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WWDC 2024

Each year at WWDC, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, the company showcases what's next for its biggest platforms — iOS, macOS, iPadOS and more — and what developers can do to make apps and services for them.

Apple TV’s InSight can instantly add tracks to your Apple Music library.

According to reports from beta testers, the new InSight feature announced at WWDC has appeared in the latest developer beta of iOS 18 and tvOS 18.

InSight pops up details about actors, characters, and songs appearing onscreen in original Apple TV Plus shows. These also show on your iPhone, from where it appears to be easy to add songs to your library. Neat.


You’ll need a new smart lock if you want Apple Home to ‘magically’ unlock your door

Apple is finally putting its U1 ultra wideband chip to use in the smart home with a new hands-free unlocking feature. But it’s not compatible with any existing smart locks.

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Here’s why Apple Intelligence is limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and Macs and iPads with M-series chips.

John Giannandrea, Apple’s AI chief, speaking at John Gruber’s The Talk Show Live from WWDC 2024:

The inference of large language models is incredibly computationally expensive. So it’s a combination of bandwidth in the device, it’s the size of the ANE [Apple Neural Engine], it’s the oomph in the device to actually do these models fast enough to be useful.

You could in theory run these models on a very old device. but it would be so slow it would not be useful.

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s marketing boss, also pushed back on the idea that Apple Intelligence is a scheme to sell new iPhones. “Otherwise, we would have been smart enough just to do recent iPads and Macs, too.”


Who says Macs aren’t for gaming?

Apple’s long-included macOS Chess game has a new look in the first macOS Sequoia beta.

Shiny as it is, it’s missing things like the “Grass” board and the style picker for the pieces, 9to5Mac writes. Here’s the current version (using “Fur” pieces on the Grass board, of course) compared to a screenshot posted to Reddit of its coming replacement.


The current version with a grass board (top) versus the new version, which has shinier pieces that are reflected in the now-glossy board (bottom).
Without a grass board and silly fur-covered pieces, is it even still Chess.app?
Screenshots: Chess.app

Apple and OpenAI make a deal

On The Vergecast: the inner workings of Apple Intelligence, Xbox handhelds, and the future of movie theaters.

The much-needed reinvention of the voice assistant is almost here

Siri and Alexa could one day be totally amazing instead of vaguely annoying. But only if Big Tech can get it right.

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MKBHD interviewed Tim Cook.

Cook was, unsurprisingly, very on message, but he did acknowledge that AI can have its flaws (which he has said before).

Also, Cook talks about how the introduction of the Magic Mouse was an “incredible moment.”


The AI upgrade cycle is here

Will it be worth upgrading your iPhone for Apple Intelligence?

Apple Intelligence, iPhones, and the rest of WWDC 2024

On The Vergecast: Apple makes its AI move, and all the new stuff coming to your phone, tablet, laptop, watch, and TV this year.

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The new versions of iOS and macOS will let you rotate your Wi-Fi address to help reduce tracking.

Here’s how Apple describes the feature, per MacRumors:

A rotating Wi-Fi address helps reduce tracking by changing your Wi-Fi address at various times. Tracking can happen when your address always appears the same to other devices and people using the same network as you.

It’s coming to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.


Can Apple Intelligence fix the iPhone’s broken notifications system?

Apple has a new Focus mode.

Reduce Interruptions uses the company’s new AI to review notifications and only show those that “might need immediate attention” — like a message telling you to pick your child up.

As someone who is inundated with nuisance notifications and has failed to make Apple’s non-smart Focus Modes work for me, I’m looking forward to this one.


Reduce Interruptions will use Apple Intelligence to filter your notifications.
Reduce Interruptions will use Apple Intelligence to filter your notifications.
Image: Apple
Siri warns you that ChatGPT might be lying.

The words “ChatGPT · Check important info for mistakes” popped up under each demo of ChatGPT’s integration with Siri during Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote.

That Apple put something it doesn’t entirely trust on its devices feels like a huge move for the company. Although, it’s clearly keeping its options open — Craig Federighi teased that Google could be a partner, too.


Siri is adding a disclaimer to the ChatGPT results it surfaces.
Siri is adding a disclaimer to the ChatGPT results it surfaces.
Screenshot by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
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Google’s Gemini could eventually come to iOS too.

At a post-keynote live session, Apple’s Craig Federighi just explained how the company is thinking about integrating other AI models. ChatGPT is obviously the first big-name partner, but he mentioned eventually wanting to have domain-specific models. He also named another big player you might someday see in iOS:

“We want to enable users ultimately to choose the models they want, maybe Google Gemini in the future. Nothing to announce right now.”


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Is this the most important Vision Pro update?

From Apple’s post-WWDC 2024 keynote release (emphasis mine):

visionOS 2 also adds mouse support for additional workflow options, and Vision Pro will now reveal the user’s physical Magic Keyboard — even when they are fully immersed in an Environment or app.

I can’t wait to see my keyboard floating in the clouds like Falkor from The Neverending Story when visionOS 2 comes out this fall.


All of Apple’s big AI news from WWDC 2024.

Siri meets generative AI, genmoji, image generation, and some big upgrades for Apple Photos. If you just want the Cliff’s Notes on Apple’s artificial intelligence plans, we’ve got you covered.


Here are some Apple-style speedometers.

Apple is holding a WWDC session today, where it will feature more information on the deeply integrated next-gen CarPlay it announced in 2022. Here we can catch a glimpse of how different automakers could adopt varied styles for their cars. No automaker other than Aston Martin and Porsche seems to have signed up so far.


bento box of flat and gradient speedometer, rpm, and range instrument designs
Apple’s hoping these designs will help automakers express their vehicle’s character and brand.
Image: Apple
Here’s a first look at the iPhone’s upgraded green bubbles.

They sure look like text messages on the iPhone! But the bigger image, green waveform for the audio message, and the “Text Message • RCS” in the text entry field caught my eye.

RCS support is coming with iOS 18.


A screenshot showing RCS messages on iOS 18.
Image: Apple

Apple WWDC 2024: the 13 biggest announcements

Apple’s WWDC keynote had a lot to do with AI.