Apple’s big presentation to kick off WWDC 2023 was over two o’clock long. I’m as excited about new products as the next person, but who has that kind of time? If you want to catch up on everything Apple has announced but don’t have two hours to watch the video, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a quick summary of the announcements, with links to our additional coverage when you want to dive in and learn more.
15-inch MacBook Air
Apple
The MacBook M2 becomes a big brother, as we’ve long suspected. It’s essentially identical to the 13-inch M2 model, but with a larger 15-inch screen. Pricing starts at a very reasonable $1,299, and the 13-inch MacBook Air M2 gets a price drop to $1,099.
Learn more about the 15-inch MacBook Air.
M2 Ultra and Mac Studio Update
Apple
Apple maintained the Mac segment with updates to Mac Studio to support M2 Max and M2 Ultra. While the M2 Max was already in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, the M2 Ultra is new. Much like M1 Ultra, M2 Ultra is basically two M2 Max chips bonded together with a super-fast interconnect.
Mac Studio with M2 Max starts at $1,999 and with M2 Ultra at $3,999.
Learn more about M2 Max and M2 Ultra in Mac Studio.
Mac Pro with Apple Silicon
Apple
Mac Studio with M2 Ultra not enough for you? Apple has finally completed its transition to Apple Silicon with a new Mac Pro. It’s housed in an identical enclosure to the Intel-based model but sports an M2 Ultra, eight Thunderbolt ports, and six PCIe gen 4 slots.
Slots support upgrades such as storage, networking, and A/V interfaces, but it doesn’t look like you can upgrade RAM or graphics in Apple Silicon Mac Pro.
Pricing starts at $6,999, exactly $3,000 more than the similarly configured Mac Studio.
Learn more about Mac Pro with Apple Silicon.
iOS17
Apple’s WWDC 2023
Naturally, Apple will update iOS to one billion iPhones this fall, and iOS 17 is getting a lot of excitement. There’s a new contact sharing and airdrop experience where you just bring your iPhones closer together, personalized contact posters, brand new autocorrect using new technology and interface, real-time voicemail transcriptions , a new Sleep mode for charging pads, and more.
Learn more about the main features of iOS 17.
iPadOS 17
Apple
iOS 16’s customizable lock screen is coming to iPad, but there’s more like interactive widgets (also in iOS 17), improvements to Stage Manager, FaceTime, Live Activities and the Health app to name a few. name a few.
Learn more about iPadOS 17.
macOS 14 Sonoma
Apple
Version 14’s name is macOS Sonoma, and it includes widgets anywhere on the desktop, Game Mode, and a new Game Ports Developer Kit, big Safari updates, screen savers, and more. slow motion video screen, and more. Plus, of course, many of the core iOS and iPadOS features, such as enhanced autocorrect and PDF autofill, are coming to macOS as well.
Learn more about macOS Sonoma.
Adaptive audio for AirPods
If you have 2nd generation AirPods Pro, they will get a new adaptive audio mode that combines transparency and noise cancellation. It cancels distracting background noise but allows meaningful sounds through. Conversation Awareness lowers the volume of what you’re listening to and enhances the sounds of people talking with you in front of you. Custom volume uses machine learning to learn your volume preferences with different types of content and environmental conditions. Automatic switching between Apple devices is faster and more reliable, and with AirPods Pro, Max, or 3rd generation AirPods, you can mute or unmute during a call with a quick tap of the stem (or tap on the Digital Crown on AirPods Max).
Learn more about new AirPods features coming this fall.
New AirPlay Features
AirPlay gets smart, with Siri suggestions based on how you start AirPlay sessions from your iPhone or iPad. AirPlay is coming to hotels – you’ll be able to scan a QR code on the hotel TV and connect to it via AirPlay with your iPhone or iPad to easily stream your own content.
Apple Music and CarPlay collaborative playlists
This fall, SharePlay is coming to CarPlay. When you connect your iPhone to CarPlay, passengers in your car will be prompted on their own iPhone to join the session. Then they can control playback, add tracks, etc.
tvOS 17
Apple
There’s a brand new Control Center in tvOS 17, you can use your iPhone to locate your Siri Remote, and more. But the big news is FaceTime on Apple TV. It uses Continuity Camera like macOS does, to wirelessly connect to your iPhone and use it as a camera and microphone. It also works simultaneously with SharePlay, so you can watch synced content together during your FaceTime call.
Learn more about tvOS 17.
watchOS 10
Apple
The Apple Watch gets a major overhaul in watchOS 10. Scrolling the crown from your watch face shows a smart stack of interactive widgets. The apps themselves have been redesigned in watchOS. There are new features in workouts like cycling, hiking, and new workout APIs for third-party developers. You can log your mood in the mindfulness app, and the watch will be able to tell how long you spend in daylight.
Learn more about watchOS 10.
One more thing… Apple Vision Pro!
Apple
Most of the keynote was devoted to “One More Thing”: Apple Vision Pro, the poorly kept secret of Apple’s big mixed reality headset.
It sports a pair of incredibly high-resolution micro-OLED displays (over 4K per eye!), a curved OLED outer display so others can see your eyes, an insane number of sensors and cameras (12 cameras, five sensors and six mics), and is powered by two main chips: an M1 processor and a new R1 processor that handles all sensor data in milliseconds to avoid latency.
It’s Apple’s next big computing platform. As the Mac introduced personal computing and iPhone portable computing, Vision Pro is meant to introduce spatial computing.
It’s packed with features, new ways to enjoy video content in a virtual theater, the ability to run all your favorite apps simultaneously in floating windows of any size you want, new ways to use FaceTime and SharePlay, a Mac display virtual, taking and viewing 3D photos and videos, and much more. There will of course be an App Store, with custom Vision Pro apps as well as thousands of compatible iPhone and iPad apps.
Of course, all this insane technology doesn’t come cheap. Apple Vision Pro will start at $3,499 when it releases in spring 2024.
Learn more about Apple Vision Pro.
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