What’s going on with Apple WWDC?

Apple has announced this Thursday, March 30, the dates of its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which will take place from June 5 to 9 in an online format and will feature an in-person event on an opening day free for all developers.

The Tim Cook-led company will hold its annual developer event at its Apple Park headquarters (United States). At this event it will unveil the latest developments in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS. In addition, at WWDC23, developers will be able to meet Apple engineers and learn about the latest technologies and tools that will help them continue to create innovative apps.

Apple and its awaited WWDC event

“WWDC23 is going to be the biggest to date”

said Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, Susan Prescott, while recalling that it is “one of the favorite times of the year” for the company because it makes it possible to connect both online and in person with the world’s most talented developers. As Apple explained in a statement, the in-person event on June 5 will be focused on developers and students to view the keynote and State of the Union content along with the online community. This meeting will be free of charge, although in-person seating will be limited.

In addition, Apple will continue to support programming students through the Swift Student Challenge, which will once again challenge developers of all ages to apply their own. To do so, students will have the help of Swift Playgrounds, an app for iPad and Mac that teaches the Swift programming language. Those wishing to attend the event in person must apply to Apple, but due to limited seating, will be subject to review. There is no additional cost for in-person participation. There is a separate website to apply for in-person support, and the application period ends on 4.4.

An image from the conference has raised questions about whether it relates to possible virtual reality goggles that Apple may announce in the coming months. So the big news for developers at this WWDC would be “realityOS,” the version of iOS for virtual reality products.

New this year

Among the novelties this year, the technology company is expected to present its mixed reality viewer, after suffering some delays in its launch due to difficulties with the development of the device, as noted by Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.

A couple of weeks ago, Gurman had indicated that Apple will introduce more new features than expected in the next version of the iOS 17 operating system, which will not only include bug fixes and performance improvements but will come with some of the features “most requested by users”.

Which ones are not updated?

If the rumor is true, these are the devices that will not be able to update to iOS 17 after its release in September 2023:

• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 plus
• iPhone X
• iPad 5th generation
• iPad Pro 9.7″ first generation
• iPad Pro 12.9″ first generation

Any iPhone or iPad with A5-A11 chips can be jailbroken due to a bootloader vulnerability. Since it is in read-only mode, it cannot be fixed with a software update. This would be the main reason why Apple would not update these devices. Apple will reveal news about its operating systems, including iOS 17, on June 5 with a keynote address at WWDC 2023, the company’s annual worldwide software conference in Cupertino, California.