Because Apple shows off the next iOS build at WWDC, the developer conference is usually a must-see annual event held in June. Besides showing off new features coming to iOS, hardware introductions often battle for attention with software. For example, last year’s conference introduced Vision Pro while previous years saw the first-gen Home Pod and the iPhone SE unveiled. This year we could see new iPads unveiled including a new 12.9-inch iPad Air and possibly a refreshed iPad Pro line with OLED displays.
Unless Apple were to unveil a foldable iPhone, which is something we definitely do not see coming this June, the big news at WWDC will be iOS 18. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that the update figures to be one of the largest in iOS history mostly due to two letters: AI. And hallucinating AI is not something that Apple wants to subject its customers to so we pointed out late last year that the company was looking to ink deals with publishers for the rights to use their publications to train its generative AI chatbot.
A much-improved version of Siri featuring new AI capabilities could be announced at WWDC 2024
Something that iPhone users have been looking forward to for years might take place in June as Apple is expected to improve Siri by giving the old gal some new AI capabilities based on Apple’s internal Ajax model. You could see Siri handle “more personalization and natural conversations” And recent code found in the iOS 17.4 beta suggests that Ajax will also be used to summarize content on a user’s iPhone screen. Ajax could also be used on the Messages app to auto-complete sentences and answer questions.
One huge question is whether the AI features offered on iOS 18 will be backward compatible and made available to older iPhone models eligible to receive the update. Or, will these AI capabilities only work with the upcoming iPhone 16 line which will be powered by the 3nm A18 Bionic (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus) and the 3nm A18 Pro (iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)?
We could see WWDC 2024 take place on any of the four Mondays in June (7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th). Considering that last year WWDC 2023 kicked off on Monday, June 5th, we could see WWDC 2024 take place on Monday, June 7th. And you’ll probably want to view the keynote. If you’re into WWDC, you probably should install the Apple Developer app by tapping on this link. The app is where you will be able to stream some of WWDC’s festivities.
