The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an important event for Apple fans and developers around the world every year. WWDC 2024 once again offered many exciting innovations and insights into the company's future direction. At a time when artificial intelligence (AI) and technological advances are in the foreground, Apple presented a series of updates designed to improve your user experience with the Apple ecosystem.
The keynote was quite interesting: Apple started the keynote without saying a word about AI and focused on other important updates first. It was almost as if they wanted to deliberately keep the audience in suspense before introducing numerous new AI features in the second half of the event, which they called "Apple Intelligence". This strategy kept the audience on tenterhooks and made the later reveal all the more interesting.
During the two-hour event, not only the latest versions of iOS, iPadOS and macOS were presented, but also important updates for the Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple TV. These updates, although some are already available from competitors such as Google or Samsung, still promise improvements and new possibilities for you. In this blog post, we offer you a comprehensive overview of everything Apple announced at WWDC 2024. From minor improvements to major updates - here you will find everything you need to know.
Apple Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence from Apple
Introduction to Apple Intelligence
Apple has introduced a new era of artificial intelligence to its ecosystem with Apple Intelligence. These new generative models take AI usage to a new level, offering improved features for word processing, image editing, and more. Apple uses the most advanced technologies to make everyday interactions with your devices smarter and more efficient.
AI-based functions
The new AI-based features are diverse and practical. In Pages and Keynote, you can now have text automatically summarized or rewritten, making document creation much easier. The magic eraser in the Photos app allows you to remove unwanted objects from your photos and seamlessly add to the background. In addition, you can now create your own emojis with generative emojis and design images in different styles to fully express your creativity.
Improvements to Siri
Siri has also received an update and now understands context better. AI integration allows Siri to perform actions within apps and offers a new animation and the ability to control Siri via text.
Which devices are supported by Apple Intelligence?
Unfortunately, the new Apple Intelligence features are only supported on the latest devices. Only iPhones from the iPhone 15 Pro onwards - including the entire upcoming iPhone 16 range - as well as all iPads and Macs with at least an M1 chip will benefit from these new features. So if you own a brand new iPhone 15 or an iPhone 14 Pro, you will unfortunately not be able to benefit from these AI improvements. This limitation could be disappointing for many users who have recently invested in these Apple products.
Apple Intelligence: The next step in AI integration
The introduction of Apple Intelligence marks a significant step in Apple's strategy to further integrate AI into its devices. Features such as text summarization, the magic eraser, and generative emojis show that Apple is ready to fully exploit the power of artificial intelligence. The improvements to Siri and the strict privacy measures underscore Apple's commitment to usability and security.
Benefit from ChatGPT without sacrificing security – Private Cloud Compute and the partnership with OpenAI
For particularly complex tasks that exceed local processing, Apple relies on Private Cloud Compute. This is a special infrastructure that provides high computing power safely and efficiently without storing your data permanently. In certain cases, Apple also uses the powerful ChatGPT models from OpenAI. This obscures your IP address to ensure maximum privacy. Another plus point: before Apple accesses OpenAI's servers, you are always asked for permission. This transparency and control over your data ensures that you are always informed and protected while benefiting from the advanced AI functions.
iOS 18: The big updates for the iPhone
Your home screen is now truly customizable
iOS 18 brings one of the biggest and long-awaited changes: you can finally freely place icons on the home screen. This simple but significant feature has been long awaited by many iPhone users. In addition, the new theme engine allows you to customize the color of icons and widgets so that you can match them to your wallpaper.
New customizable control center
The Control Center has been completely redesigned and is now fully customizable. You can style it across multiple pages and add more shortcuts and customization options.
Additional features: Hide apps, RCS and redesigned Photos app
iOS 18 also adds the ability to put apps in hidden folders, creating more privacy and order on your home screen. Another long-awaited feature is scheduling text messages. Although RCS support was only briefly mentioned, it's a significant step for the Messages feature. Other new features include a redesigned Photos app and a new Game Mode that reduces background activity and Bluetooth latency.
iOS 18 and the long-awaited adjustments
iOS 18 brings some of the most requested customizations, such as free-placeable icons and a customizable theme engine. These features may be nothing new for Android users, but they are a big step for the iPhone community. The revamped Photos app and new Game Mode are also welcome additions, giving users more control and improved performance.
iPadOS 18: More than just a big iPhone?
Important innovations
One of the most notable new features in iPadOS 18 is the long-awaited Calculator app. Users have been waiting for this feature since the iPad was launched in 2010, and now it's finally here.The new calculator app supports handwriting recognition and variable equations, making it especially useful for students. With the ability to write math equations by hand and get instant solutions, the iPad becomes an even more powerful tool for education.
