Apple WWDC 2019 Key Highlights: iOS 13, Mac Pro, MacOS 10.15, tvOS 13 and more

Apple WWDC 2019 took place in San Jose, California on Monday where we witnessed several major announcements and some necessary refinements to the existing software ecosystem. While iOS 13 dark mode, a new Mac Pro, MacOS 10.15 amongst many other expectations hit the spot, the Cupertino based giant managed to surprise us with an eventful keynote presentation.

1. tvOS 13

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple, kicked off the WWDC 2019 keynote with the preview of tvOS 13 and its new features:

• Revamped home screen crafted for discovering new and personalized content. You could play full-screen video previews right on the Home screen.
• Slide the new Control Center from the right and get quick access to key Apple TV features, including system sleep and audio routing. You could also switch between and manage multiple users from this menu.
• Apple music milks the multi-user support feature, so each user can enjoy their personalized playlists and recommendations. You could also read onscreen lyrics timed in sync with your favorite songs.
• Apple Arcade would be available from this fall in Apple TV 4K. With a single subscription, six members will have unlimited access to over 100 new and exclusive games, all with no ads or in-game purchases, native support for Xbox One S and DualShock controllers, and accessible across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Apple TV.

2. Watch OS 6

Next up, Apple took us through new WatchOS features:

• Taptic chimes to remind every passing hour.
• New Audiobooks app, Voice memo, and calculator for your Apple watch.
• New watch faces for Apple Watch: gradient face, California Dial, digital face, and a Solar face with a 24-hour sun path.
• A dedicated Apple Watch app store, accessible right from your wrist.
• Health app gets overhauled with new hearing monitoring app called Noise, menstrual cycle tracking and better health tracking features. This would be available on the iPhone Health app.

3. iOS 13

This one might be one of the most anticipated updates with a bunch of utilitarian and aesthetic enhancements:

• Dark Mode
• Some apps such as Reminders, Safari, Maps, Mail, Notes, Keyboard, etc get updated.
• Apple introduces Apple Sign-in and better control on Location sharing.
• Memoji Stickers, a hybrid of Animoji and emoji

• New photo and video editing tools in the Photos app. Now, videos can be rotated. Timelapse preview of videos on the timeline itself. Less clutter and better-managed photos and videos.
• CarPlay will now come with an enhanced dashboard with support for partner apps like Pandora.
• Siri sounds more natural and smarter. Siri can read and reply to messages via your AirPods, HandOff is coming to the HomePod.

4. iPadOS

Yes, iPad now gets its own OS that augments the existing usability:

• Dark Mode here as well.
• You can now pin widgets to the home screen and use apps in split screen. You could slide over to switch between apps or preview them.
• The file manager brings better file organization and iCloud Drive folder sharing.
• You could also connect external drives.
• Better navigation and a download manager comes to Safari.
• New floating keyboard and other app updates.
• Improved applications of Apple Pencil.

5. macOS Catalina and Project Catalyst

macOS also gets refreshed to version 10.15 with the christened- Catalina with a bunch of important features and changes:

• iTunes gets split into Music, Podcast, and Apple TV, each with the type of content suiting their names.
• Apple TV gets Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support.
• Sidecar is the new app that lets you use the iPad as a secondary display.
• Activation Lock and Find My app for securing your MacBook access.
• Project Catalyst (formerly expected to be Project Marzipan) brings iPad apps to MacOS (and not vice versa).
• Next-gen AR application with the new RealityKit and Reality Composer updates to ARKit (with built-in motion capture).

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6. Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR

On the hardware front, we witnessed the upgrade to 2013 Mac Pro and unveiling of a new 32-inch 6K HDR monitor called the Pro Display XDR. Both the products would be available from Fall, 2019.

Let’s skim through the all-new Mac Pro features and specs:

• First and foremost, this is user-accessible and upgradeable which means most of the components could be assembled to suit your professional resource needs.
• The new Mac Pro comes in a stainless steel body, a mesh front panel, and handgrip at the top.
• It is powered by an 8-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon processor upgradeable up to 28 cores.
• It is equipped by 12 DIMM slots which could be packed up to 1.5TB of RAM.
• The gear ships with up to 4TB SSD storage.
• It bears one AMD Radeon Pro 850X GPU and could be added to 4 AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphics cards.
• Inside, you get eight user-accessible PCIe slots. On the surface, Mac Pro ships with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A ports, a much appreciated 3.5mm audio jack at the back, two more Thunderbolt 3 ports up top alongside a power button and a LED indicator.
• The PCI slots would be backed by MPX modules. Apple unveiled its own in-house designed MPX module standard that integrates PCIe and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. There is also a custom video accelerator card named Afterburner meant for graphics-intensive and resource heavy video editing.
• It is fueled by a 1400W power supply.

The new Mac Pro starts at a price tag of $5,999 (approximately Rs. 4,14,438) while the Pro Display XDR starts at $4,999 (approximately Rs. 3,45,353) not including the stand with wheels.

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The Pro Display XDR monitor would be available starting at a price of $4,999. If you opt the anti-glare option, it would cost $5,999 and its detachable Pro Stand would cost you $999 (approximately Rs. 69,000).

Mac Pro 2019 Specifications

Source: Cnet