Watch the launch of Apple’s iOS 17 and other exciting reveals at WWDC 2023

Apple’s most significant product launch event, the Worldwide Developer’s Conference kicks off today, after nearly a decade.

The event will mark the introduction of Apple’s first major new product category since the Apple Watch, alongside the unveiling of several new Macs and software upgrades across its platforms.

Taking place at the company’s campus in Cupertino, California, the event is scheduled to start today at 10:00 am PT / 1:00 pm ET / 9:00 pm GST.

The centerpiece of the event will be a mixed-reality headset, possibly named either the Reality Pro or XR Pro, accompanied by a new operating system called xrOS specifically designed for the device.

Additionally, it is anticipated that new Mac laptops and desktops will be revealed, along with software updates encompassing watchOS 10, iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and macOS 14.

Here’s how you can watch

Meanwhile, over the past several months, Bloomberg News has reported some of the Apple’s plans for the new products coming at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Here is what to expect from each, based on those reports as well as people familiar with Apple’s plans, reported Bloomberg.

Mixed-reality headset and xrOS

Apple’s first headset will be an ultra-premium device made of glass, carbon fibre and aluminum. It looks like a high-tech pair of ski goggles, features a new magnetic charger for power, has a curved front with an external screen to show a wearer’s facial expressions and eyes, and several external cameras to enable video pass-through, depth sensing and hand control.

The product blends augmented and virtual reality. The VR features will be powered by a pair of bright, 4K screens inside the headset, while the AR functionality will be enabled by the video pass-through mode.

The headset has a Digital Crown like the Apple Watch for users to toggle between AR and VR. When in VR, the user is fully immersed. When AR is toggled, content and applications fade back slightly and mix with the real environment surrounding the wearer.

The headset will be powered by an M2 chip with 16GB of memory, or RAM, and use an external battery pack that looks like a larger version of the MagSafe Battery Pack for the iPhone. The pack will connect over a wire to the headset, reported Bloomberg.

Users will operate the headset using eye and hand control so they can look at an item to highlight it and then pinch their fingers to select it. It will also have Siri onboard. The headset has an array of microphones as well as speakers mounted near the user’s temples, but it will rely on AirPods for enhanced spatial audio.

The device will cost around $3,000 and Apple isn’t planning to make much money from it. It could be one of the few Apple products to not provide a big margin as Apple doesn’t want to completely price itself out of the market.

Apple has also discussed initially selling the device in the US and expects it will sell about 900,000 units in the first year.

The company believes sales will begin slow but that the device provides an Apple Watch-sized opportunity. It’s also a reputation-risking endeavor given the high price and lack of established market.

While the headset will debut today, it won’t go on sale for several more months. Internally, the company has discussed release dates ranging from after the iPhone 15 launch to December to early 2024. It has trademarked names suggesting brands ranging from Reality Pro or Reality One to XR Pro, while the operating system itself will be dubbed xrOS.

New Macs and macOS 14

Apple has been planning to introduce a new 15-inch MacBook Air as early as at the conference. The new model will look similar to the current MacBook Air, in a larger size. Apple had initially intended to launch this machine last year alongside the smaller version.

Apple is also nearing the debut of an updated Mac Studio line in new M2 Max and M2 Ultra configurations — codenamed Mac 14,13 and Mac 14,14 or J475 — to replace last year’s M1 Max and M1 Ultra models.

The new machines and their chips recently were spotted in testing. The M2 Max chip is the same as the one found in the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, while the M2 Ultra will be entirely new.

The M2 Ultra chip will include 24 CPU cores (16 high-performance and 8 efficiency cores) and offer up to 76 graphics cores. The company is also planning 64GB, 128GB and 192GB RAM options.

Bloomberg also reported that the new Mac operating system, codenamed Sunburst, is unlikely to have major changes this year and instead bring on compatibility for new features launching in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.

iOS 17 and iPadOS 17

Meanwhile, iOS 17, codenamed Dawn, will bring a new smart display-like mode for the iPhone when the device is locked and placed in landscape mode. The feature will include an interface for showing upcoming calendar appointments and other snippets of information, in addition to notifications.

The Wallet app will get an upgrade as the company pushes deeper into financial services. That could include the app tying deeper into third-party credit cards to show balance information, mirroring the experience of the Apple Card.

Updates in the Health app include options for logging moods and managing vision problems. The app will also come to the iPad for the first time, reported Bloomberg.

watchOS 10

Apple is bringing widgets back to the Apple Watch and will make them a key part of the new operating system.  The widgets will look similar to those on the iOS and iPadOS home screen and allow users to scroll through weather, stock tickers, upcoming calendar appointments and more.

The brand is revamping all of the core apps on the Apple Watch with new designs to take advantage of the larger displays on the Apple Watch Ultra and larger standard watches.

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