Anticipating Apple’s WWDC 2024: A Dive into AI and More

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has been a platform for major announcements in the past. This year, the conference is set to begin on June 10, 2024. The event will take place at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, where significant announcements have been made in previous years.

Generative AI on Apple Devices

One of the most anticipated aspects of WWDC 2024 is Apple’s expected showcase of on-device generative AI capabilities. This includes GPTs or image generation running locally on iPhones, iPads, and probably on MacBooks and Macs. This would be a significant step forward in the field of AI, especially considering that Apple’s M-series and A-series chips have had neural processors (NPUs) built into them for a couple of years.

Apple’s Neural Engine

Apple’s Neural Engine, as it calls its NPUs, should be more than capable of running the kinds of AI workloads that an Intel or AMD NPU is running now. This would put Apple in direct competition with Qualcomm, which has been promoting its Snapdragon chips’ generative AI capabilities, particularly in the Samsung Galaxy S24.

iOS 18 and watchOS 11

We’ll likely see iOS 18 announced at WWDC, likely with new AI features leading the way. These could include a redesigned UI, improved Siri, support for RCS, and more. There might also be updates to watchOS, with the release of watchOS 11.

Hardware Updates

On the hardware front, while it’s too soon for new iPhones to be released, we might see new iPad models. There could also be an announcement of the Apple M3 Ultra, following up on the late 2023 release of new MacBook Pro models with M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips.

The M3 Ultra is a workstation-class chip, so it’ll be something that an industry and developer audience would be far more interested in than the average consumer would. Therefore, a WWDC announcement of a Mac Studio and Mac Pro refresh with M3 Ultra is a possibility.

Please note that these are expectations based on available information and rumors, and we’ll have to wait until the event to know for sure what Apple has planned for the rest of 2024.

Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the June 10 kick-off to WWDC 2024.