Finally, this week Apple introduced Final Cut Pro and Logic Audio for the iPad, finally bringing its professional production apps to its high-end tablets. I’m not an antivirus expert, but the apps are nearly complete versions of Mac apps with a touch interface for the relatively low price of $4.99/month, or $49/year.
This is the kind of announcement that will work very well as an aperitif at any main event. And it so happens that it will appear in just a few weeks. But Tim Cook must have looked at the list of WWDC announcements and decided there just wasn’t room for another one.
It’s pretty interesting. WWDC doesn’t usually generate as much buzz as the iPhone event in September, but this year already feels different. Rumors point to several new products for the software-focused show, and now that Apple appears to have dropped a major announcement at the event, iOS 17 may seem like an afterthought.
While WWDC is no stranger to hardware announcements – last year saw the introduction of the M2 chip and a redesigned MacBook Air; 2017 gave us the HomePod, iMac Pro and 10.5-inch iPad Pro, but this year promises to be a big show with several potential announcements including the 15-inch MacBook Air and the Apple Silicon Mac Pro. Most importantly, WWDC could be the launch event for Apple’s first brand new product in years, the Reality Pro AR Headset.
Throw in rumors of a watchOS 10 overhaul, some of our “most requested features” across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, and the expected xrOS debut for the headset, and you have what could be Apple’s biggest keynote. time.
And we don’t have long to wait. The WWDC Keynote will begin at 10:00 AM PT on Monday, June 5th. We will definitely bring popcorn.