Apple WWDC 2017: iMac Pro, Siri Speaker, iOS 11 a new App Store and a lot more besides

Michelle Obama will joining developers at WWDC tomorrow.

HomePod will support HomeKit and Siri. Only communication sent to Siri via a “Hey Siri” activator will be sent anonymously to Apple. Prices start at $349. It’ll hit global stores only next year, though you can grab it a little bit earlier in the US, UK and Australia.

Apple #WWDC17 : @Apple #homepod uses spacial information to direct music in compact spaces.
Read more: https://t.co/8UZ4DSFCgL pic.twitter.com/UjKuXY8N8E

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) June 5, 2017

A single HomePod will use beam-forming and intelligence to determine the best way to play music. Multiple HomePods can do even better by working together.

A single HomePod will use beam-forming and intelligence to determine the best way to play music. Multiple HomePods can do even better by wokring together.

Surprise, surprise! It’s not called the Siri  Speaker, it’s called the HomePod. How did we not see this coming?

The device is 7-inches tall, features multiple tweeters with beam-forming support and a 4-inch woofer.

How would we describe it? A Mac Pro, but shorter and covered in acoustic mesh.

Rather than make a speaker that you can talk to, but without great audio capabilities, Apple wants to make a great speaker. One that’s loud, spatially aware and fun to use.

Apple intends to reinvent home music.

Is it the Siri Speaker?

“One last thing”, says Tim Cook

He wants to talk about Music.

iOS 11 is available as a free update today, and to beta users by the end of the month.

Apple #WWDC17 : Drag and drop functionality added to #ipadpro2017 on #iOS11
Read more: https://t.co/8UZ4DSFCgL pic.twitter.com/Bab2RYuGef

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) June 5, 2017

iOS 11 includes a new tool called Markup. Essentially, it’ll let you markup screenshots, PDFs, Safari pages, etc.

Notes will also understand your handwriting. It also includes a built-in document scanner that scans for perspective, etc.

iOS 11 adds support for drag and drop. This applies to images and links as well.

Drag and drop can be used across multiple background apps with the new multi-tasking gesture.

Apple is introducing an app called Files. The app will consolidate all the files in your iPad.

In iOS 11, the iPad gets a new dock. It seems to work a lot like the macOS dock, except that it’s optimised for iPad.

You can flick keys to add punctuation, etc.

Apple #WWDC17 : Better base memory for #ipadpro2017
Read more: https://t.co/8UZ4DSFCgL pic.twitter.com/SdM8zNYMhg

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) June 5, 2017

The 10.5-inch iPad Pro and the 12.5-inch iPad Pro will both start with 64 GB of memory, going up to 512 GB. Prices start at $649.

The devices ship next week.

The new iPad Pro promises a 10-hour battery life.

A 12 MP camera is included, the same unit as on the iPhone 7, says Apple.

The refresh rate will vary as per the requirements, saving power.

The new iPad Pro will be powered by an A10x, which apparently improves graphics performance by 40 percent.

The iPad’s display will support 120 Hz displays. This means that motion will be much smoother. The Apple iPad Pro will also respond better to Apple Pencil, in under 20 ms.

The other bells and whistles, including P3 displays, true-tine lighting, etc., are all supported.

…and here’s the new 10.5-inch iPad display.

It’s as we expected, featuring smaller bezels and support for a smart keyboard.

Tim Cook is now talking about the iPad.

Wingnut AR’s AR demo looks incredible.

Federighi is now demoing Pokemon Go with AR Kit. We must say, it certainly looks more fun in true AR.

Apple’s AR Kit looks very similar to Facebook’s Camera Effects. It’s exciting, but we’ve seen it before.

Federighi claims it’ll be, overnight, the largest AR platform in the world.

This is a Facebook vs Apple battle that’s just waiting to happen.

Machine learning with CoreML, Apple’s machine learning API, makes the iPhone 7 6 times faster than the Pixel at image recognition

The new App Store is big news, but not as big as the announcement of Monument Valley 2

Large cards with rounded edges are going to be in.

The design language that was hinted at in the new Apple Music app, Apple News and TV will finally make it to the App Store.

“We’re going to do something that we’ve never done before. We’re going to completely redesign it.”, Schiller

Schiller promises that apps will be approved at a faster rate. Phased releases are on track.

Phil Schiller is here to talk about the App Store.

Apple Music will now let you know what your friends are listening to.

Developers get access to a MusicKit API, which gives developers access to your music library.

The developer API for AirPlay 2 will let third-party apps get in on the action.

Apple Home Kit will get smarter, support multi-room audio via AirPlay 2, etc.

Apple Car Play will determine when you’re driving. Your phone’s screen will go off and you won’t see them even if you activate the screen. You’ll have to specify that you’re not driving for the system to work.

You’ll also see speed limits and lane guidance.

Apple Maps will have detailed maps of malls, airports, etc.

Apple Maps will have detailed maps of malls, airports, etc.

Siri will pay more attention to your activity and make respond accordingly. As Craig explains, if you’re planning a trip to Finland, the keyboard suggestions will also take Finnish words and places into account.

Memories now uses machine learning to create videos that are smarter.

There are some interesting features that take advantage of the depth API, this includes long exposure which, say, blurs water.

Live photos can finally be looped. Apple has learned the joy of the gif.

Photos will let you loop and reverse live photos.

