WWDC 2024 will show off Apple's AI efforts on June 10

Usually held in the first week of June, Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference or WWDC is Apple's week-long event aimed at showing developers what's on the horizon for the company.

Along with providing coding-related information and assistance, WWDC is also the venue for Apple to introduce its next generation of operating systems. It has also been used to launch some new hardware.

Starting from June 10 and running until June 14, the conference will commence with the usual pre-recorded keynote address and State of the Union videos. While chiefly virtual, Apple does offer developers the opportunity to take part in an in-person event at Apple Park, with invites handed out via a lottery system.

Usually held in tandem with WWDC, Apple has already launched its 2024 Swift Student Challenge. Along with memberships to the Apple Developer Program and other gifts as prizes, 50 entries will be deemed "Distinguished Winners" and will earn a three-day visit to Apple Park.

Operating Systems and Software

Apple's chief announcements will be its operating system updates, including iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and the next edition of macOS. With the release of the Apple Vision Pro, WWDC can also show off Apple's first major feature updates for visionOS.

The updates to iOS 18 will arguably be the main focus for users and developers alike. Following on from iOS 17, iOS 18 is rumored to include a big redesign of various UI elements, though it's unlikely that the Apple Vision Pro and visionOS will influence design alterations.

Ai improvements to Siri and iOS in general is expected to be a big feature, with the iPhone maker continuing to invest resources into developing generative AI. Aside from expected Siri improvements, the AI changes can also feed into other apps, such as providing automated summarizing functions.

This is far beyond consumer usage, too, as Apple has been rumored to be including changes to its development tools. Test versions of a future Xcode release apparently include AI tools, such as the automated prediction and completion of blocks of code, and automated code generation for testing applications.

While few elements of what Apple will include aside from AI enhancements are reliably rumored, it does seem that Apple will be trying hard to minimize any initial beta bugs.

In November, development of new features for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 had been put on pause in favor of a week of bug stomping. The releases may be more crucial to Apple than usual, due to a general need to catch up with others in the generative AI space.

Hardware

New devices almost always play second fiddle to software at WWDC, but that doesn't mean they don't appear every so often.

Following the March special event, Apple's WWDC introductions are likely to consist of the heavy-weight hardware used by professionals with serious computing needs. The gaps in the M3 generation of Macs seems to line up perfectly for new launches.

So far, Apple has introduced three M3 chips, consisting of the M3, the M3 Pro, and M3 Max. Since it has brought out the "Ultra" edition, effectively two Max chips connected together as one larger chip, it seems very likely that an M3 Ultra chip will turn up at WWDC 2024.

As for the type of device that could contain the M3 Ultra, the current favorite is a spec-bump update to the Mac Studio. Rumors have pointed towards a Mac Studio with M3 Ultra for a mid-year launch.

However, the fumbled launch of the Apple Silicon Mac Pro makes it hard to believe Apple will bring out a Mac Pro running on an M3 Ultra this year. Even so, one report from December 10 said the Mac Pro could still get an update, though possibly towards the end of 2024, if not 2025.