News & Analysis

Apple’s Journey Into Business Altering Devices Continues – WWDC 2022

Apple came out with two laptops, a new OS and the M2 Chip that suggests a not so subtle move towards the Metaverse

Apple’s annual developer conference gave us a peek into the company’s future. The company came out with two new laptops carrying their latest M2 chip, but what cornered the excitement was Apple’s efforts with new operating systems for all their devices, with a customization option for pretty much everything that one could think of around the lock screen itself. 

In parallel, we are also getting reports that Apple has lured some top Hollywood directors to create content for a new device that blends the real world with the virtual one. What’s more, this innovative headset could be arriving soon. At the WWDC, the company also spoke about software that could allow apps to add camera and voice functionalities. 

 

The new initiatives with the hardware

Before getting into the software, let’s take a look at what Apple brought up on the hardware front. The company confirmed its M2 processor and two new laptops that would be powered by it. There’s the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro which would carry the M2 chip that boasts of a 5-nM design capable of handling a maximum of 24GB unified memory. 

The 2022 MacBook Air would also boast a new design besides Magsafe batteries and battery life that would be better than existing devices. The device looks flatter and far sleeker at a thickness of 11mm and weighs just 1.22 kg. The device remains fanless and comes with a 13.6-inch liquid retina display with 500 nits of brightness and a billion colors. There’s the Magic Keyboard and a larger function key row with two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. The MacBook Pro design remains unchanged barring the new chipset. 

 

The multi-tasking operating system 

However, what attracted considerable attention is Apple’s next generation operating systems – the iOS16 and the macOS Ventura and the iPadOS16. Let’s take a quick look at each one of these and how their features pan out in terms of the virtual world realities… 

The iPadOS 16 gets many new features as does the iOS 16 but there are a few that are very focused on the tablet user experience.  iPads powered by the M1 chipset organizes apps and windows automatically. It further lets users create overlapping windows of varying sizes into a single view and allows for drag-and-drop windows from the side. 

Then there is the Freeform collaboration app that allows a flexible canvas which lets users see, share and collaborate in a single place without having to worry about layouts and page sizes. It also supports the Apple Pencil, which could make it a preferred tool for meetings. The next update will allow users to start a session from FaceTime and see updates from others too. 

The macOS Ventura now offers Stage Manager, which is a total overhaul of the Mission Control that users enable from the Command Center. While the latter showed all the running apps on the screen, the new version keeps only the currently-opened apps in focus and bunches all the other ones by category on one side. 

What does this mean for users? Well, you can remain “live” in this view while working on your current app without interruption. In case you want to shift to another app, merely click in from the side thus providing for an easy toggle option. Continuity Camera is another addition that allows users to make the iPhone into a webcam. This means you can seamlessly move from FaceTime Handoff on the iPhone to your MacBook. 

Coming to iOS16, the biggest shift this time round is the lock screen. So, whether you’ve a picture or a wallpaper set on the screen, the update allows you to customize the date and time portion including fonts and colors besides also adding widgets of your choice. In addition, the notifications get more discrete and occupy the lower end of the screen.

Among other big updates, the Messages feature now allows editing one, unsending them and also marking conversations as unread. Additionally, the dictation feature got better fluidity as one can either talk to Siri or shift to typing with the keyboard. There’s also automated emoji recognition and auto-punctuation thrown in. 

Finally, the company also showcased the next generation of CarPlay that is slated to arrive by the end of 2023. It is completely redesigned and would work on all available screens in a car that includes the driver display. It would also show data related to speed, RPM, fuel and temperature levels picked directly from the vehicle. 

 

 

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