WWDC 2023 – live: How Apple’s ‘revolutionary’ $3,499 Vision Pro could read your mind
Every Apple platform updated at WWDC 2023 – alongside the introduction of a whole new one
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Your support makes all the difference.Apple held one of its biggest events of the last decade on Monday, launching a product that could redefine the way we look at the world.
The company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) began with a keynote from Apple Park in California led by CEO Tim Cook, who described the company’s new $3,499 (£2,800) Vision Pro headset as “revolutionary”.
The device combines virtual reality and augmented reality, with Apple claiming it heralds a “new era of spatial computing”.
The world’s most valuable company also used the keynote to unveil a major overhaul of its Mac lineup, as updates for its other platforms. This year, that meant the release of iOS 17 for iPhones, WatchOS 10 for Apple Watch, and a new iPadOS.
The Vision Pro also came with its own software, called VisionOS, which supports many of the same apps found on iPhones.
You can read how it unfolded here, as well as follow all the latest updates from our on-the-ground coverage of WWDC 2023.
Striking writers to launch ‘Apple Day of Action’ during event
The Writers Guild of America is currently on strike in a long-running dispute over streaming revenues and more. Today, the union is launching an “Apple Day of Action”, which will target retail stores including the one at Apple Park’s visitor centre, which is just across the road from the location of the keynote. They’ll be leafleting that store and many more across the US, according to the action’s website.
The action is not about the hardware and software that will be launched during WWDC. Instead, it’s about Apple TV+ and the company’s relative new but very significant status as the studio and streamer behind a host of big shows.
Apple Store goes down ahead of keynote
The Apple Store’s website is now offline. Instead, there’s just a message telling visitors that it’ll be back shortly.
This happens when the site needs to be updated (though it also helps increase excitement ahead of launches). That suggest there will be some hardware to come – the headset isn’t likely to actually be released today, so it might also be for the many new Macs that are rumoured to be coming.
Apple event live: WWDC 2023 to see silicon Mac Pro?
One of the biggest revelations in recent years in terms of Apple hardware has been its in-house computer chips, announced at WWDC 2020, which has seen the tech giant transition away from Intel processors for its Mac computers.
Three years on and the Mac Pro still hasn’t had the Apple silicon treatment, though some rumours suggest that the Apple silicon Mac Pro may be among the hardware announcements today, featuring a souped-up M2 Ultra processor.
While we wait to see what Apple announces today, you can read our tech editor Andrew Griffin’s recent deep dive into the chip technology here:
Why Apple hopes its new chips will turn its computers green
New silicon is making Macs faster – but could also help cut down their energy use
Apple event live: How to watch WWDC 2023
For many years, Apple made it impossible for people to watch their annual developer conference unless they had an Apple device to watch it on. Fortunately, this stance changed a few years ago and now anyone can watch it from any device.
The live stream of the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote will be broadcast on Apple’s website, as well as the company’s official YouTube channel. A holding page is already in place, ticking down to the moment Apple CEO Tim Cook takes to the stage in California.
You can tune in at 6pm UK time (10am local time), right here:
New Watch software likely to be biggest update
There’s a whole new platform that will be getting much of the focus, of course, in the form of the headset. But as ever Apple will be giving an update to every one of its operating systems.
The most significant is set to be WatchOS, according to seasoned Apple reporter Mark Gurman, who has said the new software will bring a range of very significant changes.
One thing to note is that Meta and Mark Zuckerberg revealed their new headset just days before Apple’s event. They didn’t mention Apple’s headset, and there’s no proof that the timing is anything more than a coincidence, but it certainly feels pointed.
Meta’s upcoming Quest 3 has nevertheless set the bar for the headset, and it will now be at least one of the comparisons people make tomorrow.
Ted Lasso merchandise arrives at one Apple Store
Apple has started selling Ted Lasso merchandise at the Apple Store that is across the road from its Apple Park campus. They’re laid out on tables just like Apple’s other products are.
The clothing – replica kits from the show, and more – have been available from Nike since earlier this year, when they were released to mark the third season of the show. But Apple has not been selling them until now.
(Reports had suggested that the merchandise would be available at Apple stores more generally. Now Mark German, who first reported that, says that those stores have been told to destroy their promotional materials.)
Tim Cook meets with students before WWDC starts
It’s the new features that get a lot of the focus during WWDC. But Apple has other things going on – including a programme that brings students from around the world to its California campus.
Tim Cook has been tweeting about meeting some of those who were part of that programme.
Headset for launch
The headset is likely to be the big star of tomorrow. Here’s everything we know about what it might actually look like.
Everything you need to know about WWDC 23
It’s going to be a very packed launch. It would be full even without a headset. Here’s everything we expect to be unveiled.
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