WWDC23

[SpyderTracks]

So the date has been confirmed for June 5th at 10am Pacific Time (6pm UK time)

What we're expecting:

The usual software version updates to IOS, IPadOS and MacOS

Possibly the official announcement for the Mixed-Reality Headset and accompanying RealityOS

Possibly a new MacBook Air

WWDC23: What to expect and not to expect from Apple's conference

iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, watchOS 10, and more are coming!

www.xda-developers.com

 

[TonyCarter]

I really like the quality of the hardware (and you pay for it), but they've steadily lost the plot on software...claiming new features will 'change the world' whilst breaking something else that has worked for years.

I used to religiously tune in for all of these, but now it seems to be 30 minutes of telling you about the new shade of white they've added to the toolbar, or that they've made the settings more iOS-like whilst 'breaking' the experience and ignoring their own human interface guidelines...because their own coding tools no longer lets them build things the old way...yeah, right!!!

I'll just catch up on the news through one of the Mac news sites the following day.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I really like the quality of the hardware (and you pay for it), but they've steadily lost the plot on software...claiming new features will 'change the world' whilst breaking something else that has worked for years.

I used to religiously tune in for all of these, but now it seems to be 30 minutes of telling you about the new shade of white they've added to the toolbar, or that they've made the settings more iOS-like whilst 'breaking' the experience and ignoring their own human interface guidelines...because their own coding tools no longer lets them build things the old way...yeah, right!!!

I'll just catch up on the news through one of the Mac news sites the following day.

What’s MacOS like now? I was stuck on El Capitan before my MBP bit the dust. Probably going to get a Mac Mini this year for audio

 

[TonyCarter]

What’s MacOS like now? I was stuck on El Capitan before my MBP bit the dust. Probably going to get a Mac Mini this year for audio

I'm on Ventura 13.4, and it works fine, and I'm sure there's lots of new emojis that will get the millennials drooling, but it's a bit 'emporer's new clothes' for me...but that's been the way for many iterations, and I'm only installing them to ensure I'm fully up to date with bug/security fixes...rather than feature updates.

Rant following:

They put in some new 'features' that may be of use for 1% of the user base, but bork things that 10% of the user base might use...but 'new' is always 'better', and they can't be seen to be releasing a new OS that hasn't got some new useless bells & whistles.

I'm sure a completely new Apple user would never spot any of these, as they'd have enough of a shock from moving from whatever OS they're used to. But as an Apple user since 1989, and being used to the slow grind/cycle of new features then optimisations then new features then optimisations, ad infinitum...it feels odd for Apple to claim so many 'beta' level features whilst breaking functionality of other apps with the promise of a new app to replace that missing functionality...which either never materialises, or does so in a crippled format (iTunes to Apple Music is one example).

Of course, maybe I'm just too old to be cool because I don't find any of these new features useful (or time saving), so I consider them a waste of resources (Stage Manager, Expose, Spaces, tabbed finder, etc.) - and my workload tends to be 1-2 apps at a time. I have plenty of space for those on a 5K display without requiring virtual desktops.

My pet hate is the new Preferences panel...which went from an understandable (and alphabetical if you so wished) layout, where for example all display items were under Display, and all Security/Privacy items were under the Security & Privacy item.

Now they've tried to put similar items next to each other, but you end up with a specific display setting on it's own with 'General' settings, but the other display options in their own section...you also get 'Focus' settings in the top of the System Settings, but to control what is managed by this top-level switch you have go into Privacy & Security.

Plus there's constant warning (for Security reasons of course) to allow you to give software access to different folders, but clicking the continue does not actually take you to any or the correct setting to do so...so you're left in limbo. It's as if some app (large ones too) developers didn't realise Apple was going to break the Settings/Preference panel.

 

[TonyCarter]

I know I said 'meh'...but less than an hour to go

 

[SpyderTracks]

I know I said 'meh'...but less than an hour to go

I know, I suddenly thought it may be at 5 so loaded up the developer app on the iPad, luckily not missed it!

I'm such a nerd, I love keynotes!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Wow, Death Stranding on Mac, that's unexpected. They are definitely starting to push much more heavily on some big titles since moving to Apple Silicon.

The New M2 Ultra chip looks quite insane, but I hate it when they say "the most powerful chip on any computer EVER!" and then benchmarks come out to show how inaccurate that is.

If they have outperformed the 7950x in raw CPU performance I'll be properly impressed.

It is a monster chip, there's no doubt, especially with the RAM side of things, that's going to be insanely fast RAM for video editing or data science number crunching.

