Apple’s big AI-infused WWDC keynote kicks off June 10

Apple has announced the dates for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which is always held in early June. This year is no exception, with the WWDC24 event taking place on June 10-14. That’s a week later than is typical, but not outside the usual timeframe.

While the event focuses on developers and how they can use Apple’s latest tools and technology to make apps, services, and accessories for Apple products, the highlight for most of us is the opening Keynote held at 10am Pacific Time on the first day.

At the keynote “Special Event,” Apple unveils the new operating systems coming in the fall: iOS and iPadOS 18, macOS 15, tvOS 18, and watchOS 11. For the first time, Apple will also the latest visionOS advancements in the first update since the mixed-reality headset was announced at WWDC in 2023. The event will be streaming on Apple’s site, within the TV app on all supported devices, and is usually on YouTube as well.

In addition to software and services, Apple sometimes announces new hardware at WWDC. We expect new iPads should already be on the market by June, and the new iPhones and Apple Watches are always unveiled in September, but there’s a chance of seeing a Mac Studio upgraded to the M3 series chips, new lower-cost AirPods (a replacement for 2nd-gen and 3rd-gen AirPods), an M3 Ultra chip upgrade for the Mac Pro, or even something unusual like the rumored “HomePod with a display.”

The focus of WWDC this year is expected to be on Artificial Intelligence. After years of using AI in its products but shying away from promoting it using that term, and having seemingly fallen behind other tech giants in the new “generative AI” race, Apple is expected to unveil lots of new gen-AI tools and technologies. Some will be user-facing, like a greatly enhanced Siri, others will be aimed at developers, like code-writing AI in Xcode.

Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor