On Monday, June 10, at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern, Apple will stream a Keynote address as a part of its developer conference, WWDC24. Every year, Apple takes this opportunity to preview the next versions of its major operating systems, so on Monday we will learn about new features in iOS 18, iPad OS 18, and other operating systems that Apple will release in a few months, probably September 2024. This year will be a little different. For prior WWDC keynotes, certain specific features were the big news, such as the StandBy feature announced at WWDC in 2023. But this year, I expect a theme to be the big news: AI. Apple has been hinting for months that AI will be the big theme of WWDC, and that doesn't come as a big surprise because many other technology companies have been making major AI announcements lately. And that has resulted in articles such as this one: How Apple Fell Behind in the AI Arms Race by Aaron Tilley of the Wall Street Journal. Articles with that angle strike me as unfair. First, Apple has been incorporating AI for many years, even adding a special neural engine to its chips to handle the processing power. Just to pick one example, the Memories feature of Photos always surprises and delights me with the pictures it selects from my collection, and it uses AI to select pictures that I might like. Second, the companies that have been on the bleeding edge of AI have also had lots of embarrassing incidents, often because of the hallucinations in AI. One of my favorite recent examples was when Google's AI recommended that people eat rocks every day, and the source of that advice was discovered to be this article from The Onion. (In case you don't know, perhaps because you have been living under one of those rocks, The Onion is a news parody site, and a very good one.) Can Apple meet the challenge of coming up with a take on AI that seems substantial enough to satisfy users while also somehow avoiding the significant problems that seem inherent in so much of the cutting-edge AI nowadays? I myself have no idea how they will thread that needle, and it is the main reason that I am looking forward to Monday's announcements. And now, as we look forward to WWDC next week, here is the news of note from the past week:
- I enjoyed the recent interview of Tara Cheever of Lit Software by Steve Embry of the FED Speaks podcast from the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel. Tara discusses her company's great apps such as TrialPad and TranscriptPad and explains why the new iPad Air is a particularly good device to use with those apps because it has most of the features that used to be associated with the iPad Pro but at a more attractive price.
- Tara isn't the only one with that thought. Juli Clover of MacRumors has been using the new iPad Air for the last few weeks and Clover similarly concludes: "The M2 iPad Air is essentially an M2 iPad Pro without the higher-quality display, and it's a good middle tier option if you want solid performance for futureproofing but also don't want to spend $1,000+ on a tablet."
- Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge reports that Apple's newest iPads, MacBooks, and iMacs all contain Thread radios even though Apple hasn't announced that they are there. I continue to hold out hope that Apple will soon announce some type of major improvements in the smart home category, and perhaps these not-yet-announced Thread radios will be a part of that story.
- To get in the spirit for WWDC24 this weekend, you can listen to a special playlist on Apple Music that Apple created.
- One of the predictions for iOS 18 is that Apple will unveil a standalone Passwords app, something similar to 1Password. John Gruber of Daring Fireball points out that this wouldn't really be a "new" item because Apple has been slowly improving the Password panel in the Settings app for a long time. Add a few more improvements and put it in a standalone app so that it is easier for users to find and you will end up with a great app. Of course, for almost every good iPhone or iPad app made by Apple, there is an even better third-party app for people who want more features. I suspect that I will stick with 1Password even if Apple releases a fantastic Passwords app simply because I will appreciate features like cross-platform support (I doubt that Apple's product will work on Windows) and multiuser support (so that I can easily share passwords with my family). But because having strong and unique passwords is so important, and because a password manager is essential for having good password hygiene, I think it would be incredibly great news for Apple to announce a Passwords app on Monday that will have widespread appeal.
- We already know about some of the accessibility improvements coming with iOS 18 because Apple previewed them last month. Christian Zibreg of How-To Geek identifies five of those features that everyone might want to consider using.
- Tesla gets lots of attention for making electronic cars, but there are other great options available. I recently had a chance to check out a friend's Rivian electric truck, and I was incredibly impressed with all of the features and how nice the ride was. Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that the second-generation versions of Rivian's vehicles (it makes a pickup and an SUV) will support Apple's Car Keys feature so that your iPhone or Apple Watch could work as your car key. Rivian vehicles don't support CarPlay, but they do support Apple Music.
- If you love an iPhone app so much that you just want to curl up to it, Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that Thowboy has a new range of pillows that look like app icons: Notes, Messages, Apple Music, and Mail. Plus a Finder icon, so perhaps these are supposed to be Mac icons and not iPhone icons, but you can certainly think of them as iPhone icons if that helps you sleep better.
- Speaking of the Notes app, Benjamin Mayou of 9to5Mac explains how to create notes that do not have a bold heading.
- Lowe's has an Apple Vision Pro app called Lowe's Style Studio that you can use to customize a kitchen. Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that you will be able to try out an Apple Vision Pro with that app at select Lowe's locations in North Carolina, California, and New Jersey this month. I suspect that if this proves popular, Lowe's will try this at additional store locations.
- There have been lots of examples of people finding luggage that an airline claimed was lost thanks to an AirTag attached to the luggage. William Gallagher of AppleInsider shares the tale of a woman in Florida who didn't have an AirTag but she did have a MacBook Pro in her lost luggage. The day after her flight, her Apple Watch alerted her that her computer was at a location, and when she went to that location, she found a house with suitcases littered around it. The police arrested the person who lived at the house, a man who worked at the airport, and reminded the victim that it is always best to call the police before approaching a house that you think contains stolen items.
- Paul Duggan of the Washington Post shares the story (gift link) of a carpenter who was fed up with his tools being stolen so he hid some AirTgs in his larger tools. Sure enough, one of them was stolen, and he alerted the police to the location. They got a search warrant and ultimately discovered 15,000 stolen power tools. Wow.
- John Guber of Daring Fireball comments on a new report that Apple is in talks with China Mobile to bring Apple TV+ to viewers in China, which would be the first U.S. streaming service in China. I share Gruber's concern that if this happens, it may have an impact on the content of shows on Apple TV+ in an effort to comply with China's strict restrictions on many types of content.
- For a few months now, Apple TV+ has been making a selection of older movies available for a limited time. I've enjoyed that feature quite a bit. For example, I've watched some good 3D movies on my Apple Vision Pro. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac lists the movies that are available this month. (Unfortunately, I don't think that any are available in 3D this month.)
- Christoffel also reports that Season 2 of the fantastic Apple TV+ show Silo may be coming out this year, and Seasons 3 and 4 may be filmed back-to-back. That sounds great to me; it is a wonderful show.
- Christoffel also came up with a selection of products that will let your iPhone or Apple Watch mimic classic Apple designs.
- Apple announced this week that Apple Books will be the home of audiobooks for the Reese Witherspoon book club.
- And finally, Apple released a cute video called Found that shows off how you can find a lost Mac by using Find My on an iPhone:
