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Apple WWDC 2015 rumors, predictions, and speculation

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FerranMG

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WWDC 2015 keynote takes places the 8th of June at 10.00 am PST, which is 19.00 in CET.

I figured we could use this thread to talk about rumors and predictions.

The only thing I'd take for granted is the reveal of iOS 9.

Here go my predictions:
- iOS 9 is not a game changer, but introduces lots of refinements that iOS 7 and 8 have lacked.
Springboard crashes fixed.
Mature third party keyboard support.
Robust Spotlight.
And I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they'll finally allow to change default apps.
Split-screen apps functionality for iPads, but only for iPad Air 2 and newer (because of 2 GB of RAM).

- Reintroduction of HomeKit, but it will be lackluster, as HealthKit has been. A nice idea that lacks a proper implementation.

- Reveal of new AppleTV with its own AppStore.

I'm actually excited for iOS 9, as I think it could reach a level of maturity that I´ve missed for the last few years.
iOS 7 had a major redesign, and iOS 8 opened up the APIs a lot for developers, which was a huge game changer but also introduced (or exposed) a lot of bugs.

I think they'll save the rumored iPad Pro reveal for the September event, together with the new iPhones.

And I hope they'll let something slip that gives us even if a small insight into what new features the iPhone 6S could have.
 
Just give me an Apple TV refresh with an App Store, please. That's all I want.

The AppleTV with AppStore is long overdue, but I fear the first generation will suck (AS ALWAYS with Apple :/ ).

I will avoid iOS9 at all costs. I upgraded to iOS8 and it slowed down my iPad Mini ALOT.

To be fair, the iPad Mini has the internals of the iPad 2, which was released on 2011.
In this time, both hardware and software have evolved A LOT, so I think it's understandable that a device that´s currently 3 or 4 years old doesn´t work so good anymore. Still, there´s a chance that iOS 9 is a bit better optimized for older devices (as there´s also a chance that iOS 9 doesn´t support the iPad 2 and iPad Mini anymore :P).
You could argue that the iPad Mini should have had better specs to begin with, but that´s another point. I think it had a very clear expiration date from the beginning, and I think the same will happen with the iPhone 6, for example. The 1GB of RAM it has will be what will make it obsolete sooner than I would have expected.
 
iOS 9 - Mostly bug fixes and stability plus Transit in Maps and iPad Split-Screen, which we know has been in the works for a long time.

San Francisco as the new system font on iOS and OSX

New Apple TV with App Store and a fancy new remote.

Apple Music
 
I'd like widgets. I like glancable information, having used both windows phone and android. And I think Apple could do an interesting take on it. Just stop hiding things in the notification centre.


A big new thing like a significant update to Apple TV with an app store, sounds like it might be enough to get its own event.
 
An Apple TV with App Store is to me what a new File System is to John Siracusa - I've been rabidly harping on the need for it for ages. I'm happy we seem to finally be getting it, but all these years of waiting have put me into a permanent state of wariness regarding all rumors. XD

Apart from that, I'd be happy with IOS 9 and (to a much lesser extent) OS X 10.11 to be about optimization and bug squashing. Evolve a couple of the features you introduced in iOS 8, fix some of the bugs that popped up, things like that.

As for new features, I'd really like something like Apple Watch's Complications on the iOS lock screen. I haven't used a watch yet, but from hearing how they work on podcasts it seems like it would be a great feature for the iPhone/iPad. And speaking of the iPad, hopefully that last 9to5mac rumor piece about Split Screen and a redesigned/better optimized notification center (to take advantage of the screen size) come through.

Both iOS and OSX will transition their system wide font from Helvetica Neue to the new San Francisco featured in the Apple Watch.

I'm looking forward to this, I've liked how all the San Francisco iOS/OS X mockups look.
 
Here's a round up of the rumors:

iOS 9 codenamed "Monarch" will be focused on optimization and stability a la SnowLeopard/Mavericks.
OSX 10.11 codename is "Gala".
Both iOS and OSX will transition their system wide font from Helvetica Neue to the new San Francisco featured in the Apple Watch.
A new Apple TV will be introduced with a revamped OS for it.
Apple will provide more information for their revamped music streaming service


I think that's all, let me know if left something out.
 
I'd like widgets. I like glancable information, having used both windows phone and android. And I think Apple could do an interesting take on it. Just stop hiding things in the notification centre.

Yeah, notification center is good for nothing. It's so little flexible.
I played with a phone running Windows Phone the other day, and found it very interesting.


Also, one major thing I NEED. If I discard a notification from the locked screen, the notification is gone from the app.
Currently, if I get a missed call, I have to actually go inside the phone app to remove the notification.

