo Send option. Lastly, Spotlight now allows even more detailed searches.
iPadOS 16
The Stage Manager feature from macOS Ventura will also make its way to iPadOS 16, among other things like Reference Mode and Display Zoom, and more.
Availability
A Developer Beta version of iOS 16 is available now, while the full version will arrive this fall along with the iPhone 14 range. The same goes for macOS Ventura, watchOS 9, and iPadOS 16. As for the new laptops, both will be made available in July. While the new MacBook Air will start at $1,199, the new MacBook Pro model will go for $1,299.