It was reported on June 6 that Apple will hold the 2022 World Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday local time in the United States. At that time, it will welcome system upgrades such as IOS 16, ipados 16, tvos 16, watchos 9 and MacOS 13. However, the US media predicted that the protagonist of the event was actually the ar/vr helmet, which highlighted Apple's determination to strengthen competition with the parent company meta platform of Facebook.
Major upgrade of various operating systems
At this year's developer conference, apple is sure to make major updates to many of its operating systems. This event may bring a wider range of new features than in previous years, such as iphone The running IOS 16 will be equipped with a new lock screen function, the apple watch will adopt a new low-power mode and upgrade the dial, ipad Will be upgraded to focus on professional users.
In addition to these core system function upgrades, apple senior analyst markgurman predicts that Apple's applications on iPhone, apple watch, iPad and Mac will also receive major updates, such as system preferences on MAC, fitness app on Apple watch, and news and health function updates on iPhone.
At this developer conference, Apple may even launch a new macbook Air。 The company had planned to launch the new laptop at this year's conference, but the outbreak related downtime prompted the shutdown of the MacBook factory, which may lead to delivery delays. Even if the new air does appear at the conference, gulman expects a supply shortage, and Apple will not even announce the delivery date.
The new MacBook Air will be Apple's largest upgrade of the device in more than a decade, introducing new designs and colors, including dark blue and champagne gold in addition to space gray and silver. In addition, this laptop may be equipped with a 13 inch display and two usb-c ports. It supports MagSafe charging, touch ID unlocking and other functions. There is no touch bar and the bangs are smaller.
Apple originally planned to release the 13 inch macbook pro and the new air at the same time, but the impact of the epidemic may also disrupt the plan. Gulman predicts that the appearance of the new MacBook Pro will be roughly the same as that of the 13 inch MacBook Pro released in 2020.
Trademark application emerging
Although these upgrades will excite fruit fans and developers, the greater focus is still ar/vr and its related software realityos (also known as ROS). It was previously reported that this device can combine AR and VR elements, making apple and meta more competitive.
Last week, Apple Developer Parker Ortolani found that a mysterious company had recently applied for a trademark for realityos. The trademark is not registered under the name of apple, but a newly established shell company named realityo systems in Delaware. Usually, companies that pay attention to confidentiality like apple often set up shell companies to apply for trademarks, and the lawyers involved usually have close relations with apple.
Although there is no clear evidence that apple is the trademark holder of realityos, this move has all the characteristics of the company's Secret application for a new trademark. In fact, apple first registered the realityos name in Liechtenstein, a small country between Austria and Switzerland, on June 9, 2021.
Before the registration of trademarks in the United States, Liechtenstein was one of the countries where Apple often applied for trademarks. This is because, according to the law, a company has the priority to register the same name in another country within six months after applying for a trademark in one country. The date of Apple's trademark application in the United States is december9,2021, just six months after the initial application was filed in Liechtenstein.
First listed in the United States next year
Although apple just showed the ar/vr device to its board of directors a few weeks ago, gulman still believes that we will not see its full debut on this year's WWDC, but we can get more clues. It is reported that this device will be first launched in the United States next year.
Apple's ar/vr plan includes not only devices and their operating systems, but also many apple applications and experiences that support vr/ar, a series of input modes that have never appeared in the company's products, and a new platform for third-party developers.
In recent months, the development of the operating system and its supporting framework for developers has increased significantly. Gulman said he would pay close attention to Apple's updates to metals, reality composer and various video codecs. The recent updates of final cut pro and logic Pro have added VR video and spatial audio support respectively. Obviously, this is no coincidence.
As part of the ar/vr device development platform, apple aims to automatically embed user interface elements such as body tracking, gesture tracking, gesture, handwriting typing and Siri access into third-party applications, just as iPhone elements such as keyboard are automatically integrated into IOS applications.
Apple is also developing a new version of swiftui for building AR and VR applications. As expected, the system will work closely with realitykit and metals. At the same time, the company is launching a new development environment for Mac, allowing developers to simulate operating helmets and applications they are developing before they get the device.
The operating system of Apple's ar/vr devices was originally derived from IOS and tvos, but the company has developed a feature that can easily convert iPad and Apple TV applications to ar/vr devices, which is no different from the catalyst framework that converts iPad applications to MAC applications.
Although third-party applications are a key component of the ar/vr project, apple is also planning to launch a series of its own applications. This includes the VR version of FaceTime, which can scan faces to copy their actions on memoji; The new VR version of Apple maps, as well as ROS variants of Apple's core applications such as notebooks and calendars. In addition, apple is also developing a way to expand the Mac's display with ar/vr devices into 3D mode.
At the same time, apple is using acquisitions such as its entertainment department and nextvr to build 3D versions of its content, so we are likely to see VR iterative updates of apple tv+ programs and fitness+ fitness. It's no coincidence that apple is more into the sports field. Gulman expects that these contents will be well integrated. (small)