Actually, now that I think about it, notifications in general are very half-assed. They could use a good shake-up.
 
"Apple WWDC 2015 rumors, predicionts and things Mark Gurman told us about"

I'm most intersted in this rumored Apple TV. How powerful will it be? Will Apple support MFI controllers for games? will they make their own?

I'd like to see Siri in OS X and a Siri API for devs.
 
I only want a proper iOS on the 6+ without all the crashes.

JFC this. I love my iPhone 6 Plus, but good god is iOS 8 a total waste on this phone. Honestly, I don't know if more RAM would even help the phone. iOS 8.3 is definitely better than the first release, but it could still use some refinement.
 
New Apple TV.

Apple Watch Native Apps.

Those are the two items that interest me right now.

My iPhone is running smoothly.
 
The fact that the rumors are so limited this year for iOS and OS X almost has to mean they're focusing on foundation-level improvements and API changes. I bet it'll be a lot of really great stuff, but not things that are incredibly exciting to consumers.

Then again, most people thought iOS 8 was exactly the same, and a boring upgrade.
 
The fact that the rumors are so limited this year for iOS and OS X almost has to mean they're focusing on foundation-level improvements and API changes. I bet it'll be a lot of really great stuff, but not things that are incredibly exciting to consumers.

Then again, most people thought iOS 8 was exactly the same, and a boring upgrade.

I understand that i'm not your normal consumers but to me releases focused on optimizations are exciting. I'm happier with an ok hardware that runs optimized software than having jesus hardware with a meh software.

Also i think that in order to have stability they cannot mess up with new API too much if not at all, i think (hope) we'll get this cycle from now on where one year we get new features (Yosemite-iOS8) and the other we get optimizations (Gala-iOS9)
 
I understand that i'm not your normal consumers but to me releases focused on optimizations are exciting. I'm happier with an ok hardware that runs optimized software than having jesus hardware with a meh software.

Also i think that in order to have stability they cannot mess up with new API too much if not at all, i think (hope) we'll get this cycle from now on where one year we get new features (Yosemite-iOS8) and the other we get optimizations (Gala-iOS9)

Actually, the opposite. To truly optimize, they have to mess with the APIs a ton.
 
Looks like we won't be getting the TV streaming service this year:

Apple's ambitions to provide customers with live programming from local broadcasting stations in the United States could delay the company's plans to launch a streaming TV service in early fall, according to Re/code. The report also cites industry executives that do not believe Apple has reached any content deals with TV programmers yet, making it unlikely that the web-based TV service is announced at WWDC next month.

http://www.macrumors.com/2015/05/22/apple-local-stations-delay-streaming-tv/
 
The fact that the rumors are so limited this year for iOS and OS X almost has to mean they're focusing on foundation-level improvements and API changes. I bet it'll be a lot of really great stuff, but not things that are incredibly exciting to consumers.

Then again, most people thought iOS 8 was exactly the same, and a boring upgrade.
To be honest I would be happy if they just sped up everything.

The animations right now are terrible, and the delay after pressing the home button sucks.

Fix those and I can stick with my 5S for even longer.
 
the delay after pressing the home button sucks.
They dug themselves into a hole on that one. The delay needs to be there as the system has to wait that period of time to see if you are going to double-press the home button, and then act accordingly.
 
Here's a round up of the rumors:

iOS 9 codenamed "Monarch" will be focused on optimization and stability a la SnowLeopard/Mavericks.
OSX 10.11 codename is "Gala".
Both iOS and OSX will transition their system wide font from Helvetica Neue to the new San Francisco featured in the Apple Watch.
A new Apple TV will be introduced with a revamped OS for it.
Apple will provide more information for their revamped music streaming service


I think that's all, let me know if left something out.

-New Apple TV will feature Siri and a redesigned remote
-New Apple TV will not support 4K
-New Apple TV will get TVKit for building TV apps
-New Apple TV will support MiFi controllers
-Apple will be launching a paid streaming TV service
-iOS will feature a home automation application, Apple TV support may be a focus
-iOS9 may feature Windows 8-like multitasking views on iPad

Honestly I'm not expecting much out of Apple TV, everything points to basically a catch-up to current year-old STBs. I really hope they open up real NFC APIs for iPhone and get native watch apps. Aside from that from that I don't have a realistic expectation aside from what's in the rumors.
 
Looking forward to split screen multitasking on iPad, transit and general improvements to Maps, and San Francisco font for everyone.

Oh, and the revamped Music app coming in iOS 8.4.

And whatever heck they add to OS X 10.11.