 

[TonyCarter]

There must be a BIG asterisk on that statement somewhere...something to say "...at 60W!"

I also note how they claim 240Hz GPU output...yet their own monitors are only 60Hz (except for Promotion screens in laptops/phones/tablets).

I'll stick with my M1 Studio for now...now worth replacing it for 20-30% boost.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Here's the bit I was waiting for, Apple AR GLASSES!

Apple Vision Pro

You know instantly they're going to be insanely expensive, the rims are aluminium, I'm sure it's done well, but you do wonder about the weight?

The headstrap does look extremely comfortable, very large

I also love the fact they've gone for an oversized ski binocular size rather than trying to minimise it like the new Vive XR Elite which was a bit of a crappy design.

I'm really interested in seeing these in the flesh, I think for media they'll be excellent, as someone who enjoyed watching movies in VR I really get the appeal there. Not sure about the gaming platform, I have a feeling it's going to be rather restrictive initially, they mention 100 arcade titles at launch, but the Apple Store is mainly filled with really poor kiddy games, so I'm not sure what to expect on that front. But it's really targetted at Business users, and I have no doubt the price will reflect that. For Designers or coders, this will be a dream.

Voice activation using Siri, gesture's I'm not entirely sure how they work, you don't have controllers, it reads your hand movements, even from a sitting position. I wonder how accurate the touch and gesture control will be.

It's got a cable running from the headset to the pocket which I'm guessing is battery and possibly wireless unit or maybe it's simply plugged into an iPhone, not certain. If the processing is done on the headset with a mobile chip like a Quest 2, or fully generated on the device like a Vive or Index? Too many questions!

Also need to know where the speakers are? They mention it has spatial audio, and they're not wearing earphones, so it must be built into the headset, that's going to be interesting. But Apple have been the ones to push micro audio, they're way ahead of the game on that front.

Apple Reveals 'Vision Pro' Headset and visionOS

Apple today revealed the "Vision Pro" headset, its first mixed-reality headset device, and visionOS, an all new operating system for the...

www.macrumors.com

 

[SpyderTracks]

Ok so they're going further into the design of it, JESUS IT'S GOING TO BE EXPENSIVE!!!!

Very cool, the speakers are built into the strap, didn't expect that and you can't really see it from the demos.

External pack is a battery, supports up to 2 hours useage, or you can link it directly into the device and run off that power source.

More than 4k resolution per eye!!! Micro OLED. That's pretty insane.

My god it's going to cost a lot!

So has on board processing, using the M2 at the baseline, sure it goes up.

Then has the R1 sensor chip

 

[TonyCarter]

It's not just going to be Apple 'expensive'...it's got the 'Pro' moniker, so it's going to be 'Pro expensive'

Edit: I think they're going to have to come up with another level of expensive for this

---

...well, more than I'd hoped ($2k) before the show, but less that I'd thought ($5k) after the show!

Looks like there are 2 cameras pointing downwards to pick up hand/finger movements when they're in your lap...I hope that's all they track!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Oooo, the headset brings in OpticID, the successor to FaceID, and as it appears, retina scanning.

It's about time, this is good news, we'll see if it starts rolling out to other devices.

 

[TonyCarter]

Oooo, the headset brings in OpticID, the successor to FaceID, and as it appears, retina scanning.

It's about time, this is good news, we'll see if it starts rolling out to other devices.

I'm really worried about that OpticID, as I'll be confirming purchases just by ogling something!

Although I'm sure No Man's Sky and Death Stranding would be wonderful with these, and I could probably trade in my Mac Studio & Display. Not sure how much storage comes as standard though...not sure 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD will suffice.

I can see the 'starting price' spec quickly being eclipsed by a 'pro user' spec at $5k! But if you can justify it by not needing multiple Mac monitors, Mac Pro or Mac Studio computer, then it's seems...erm...'cheap'

 

[SpyderTracks]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

STARTS AT $3499!!!!!!!!!

Yep, unobtanium, only extreme rich and businesses that can go near that.

They're pitching it as having a big screen OLED TV, high end HiFi, PC etc all in one, so you can start to see how they're justifying the cost.

TBH, the headset display, plus M2 chip and sensor array on it's own is extremely expensive. Over 4k per eye on Micro OLED, is actually insane. It's only really the Pimax that's attempted high resolutions and those were on Quantum LED, not OLED

 

[SpyderTracks]

 

[SpyderTracks]

 

[TonyCarter]

Just need iFixit and Louis Rossman to say how easy it is to repair and I'll buy one

 

[HomerJ]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

STARTS AT $3499!!!!!!!!!

 

[HomerJ]

 

[SpyderTracks]