Apple’s Worldwide Developers The conference kicked off Monday with a keynote, and the company used the stage to announce a slew of new software updates and stray chunks of hardware. Instead of sticking to the fully virtual format of the event that Apple has been running during the pandemic, this time WWDC is showing a strange mix of pre-recorded videos in front of a live audience gathered at the company’s California headquarters. As expected, Apple has done a great job with software updates. But there’s also a new MacBook Air and a new M2 processor.
Read on for all the news Apple announced today, and check out the rest of WIRED’s WWDC 2022 coverage.
new MacBook
Photo: Apple
Hey look, there’s a new MacBook Air. Normally, a laptop launch at a software event would come as a surprise, but experts have been waiting for a long-awaited laptop.This 2022 MacBook Air Featuring a new case design that’s 20 percent thinner than the previous model, with narrower bezels around the screen and a smaller notch for the webcam at the top of the display. Plus, big news: it has MagSafe. The magnetic charging accessory appears on the new MacBook Air, replacing the Thunderbolt charging that Apple has been using lately. The addition of MagSafe also frees up two Thunderbolt-USB 4 ports. Inside, there’s a new M2 chip (more on that below) that improves performance and battery life. Apple says the new Air can last up to 18 hours on a single charge, even while streaming video. The new laptop weighs just 2.7 pounds and comes in four different colors. The MacBook Air starts at $1,199.
And a new 13-inch MacBook Pro There is an M2 chip inside. Apple says it has up to 20 hours of battery life and can be upgraded to 24 GB of RAM and a 2 TB SSD. Pro starts at $1,299.
M2 chip
Photo: Apple
Apple’s new chips are built on the same proprietary hardware found in most of the company’s new machines. This second-generation chip has an 8-core CPU that Apple says is 18 percent faster than the M1. The GPU has up to 10 cores, and Apple claims its performance is 25 percent higher than its predecessor. It will be available in the new MacBook Air and the new 13-inch MacBook Pro.
iOS 16
Photo: Apple
The next version of the iPhone operating system will arrive this fall with a slew of quality-of-life updates. The lock screen has become more customizable. Now you can make various visual changes without unlocking the screen. Just press and hold to change colors and fonts, or activate widgets that give you access to things like your calendar, workout app, and photos. Apple also ties its Focus app to the lock screen. Set a lock screen for each of your focus modes, and your notifications and apps will be filtered to show content relevant to your current mode, helping you avoid those constant texts and distractions.
Apple has also added some updates to Messages. Perhaps more notable is the ability to edit or even delete text after it’s been sent. Speech-to-text dictation has also received some enhancements, such as the ability to flow between speech and finger input, which is made possible by keeping the keyboard on-screen while you’re dictating. Apple’s Live Text feature has been updated to let you copy text directly from the Videos, Photos, and Translate apps. In Apple Maps, multi-stop planning lets you map up to 15 different stops on the go.
