Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley joins the Live show to break down the expectations for Apple at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event.
Video Transcript
BRIAN CHEUNG: Well, Apple’s WWDC kicks off next Tuesday. It’s expected to bring a slew of changes to the software that powers the tech giant’s devices. And of course, Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley is here with the details in this week’s Tech Support. Dan, WWDC, Worldwide Developers Conference. Did I nail that?
DAN HOWLEY: You got it. You got it. You got it.
BRIAN CHEUNG: What will those worldwide developers–
DAN HOWLEY: Conference.
BRIAN CHEUNG: –conference on next week?
DAN HOWLEY: They’ll be conferencing about a lot of things. So, basically, this is Apple’s big showcase for all of their software that they’re going to roll out in the next year or so. So the main thing to look at is what’s going to happen to the iPhone. That’s with iOS 16. Right now, we’re on iOS 15. We’re going to be on iOS 16 come the new iPhone, but we get a preview of what’s going to happen when the new iPhone comes out in September.
So just to give you some basic ideas, we’re going to get a new lock screen. That’s part of the changes. It’s going to be basically allow you to look at items, widgets, on the lock screen when your phone is sleeping. So it’ll be an always on display. That could be something that really improves the battery life over time, or we could see battery life improvements to power that. The iPhones now have OLED displays. So if it’s all dark and they just use something like a white background for that kind of text that we would see on that lock screen, then that would be easier to use on the battery. So that’s going to be something that we could see on the lock screen.
There also could be new changes to the refresh rate on the screen. They could cut the refresh rate. That would end up saving battery life. And with iPadOS, we could also see some changes with multitasking. So iOS, iPadOS, they’re basically the same thing, except iPadOS is on iPads. There’s some differences there, especially with that multitasking feature. But we still should be able to get better multitasking with iPadOS.
And then, we’re also going to get changes to Watch OS. That’s going to be a new low power mode, new faces, new health features, things like pill tracking and women’s health, and then new workouts. That’s part of the big thing. That’s something that I really care about because I use my Apple Watch for working out all the time, so. And if I don’t track it, then it doesn’t count. And then why did I work out?
AKIKO FUJITA: I’m with you. I’m with you.
DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, why did I work out? I didn’t track it.
AKIKO FUJITA: The minute I step outside the office, I just tap it to make sure I’m getting my steps.
DAN HOWLEY: Yep, yep, yep.
AKIKO FUJITA: I realize this is a developer conference, right? So the focus is going to be on the software. But I wonder if we could get hints for potential hardware. And I’m talking specifically about the headset that has been teased out long enough. Could we get potential hints on a timeline for that?
DAN HOWLEY: There’s the possibility, right? There’s been rumors that we could see software from the headset, so that’s going to be called Reality OS, if all the reporting is accurate, which I assume it is. That’s going to allow them to power that headset that’s been long rumored. It’s supposed to be an AR/VR headset. What we– chances are, we’re not going to see the hardware, but we could maybe possibly see the software.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Someone would have to open up the code, and like– I feel like every WWDC, that’s how it goes. Someone just kind of–
DAN HOWLEY: That’s what– they did that with iOS 15. They opened up the code, and they saw it for the App Store, actually. And that’s how people found out that was the name. But what we could see as far as hardware is new Macs and the new M2 chip. So the M1 chip was Apple’s own processor that they made. They started slotting it into their laptops, their desktops, their iPads. It’s phenomenal, right? The battery life on it is absolutely bonkers. It has great power.
The M2 is supposed to be an upgrade on that. So hopefully that means even more power, even better battery life. And this would really stick it to Intel, which basically Apple is just trying to poke them in the eye here and say, we managed to do this. We can keep going with our own processors and provide better products than you guys could with yours.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Oh, yeah, they basically drove the knife in.
DAN HOWLEY: Yeah.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Is this the first in-person WWDC? Was it–
DAN HOWLEY: Since the pandemic, yeah. There’s going to be some in-person aspects to it and some remote aspects to it. But people will be able to stream it online, for sure.
AKIKO FUJITA: I feel like you’ve convinced me to wait to upgrade my laptop.
DAN HOWLEY: I mean, look, it really just–
AKIKO FUJITA: The keyboard is really bad. We complain about this all the time.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Well, they updated that already.
DAN HOWLEY: Yes, they fixed the keyboards.
AKIKO FUJITA: I’m still dealing with an older one.
DAN HOWLEY: I mean, I have one right now with the space bar that doesn’t work. And my E, C, and R keys have just completely disappeared.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Oh, it looks like I’m hammered every time I send a message.
DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Just my I’s and my R’s are all over the place.
DAN HOWLEY: But I do think that if we get a new piece of hardware outside of computing or outside of the headset or those processors, it would be a new MacBook Air. So that could be something to really look forward to. And I think a lot of people want that.