WWDC 2024 kicked off on Monday with a packed keynote that revealed a variety of upcoming Apple Intelligence technologies, including iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and more.
We’ve highlighted the key announcements below, but be sure to also check out our video highlights and our summary article, which includes links to all of our coverage of this important day.
Apple unveils iOS 18 with customizable home screen, control center and more
Apple unveiled iOS 18 this week with a wide range of new features and changes for iPhone, including new customization options for the Home Screen and Control Center, a redesigned Photos app, the ability to use any emoji as a Tapback in the Messages app, and the option to lock apps with Face ID or Touch ID.
The headline feature of iOS 18 is Apple Intelligence, Apple’s new suite of generative AI features coming to iPhone, iPad, and Mac later this year. Read on to learn more about Apple Intelligence.
“Apple Intelligence” announced for iPhone, iPad and Mac
Apple Intelligence can summarize text and notifications, create custom emoji and images, and more. Siri also gets smarter with Apple Intelligence, with richer language understanding and per-app controls. Siri will also get access to ChatGPT.
These new AI-powered features are available on iPhone 15 Pro and later, or on a Mac or iPad with an M1 chip or later. Apple Intelligence will be available when iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia are released to the public later this year, though the features will have a beta label at launch.
Apple unveils macOS 15 Sequoia with iPhone Mirroring, Password app and more
macOS Sequoia is the name of this year’s major update to the Mac operating system.
Aside from Apple Intelligence, other major new features include the ability to mirror your iPhone to your Mac, the same Passwords app that will come to iPhone in iOS 18, and improved window tiling.
macOS Sequoia is currently in beta and is expected to be widely released later this year.
Apple previews watchOS 11 with new health and workout features
Key new features and changes for Apple Watch in watchOS 11 include the ability to pause Activity rings without interrupting an Award streak, a new Vitals app that provides overnight health metrics, and Live Activities support in Smart Stack.
Like the other software updates announced at WWDC, watchOS 11 is currently in developer beta and is expected to be available to the public later this year.
tvOS 18 adds “InSight” to identify actors and songs in Apple TV+ shows
Although it didn’t get much attention at WWDC, tvOS 18 is coming to Apple TV.
The software update includes several new features and changes, including the “InSight” feature that identifies actors and songs in Apple TV+ shows, Enhance Dialogue features and updated subtitles, additional screensavers, and 21:9 video playback support for playing movies and shows on projectors.
Apple unveils visionOS 2 with ultra-wide Mac virtual displays, train travel mode and more
visionOS 2 is the first major software update for Apple’s Vision Pro spatial computer, which launched in the US earlier this year and is due to be available in eight more countries by mid-July.
visionOS 2 uses machine learning to convert existing 2D photos into spatial photos, adds new hand gestures to frequently used features like Home View and Control Center, introduces a larger ultra-wide version of the Mac Virtual Display, extends Travel Mode to trains, and supports a physical mouse.
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