The big Worldwide Developers Conference keynote is done, though the week-long event is just beginning. You can watch replays of the live event on Apple’s Events Page or YouTube, but if you don’t have nearly two hours to kill and just want a summary of everything announced, we’ve got you covered.
This is a list of all the major WWDC ’22 announcements, along with links to our expanded coverage. We’ll add additional links as our coverage expands throughout the week.
Apple Developer Center
Apple started the conference by touting that there are now 34 million registered Apple developers and showcased its new developer center across from Apple Park. It’s a reminder that, while we’re all very excited about new Apple software and products, this week is really about enabling developers to get the most out of creating for them.
iOS 16
Apple
The next version of iOS is coming this fall to everyone with an iPhone 8 or better. The big-ticket items include a customizable lock screen, new dictation features, changes to focus mode and notifications, and lots of new sharing features. Read all about iOS 16.
Home app updates
iOS 16 has a new Home app that brings a multi-camera view to the main Home tab.
Apple
Apple spent some time talking about the Matter smart home initiative, a collaborative effort among Apple, Google, Amazon, and many others to create a smart common smart home compatibility standard. There are over 100 devices in the works, but the Matter standard is in its earliest days still. Apple remade the Home app in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS 13, making it faster and more efficient for those with lots of devices, and changing the organization and interface to be more intuitive and clear.
CarPlay sneak-peek
Apple
In an unusual move, Apple gave a sneak peek at the distant future of CarPlay. It’s a new CarPlay experience that integrates deeply with the car’s hardware to provide information and controls for all the car’s systems, on (potentially) all the car’s screens. But cars that support this next-gen CarPlay won’t even be announced until late next year, so this one is quite a ways off.
WatchOS 9
Apple
WatchOS 9 drops support for Apple Watch Series 3, but gives you lots of great new features in the bargain. There are multiple redesigned watch faces and new slick new features such as real-time cloud cover on the Astronomy face. There’s a new Siri interface, new banner notifications, and other interface tweaks. The Workouts apps will get new training experiences, like one to help optimize your running form by measuring vertical movement.
The new Sleep Stages feature lets you know how much time you spend in each stage of sleep: Awake, REM, Core, and Deep. A new AFib History feature lets you know how much time you spend in a state of atrial fibrillation, which is helpful for those who have been diagnosed with it. Read all about watchOS 9.
Other Health features
Beyond those health features coming only to Apple Watch, there are some coming to iPhone as well. For the first time, iPhone users that don’t have an Apple Watch can use the Fitness app, which will use the iPhone accelerometer to measure steps and activity and pull data from other workout apps.
The Health app can track your medications now, even using the camera to automatically detect and add them. Set up your regular schedule and let your phone or watch remind you.
M2 processor
Apple
The next generation of Apple Silicon. As predicted, it appears to be the A15 scaled up to laptop performance, the way the M1 was based on the A14 chip. It’s got 50 percent more memory bandwidth than M1, up to 24GB of memory, and enhancements to every area of the chip. The 8-core CPU (4 performance and 4 efficiency cores) is about 18% faster, and the GPU with 10 cores instead of 8 on the M1) is 35% faster.
The M2 also has the upgraded Neural Engine and Secure Enclave from the A15, as well as a new media engine that supports up to 8K H.264 and HEVC as well as ProRes acceleration. Read all about the M2 processor.
MacBook Air
Apple
Apple’s first computer to get the M2 chip will be the new MacBook Air. This is an all-new design that gets rid of the tapered body, and at 11.3mm thick it has 20 percent less total volume than the previous model. It comes in four colors: silver, space grey, starlight, and midnight. In addition to the M2 processor it has MagSafe charging (with fast-charging if you get a 67W or higher power adapter), two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and an audio jack that supports high-impedance headphones.
The display is larger at 13.6 inches, 25 percent brighter at up to 500 nits, and has smaller bezels and a notch where the webcam goes just like the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. That webcam has been improved to 1080p, with better low-light performance, and there are better speakers and mics, too.
And it still has no fan. The MacBook Air starts at $1,199/£1,249 and will be available in July. The old MacBook Air with M1 will stick around, starting at $999/£999. Read all about the new M2 MacBook Air.
13-inch MacBook Pro
Apple
The new MacBook Air isn’t the only laptop getting the M2. Apple has upgraded the 13-inch MacBook Pro (the model with no new design and an M1 processor) to the M2. It’s not getting any other improvements, though. It starts at $1,299 / £1,349 and will also be available in July.
Read about the new M2 MacBook Pro.
macOS 13 Ventura
Apple
MacOS 13 will not be named Mammoth as was previously assumed. Instead, it’s name is Ventura. Its biggest features include a new Stage Manager multitasking experience, major enhancements to Mail and other apps, a more powerful Spotlight search, Passkeys for password-free logins, and Continuity Camera, which lets you use your iPhone as a super-powerful webcam for your Mac. System Preferences has been totally redesigned and renamed to System Settings to be more familiar for those used to the iPhone or iPad.
Of course, it also supports all the stuff we’re getting in iOS 16 like the ability to edit and delete Messages, new Live Text and Photos features, a Weather app, and more. Read all about macOS 13 Ventura.
iPadOS 16
Apple
Of course, iPadOS 16 will get most of the features coming to iOS 16 and other operating systems, like the ability to edit and delete Messages, new Dictation features, Live Text in video, and so on. But it’s getting some other new features of its own that should really help it break out from its “just a big iPhone” mold.
For starters, there’s the new Stage Manager multitasking interface, which requires an iPad with the M1 processor. Though this is coming to macOS Ventura as well, it really feels like it was always conceived as an iPad feature. There are new real-time collaboration features including the ability to share access to documents through Messages–not just a copy of the document, but real-time editing permissions. There’s finally a Weather app, and a new open collaboration and brainstorming whiteboard app coming later this year called Freeform.
Many of the apps are getting “desktop class” enhancements like real find and replace, customizable toolbars, and more. Files is getting a big update with the ability to change extensions, view folder sizes, sortable columns, and more. Read more about iPadOS 16.