Further improvements
iPadOS 18 brings all the exciting new features of iOS 18 to iPad, including customizable home screens and a redesigned Control Center. These customizations allow you to make your iPad even more personal and functional. A particularly handy addition is the new SharePlay feature, which lets you take control of another iPad. This is ideal for tech support within family or friends, and makes helping with tech issues easier and more efficient than ever before.
macOS Sequoia: The desktop is getting smarter
New update for the Mac: macOS Sequoia
macOS Sequoia brings a number of long-awaited features that significantly improve the user experience on the Mac. One of the most important new features is built-in window snapping, which now works without third-party apps and allows you to organize windows quickly and easily. There is also a new Password app that makes managing and storing passwords much easier and more accessible.
The improved capabilities for working seamlessly between Mac and iPhone take integration in the Apple ecosystem to a new level. You can now receive and use iPhone notifications and audio seamlessly on your Mac, further streamlining workflow and cross-device collaboration.
iPhone mirroring and seamless integration
One of the most exciting new features in macOS Sequoia is wireless iPhone mirroring. This feature allows you to display your iPhone's screen directly on your Mac. You can drag and drop content between devices, creating an even tighter integration and a seamless user experience. Whether you're transferring photos and videos or using apps in sync, iPhone mirroring makes collaboration between your Apple devices easier and more efficient than ever before.
macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18: Evolution instead of revolution
macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18 focus on evolution rather than revolution. Features like integrated window snapping and the new password app in macOS are overdue but useful. The ability to seamlessly integrate iPhone notifications and audio on the Mac shows Apple's commitment to further improving continuity between its devices. The introduction of the calculator app with handwriting recognition in iPadOS 18 is a surprisingly useful feature that will be of great benefit to school and college students in particular.
New features for AirPods, Apple TV and WatchOS
AirPods Pro 2 updates
The AirPods Pro 2 have been equipped with some useful and innovative features that make the listening experience even better. The new voice isolation function ensures significantly improved intelligibility during calls by minimizing background noise. In addition, the spatial audio offers a more intense and immersive audio experience, especially when playing games.A particularly exciting innovation is the hands-free control by nodding or shaking the head, which makes it possible to answer or reject calls and control music tracks without having to use your hands.
Apple TV improvements
Apple TV has also received some interesting new features that improve the TV viewing experience. A new feature displays real-time information about actors, characters and songs that are currently on the screen. This allows you to learn more about your favorite series and films without having to pause playback. In addition, a voice enhancement feature has been introduced that ensures that dialogue remains clear and understandable even when the background music is loud. These improvements take TV watching with Apple TV to a new level.
WatchOS innovations for the Apple Watch
The Apple Watch's software, WatchOS, has also benefited from new features. It has received new training modes that evaluate the intensity and trends of your workouts. This feature helps you better track and optimize your training goals.
Smaller but useful updates
The updates for AirPods, Apple TV and WatchOS may seem unspectacular at first glance, but they bring useful improvements. Voice isolation for calls, spatial audio for games and the new gesture control are practical additions that make everyday use of these devices more pleasant. The new interactive functions on Apple TV and the improved training modes on WatchOS also help to optimize the user experience.
Vision Pro and Vision OS 2.0
Vision Pro: New features and improvements
Less than half a year after the launch of the Vision Pro, Apple has already introduced Vision OS 2.0. Although it seems more like a minor update, there are some interesting new features. One of the handy new features is the wrist rotation gesture, which quickly displays the time and battery level and provides direct access to the control center. In addition, there are advanced media features that use improved machine learning techniques to turn old photos into spatial photos and enable the creation of videos on cameras other than the iPhone.
Another highlight is the improved Mac mirroring. "Filated rendering" on the Mac significantly increases the resolution, allowing up to double the resolution and therefore more space on your screen. Other updates include new environments and the ability to customize your home screen.
Improvements with mixed feelings in Vision OS 2.0
The updates to Vision OS 2.0 are a good example of this. While it may seem like a minor update rather than a completely new one, the new features like the wrist rotation gesture and improved immersive media features offer practical improvements. The ability to customize the home screen may sound like a small change, but it shows that Apple is listening to feedback and is willing to optimize the user experience.
Conclusion
WWDC 2024 has shown that Apple remains interested in continuously improving its product range and integrating new features to make users' everyday lives easier.Although many of the features presented already exist in competitors, Apple still manages to present and implement them in a way that is typical of their brand - well thought out, user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. What makes the competition better is that Google's mid-range phone Pixel 8a also benefits from the latest AI features. Apple is unnecessarily strict about this. So all users with the standard iPhone 15 or older devices now have to switch to a Pro device or the new iPhone 16 generation if they want to use the new AI features.
outlook
Overall, WWDC 2024 shows that Apple continues to innovate in its own way and respond to the needs and desires of its users. Even though many of the features presented are already available from the competition, Apple manages to integrate them in a way that is seamless and user-friendly. The focus on AI and the continuous improvement of the user experience suggest that Apple will continue to present exciting developments and improvements in the future - there will probably be a lot going on in the VisionPro area in particular. Above all, it remains to be seen what hardware Apple will present in the fall. Because WWDC is a pure software trade fair and only shows a foretaste of what Apple will actually bring this year.
