Apple WWDC 2010: What To Expect From Steve Jobs & Co
A new iPhone. More iPad sales figures. It’s safe to expect plenty of buzz when Apple CEO Steve Jobs speaks at the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2010 in June. But beyond buzz and hype, what can we really expect from Apple at WWDC10 starting on June 7? Here’s my personal perspective.
My speculation is based on what’s coming straight from Apple. The most interesting thing is coming from Steve Jobs himself. One user sent him an e-mail after the Google I/O conference and asked what Apple would be doing to compete. Steve Jobs wrote back with one simple line:
You won’t be disappointed.
Apple’s official press release about the event says that Jobs will be giving the Keynote on June 7 at 10:00 a.m. PST. Also, the above picture is the promo for the event, which clearly has a focus on Apps. So here’s the deal…
Expect to see…
- The new iPhone. But don’t get locked into the leaked iPhone you’ve seen. While whatever will be released clearly will have this new boxy design, keep an open mind when it comes to form factors. Rumor has it Apple may also be designing the iPhone 4 technology to fit inside a more 3G-S like shell — just in case there are manufacturing issues with the new design.
- More details on iPhone OS 4. Nothing crazy, but we’ll probably see a date for the official launch on the iPad, and if the above new iPhone is rumored to be true, native iPhone video chat.
- Lots of very cool apps taking advantage of iPhone 4 APIs that were written natively.
- A whole bunch of HTML5 plugs and demos stressing the usefulness and performance of the standard.
- Huge AppleTV revamp. I know it’s from left-field here, but since Google announced integration with Android apps on Google TV, expect Apple to — at the very least — add this in some form to their AppleTV. Also, I’m wishfully thinking they’ll release some sort of beautiful USB dongle add-on to boost HD decoding and DVR capabilities. Not likely, but I did notice that my Apple store was pleasantly stocked with AppleTVs and we know Apple is only selling the 160GB versions now. I’m basing this whole thing off of the “You won’t be disappointed.” line.
Forget it…
- Apple has actually dropped design awards for Mac OS applications and is only handing them out to iPhone and iPad app developers. With that, expect no talks about Mac OS X 10.7 or any Macintosh-related updates. If it will be spoken about, it’ll be tiny speed bumps and nothing groundbreaking.
- No new Macintosh hardware, even with the Macbook Air desperately needing an upgrade.
- No new iPod related materials. Maybe new iPod touch internals, but don’t count on a camera in that anytime soon. The Apple iPod touch with the camera did exist as a prototype, but if Apple hasn’t put it in the iPad or the iPod touch yet, don’t plan on it anytime soon.
Bottom line? Apps, apps and more Apps. iPhone OS and iPhone/iPad related materials will be the core focus of this WWDC, and don’t expect a refocus to the Mac until maybe January 2011.
Do you feel otherwise? Let me know.
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