Apple's 2024 WWDC Keynote is over, and it was all about one thing: AI. Not artificial intelligence, mind you. Oh, no. In perhaps the most Apple move ever, the company has rebranded AI. The name? Apple Intelligence, of course.
Ridiculous name aside, the tech revealed at WWDC is pretty impressive. Apple Intelligence, with its (mostly) on-device processing could transform the entire product line up. Meanwhile, iOS 18 brings new homescreen customisation options, and macOS Sequoia lets you control your iPhone from your Mac. Here's a roundup of the main announcements:
- Apple Intelligence: A series of AI features across iPhone, iPad, Mac and more, capable of taking actions in apps, generating images (and emoji) from text prompts, and featuring integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT. For the most part, processing is on-device, providing extra privacy.
- iOS 18: Featuring a redesigned Photos app, the ability to customise app icon colours and new Control Centre tools.
- macOS Sequoia: Featuring iPhone Mirroring, new productivity and video conferencing tools and a breadth of big new game releases.
- iPadOS 18: Featuring a calculator! Plus: new handwriting tools in Notes and a new Tab bar for easier navigation.
- VisionOS 2: Featuring a new way to turn photos into spatial photos, and new gestures for navigating visionOS.
Hello and welcome to our WWDC 2024 live blog. We'll be keeping you up to date here with every software and hardware reveal from Apple this evening. In the meantime, we'll be exploring the many rumours and leaks we've heard in recent weeks. For the lowdown from Apple's last extravaganza, take a look at our roundup of the 'Let Loose' iPad event in London.
Siri was impressive when unveiled alongside the iPhone 4 in 2010, but has long since been surpassed by other digital assistants such as Alexa. But with Apple said to be going all-in on AI this year, could misunderstandings like this one finally become a thing of the past?
One thing we're pretty much guaranteed to see at WWDC is iOS 18. And if it looks anything like this concept, we'll be hitting Download straight away in September.
Can you believe it's a year since Apple revealed Vision Pro? We got our first glimpse at the headset back at WWDC 2023, and it's since entered the wild in the US. But with a $3.5k price tag, Vision Pro is unlikely to hit the mainstream anytime soon. And then there's the fact that it looks pretty goofy in public.
One thing Apple probably won't mention is the controversy surrounding its recent iPad ad, which showed all manner of creative items being crushed by an enormous hydraulic press. The depiction of the destruction of creativity and craftsmanship appalled fans and even celebrities, leading to an extremely rare apology from Apple. Putting it somewhat mildly, the company said it "missed the mark" on this one.
Also very unlikely to make an appearance is the next iPhone. Apple almost always reveals the next generation of its smartphone in September, and we don't expect 2024 to be any different. But with the sheer volume of iPhone 16 leaks and rumours we've heard so far, we already have a pretty decent idea of what to expect.
And now for the silliest one we've heard so far. In the last 24 hours, rumours have suggested Apple has come up with a new name for its on-device AI. And that name is... drumroll... Apple Intelligence. We'll let the tweets do the talking.
steve jobs in heaven watching them announce “apple intelligence” pic.twitter.com/Jr9AJ8bJItJune 10, 2024
“Apple Intelligence” 🍎 pic.twitter.com/0gFaBtE1LcJune 8, 2024
Apple re-branding AI as “Apple Intelligence”#Apple #WWDC24 pic.twitter.com/uPTp7YkTJdJune 10, 2024
In case you missed it, the Apple Design Awards 2024 winners were announced on Friday. They're well worth checking out if you're looking for new apps for iOS, iPadOS, MacOS or even VisionOS since this year's awards included a spatial computing category for the first time.
Those attending Apple WWDC 2024 in person have been showing off the swag they picked up during early check in at Apple Park. They've also been giving us a glimpse of what's on offer for breakfast, presumably at Caffe Macs.
Back at Apple Park 🥰 #WWDC24 #WWDC pic.twitter.com/Re2x1LEAgQJune 10, 2024
This year’s swag at WWDC during early check in at Infinite Loop 🙌#WWDC #WWDC24 #infinateLoop pic.twitter.com/u7HcLDVzDvJune 9, 2024
20 minutes to go!
And we're off! Tim's on the roof, as per.
These are the platforms we'll be focussing on "before moving on to intelligence". Yep, sounds like we're in for some AI tonight.
visionOS 2 lets you 'spatialise' regular photos, making them essentially appear 3D.
Canon is offering a new 'spatial lens' for its EOS R7 camera.
Here you go, grid fans.
iOS is getting tinted app icons for extra customisability
The Photos app is getting its biggest redesign ever, including a unified view without tabs
And that's iOS 18. Not a huge update by any means, but lots of nice-to-have stuff.
Twitter seems to be loving the new AirPods Pro feature that lets you answer or reject phone calls with a nod or shake of the head.
Uff that nodding feature to accept/reject calls on AirPods is genius!June 10, 2024
You can now nod your head to interact with Siri with your AirPods! Like denying or accepting a call. Crazy, the future is here. #WWDC24 #AirPodsPro pic.twitter.com/4z1tNjms7ZJune 10, 2024
This is not a drill. Calculator is coming to iPad.
This one's cool. iPhone mirroring let's you access your iPhone via your Mac, even if the iPhone itself isn't nearby.
Here's everything new in macOS
Oh, wow. They actually did it. They called their AI 'Apple Intelligence'. Ridiculous.
Apple's generative AI model can create images based on the people in your contacts, in three different styles: animation, illustration and sketch.
Apple is going hard on the Privacy aspect of Apple Intelligence, which isn't exactly surprising after the controversies faced by brands like Adobe.
As well as talking to Siri, you can now type to Siri. Which is giving Chat-GPT vibes.
The rumours were true – Apple is bringing ChatGPT to iPhone. With the user's permission, Siri can throw a question to OpenAI's large language model on command.
