Highlights from Apple WWDC 2012 in San Francisco
20.00
OK, looks like that's it for tonight folks, Tim Cook is bringing proceedings to a close. Thanks for following us.
19.40
Google Maps being ditched in favour of Apple's own. Built-in turn-by-turn navigation, realtime crowdsourced traffic data.
iOS 6 will be available this autumn, will support phones from 3G S onwards and the new iPad/iPad 2. Available now for developers in beta.
19.25
FaceTime video calling comes to 3G, no longer just via wi-fi, and a 'Do Not Disturb' function can be set so that incoming calls/texts don't ring except from the people you've selected. Now that we like!
iOS 6 also gets Photo Stream sharing with friends, like Facebook. And there's a new app called Passbook for boarding passes, film tickets, store cards and so on. Nifty.
19.15
Siri on iOS 6 allows you to open apps by voice. General Motors, BMW, Toyota, Audi, Mercedes, Honda and Jaguar have all agreed to put a Siri button in their cars. Interesting.
Full version of Siri will be available on the iPad with iOS 6.
And, as expected, there's Facebook integration with the ability to share from apps like photos, Safari, plus contact list and calendars.
19.00
Good, looks like we're about to get the iOS 6 news we've been waiting for. iOS 6 comes with 200 new features, including Siri improvements, expanded iCloud. Will Facebook be integrated too? Total number of iOS devices sold to end of March 2012 is 365 million.
18.45
Now moving on to OSX. And here comes Mountain Lion, with hundreds of new features, including built-in support for iCloud. Looks very like iOS and you can now get iMessages on your Mac.
AirPlay mirroring coming to your Mac too, which will let you play games head-to-head with iOS devices on your TV. Mountain Lion will cost $20, available from next month, you can upgrade from Snow Leopard or later.
Lots of talk about computers, but what about iOS 6? It's being billed as "the world's most advanced mobile operating system".
18.30
New MacBook Pro (below) gets Ivy Bridge, up to 2.7GHz, GeForce GT graphics. The 15in model gets quad-core graphics.
Next-gen MacBook Pro is much thinner at just 0.71in, weighs under 2Kg. Gets a 2880 x 1800 resolution, 220ppi Retina screen. But there's no CD/DVD drive.
OS, Mail, iPhoto, Final Cut Pro everything's been updated for the new MacBook Pro's Retina display.
Spec includes quad-core i5 or i7 processors, up to 15GB of RAM, 768GB internal flash memory. Battery life is a claimed seven hours, 30 hours on standby. Prices for new MacBook Pro start at $2199. Pricey then. Shipping starts today.
18.20
So Apple's 23rd WWDC is underway, and so far the technology firm has announced new MacBook Airs (below), with up to 60% faster grapics, 512GB of Flash storage and USB 3.0.
They also get a 720p FaceTime camera, and shipping starts today in 11in and 13in sizes. Prices start at $1000 for the 11in model.
Published 16.30
Apple's Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) kicks off at 6pm UK time tonight, and in preparation for a raft of rumoured new product announcements the Apple Store has been taken offline.
As ever the rumours are swirling, with Apple boss Tim Cook expected to unveil the new iOS 6 platform for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as (allegedly) Siri voice control for the iPad, deeper Facebook integration on Apple devices, plus an overhaul of the iTunes and App Stores.
On the hardware front, there may be new MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros, but don't expect the iPhone 5 or long-awaited iTV – they're still some way off we reckon.
What would you like to see from Apple this time? Let us know in the Comments box below. WWDC runs from June 11-15th in San Francisco.
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Comments
Thank you for your help Andy
well I've just read the disclaimers at the bottom of Apples web page, and to add detail to the vague press release that I got excited about: (1) Siri will not be available on iPad2 (2) facetime over 3G will not be available on iPad2.
I am now underwhelmed by the thing I was excitied about only 2 days ago... Thanks for misleading me Apple
AnotherJoe its funny i honestly thought the picture quality on my friends iPad3 was better than my iPad2 even with a sd downloaded film from iTunes or am i the only one who has thought this?
Also the retina display isn't about just resolution as you seem to think, its just as much about the pixels
The increase in pixels per square inch effect everything like App Fonts, Pictures, Colours, basicly everything you see and because the computer display is one of those things you sit pretty close to unlike TV's, the difference is huge over a now standard resolution of 1920X1200 monitor
I know you'r not a fan of Apple products just by reading your posts but seriously next time you are passing an Apple shop go and take a good look at the retina display on the new mac pro, but don't worry to much AverageJoe OLED monitors will be out soon to give the retina display a run for its money
Regards the omission of the CD/DVD optical drive from the new MacBook Pro with Retina display....
They are still producing a range of newly updated MacBook Pro's with optical drives, but the Retina display model was presented as the first of the future range of MacBook Pro's, where they will be phasing out those legacy components which are due to fade from the hardware scene over the next few years.
Internal Hard Drives and optical drives are on their way out from the portable device marketplace. that means laptops too.
If you want to access content from CD's or DVD's, then a network solution or external optical drive will be needed; but then as we have known for quite a while now, the future of prerecorded music media is rapidly moving away from physical formats such as CD. The new hardware will simply reflect that as optical drives are needed less and less.
But landzw without content at the native 2880x1800 resolution - whats the point?
When you upscale you lose detail, for example upscaling a downloaded movie that only has a bitrate of around 4Mb/s will look poor - and would look better on a WUXGA (1920x1200). Its a very similar case to the Ipad3 - where again the chipset is not capable of running content at full resolution - it has to render at lower resolution and then upscale.
I would rather have seen the screen resolution at 1920x1200 and about £300 off the price.
You'd have to plug in an external CD drive.
There's no CD drive on the new MacBook Pro.. how do I get my new CDs to iTunes?
O boy AnotherJoe i think you need to think about things before you come out with stuff like this, its always its not good enough for you. Yes its no gaming pc but the gpu is more than capable for web browsing, photo's, movies, and gaming from the app store on a mac
Dont get too excited by the 2880x1800 resolution. The Geforce 650M gpu is not capable of running games at this resolution.
An ultra high-res screen and a mid-range mobile GPU. Seems kinda strange to me.
Whoa!! Good spot, landzw: no CD/DVD drive for the MBP.
Apple's anti-Blu-ray stance is getting very silly. Also means, obv', that CDs can't be ripped to iTunes. Huh????
Hell, I'm keeping my old-school MBP.
Looks like Apple have removed the DVD drive from the Retina MacBook Pro and it now looks more desirable than my wifes 13" Mac Air
Just been on Apples website and the new Mac Pro has Retina Display
iMac and Mac Pro are normally sept updates ( well they have been for the last couple of years )
Good to see iOS6 will still be supported on 3GS
Underwhelming says it all!!
Hmm, no new iMac, which normally gets a June update/new model?
No iMac with retina then, and no new Mac Pro.........