“Apple hosts its Worldwide Developer Conference next week, and while the event has delivered bombshells in the past it’s largely gone as expected in recent years,” Chris Ciaccia reports for TheStreet. “That may be about to change, though, especially as it relates to software and services.”
MacDailyNews Take: Swift was totally unexpected and a shocking bombshell just last year.
“This year’s WWDC, held in the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, as it is most every year, largely will focus on updates to the next version of iOS, as well as Mac OS X,” Ciaccia reports. “The look of Apple’s iOS was drastically redesigned when iOS 7 was released, so this year Apple is likely to continue improve upon the look and functionality of the operating system. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said the system could include an updated version of Apple Maps with transit directions and the ability to split screen apps.”
“‘We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple announced advancements in Cloud Services at WWDC,’ Jefferies analyst Sundeep Bajikar wrote in a May 31 research note,” Ciaccia reports. “‘We believe the Apple TV is likely to see a software update that will make it a HomeKit hub,’ J.P. Morgan analyst Rod Hall wrote in a note. ‘As a result we expect further partner announcements at WWDC and potentially some expanded HomeKit functionality in updated iOS/Watch/OSX SDKs.’ …Despite the hype surrounding the new set-top box, Apple may not show it off on Monday. The New York Times first reported the product was not ready to be unveiled, leading to a change in Apple’s plans.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There will be more than enough to digest on Monday, even without new Apple TV hardware.
Wish they would sort out iCloud photos… Had a case open with them for 2 weeks and was unresolved.
I’ve reverted to disabling iCloud Photo Library and waiting 30 days for all my photos to be deleted, and starting again.
There seems to be a brick wall between Apple Support and cloud engineers, the rep I spoke to even admitted as much to me.
30 days?
He’s confusing iCloud Library with Photo Stream so I have no idea what the guy is talking about.
When you turn off iCloud Photo Library, it waits 30 days for you to offload all your picture before clearing out the cloud. Whereas Photo Stream keeps your last 1000 photos.
When you disable iPhoto Library, you have 30 days to download your photos/videos before they are deleted. In my support case I asked if this could be expedited but they couldn’t do it.
They’re renting space from Amazon, Microsoft et al for the storage, watching Little Snitch during the upload proved this for me. Seems they have no control over the purge period… I must admit as a big data admin guy I am thoroughly unimpressed with Apple’s offering.
Can’t wait to see what Apple has been working on, and for me this event is just as exciting as iPhone launch days because I install the latest iOS Beta 1 on day 1 every year. Getting the latest iPhone software is just as awesome as, if not more awesome than, getting the latest iPhone hardware. Totally excited to have what will feel like an entirely new set of devices with a simple firmware update.
To MDN’s comments:
1. This is a relatively new thing for writers, in my 50+ years of news reading experience. Decent writers have always loved to provide a set up for their story in the 1st paragraph, but they never used to fabricate wholly fictitious scenarios just to make a ho-hum story seem more significant. Now it’s done routinely.
2. IMHO, no new Apple TV hardware would be a huge failure. No SDK — FAIL. For Apple TV, it’s time to shit or get off the pot.
Spark,
You may not see what you hope or want to see, but I can assure you there will be substance. This will be an enlightening event. Apple is known for holding back, when it feels it’s not ready. And prime examples, inversely play out when they don’t. The Swift is one, playing that card on cue. And the inverse, Maps, really not ready.
For what it’s worth, Apple has not changed it’s tone about Apple TV, one iota. Why? It’s still a hobby. The message has been drummed up by annalists. I too hope for an Apple TV announcement, but at the same time, I want whatever is going to be announced, to be rock solid.
The reason no Apple TV would be a failure this time around is because:
a) The current version is running an old A5 processor, and if nothing else, that should be updated.
b) Apple reduced the price this Spring; a clear signal that a new version would come to take the higher price slot
c) A more capable Apple TV will likely come with a SDK for native apps, and if not introduced next week would likely mean a wait until WWDC 2016.
d) Apple TV is no longer the best product in this category for most people. Every month its replacement/upgrade is delayed the product just keeps falling further behind the competition.
The more I think of it though, is that this story is a red herring. I’m think that Apple has linked “No New Apple TV”, because what they introduce at WWDC will be a successor with a new name. This would be SO Apple.
And a higher price tag. AppleTV 1st gen, didn’t sell too well. I don’t mind $99.
A key sign, something is coming, is when the channel for 3rd Gen Apple TV dries up.
WWDC has never “underwhelmed” me. I have been three times, and it’s a real “Mecca” experience. In 2006, we had a party on Apple’s campus, and in 2007 it was at Yerba Buena Gardens, hosted by the musical group, Cake. These were difficult times for Steve, so being able to attend 2009, was quite special.
Cloud services?
Triple yawn…zzz…
I have a feel that tv will be a part of it…( fingers crossed )
The wwdc banner seems to hint at the the tv puck ..
nothing new here…..blah blah blah, rehash. (kicks self for wasting the time…)
“We, the board at apple, has fired Tim Cook for piling all this debt onto a debt free, highly profitable company. We are paying all bonds off today. Welcome to the developers’ conference.”
Or the trash can mac is being discontinued.
The mac mini will get 8 core desktop processor with dedicated gpu’s.
New tower mac.