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Apple celebrates 45 years, WWDC 2021 announced, and our iOS feature wishlist on the AppleInsider Podcast

On this week's AppleInsider Podcast, your hosts discuss the June 7 through June 11 WWDC, Apple's 45 years, and our feature wishlists for the next versions of Apple's operating systems.

On April 1, Apple celebrated 45 years since it was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne back in 1976. In a email, CEO Tim Cook took an optimistic tone by saying to staff, "What I can tell you with gut certainty is that there has never been a moment of such great potential as this one, nor have we ever had so talented and dedicated a team."

As well as revisting back at its past, Apple has looked to the future with confirmation that it will hold an online-only WWDC this year from June 7-11. We discuss the possibility of returning to a normal, in-person WWDC in 2022 and also the possibility of seeing an AR or VR headset announcement this year. While a product announcement seems unlikely, Apple could introduce new ARKit tools for the upcoming device.

Certainly coming soon are updates, and the latest beta of iOS 14.5 has revealed two new Siri voices plus the option of choosing one on setup.

We discuss our hopes for new features in iOS 15, iPadOS, watchOS and macOS. Considering the success of Shortcuts on iOS, we hope Apple brings this automation tool to the Mac and adds more flexibility to the iPad. Widgets could be more useful given interactive features, and iCloud Drive syncing could be drastically improved.

Also, a new report from Bloomberg claims that Apple is considering a "rugged" Apple Watch model targeted toward athletes and extreme users.

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