Each year at WWDC, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, the company showcases what's next for its biggest platforms — iOS, macOS, and more — and what developers can do to make apps and services for them. At this year's event, Apple is expected to introduce its first virtual reality headset along with an operating system designed for VR apps.
It wasn’t the biggest announcement at WWDC this year, but Apple debuting TV AirPlay in hotels is a welcome thing, and LG announced Thursday it’ll support it on LG Pro:Centric Smart Hotel TVs later this year (via MacRumors).
When you encounter one, you’ll be able to connect and start AirPlaying TikToks or whatever by scanning a QR code on the TV.
Last week, Apple gave fans of its famous thin-and-light laptop line the option they’d been missing with its new 15-incher, and now it’s available to buy.
Monica’s review called it exactly what was asked for:
This device doesn’t manufacture a need; it found a need, and it’s filling it. We don’t need to be convinced that we want the Air 15. We’ve been waiting for it.
The new Mac Studio and Mac Pro models are also officially available to buy.
But the VPN provider needs more details before it commits:
“We are concerned that there may be some limitations for consumer VPN products and the update will only benefit B2B VPN solutions,” NordVPN PR Manager Egidijus Jurgelionis wrote in an email to The Verge, “If not, our users will be able to use NordVPN on their Apple TVs sometime in the nearest future.”
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman is again highlighting Apple Vision Pro successors. That includes a 2nd-gen Vision Pro with a faster processor, as well as a cheaper one that could arrive by late 2025, with a two-product split mirroring Apple’s phones, laptops, and tablets.
Gurman offered a theory on why Tim Cook never donned the headset WWDC — Apple execs don’t want to be turned into memes by unflattering pictures.
There are a lot of familiar faces in Lawley’s video if you like Apple-focused tech podcasts like many of those hosted by RelayFM.
It’s interesting what they’re looking forward to — Overcast creator and podcaster Marco Arment says SwiftUI code will be “way less error-prone,” while David Sparks of MacSparky called out what he says is much-improved dictation.
Apple’s new headset made the splashiest debut during WWDC 2023, so don’t miss Nilay Patel telling you (outside of podcasts, editorials, and comments) what it’s like to wear one before the Vision Pro is released early next year.
The Vision Pro’s biggest advantage isn’t Apple’s hardware
Apple’s developers already have the tools they need to create apps for the system.
In Apple’s WWDC Platforms State of the Union video, the headset is shown on a table with what looks like a USB-C dongle, as pointed out by MacRumors. It could be a way to connect the headset to a Mac for development, a more convenient power connection than the battery pack, or maybe some kind of Apple-only diagnostic tool.
Whatever it is, it looks like no Apple product can escape #donglelife.
You can watch it on the WVFRM YouTube channel or listen to it in the Vergecast and Waveform podcast feeds. I’m not going to spoil the winner, but I will say that Nilay, David, and Dan holds their own against some tough competition.
Apple’s Vision Pro virtual reality headset (yes, it’s VR) runs on “visionOS.” But if you dig into the developer sessions at WWDC, you’ll notice “xrOS” on various slides and named videos. It was the rumored name and also probably the internal name for the operating system. And now it gets to have a legacy.
Apple’s Vision Pro is the Retina display moment for headsets
I tried the Vision Pro, and just like the introduction of the iPhone 4 over a decade ago, there’s no going back from here.
High praise for Apple’s Vision Pro headset from UploadVR.
Here are the features Apple didn’t announce in the WWDC keynote
Here’s everything we could find for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch that didn’t get screen time.
The Mac Pro ends the Apple Silicon transition, but it’s just one step in a much bigger journey
Apple has completed the Mac’s move away from Intel. Now it needs to prove Mac Pro upgrades can keep up with pro users.
Apple’s new Proton-like Game Porting Toolkit for macOS has already allowed people, like this Redditor, to get Windows PC-only DirectX 12 games running on Apple Silicon, including Cyberpunk 2077 and Diablo IV.
Did it get them running smoothly? Not so much (although I wonder what it would look like on a Mac Studio or Mac Pro), but to be fair, it’s already ahead of how the game ran at launch on a base PS4 or Xbox One.
What’s so ‘pro’ about Apple’s Vision Pro headset?
Apple needs developers to make the case for its new augmented reality headset.
I wore the Apple Vision Pro. It’s the best headset demo ever.
Apple’s new don’t-call-it-a-VR-headset is the best riff on some very familiar ideas, but still searching for a purpose.
WWDC 2023 news: Apple Vision Pro, Mac Pro, iOS 17, and more
Apple revealed Vision Pro augmented reality hardware, a 15-inch MacBook Air, the new Mac Pro, macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, and more.
We’ll have much more, including hands-on reactions to the new Vision Pro, to come. Stay tuned.
Apple’s WWDC State of the Union is giving us more details about how developers can work with visionOS. That includes confirmation that Unity apps are supposed to run easily on the Vision Pro — including alongside other, non-Unity apps.
Apple WWDC 10 biggest announcements: Vision Pro, MacBook Air, iOS 17, and more
We finally got our first look at Apple’s virtual reality headset.