Apple announced the date for the year’s most anticipated event – Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The Cupertino giant will host the event online from June 10 through June 14, giving developers and students the opportunity to attend the opening day event in person in Apple Park. All eyes are on how the company will finally embrace AI at the upcoming event.

Embracing ‘AI’ not ‘ML’ 

“Mark your calendars for #WWDC24, June 10-14. It’s going to be Absolutely Incredible!” posted Apple SVP of marketing Greg Joswiak, and then started a surge of comments where users were quick to catch the subtle messaging. 

Source: X

If the deduction is true, this is Apple’s way of embracing the word ‘AI’ at the developers’ conference, a stark difference from last year’s event where Tim Cook made sure that AI was never mentioned, instead ‘machine learning’ was embraced.

Generative AI Features for Apple Devices 

In the last earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said that the company will continue to ‘spend a tremendous amount of time and effort’ on AI and technologies that will shape the future. “We’re excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year,” he said, possibly hinting at the upcoming WWDC. 

With Apple’s recent push to bring generative AI capabilities into their devices, it is evident that these features will be unveiled at WWDC. With the release of MM1 paper, a new family of multimodal AI models, with the largest being a 30B parameter model, the focus is on how this would fit in the WWDC announcements.  

Jason Snell, writer and former editor-in-chief at Macworld, highlighted in a recent podcast episode of MacBreak Weekly that Apple might not have its LLM ready for WWDC, but it will demonstrate AI capabilities utilising third-party models in a privacy-focused manner. 

Interestingly, partnerships with competitor big tech companies are already in place. 

Apple was recently in talks with Google to integrate its most powerful AI model, Gemini, into the iPhone. Apple is also partnering with Chinese tech giant Baidu to bring further GenAI features. 

iOS Revamp for Cooler Features

The generative AI features are reported to be integrated onto the upcoming iOS 18 software. It is also predicted that the latest software would be a major update of the operating system. Apple had earlier described its upcoming OS as ‘ambitious and compelling’, with new features, designs and improved performance and security.  

– iOS18 is expected to bring various new features to Apple’s in-built apps. Apple Music is set to have auto-generated playlists for users based on mood and interactions. 

– Apps such as Pages and Keynotes will have AI-assisted writing features. 

– Xcode, Apple’s code development platform, is also likely to get AI features to assist with coding. 

– Apple Maps will likely see more features such as support for topographic maps and option to save custom routes.

– The new operating software might bring a change in the design and layout of the phone, such as customisable home screens.

WWDC24 is set to unveil these new features in the latest iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. It is also suggested that iOS 18 will be redesigned to match vision OS. 

Advanced Apple Vision Pro 

Apple’s legendary announcement at last year’s WWDC was hands-down their spatial computing device Apple Vision Pro. 

As confirmed in the WWDC blog, the revolutionary mixed reality headset’s in-built capabilities that can be resonated with that of an autonomous vehicle, is expected to receive upgrades. It is likely that the problems reported with the maiden version of the headset may be addressed. 

Apple Pencil is also being tested out as an accessory for the next version of visionOS. The pencil is currently compatible with iPads only. 

Currently, sold in the US, Apple Vision Pro will likely be sold in other countries too, including China. 

AI Chip Integration 

Earlier this month, Apple announced the integration of M3 chip, Apple’s most powerful AI chip, on their latest 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air. However, the chip that was unveiled in October last year, is not yet available on Mac Studio and Mac Mini devices. It is likely that WWDC will see announcements around M3 chip integration on these products. 

Further, the Apple A18 chip which is the forthcoming processor from Apple that is expected to be used in the iPhone 16 lineup, is said to be equipped with a powerful neural engine, and is reported to have a 6-core GPU. The A18 chip will allow for more powerful and efficient AI performance. 

New and Improved Siri

Last year, it was reported that Apple’s voice assistant Siri will receive major upgrades this year. AI-enabled features will be integrated into Siri for improving conversation capabilities and user personalisation. Siri and other Apple apps such as Messages will be seamlessly connected for better response options.