Apple will accept applications for WWDC 2017 scholarships on March 27

Apple has revealed the process to garner a scholarship to the 2017 World Wide Developer's Conference, and is requiring applicants to create a short scene in Swift Playgrouns to attract the interest of the judges.

To be eligible for a WWDC Scholarship, applicants must be registered with the program either with a free or paid membership, be 13 years of age or older, and must be actively involved in schooling or be STEM organization alumni. Applicants must provide Apple with proof of enrollment in an educational institution.

Applicants must "be creative" and create a visually interactive scene in a Swift playground that can be experienced within three minutes. Apple suggests that users start with templates in Swift Playgrounds for a head start on more advanced creations.

Submissions can be tendered as early as March 27. The deadline for submissions is April 5, at 5 p.m. PDT.

The project must measure 25MB or less. Group work will not be considered, with submissions required to be in English, and function properly on the latest releases of Swift Playgrounds and iOS or Xcode and macOS.

The Swift playground's features and technologies must also be described in 500 words or less. Apple also requests optional information from applicants like how the submitter demonstrates enthusiasm for computer science on a day-to-day basis, if the applicant has extenuating circumstances requiring financial assistance for travel, and a résumé — which Apple notes will not influence the judging process.

Applications will be judged on technical accomplishment, creativity, and the content of the written responses.

Apple have given 350 scholarships to the WWDC for the last two years. So far, the company has not yet revealed how many scholarships it will give out, but up to 125 selectees will be eligible for travel cost assistance.

After spending the last 13 years in San Francisco, Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference will return to San Jose on June 5 through June 9 It is widely expected that this year will be headlined by the introduction of iOS 11, as well as macOS 10.13.

Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller indicated that WWDC 2017 will be about the same size as previous conferences, hosting 5,000 developers and 1,000 engineers at San Jose's McEnery Convention Center.