Apple’s yearly development conference always gives hints about what software features are coming, but often plays host to hardware releases, too.
It’s the first weekend of June, and that means once again it’s almost time for Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference. The annual WWDC is always good for learning about what new software features the company has cooked up for its many platforms, including the Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, and more. Like last year, this year’s WWDC is a little different than most, since it’s going to be hosted online virtually rather than in person as in 2019 and prior. Still, we expect a whole lot of new and interesting things to pop up. Apple’s yearly cadence of operating system releases means we’ll probably get a first look at all of Apple’s operating systems. Of course, we expect that this year will include iOS and iPadOS 15, and this year it seems like the company is at a crossroads. The 2021 version of the iPad Pro saw a huge leap in CPU performance thanks to adopting Apple’s M1 SoC, which up until then had been part of the company’s Mac lineup. It also got Apple’s mini-LED display, up to 16 GB of RAM, and Thunderbolt 4. From a hardware perspective, the iPad Pro is pretty incredible. The software, on the other hand, is still iPadOS. Even if we set aside the fact that its walled garden limits the device to only apps downloaded from Apple’s App Store, the iPad has a big multitasking problem. Instead of windowed applications like macOS, iPadOS only has a split screen view that requires developer intervention to even use properly. In macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple added windowed iOS apps to its Apple Silicon Macs We’re hopeful that something similar may be in the works for the iPad but we wouldn’t hold our breath. Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak has already shot down the idea of macOS proper on the device, so owners are at Apple’s mercy when it comes to multitasking.
