Apple WWDC 2024 rumor roundup

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is set for June 10, and unsurprisingly, AI is going to be the theme of all of the announcements, which will include iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and visionOS 2.

According to rumors, Apple will be redefining the AI acronym to stand for "Apple Intelligence" rather than "Artificial Intelligence". As far as we know, AI tools will be coming to the iPhone, iPad and Mac, and these are likely to be powered by OpenAI and its ChatGPT models.

According to industry insiders, Apple’s initial wave of AI will use prioritize on-device processing and only rely on the cloud when necessary to minimize privacy issues. Many of the features will initially be released as opt-in beta programs and will require an iPhone 15 Pro or newer or an iPad/Mac with an M1 chip or newer.

Reportedly, the focus will be on convenience features to simplify and automate daily tasks rather than image and video generation. AI will thus be added to many of Apple own apps. Some highlights of alleged features include a summary feature for web pages, notes, messages and notifications, reply suggestions for emails and texts, automatic transcription, and potential generation of summaries for voice memos.

Siri is expected to get a lot smarter and have precise control over app features and actions. First-party apps will first, with some third-party app integration expected for next year. The Photos app is also expected to have enhanced editing features, including the removal of objects and people. AI-created emojis based on text on the fly will probably be a thing. And Xcode is likely to get some AI-powered code autocompletion features.

In no particular order, here are some other expected software upgrades outside of AI:

• iOS 18 Home Screen: Ability to freely place icons and change icon colors.
• Control Center: New interface for rearranging shortcut buttons and multiple pages, upgraded music widget, and smart home controls.
• Settings App: Better organization and navigation and more reliable search across iOS, iPadOs and macOS.
• Messages App: RCS support, scheduled messages, ability to trigger effects with individual words and colorful Tapback icons.
• Passwords App: A new password manager and autofill app to replace the iCloud Keychain feature.
• Calculator App: Finally coming to iPad and now with a new and unified look across devices.
• Calendar App: New data integration from the Reminders app.
• Health App: Better blood pressure data handling and possibly hypertension detection, hearing test support with AirPods and tailored features for pregnant users.
• WatchOS 11: New Siri interface with response formatting based on queries, major changes to key apps like Fitness.
• Safari on macOS 15: Minor changes including strengthened privacy measures.
• New Wallpaper Packs: With references to old icon versions and designs on both iOS and macOS.
• visionOS 2: The OS for the Vision Pro will be updated to include new environments, the Passwords app and some iPad versions of apps.

While we don’t expect any new hardware announcements at WWDC 24, there might be some teasers. To reiterate, WWDC 24 will run from June 10 to June 14, with the keynote set for 10 AM PDT on June 10.

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