Bloomberg recap of WWDC news rumors and does not expect hardware announcements [atualizado: ARKit 2.0]

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In our podcast # 279, published just last night, we commented that one of the cool things about this Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is that rumors are pretty scarce. Apart from one thing here and another there, basically everything that Apple presents on Monday should be new to the general public.

Well, today the Bloomberg made a compilation of all the few rumors that have arisen so far and brought some new information about what we can expect from this event. If you want to be surprised on Monday, then stop reading here.

But if you're too curious, read on. Let's go?

Software

One of the few things that Apple anticipates about WWDCs is that they are the stage for the presentation of the great new versions of its four operating systems: iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS.

What we've heard this year is that, in order to focus more on the overall quality of its software, Apple would have postponed certain features of this year's systems to 2019. Among them, a redesigned Home Screen, more artificial intelligence in the Photos app, more file management features on iPads, etc.

This does not mean, of course, that we will have * no * news this year. THE Bloomberg cites some: postponement of notifications, monitoring of the stock market, video calls (probably in group?) and something related to sending Animojis to those who have the iPhone X.

As in recent years, Apple should also pay special attention to augmented reality and probably launch version 2.0 of its framework ARKit, enabling gamers enter the same virtual environment or objects are positioned in a specific virtual location (and do not move from there).

Siri is also expected to gain new “proactive” features this year, but more significant changes “will still take time” according to Bloomberg.

On macOS, there is a strong expectation that Apple will announce the possibility of iOS apps running on Macs or that, at least, it will be easier for developers to create apps that run on both platforms.

But one of the big news for the systems is a deeper parental control feature, according to what Apple recently promised. The idea is to give parents / users the tools to use these devices less, to be more aware of the time they are spending on them. This would be part of an initiative by Ma called “Sade Digital” (Digital Health).

By the way, a petition is rolling out that asks Apple for features related to this: greater flexibility to personalize iOS, notification control, contextual limitations, usage monitoring, app statistics and more. The initiative comes from the so-called Digital Wellness Warriors, a group of developers and organizations whose mission is "to realign technology with the best interests of humanity".

Hardware

WWDC is an event very focused on software, not least because it is a conference of developers. But it is quite common to also see hardware launches at the event.

New 13 and 15 inch MacBooks Pro diagonally opened

Well, for the Bloomberg, we’ll hardly see new hardware in Monday’s keynote. The biggest expectation was for new MacBooks (Pro), not least because indices appeared a few days ago, but reporter Mark Gurman says that "they are not ready until later this year". The same can be said, according to him, with respect to new iPad Pro with Face ID.

Apple would also be working on a new generation of Watch with bigger screens, going from end to end, but it also shouldn't be introduced now. Sources indicate that this will be the “most notable” jump in the line since its original release, but luckily it looks like current bracelets will continue to be compatible with the new watches.

The biggest challenge for Apple, in the case of Watch, convincing developers that this is a platform worth investing in. As we covered here on the website, several apps that supported watchOS were recently updated, abandoning the watch.

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As much as we know that Gurman has reliable sources within Apple, until these things are made official by her, everything is just a rumor. In other words, some may materialize, others may not, and he may also not have been informed about all the company's plans.

So, wait for the news on Monday! 😉

Update 06/01/2018 at 17:35

THE Reuters corroborated today one of the information brought by Bloomberg about the ARKit 2.0: according to agency sources, next Monday we will see demonstrations of two people playing in the same virtual environment, shared directly by their iPhones / iPads.

The idea of ​​creating this virtual environment directly would be, once again, a reflection of Apple's concern with privacy. This way, it would not be necessary to scan an entire environment and send it to the cloud, then allow other players to enter.

It is not yet known, therefore, whether such a system would support more than two players. But we will most likely hear details about that next week.