Today was the the WWDC 2017 Apple Event. It was packed with all new interesting features. I am excited about iOS 11 and the upcoming AR and VR stuff.

Another note worthy policy change is that Apple mentioned that it will start allowing in-app purchases. Is that the reason why Amazon Prime agreed to return to their platform?

1. Apple TV

Amazon is coming to the platform. That means: Amazon Prime Video!

2. Apple Watch

1. watchOS 4 will be available this fall
2. A new Siri powered watch face: the watch face adapts and changes the information displayed on the watch face
3. Kaleidoscope watch face
4. Toy Story watch faces
5. Enhanced the “Activity watch face”, for example set monthly goals
6. Workout watch face:
   1. High intensity workout training
   2. Do multiple workouts in a single session
   3. Feature to automatically start your favorite music when you start a workout
7. Watch integration with the workout equipment (via NFC). This feature requires support from the manufacturer (starting this fall)
8. Use the Watch as a flash light to do as blinking device when running at night
9. Music app on Watch:
   1. Multiple playlist
   2. Automatic sync
   3. Better integration between Apple watch and the AirPods
10. New dock interface
11. News app: with “save later to read on the phone” feature

3. The macOS

1. macOS High Sierra is the new version code name
   1. All about deep technologies
   2. Available in Public Beta by end of June
2. Safari
   1. Optimized for speed and battery: bench-marked against other modern browsers
   2. ECMAScript 5
   3. Auto-play blocking: detects the sites that should not play video and let you push the play button when you want
   4. Intelligent tracking prevention: with machine learning to detect tracking websites
3. Mail
   1. The search feature is not refined and it uses spotlight
   2. Split view to compose mail
   3. It uses now 35% less disk space to store your mail
4. Photos
   1. Filter feature to sort the photos
   2. Improved the People detection and synchronization of people info across devices
   3. Improved editing functionality
5. Modern File System
   1. Apple file system (APFS): The APFS is the new default file system that will replace The HFS is an 30-years old file system
   2. Instant cloning/duplication of folders
   3. Sparse file writes
   4. etc.
6. Video
   1. Supports the new standard H.265
   2. Hardware acceleration by newer Macs
7. Graphics
   1. Metal 2
   2. Up to 10x better draw call throughput
   3. Faster frame debugger
   4. GPU counters
   5. Window Server is now on top of Metal
   6. Metal is now used for machine learning
   7. Metal for external graphics
      1. Use Thunderbolt I/O to use external graphic cards
      2. Thunderbolt 3 enclosure
      3. Latest AMD Radeon graphic card
   8. Metal 2 is now VR-Optimized
   9. Steam VR is coming to the Mac
   10. Unity and UnReal engines to the Mac
8. Native VR support

4. The Mac devices lineup

The focus was mainly regarding the iMac.

1. iMac are getting an update
   1. Display
      1. 500 nits
      2. 43% brighter
      3. 10-bit dithering
      4. One billion colors
   2. Processor and memory
      1. 7-th-gen Intel Core (Kaby Lake)
      2. Up to 32gb and 64gb memory support
      3. Faster storage: Fusion Drive with 50% faster SSDs and up to 2TB
      4. Two USB-C adapters
   3. 4k, and 5k models
   4. Native VR support
2. New iMac Pro
   1. Available in December
   2. Bad ass grey color finish:
      1. The most beautiful ever made
      2. The most powerful ever made
   3. 5k design
   4. 80% increase in cooling:
      1. Quitter
      2. and more performant
   5. Ships with 8, 10 and 18-core Xeon Processors
   6. Graphics
      1. Radeon Vega graphics
         1. Brand new workstation class video card
      2. Up to 16gb of VRAM
      3. Up to 11 Teraflops single precision
   7. Or Up to 22 Teraflops half precision
   8. Up to 128GB EEC RAM
   9. Built-in 10 Gbit Ethernet
   10. Hook up two other displays
   11. 1080p facing camera
3. MacBook
   1. Faster standard graphics on MacBooks
   2. Processor update to 7th-gen Intel Core “Kaby Lake”
   3. Even the MacBook Air is getting an update starting today

