WWDC 2016 revealed: No hardware announcements, but iOS to get design revamp and more

With all eyes on Apple at the up coming WWDC 2016 set to kick off on 13 June, everyone (including investors) are waiting with baited breath as to what Apple will unveil. Key among those were also expected to be some hardware announcements in the form of a major upgrade to Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup. But as it turns out, an ex-9to5Mac editor has revealed that there will be no hardware announcements, but just a focus on refreshed software instead. Mark Gurman who recently left 9to5mac, revealed in a podcast that Apple will in all probability not be unveiling any new MacBooks. But that there are expected to be some major announcements to do with Apple’s software developments instead. Key among these as mentioned in our WWDC 2016 roundup , will be Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, who is finally coming to MacOS (or OS X) on desktops and laptops. The voice assistant was restricted to the iOS ecosystem so far and will indeed be a big deal. More so because it would be Apple’s only offering in terms of AI this year when Google has literally “owned” the same area lately. Additionally Photos is expected to get an upgrade. Some major changes are coming to iOS as well. While we do know Apple Music is getting a revamp and is expected to go black and white,  iOS is expected to get some design updates overall. This will be in the form of more colours instead of the commonly used blue/black over white, a change in the way notifications are displayed and some tweaks in the operating system. Again Photos gets some big enhancements, while users will get a system-wide markup feature and more. Apple Music is also expected to get refreshed main menu (thank God for that!). As expected, Siri will take up a major chunk of the keynote. It will be used to do a lot more than what can be achieved with it so far. Siri’s much-talked about SDK is also expected to finally arrive. Turns out the reason for the showing up so late are privacy concerns, so there is a chance that apps may have to get approved before being allowed to access the SDK. iMessage is expected to get financial transfers via Apple Pay and there are also expected to be updates on Apple’s favourite topic, encryption. But Gurman also revealed Apple’s future plans. Turns out Apple will be launching those MacBooks with OLED strip and a slimmer design, but these are set to arrive later this year. Coming to the iPhone 7, it will have refreshed antenna lines layout, and the refresh cycle is said to come down to one year and not three years as per recent rumours. The iPhone 2017 will come with no bezels and will have Touch ID sensor behind the display (ultrasonic). Also Apple’s car Project is still under way. While all of the above observations are coming from a pretty much credible source, we would still advice readers to take all the information with a pinch of salt. Still then, D day is not too far away as the WWDC is set to take place in San Francisco on 13 June at 1030PM IST.