WWDC 2023 Recap: A New Journey Begins With the Apple Vision Pro

Apple shows off advancements and improvements coming to its software and services every year at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). During this year’s WWDC 2023 keynote event, the company unveiled several new features coming to its iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS operating systems. The company also showed off a new 15-inch MacBook Air model, alongside a new Mac Studio and Mac Pro — all powered by Apple’s M2 chips. The company also continued its long tradition of unveiling “one more thing” — its first mixed reality headset — in the form of the Apple Vision Pro.

On this week’s episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, guest host and Reviews Editor Roydon Cerejo talks to Senior Reviewer Ali Pardiwala — speaking from Apple’s headquarters in California — and Gadgets 360 Executive Editor Jamshed Avari, to discuss some of the most important announcements made by Apple at WWDC 2023.

There’s certainly no doubt that Apple’s last announcement at WWDC 2023 was easily its most important announcement made during its keynote event. The Apple Vision Pro headset, priced at $3,499 (approximately Rs. 2,88,700), is its most expensive wearable device to date, and its first mixed reality headset. It will only be available next year, in the US, and there’s currently no word on whether the device will eventually make its way to India.

Apple also announced a new 15-inch MacBook Air for users who want to use the firm’s entry level laptop with a larger display. The Mac Studio has also been updated with M2 Max and M2 Ultra options, while the Mac Pro has finally ditched Intel’s Xeon processors in favour of Apple’s most powerful M2 Ultra chip.

WWDC 2023 also saw the unveiling of Apple’s upcoming software updates — iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17. iOS 17 will offer a range of customisation and personalisation features. Meanwhile, macOS Sonoma will add a new Game Mode that is claimed to improve system performance while gaming by reducing latency. AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) will also gain a new Adaptive Audio mode that blends active noise cancellation (ANC) and transparency mode.

iPadOS 17 will introduce Lock Screen customisation with widgets, plus a new Health app. Across Apple’s devices, Safari will gain new privacy features, while Apple will also introduce wellness features and new Journal app. These updates will roll out to eligible devices later this year, and (somewhat buggy) developer beta versions are already available for testing.