Apple WWDC on June 22: What is likely to make headlines in 2020?

With Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) just around the corner, Here is a quick look at what might make headlines at the event:

This will be the first time in 31 years that Apple will be conducting the event virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Apple's WWDC is likely to have a special keynote address on June 22, 10 am PDT(10:30 PM IST) followed by a platforms state of the union address later that afternoon along with 100+ engineering sessions and 1-on-1 Developer labs spread over the next three days.

WWDC has been primarily been a developer's conferences with many discussions on code and development held during the event. In the past, Apple used to demonstrate hardware - namely the new Mac Pro in 2019 and Macbook pros as well as other Mac.

Apple might put the ball in the court of the developers with a likely shift in hardware in the near future. This might take place at the event.

ARM-processor based macOS devices

If rumors are to be believed, then Apple may be moving away from Intel-based processors for its macOS based devices -namely the Macbook pro, Mac Mini, iMac, and iMac pro. The transition to the in-house Apple processor is likely to start with a new laptop as the first Mac chips won’t be able to rival the performance Intel provides for high-end MacBook Pros, iMacs and the Mac Pro desktop computer, according to a report in Bloomber g last month.

Back in 2005, at the Apple WWDC, the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and the late Intel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Paul Otellini had announced the launch of the first Macs with Intel processors.

The decision was praised for several years, resulting in many capable computers such as the original Mac Pro in 2006, the second-generation MacBook Air in 2010, and the thinner MacBook Pro in 2012.

So, what is the new processor platform?

Well, according to experts, Apple may make a transition from Intel to an ARM-based processor by 2021 as part of Project Kalamata.

Apple has already started designing the second generation of Mac processors that follows the architecture of chips planned for the 2021 iPhone.

This, according to a Bloomberg report, indicates that Apple wants to include its Macs, iPhones, and iPads on the same processor development cycle.

The report also highlighted that this would enable to ensure that the product releases with the latest specs on time. In the recent past, the pace of Mac upgrades has declined, partly due to a slowdown in Intel’s chip advancements. This, often, resulted in a gap of many years between the newer versions of the Mac, upsetting some customers.  

The ARM architecture-based processors are readily available on Android mobiles and Apple's A-series chipset for the iPhones. Making the announcement at WWDC will be seen as a good move to prepare developers, coders, and app design companies to design or rework their apps for the ARM architecture based Mac device. Incidentally, Apple T1 and T2 security chipset on its existing MacBook pro's are ARM-based processors and are used for hardware encryption and hardware encoding. Also, it is likely to be previewed at this year's WWDC-iOs 14 along with updates for Apple's WatchOS.

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