Your lock screen and notification centre will be unified.

Your lock screen and notification centre will be unified.

The new Control Centre in iOS 11, looks…interesting. The functions are finally 3DTouch ready, so you can hard press on each and every one of them for more information.

There’s now going to be a depth API which will enable developers to play with depth via apps.

The Phone 7 with iOS 11 will support HEVC natively. Videos will be half the size. With HEIC, you’ll have photos that are also half the size.

So Siri’s a little more conversational now. It’s learnt the importance of cadence and tone.

Translation is supported.

Messages will support person-to-person payment directly via the app. The money goes to your Apple Pay account.

Better displays for #iMacs at #WWDC17 pic.twitter.com/Wy2lBXQKNq

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) June 5, 2017

Messages will sync with iCloud. You can now switch devices without losing data. This also means that data used on your phone will be less.

Craig’s back on stage to talk about iOS 11.

We’re now going to be talking about iOS

The base model will be priced at $4999

The iMac Pro will support up to 18-core processors. It’ll also support AMD’s Vega graphics which includes up to 16 GB of VRAM. You can also add up to 128 GB of ECC RAM and up to 4 TB of storage.

A custom cooling solution keeps all of this hardware running cool.

There’ a new Space Grey iMac Pro? Whoah!

The new MacBooks are getting their expected updates. This includes Kaby Lake processors and the related performance enhancements that the upgrade brings.

A new 13-inch MacBook Pro will start at $1,299. Thankfully, the MacBook Air is getting an udpate as well.

The 4K iMac’s pricing will start at $1,299

The all new #macOS will be called #macOS High Sierra. #WWDC17 pic.twitter.com/QCCbTfRBcE

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) June 5, 2017

Apple’s showing an Unreal engine demo being rendered in real-time on a Mac.

Of course, this would have been perfectly possible earlier if Apple had taken the trouble to support fast graphics cards.

Steam is also bringing its VR SDK to the Mac.

With these updates, the new iMacs can actually support VR content.

All 4K iMacs will finally get dedicated discrete graphics units. These will be Radeon graphics units, the Pro 550 series onwards.

These aren’t your gaming GPUs.

The iMacs are getting 7th gen Kaby Lake processors. The new devices will support 32 GB and 64 GB expansion options. They will also get two USB-C connections.

30 year old @Apple HFS file system gives way to APFS file system on the new #MacOS . #WWDC17 pic.twitter.com/2bE1VAkqMF

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) June 5, 2017

Metal for external graphics will, again, allow mac users to do what Windows users have been able to do for a while now.

Mac users will now be able to plug external GPUs to the Mac. Sadly, it’s only limited to AMD GPUs. Sadder still, a simple hack already lets you plug an Nvidia GPU into a Mac (externally).

Metal 2 API will be available today. The update will rollout to the public “this fall.”

Apple’s Metal API now gets bumped up to version 2.

You get 10x reduction in draw calls, it’ll be used for machine learning and finally, Metal for external graphics.

Bottom line: Metal is getting faster.

H.265 support is bring built into macOS. Newer Macs can make use of hardware-based HEVC decoding that Windows users have been using for a while now.

Here’s why APFS is a big deal: http://bit.ly/2rtHPI9

More great news, APFS is finally coming as default in macOS.

Photos will be getting an update, this includes enhanced image editing and search. There’s also going to be a photo printing option. *cough*GoogleI/O*cough*

Mail now supports split view, so you can use a compose window and the mail window together.

Safari will also prevent ads from tracking you. It’ll use machine learning to identify trackers. Ads aren’t blocked, only trackers.

Safari will automatically block autoplaying videos. Yay!

In High Sierra, Safari is the world’s fastest browser – Federigihi

We must put these claims to the test

So what’s macOS going to be called now? Federighi thinks High Sierra is a good idea.

Craig Federighi is here to talk about MacOS.

Tim Cook: Let’s talk about a product that’s the heart and soul of Apple. That product of course, is the Mac.

The developer preview for WatchOS 4 is available today. The update will rollout “this fall”

With WatchOS 4, you can automatically start a playlist while working out. You can also swipe left to control your music.

WatchOS 4 brings support for 2-way communication between gym equipment and the Apple Watch. Apple’s already roped in some of the largest suppliers in the world.

There’s now a new animation for when you achieve your goals on Apple Watch. Close a ring, and be prepared for 312×390 pixel fireworks.

Kaleidoscope watch faces are coming to Apple Watch, as are Woody, Jessy and Buzz. Yes, Toy Story’s Woody.

Siri is going to be more proactive. You’ll now get a Siri watch face to help with this

Honestly, this looks very much like Google Now cards, just skinned by Apple and placed on the Watch

Apple Watch is the number one selling smartwatch by far, says Tim Cook.

Amazon Prime Video is finally coming to Apple TV.

There are 16 million developers attending the event. That’s the largest number of developers ever. There’s also a 10-year old developer present, and he’s got five apps under his belt.

TC: “This is going to be the best and biggest WWDC ever!”

That’s quite a promise.

Tim Cook is on stage. “Welcome to WWDC!”

There’s a really weird ad running right now. But developers, so anything goes, we suppose.

Still waiting for the actual event to start.

…and we’re live. Apple’s giving us some shots of the crowds settling in.

The event is scheduled to begin at 10:30 PM, IST. Stay Tuned.