[German]Apple's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) will take place from June 5 to 9, 2023. Yesterday, June 5, 2023, there were already a number of new announcements – an expected VR data glasses, a new MacBook Air, iOS/iPadOS 17 and more. Here is a brief overview of these announcements.
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The recording of Apple's keynote can be watched afterwards via this link on Youtube. Apple's WWDC23 page can be found here.
VR headset Apple Vision Pro
It was expected, on June 5, 2023, they unveiled the new Apple Vision Pro, VR data glasses. The video embedded in the following tweet shows Apple's ideas (click on the image to play the video).
The Vision Pro data glasses are designed to create an infinite canvas for apps that goes beyond the limits of a conventional screen. At the same time, it introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface that will be controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible – the user's eyes, hands and voice.
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Equipped with visionOS, the world's first spatial operating system, Vision Pro allows users to interact with digital content in a way that feels like they are physically present in their space. Vision Pro's breakthrough design features an ultra-high resolution display system with 23 million pixels on two screens and a special Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design that ensures every experience feels like it is happening in real time in front of the user's eyes.
An overview of the new product with various videos can be found at this Apple page. A handson can be found at T Techcrunch, 9to5Mac or The Verge.
MacBook Air 15 Inch
Apple also unveiled its MacBook Air in a 15-inch and a 13-inch version, based on its M2 chip (see this Apple page). The 15.3-inch model has a screen resolution of 2800 × 1864 pixels at 224 dpi, and the FaceTime HD camera has a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p).
MacBook Air 2023 15,3 Inch
The device (for beginners) costs 1600 Euros in the basic configuration (8 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores, 8 GByte RAM and a 256 GByte SSD). The variant with a 512 GB SSD comes to 1830 Euros.
Mac Studio and Mac Pro
Apple's top computer gets even more powerful with the new Mac Studio model. The models get the M2 Ultra chip (two M2 Max processors connected together. The details of the 1,999 US dollar (entry price) model can be read at Apple.
In addition, there is a new Mac Pro model with M2 Ultra chips – which is presented by Apple in this news. The prices for the tower start at 8300 Euros, in the rack case at 9000 Euros.
iOS/iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10
The new iOS 17 was also presented at the Apple keynote. Apple presents the new features as a preview on this website. The new iOS 17 is supposed to arrive in the fall 2023. A list of compatible iPhones can be found at neowin.net. For the iPads, the new iPadOS 17 was presented. Apple has published this page with a preview description.
For the Apple Watch comes watchOS 10 – an overview of the new features can be found on this Apple page. Furthermore, macOS 14 (Sonoma) was announced at WWDC 23 – this short article can be found at neowin.net.
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The WWDC23 Apple event delivered few unexpected surprises in terms of new apple product lineup and upgrades vs prior gen. The biggest surprise of all was seeing Mac Studio getting an upgrade together with Mac Pro and without offering any differences.
M2 Ultra chip on both models…So what are the users paying the extra $3k? Seems like the extra $3K price tag on Mac Pro vs Ultra is just for the extra internal PCIe slots? This is a very costly mistake Apple is making! Marketing-wise how do you differentiate the two?
That's how Apple is making serious financial and strategic mistake here with such a lineup by risking cannibalizing their most high-end product – Mac Pro and seriously undermine Mac Pro sales in 2023/2024. This was a great day for Mac Studio as there is no need to buy Mac Pro unless you need to have those internal PCIe slots. But, If a user needs an extra expansion and slots, that user can just purchase the older intel-based Mac Pro. It's much cheaper, more practical and makes more sense to do..
For the new Mac customers in 2023-24, they will be better off with buying the cheaper Mac Studio that runs on the same chip, same specs and cores as Mac Pro. That's why upgrading Mac Studio this time was a shock to many of us as we did not expect it this time.
Overall, Apple's desktop product segment at the WWDC23 seemed a bit chaotic and we have not seen any major iMac updates yet. Apple needs to better streamline their processes to make sure they keep timely updating the tech that sells well and generates them big profits + keeps them loyal & dedicated fan base.