Apple WWDC 2019: Everything You Need To Know

One keynote over five days and a massive amount of exciting new information delivered to us. It’s a lot to take in but worry not, leave the heavy lifting to us. From a new OS for the iPad to the $8,000 new Mac Pro, these are the must-knows from Apple’s 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Apple announces iOS 13, watch0S 6, tvOS 13 and macOS Catalina.
A new dedicated OS for the iPad.
28-cores Mac Pro and the 6K resolution Apple Pro Display XDR monitor.
$1,300 monitor stand for Appl’s Pro Display XDR monitor.

iOS 13

With every iteration of the iOS, there’s always been some hits and misses, like in iOS 5 where the update caused battery life to take a hit. But with iOS 13, things seem promising. Dark mode finally makes an appearance and there’s a comprehensive editing mode for photos and videos built straight into the gallery. Available this fall (Sep – Nov).

Dark mode.
Intelligently organised gallery.
Comprehensive video and photo editing tools straight from the Photos app.
Faster, easier and a more secure way of signing into apps with Apple ID.
Share audio with another pair of AirPods.
Users can now type by swiping across the keyboard.

For a detailed description of features and availability, click here.

iPadOS

It used to run on the same iOS as its iPhone counterpart, but the iPad now has got its own OS. Based on iOS 13, the iPadOS comes built with features designed for the iPad such as multitasking. Using the iPad’s large display, users can work on multiple documents and apps at the same. Convenient if you need to take notes while referring to another document. It can now also read from USB drives! Available this fall.

The Mac’s Exposé feature comes to the iPad.
iPad OS now supports USB drives and SD cards.
Browse desktop version of websites with Safari on iPad.
Edit text with greater ease with new gestures.

For a detailed description of features and availability, click here.

macOS Catalina

Just how many OS does Apple have and need?? With the latest iPad OS, we count five. The follow up to Mojave, macOS Catalina’s most substantial change has got to be the shutdown of iTunes. Instead, it will simply be replaced by Apple Music, Podcasts and Apple TV app. The other significant feature is Sidecar, which makes use of your iPad as a secondary screen to your Mac or Macbook. Available this fall.

Sidecar brings the intuitiveness and precision of iPad and Apple Pencil to creative Mac apps and can run on a wireless connection.

Sidecar app lets you use iPad as a secondary display to your Mac or Macbook.
Control your Mac with Voice Control.
Screen Time lets you know how much time you’re spending on Apps and websites.

For a detailed description of features and availability, click here.

watchOS 6

Releasing in September, the new watchOS 6 biggest update is that it will now have its own, independent, on-watch App Store. This means you can install apps straight from your watch! Available this fall.

Hearing monitor app (Noise) and menstrual cycle tracking will be be a feature.
New watch faces and customisations.
Voice memos, Audiobooks and Calculator apps make an appearance on the watch.

For a detailed description of features and availability, click here.

tvOS 13

Available this fall (Sept – Nov), tvOS will have multi-user support. Not unlike Netflix, users can set up accounts for family members and friends and have a tailored entertainment experience. This update also sees Apple Arcade coming to Apple TV and quite surprisingly, there’ll be support for game controllers. Available this fall.

Everyone at home can easily access their own personalized playlists and recommendations on Apple Music, and lyrics now appear in real-time while users listen to their favourite songs.

New home screen that’ll have a full-screen preview feature.
Multi-user support.
Apple Arcade with over 100 exclusive games.
Support for Xbox and Playstation game controllers.

For a detailed description of features and availability, click here.

All-New Mac Pro & 6K Resolution Retina Display

Ah finally an announcement that’s NOT about operating systems. On 3 June, Apple introduced the new Mac Pro. Running multiple heavy-duty programmes will be a breeze with its 28-core Intel Xeon processor, 1.5TB of system memory and two AMD Radeon Pro Vega II (making it “the world’s most powerful graphics card” according to Apple). It’s available for order this fall.

Also, unlike older Macs, this beastly cheese grater is a modular system that allows for upgrades – not that you would need to with such a monstrosity of a workstation. The most basic configuration of the Mac Pro will set you back about $8,000 but kitted out with the best components, it could cost at least $65,000 (estimate put together by The Verge). Let that sink in for a while.

https://twitter.com/JJMcCann/status/1135612816558317570

Oh and if you’re looking to complete the entire Mac Pro experience, you should look to get the 32″ 6K resolution Pro Display XDR. It comes with a crazy 6016 x 3384 retina resolution with more than 20 million pixels. Perfect for video and photo editing, colour grading, and animation.

That said, the $6,800 monitor (standard model) does not come with a stand and to get one will cost about $1,300. What in the- Twitter users have even called this “the ultimate middle finger to any consumer considering their machine.”

For a detailed description of features and availability, click here.

While Apple may have glorified its monitor stand (it costs more than an iPhone!), the other updates and its features are nice touches, though somewhat late. Dark Mode and swipe to type have been around on Android for a while now. When all these updates are available, are you going to download them immediately? Or maybe wait around until the dust settles and for Apple to fix some of the inevitable bugs that will surely arrive with the updates? Let us know!