It’s official: Apple will be holding its Major Developer Conference (WWDC) entirely online June 6-10, 2022. An unmissable event to discover the future novelties of the apple brand.
Summary
Apple has announced the dates for its next developer conference, the Worldwide Developers Conference. Unsurprisingly, like every year, it will be from the first Monday in June. So, although WWDC (sometimes called “deub deub” by friends because of the two Ws pronounced “deubeuliou” in English) is primarily aimed at developers of applications for all devices of the brand, it is one Treasure trove for the entire community of customers and fans of the brand, because during this event new versions of all operating systems are announced and presented: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS. The biggest announcements are reserved for the opening conference, the famous keynote. With ambush likely this year, the last Mac model to make its transition to Apple Silicon’s “in-house” processors.
Note that this is the third year in a row that this WWDC is being held entirely online: in other words, no keynote will be broadcast live while the various Apple executives follow one another on stage. We are therefore entitled to a pre-recorded video presentation for the whole world to see simultaneously over the internet (see below). One small change though: Apple has announced that a selection of developers and students will be present at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple’s headquarters to see the same film on the big screen. June 6th will be dedicated to them and they can see and maybe test some of the announced new features on site. Some of the students present will receive a reward as part of the Swift Student Challenge, which for three years has allowed Apple to highlight young developers of applications developed in Swift, its programming language.
When is WWDC 2022?
Everyone is impatiently awaiting the new features that will be announced during the inaugural conference, the keynote, which will take place on Monday June 6th at 7pm French time. But we must not forget that WWDC actually lasts five days, from Monday June 6th to Friday June 10th, 2022. The conferences on the following days are less interesting for the general public because they are reserved for technical details that developers are very important to them, so that their applications make the best of new operating system features and all the new machines announced during the keynote (see below). Before the health crisis, only the keynote was broadcast publicly, while the following days’ conferences were reserved for those making the journey to California. As WWDC is conducted entirely remotely, all conferences are accessible. A wealth of information… but also dozens of hours to spend in front of your screen if you want to see it all!
The easiest way to watch the Worldwide Developers Conference opening address is to go to Apple’s YouTube page at youtube.com/apple. From a few days before the event, the date and time of the event will be announced on the homepage. You can even start watching without waiting: but of course you won’t see anything before the set time! However, every time thousands of people open the YouTube page in advance to make sure they don’t miss the launch. And the closer we get to 7 p.m., the larger the viewership. will you be a part of it Note that you can turn on subtitles in French.
Of course, you can also visit Apple’s website (apple.com/fr), whose home page gives you direct access to the broadcast video of the event. And if you’re also interested in the next few days’ conferences, you need to go to the developer page at developer.apple.com/fr. Do not hesitate to go there until June 6th: you will find an extensive catalog of videos in all areas of development.
What announcements are expected from WWDC 2022?
As always, ahead of the D-Day outcome of the Apple Developer Conference opening keynote, rumors are rife. As usual, Apple should announce the new versions of all its operating systems there: iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13 (and the name that will succeed the current Monterey), watchOS 8 and tvOS 16. Very quickly after the presentation, the first Beta versions will be available for developers to install and test. A few weeks later, a so-called public beta version will be offered to all interested parties. Please note that this is a version to be used at your own risk!
Not infrequently, the WWDC is also an opportunity for Apple to announce new devices. So this year is expected to see the veil lifted over the very last device that hasn’t switched to Apple’s “house” processors, the Mac Pro. Something pretty rare, Apple even referenced it during the March 8, 2022 event announcing the very latest Mac Studios (read our article Mac Studio: a powerhouse for creatives). John Ternus, vice president of hardware, had dropped this brief sentence: “Our transition is almost complete, with the exception of one very last product, the Mac Pro. But that’s for another time.” So it will probably be June 6th. We know next to nothing about this new high-end machine, which will have the tough task of outperforming the already excellent Mac Studio. Perhaps it will be equipped with two M1 Ultra processors, which themselves already consist of two M1 Max processors. Will the new Mac Pro also differ from the Mac Studio in terms of internal expansion options, like the current Intel Mac Pro? So far no reaction. In any case, while this new Mac Pro will be unveiled at WWDC, we shouldn’t expect it to be available right away, but rather towards the end of the year. Those with the greatest power needs will have to be patient.
The extraordinary performance that we have come to expect from the next Mac Pro should be of particular interest to creators of 3D animations destined for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) worlds. We know that Apple has been working on a VR/AR helmet or glasses project for a long time. Perhaps WWDC 2022 is an opportunity for Apple to show a little more on the subject, although nothing is less certain at the moment.