This year, Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will take place on June 7-11. Just like last year, the event will be held exclusively online due to quarantine restrictions related to the coronavirus. Also, until April 18, applications are accepted for participation in the Swift Student Challenge, in which young developers can demonstrate their programming skills.
Traditionally, Apple will present new versions of the iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS operating systems during the event. Thanks to the online format of the event, the entire global developer community, which is 28 million people, will have the opportunity to learn about new technologies, tools and frameworks, as well as about new ways of interacting with Apple engineers and designers.
The company is expected to showcase iOS 15 in 2021. Some new features, interface, and security fixes are expected in this release. After the event, version 15 of the operating system will be immediately released as a beta version for developers. iOS 15 will be available for all smartphones, starting with the iPhone 7.
In addition, journalists expect that at WWDC 2021, Apple will announce the company's mixed reality glasses, which fans of the brand have been waiting for for a long time.
The thing is that before each of its presentations or events, the company hides the so-called "Easter eggs" either in pictures or in videos. This happened this time, too. Apple left a hint in the form of a reflection in the memoji character's glasses. Whether this is a reflection from a laptop screen, or whether Apple is really presenting AR glasses is still unclear.
Earlier at WWDC, Apple unveiled the Mac Pro, HomePod smart speaker, iMac desktop PCs, and the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.
Apple first hosted WWDC online in 2020 due to the pandemic. Up to this point, participation in the developer event was paid and available only by invitation to the company's headquarters.
The Cupertino company will also continue its long tradition of supporting students who love to program. This year, as part of the Swift Student Challenge, they are invited to create a game in the Swift programming language through the Swift Playgrounds app for iPad and macOS. Entries will be accepted until April 18, and the winners will receive an exclusive jacket with the WWDC 2021 logo and a set of badges.
In addition, Apple will also donate $1 million to the SJ Aspires education initiative, which launched in San Jose. It aims to help young people from poor areas of the city to get higher education.
Additional information about WWDC 2021 can be obtained through the Apple Developers app, website, or via email.