And most importantly, stability and optimisation! I hope it's not wishful thinking that discoveryd on OS X has it's problems ironed out. And making the damned photo screensavers not default to National Geographic every fucking time.

That's not too hard, is it? It seems to be for Apple these days when they can't get something like that fixed in a point release. :/
 
ton of info on iOS 9 + 10.11 from Gurman:

http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/22/ios-9...-rootless-security-legacy-iphoneipad-support/

Apple is changing up its annual iOS and OS X upgrade cycle by limiting new feature additions in favor of a “big focus on quality,” according to multiple sources familiar with the company’s operating system development plans.

But that does not mean OS X 10.11 will be feature-less: we’re told that the new operating system will have system-wide interface tweaks to continue the work done in OS X Yosemite, as well as the San Francisco font from the Apple Watch and iOS 9. Additionally, Control Center has been planned for inclusion in OS X 10.11, after appearing in some early beta seeds of last year’s OS X Yosemite, only to be left out of the final release. Control Center moves many of the controls from the Mac’s Menu Bar to a pane that slides out from the left side of the Mac’s display, adding on-screen music controls and other iOS-influenced features. However, Control Center reportedly has been in flux during development, and could be pushed back again.

Marquee features aside, Apple has been working on significant enhancements to the security fundamentals of both operating systems, ranging from a major new initiative called “Rootless,” re-architected Apple apps with iCloud Drive file encryption, and a new feature called “Trusted Wi-Fi.”

While some users of older iOS devices have speculated that Apple’s recent operating systems were built to encourage the purchase of new phones and tablets, the company has actually been working on ways to make legacy iPhones and iPads more efficient while running the upcoming iOS 9.

In what will come as a surprise to many people, our sources note that even A5-based Apple devices, including the original iPad mini and discontinued iPhone 4S, will be able to run iOS 9.
 
Split screen multi tasking in iPad, how long have people been begging for this now? The 2GB RAM in the iPad Air 2 can more then handle this by now , it's as powerful as a MacBook from a couple years ago

But I'm really excited to see apple watch OS updates
 
Rootless security will be real interesting in OS X. We'll have to see how that is handled - I'm guessing if the Root user has to be enabled, Apple will only allow such from Recovery or Single User Mode.

The biggest security feature that Apple can add to their operating systems is to implement an adblock feature inside Safari, but only enable known adware/malware blocking by default (if folks want to add EasyList or other actual adblock lists, I suppose the compromise would be to make people enter those block lists manually in Settings somewhere). Far and away the the most widespread security threats that actually affect Mac users are being led to click on malicious/misleading banner ads that install fake Flash, fake Media Players, and outright junk like MacKeeper. Then you got the pop-up ads that stop Safari from closing unless you Force Quit the browser and restart Safari while holding the Shift key to force a new window. Once that sort of garbage is blocked by default, the average Mac user will be much safer.
 
Not sure if it's likely, but I really hope that 10.11 has improvements on UI responsiveness. It's a bummer booting into Windows 8 and having the desktop and windows just react and move so responsively.

The graphical effects in OS X are super nice, but when they're dropping frames it's far less nice.
 
I don't think this is the year for the inevitable Great iTunes Unbundling, sadly, but all I want is Control Center and Siri on OS X and a dedicated iCloud Drive file browser in iOS.

New Apple TV with universal content search and Siri would be great, as would a real-world authentication/key API for the Apple Watch and iPhone 6/6+.

I dunno. Outside of the notorious and terrible discoveryd wifi issues, I don't really have major stability complaints about iOS or OS X right now. This update is sounding kinda dull to me.

Having iOS 9 run on A5 devices is a fucking strange choice from Apple, btw, but I guess they're still selling A5s in the iPad mini and the Apple TV.
 
revamped iTunes, one that isn't a convoluted mess and will actually be easy enough for me to drop and drag.

lol, not happening

and Apple TV. I have been waiting for a newer version for some time.

This kind of puzzles me, I can't even imagine how iTunes could be any simpler or easier to use than it is now.
 

This gets me legit excited in my pants. Really looking forward to it now.

they need optimize landscape mode for 6+. Fucking ridiculous that their premier phone is still like this

iOS 8 is mostly fine on the 6 Plus now on 8.3. Not where I want it to be in terms of stability, but a huge improvement from 8.0. And the stability issues on 6 Plus are present in other iPhones and iPads too.

But goddamn, yes, they need to do more with landscape on the 6 Plus. And rearrange the 6 Plus' landscape keyboard. I have to say though, I am pleasantly surprised when I discover an app that has a landscape mode optimised for the 6 Plus, like the Weather and Clock apps. I don't think I've seen any non-Apple app take advantage of it though.
 
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