5. iOS

iPhone

The world’s best and most advanced mobile operating system

1. iOS 11: iOS goes to version 11
2. Messages
   1. Redesigned App Drawer to let you access apps from iMessages
   2. iMessages in iCloud: all conversations will be automatically synchronized across devices
   3. Message remain end-to-end encrypted
   4. iMessage app to do person to person payment powered by Apple Pay
3. Apple Pay: the number #1 adopted mobile payment
   1. Will be available in more than 50% in retailers in the US
   2. Apple pay for person to person payment
   3. Integrated with iMessages
   4. Apple Pay cash card
4. Siri
   1. Available in 21 languages in 26 countries
   2. Natural expressive voice for Siri
   3. Better visual interface
   4. Features Translation feature: you can ask it to translate text and read it for you in the foreign language.
   5. Siri would now try to predict what you want next
      1. Uses on-device learning to predict what you might want to do next
      2. The learning is then synched across devices
5. Camera
   1. With latest iPhone you can use HEVC video encoding and compression
   2. HEIF format to replace JPG with better resolution and compression
   3. New depth API exposed to developers
   4. Live Photos
      1. Edit the photo and select the key frame
      2. Loops for live photos (like animated gifs)
         1. Forward and backward playing repeated loops
   5. Maps
      1. Show speed limit
      2. Lane guidance
      3. Indoor maps for:
         1. Malls
            1. Detailed floor plans of Malls
            2. Browse by floor
         2. Airports
            1. Indoor floor plan for airport terminals
6. New “do not disturb while driving” mode
   1. Automatic response for messages
   2. Allow override for this do not disturb mode
7. Control Center major redesign
8. HomeKit
   1. New Apple AirPlay 2 protocol
   2. Lets you configure speakers
9. Apple Music
   1. 27 Million paid subscribers
   2. The app now shows what your friends are listening (with their faces as stickers on the music albums)
10. App Store: the best App platform in the world
    1. 180 Billion apps to date
    2. 70$ Billion dollars paid out to developers
    3. In-app purchase from the App Store
    4. New tabs
       1. Today tab is the new front of the app store
       2. Games tab
       3. Apps tab
    5. Better App store product page
11. Machine Learning with Core ML
    1. Vision API
       1. Face tracking and detection
       2. Landmark detection
       3. etc.
    2. Machine learning model converter tool to import models created by other software
12. Augmented Reality (AR)
    1. The introduction of the ARkit
    2. Fast and stable motion tracking
    3. Plane estimation with basic boundaries
    4. Scale estimation
    5. Support for the Unity3D and UnReal frameworks

iPad Pro

1. A new iPad Pro 10.5″ inch retina display
   1. Weights 1 pound
   2. Full-size on-screen keyboard
   3. Also full-size smart cover keyboard
      1. More than 30 languages support
   4. New “ProMotion” technology
      1. Double refresh rate to 120 hz
      2. Improves scrolling speed
      3. Better Apple Pencil latency: 20 ms
      4. Dynamically refresh the display rate (improves battery life)
   5. Performance
   6. 10 hour battery life
   7. Features the latest camera features from iPhone 7
      1. 12MP camera
      2. 7MP FaceTime HD camera
      3. Retina flash
   8. USB 3 support
   9. Fast charging: in half the time
   10. Starting with 64GB of memory up to 512 GB storage
   11. LTE or non-LTE editions
2. New accessories
   1. More colors
   2. New Apple Pencil sleeve
3. iOS 11 iPad features
   1. The Dock is now more powerful (like the MacBook interface)
   2. Better multi-tasking gestures and features
   3. New App switcher
   4. Drag and Drop support
      1. Drag apps to the dock
      2. Drag apps to create a split view
      3. Drag items between apps
      4. Drag photos from Photos app to the Mail app for instance
   5. Improvement to the QuickType keyboard
   6. New App called “Files”
      1. Brings all your files
      2. Nested folders
      3. Recents view
      4. Supports 3rd party storage app
         1. All 3rd party storage apps integrate natively with the “Files” App
      5. Drag attachments from emails to the “Files” app
      6. Multi select
      7. Tap and hold to show files so you drag and drop them in other apps
   7. Apple Pencil
      1. Instant markup in Safari and other apps that support it
      2. Screenshot annotation
      3. Searchable handwritten notes in the Notes app
      4. Inline drawing in the text notes in the Notes app
      5. Notes App
         1. Document scanner
         2. Deep integration with the pencil

6. HomePod

Reinventing home music with a breakthrough home speaker with these goals:

1. Rock the house: the best audio
2. Spatial awareness technology: automatically detects the space around it to adjust the audio
3. Musicologist: to help you discover the best music. Designed to work with Apple Music subscription

Specs

1. 7 inches tall
2. Amazing audio technology
   1. Directional control
   2. Precision acoustic horns
3. 6-array Microphone and “Hey, Siri” support
4. Apple designed woofer
   1. Automatic base equalization
   2. Dynamic modeling
   3. Multi-channel echo cancelation
5. Powered by Apple’s A8 chip
6. Siri support:
   1. Home assistant
   2. News
   3. Traffic
   4. Sports
   5. Messages
   6. HomeKit control
7. Costs $349
8. Two colors:Light and Space Grey
9. Ships in December

 

You might also like:

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• Takeaways from the Apple Special Event September 9, 2015
• Apple’s March 2015 Special Event: what you need to know
• Apple Watch 20 important announcements from the March 2015 Special Event
• A visit to: Amazon Books in University Village, Seattle
• Microsoft’s New Surface Book Review