And now , we wait . Apple ’s Worldwide Developer Conference is over , and with all the announcement descend a wide understanding about where Apple is takingiOSandmacOSover the next twelvemonth . But there are still a few linger questions that Apple did n’t , or could n’t , address at WWDC .
What don’t we know about HomePod?
We ’ve engender six months untilHomePodarrives , and wad of question to ponder in the lag . Apple ’s connected household speaker system process audio to route unlike parts of the music to its different tweeters , but how does it get wind about the acoustic of the room it ’s in ? Are its audio setting adjustable , either by app or via Siri ?
Apple VP Phil Schiller introduces the WWDC keynote crowd to the HomePod .
Siri , and how it ’s built into HomePod , is a big interrogation in general . Apple pushed music to the fore in introducing HomePod , which take a crap a lot of mother wit – it ’s priced as a premium speaker , after all . But we ’ve yet to see HomePod interact with someone ’s voice via Siri . A few slides from Apple ’s keynote presentation make it clear that Siri will be present in the HomePod so you may ask it about the atmospheric condition or when the baseball game is . But how much of that will be there , and how will it work ?
Then there ’s the top of the HomePod , which appears to exhibit an animated Siri logo , but also can display bulk icons . Is it a touchscreen , a touch control area , or something else ? Does that display transmit information about the position of your Siri inquiry , sort of like the color in rings around the Amazon Echo ?
Is this the year Apple TV and iTunes embrace 4K?
Nobody ask Apple to introduce new Apple TV hardware at WWDC , but this autumn is a different story . And if you understand between the lines , there ’s at least one sign that could channelize to the arrival of an Apple TV example with musical accompaniment for the newfangled high - calibre 4K / HDR video format .
Could 4 thousand television be next for Apple TV ?
First is the adoption of the HEVC , or H.265 , video codec , in both Apple ’s operating scheme and its hardware . This is a more efficient format than today ’s H.264 codec , and the foundation for 4 K Blu - ray discs . Keep in head , too , that if Apple ’s go to offer a 4K - capable Apple TV , it credibly also want to start the process of offering 4 K content on the iTunes Store . That expect a major overhaul of its video catalog and a dedication to a new , more effective codec to deliver it .
Second , there ’s Apple ’s foreign title that the displays on the iPad Pro are “ HDR ready ” , in that their extreme maximum brightness level and support for a wide-cut vividness gamut should make them capable of display high-pitched - dynamic - range of mountains video content … finally . When would that be ? Perhaps the answer is : later this yr , when HDR content is add up to iTunes .
What is the new Mac Pro, exactly?
At WWDC , Apple teased the newiMac Pro , which , like the HomePod , is due to make it in December . But in April , thecompany announcedthat it would also be establish a raw Mac Pro , due to ship next year .
We make love what the iMac Pro is all about . But where does that leave the upcoming Mac Pro ?
So now that we know what the iMac Pro is — and it ’s an telling assembly of multi - core Xeon processor , powerful art , error - even out RAM , and a pair of fans to keep it all nerveless — the dubiousness turns to what the Mac Pro will be .
Presumably the Mac Pro wo n’t just be a monitorless version of the iMac Pro . But in a world where the iMac Pro subsist , what is the role for a Mac Pro ? I could argue that the creation of the iMac Pro free up the Mac Pro to be even more extreme , offering expandability and multiple processors and GPUs and rack - mountability and who sleep together what else . The iMac Pro , when it ship , will doubtless be the quick Mac ever by a panoptic security deposit — so how will the Mac Pro surpass it ?
How deep is Apple’s augmented-reality ambition?
One of the highlights of the WWDC tonic was a series of augmented - realism demo that prove off ARKit , the new putz for app developers to create augmented - reality apps on iOS . This fall the App Store will probably be full of them . But the query has to be asked : Does Apple have large ambitions here ? Yes , we all carry around devices with cameras and dainty screens that are pretty skillful for augment - reality apps today . But at some point augmented realness hardware will in all probability transfer to glass or goggles or other headwear .
During the WWDC keynote , Wingnut AR demonstrates what can be done with ARKit .
So , what ’s Apple ’s program ? Will we see AR hardware from Apple anytime soon ? My surmise is no — that sort of stuff still seems years away for most applications programme . But it ’s intelligibly an country of interest for Apple , and ARKit shows the way forward .
