“We’re making the best Macs we’ve ever made but we’re not standing still”: Apple’s Tim Cook addresses WWDC
Apple’s Tim Cook took to the stage at the WWD Conference today, 10 June, telling the audience that the event sold out in just over 1 minute (71 seconds to be exact).
Cook started proceedings with a retail update before launching into Apple’s latest software launch, the OS X Mavericks.
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering said its “California-theme” was inspired by a local surf spot. He joked that the name Sea Lion was also on the table – having run out of big cat species as names for Mac OS software. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it….
Mavericks, available to the general public in early autumn, will have longer battery life, additional applications and features for Mac “power users”, with Federighi placing great emphasis on CPU usage.
The operating system will now use tags to organise and find files on Apple devices or using Apple's iCloud. Users can search for any tags relating to any file using Finder, and the tags also appear in the Finder Sidebar to enable the users to look for files by project or category.
The iCloud Keychain was then debuted; it will remember and encrypt all of your passwords, account info, credit card numbers, website and WiFi logins across all devices to make browsing more secure.
A new notification feature also allows users to reply directly to iMessages, emails and apps that send notifications to an iOS device and if the users computer is on standby, when it is reopened it will update you with notifications you have missed.
Apple’s Maps app has street maps, point of interest search and turn by turn directions with added information cards that take information from Yelp to show reviews. It also has vector graphics, 3D view and interactive Flyover and the integration in Mavericks means it can also be used from within Mail, Contacts and Calendar. All in all a considerably more improved version than Apple's last attempt at a Maps app according to most commentators.
The Mac Pro was then revealed which one-eighth the volume that its predecessor. The 11-inch will now have nine hours battery life, compared the previous five, and the 13-inch MacBook will have 12 hours of battery life instead of seven.
There were mixed reactions to the Mac Pro on Twitter, some were left underwhelmed by the futuristic design but most were impressed with the specs.
iOS updates were then announced by Tim Cook, who said: “We have sold over 600 million iOS devices.”
He added: “iPhone users use their iPhone 50 per cent more than Android users use their phone. They love them more.
“Today, it is a great thrill that I announce iOS 7.”
Sir Jony Ive described the flat, clean design which has a new colour palette and has abandoned the use of paper and wood effects: “We have always thought of design of being so much more than the way something looks.
“It’s the whole thing, the way something actually works on so many different levels,” he said.
New features include the Control Center which allows you to swipe up with your thumb on the bottom of the device and see your phone’s settings, which include brightness and media controls. Users can also now swipe from the left of the screen to go back and move between messages and when you slide across in any app you now get an options menu.
Federighi returned to the stage to say that: “Installing iOS 7 on your phone is like getting an entirely new phone.”
The Lock Screen on iOS 7 has replaced the square buttons with circular number buttons for entering PINs while the new Camera app offers built-in access to live photo filters, where users can also edit images within the app.
A new feature, called Moments, allows for “natural organisations” instead of a stream of photos based on a timeline. You can now view images based on locations, year etc.
Siri has also been updated, with a new realistic voice that is either female or male and is available in French and German “with more languages to come”.
It was also revealed that in 2014, car manufactures will be adding iOS to their cars.
iRadio was unveiled next, showing stations within iTunes Radio which are integrated with Twitter’s new music service to allow users to see what's trending.
“Another great feature of iTunes Radio is that it keeps track of all the songs you’re listening to across all your devices,” said Eddy Cue, Apple VP.
“It’s free with ads, if you’re an iTunes Match user, it is completely ad-free,” Cue said.
Final release of iOS 7 is coming this autumn.
Finally, Cook returned to the stage to say: “Our goal at Apple is to make products that customers love.”
“The experience of the product, how it makes someone feel. Will it make life better? Does it deserve to exist?”