In previous years, Apple has used the event to unveil ambitious products like its $3,499 Vision Pro headset, but this year the spotlight has shifted to the software that runs its iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, and the new AI tools they’re incorporating.
“Apple Intelligence is a personal intelligence system with powerful generative modeling built at the core of iPhone, iPad and Mac,” Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi said in a video recorded at the event, “to provide the intelligence that’s most helpful and relevant to you based on your personal context.”
The keynote begins at 10am PST/1pm ET, and we’re updating this article as the company lays out its vision. Here’s what Apple announced:
iOS 18 will let you hide secret apps
Apple’s new phone software, iOS 18, due for release in September, won’t have any surprising changes. But there are some tweaks you might like. iPhone displays are now more customizable. iOS 18 users will be able to place apps anywhere on the home screen, switch all apps to a “dark mode” with a black background, and choose a color scheme for groups of apps (e.g. green for travel, pink for shopping). App makers can also create their own icons on the control screen where the flashlight tool is, so you can add controls for your car, garage door, or home security system. New privacy features give you control over who can see what on your phone. You can lock apps with Face ID or hide them completely in a secret folder. When possible, use your new powers for good, not evil. Apple Maps also adds a trail option, which pairs nicely with the satellite SOS option for those lost in the woods.
Texting and messaging will also get major improvements. Chances are, you send countless text messages every day without even thinking about it. With iOS 18, you’ll be able to do that even in areas without signal coverage. Apple confirmed that once the latest update is released, users will be able to send iMessages (and even standard green bubble text messages) over a satellite connection. Until now, the satellite communication capabilities built into some iPhones only allowed you to send text messages to emergency services in areas where traditional cellular service is unavailable.
Also new are new text effects that let you add emphasis, weight or whimsy to your messages, and the ability to “tap back” any emoji (not just select emojis) on messages you receive. Meanwhile, support for RCS (a more modern messaging standard that Apple reluctantly adopted late last year) should make texting between iPhones and Android devices feel more modern.
Calculator app finally arrives on iPadOS
Some of the changes the software update brings to the iPad are ported over from iOS, like tools to customize the tablet’s Home screen and Control Center. Others are seemingly minor, like a new floating tab bar that keeps app menus and options out of the way when you don’t need them.
But let’s be honest, some of the most interesting features coming to Apple’s tablet seem to be primarily aimed at note-takers: The long-awaited calculator app includes the ability to write equations and formulas with Apple Pencil and have the app solve them automatically, while note-takers will soon see their clumsy writing transformed into something more understandable thanks to Smart Script, a tool that analyzes and improves handwriting.
VisionPro gets a slight upgrade
The software that powers Apple’s most ambitious, and perhaps most polarizing, product is getting an upgrade just four months after its launch.
When visionOS 2 launches this fall, owners of the company’s $3,499 Vision Pro headset will be able to view any photo in slightly 3D, not just those taken in a special “spatial” format. The headset’s Virtual Desktop feature, which lets users peer into a purely digital version of their Mac computer screen, has been updated to offer a much wider field of view, better suited for multitasking in virtual reality. And improvements to the headset’s Travel Mode mean that using the pricey headset on a train won’t result in a virtual window sliding past your eyes. The company also said it’s working on adding more content to the headset, including original movies.
If you’re wearing Apple’s popular wireless earbuds, an upcoming software update will let you nod to Siri to respond, which is more useful than you might think. For example, if Siri announces an incoming call, a quick nod or shake of the head will let Apple’s virtual assistant know you’re willing to talk. Apple’s AirPods Pro will also have a voice isolation feature that will make your own voice clearer in conversations when moving through noisy environments.
Apple Watch gets healthier
Changes coming to the Apple Watch in the upcoming watchOS 11 release give you even more ways to track your health at a more granular level, from inputting your effort levels during workouts to tracking your pregnancy progress. The new Vitals app will also let you compare your current temperature, heart rate, and sleep quality to the past few weeks. But perhaps the most welcome change is that it lets you escape the tyranny of the Health app’s step counter, so you no longer have to close your rings when you need to rest and recover without breaking your record.
Apple is developing its own password app
Want to browse on a bigger screen while still being able to see the smaller one? With the new iPhone Mirroring in MacOS, you can do just that. You can find this feature in your Mac’s dock. Click it and your iPhone screen will pop up on your computer’s screen. You can swipe, see notifications, drag files from your phone to your computer, and more. Apple also announced a Passwords app that’s like a combination authenticator app and password manager. The app syncs across your Apple devices, so you can keep your passwords close at hand without having to pay per device like some password apps do.
Monday’s announcement was long overdue for the company. Since the beginning of the year, Apple, once the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization, has fallen behind companies like Microsoft and Nvidia that have thrived on the rise of the AI revolution. Around the same time, Apple has begun winding down its decades-old work on self-driving electric cars, shifting many of the staff who had been working on that project to the company’s burgeoning AI efforts.
Apple has spent the past few months using superlatives to highlight the AI potential of its existing products — the chip in its latest MacBook Air offers “incredible AI performance” and the chip in its new iPad Pro is “incredibly powerful” for AI — but what’s been missing until now has been a clear explanation of what kind of AI experience Apple wants to be known for, and how it compares to, let alone leads, rivals with more expertise like Google and Microsoft.
Whatever the outcome, attention will be focused on how Apple navigates its entry into a field where its rivals have already enjoyed considerable success.
