There are specific times for tech enthusiasts to get excited about various releases.
All the new exciting tech for the first half of the year is announced at CES, and it’s straight off the bat after New Years, in the beginning of January. Mobile World Congress in February and March gives us an idea of Android phones for the first half of the year, and then the middle of the year brings Computex for computers, appliances and premium home entertainment gear at IFA in August or September, and then the expected iPhone, Pixel, and Samsung launches as well.
But there’s also another mid-year event to get excited for, especially if you happen to live in the Apple ecosystem in some way or another: WWDC.
Also known as the Worldwide Developers Conference, it’s basically a preview of what’s to come for owners of a Mac, an iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and anything else that runs an operating system made by Apple. It is literally an Apple developer conference, with the talk on its major development language of SwiftUI, and of the platforms and kits and features Apple devices will get.
And importantly, it also acts as a bit of a crystal ball for what Apple plans on launching in September at that aforementioned iPhone launch, which often comes with an Apple Watch or three.
While there’s no theme as such, this year’s WWDC has been set for June 8, and will reportedly be a week of online advancements covering AI, developer tools, and software.
For people who aren’t developers, what that actually means is Apple covering what’s coming for new operating systems, meaning iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and all the other variants for the next year for Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and so on.
What we’ll also possibly see is new hardware, as Apple upgrades the remainder of its Macs to cover its M5 processor, including the Mac Mini currently on the M4, and the iMac also on the M4. Meanwhile, high-end folks in content creation and workstation applications may be able to look forward to an M5 Mac Studio replacing the current M4 Max and M3 Ultra Studio desktop.
Right now, it’s more or less an expectation, largely because they’re the last of the Macs to get an upgrade, and WWDC is often seen as the launching place for such things. But June also isn’t that far away, so you probably won’t have to wait long.
If anything, you’ll at least see who won this year’s Swift Student Challenge, and whether AI played a part in that, as well.