Editor's Desk: WWDC 2012 aftermath
WWDC, Apple's once-yearly platform keynote, and the biggest gathering of Mac and iOS developers on the planet, is over. Tim Cook has welcomed us and bid us adieu. Phil Schiller has shown us the most advanced laptops in the world. Again. Craig Federighi gave us a first and final tour of OS X Mountain Lion, and Scott Forstall pulled the curtain back on iOS 6. A lot of numbers got thrown around, and that was for the sessions even began.
But let's tackle things in order...
Tim Cook and Apple
Tim Cook was terrific. He looks a little older in person, sounds a little more southern, but his tempo, his manner, and his delivery are absolutely top notch. He might have been nervous at the very beginning -- it was his first WWDC as full-on CEO -- and he might have been melodramatic during the heartstring moments, but overall he was simply outstanding. He anchored the show, gave it both gravitas and emotion, and then, like his predecessor before him, he let the best executive team on the planet take it away.
And take it away they did. This is an Apple still recovering from irreplaceable loss, but also at the height of their game. They're doing more, faster than ever before. It remains to be seen if they can do it better as well, and for how long they can sustain it. If the answer is "yes" and "just you watch us", we're in for one hell of a ride.
Phil Schiller and Retina Macs
Where Phil Schiller was something closer to affable at Apple's last Macworld keynote, he's gotten better and better with each subsequent appearance. WWDC was no exception. While the upgrades to the MacBook Air were welcome if incremental, there was nothing incremental about the new Retina MacBook Pro. Bringing a computer to market that's that powerful, that thin, and with that kind of screen, is no small feat of design, engineering, and logistics. If you can't accept that, go ask HP or Dell to sell you their versions.
Speaking of which, I can't imagine the product VPs of any other PC company were happy that morning. They can't even make the MacBook Air from two years ago yet, and Apple has now lapped them again with the Retina MacBook Pro. As someone who desperately wants more choice and competition in the PC business, I'm begging them to get their heads out of their collective asses and to start investing in the future before they become little more than bankrupt relics of the past.
But back to the Mac. There were lineups outside the Market Street Apple Store every day of WWDC. Developers and designers wanted those new machines. That's a powerful endorsement.
I'll be getting one as soon as I can as well.
Craig Federighi and OS X Mountain Lion
Craig Federighi had the challenging task of taking over from the incredibly charismatic former head of OS X, Bertrand Serlet ("Redmond, start your photocopiers!"). He'd been tentative in the past but not this time. This time he was comfortable and almost charming. He has the same bent body posture as Bill Gates and Dan Dodge and other lifelong coders, and a head of hair to make Bill Clinton and Don King jealous, but he wore all of it with a big smile and a lot of style.
Mountain Lion hadn't been shown on stage before, but it had been previewed in private media events and on Apple.com. That means we already knew something about it going in.
Still, Apple had some intriguing additions: Dictation in lieu of full-on Siri, Power Nap and the ability to not only "just work" but keep "just working", new features for the rapidly growing Chinese market, and OS X and iOS cross-platform gaming, to name but a few.
Moving to a yearly schedule means OS X updates will become more frequent, but each one will be smaller. Like iOS, I'm fine with that as long as -- by giant leap or tiny steps -- OS X gets where it needs to go.
And no, that's not an inevitable "iOS X", at least not for a good long while. Apple's doing a lot to make OS X look familiar to iOS users, but their underpinnings are still very different.
Or, to put it in Steve Jobs' terminology: Apple is making sure the interior of their trucks are every bit as comfortable and well appointed as the interior of their cars. But they're absolutely keeping them as trucks.
Scott Forstall and iOS 6
If Craig Federighi has learned to walk the stage, Scott Forstall knows how to strut. The head of iOS, he's been presenting the new betas and SDKs since 2008 and he's incredibly confident doing it.
For those disappointed with what they got, or were expecting more -- frankly you were reading the wrong websites. (Hey, we even warned you about Maps, okay?)
iOS 6 is an incremental update to a mature operating system. I know a lot of people wanted more (I even floated some ideas this week on Spotlight and Siri), but here's the thing:
Apple is dragging hundreds of millions of users behind their mobile OS now, and they're going to do it slowly and steadily unless and until they're forced to make a radical change.
Right now they're not and they didn't.
That's not to say iOS 6 is done and finished. It's still in beta, and no doubt iPhone 5 will include a few special features we haven't seen yet. (Maybe a new Podcast app and the stuff that makes it work.)
But these are the broad strokes -- Siri, Facebook, Shared Photo Streams, Passbook, FaceTime, Phone, Mail, Safari, Accessibility, and Maps. (200 in total!)
And tomorrow we're going to start deep-diving into all of them.
Sessions
Unlike the Keynote, all the WWDC 2012 sessions were under NDA. That means no one there can really talk about them. For example, I can't urge any developer who didn't go to WWDC or to the specific session at 9am on Friday that needed to be signed off on, reportedly, by two vice-presidents before they could even run it. I can't urge you to watch it the moment it shows up on video in Apple's developer portal. And I can't say how fantastic it was for Apple to share that level of product insight with the WWDC attendees, or hope they do it again next yet.
What I can tell you is that we met with several developers and got their reactions to the shows, and some expert tips on using their apps, and we'll be posting them this week. So stay tuned!
And if you didn't catch Leanna's photoblogs, where she journaled our WWDC 2012 week day by day, go check them all out now. (You don't want to miss Seth Clifford giving Merlin Mann a spanking -- literally.)
- WWDC 2012 day zero
- WWDC 2012 day one
- WWDC 2012 day two
- WWDC 2012 day three
- WWDC 2012 day four and five
We also did two special edition podcasts that are must-listen (sorry about the audio, my mic died -- we'll get something better for next time).
The beginning
Apple might be done with the announcements for now, but we won't be slowing down on the features. Keep your HTTP receptacle of choice locked on iMore. WWDC was only the kickoff. Now the fun starts!
There are 20 comments. Add yours.
Can't wait to see your post this week.
aside from overpriced laptops i thought there was several things that i liked. Things i've been hoping for. Navigation with turn by turn and siri integration. I have a gps in my car but this is nice for when i'm on the road. Also rumors of a podcast app which i think is long overdue. I'm not a developer and my eyes glaze over at the topic of anything related to that stuff so i don't know what else went on but from a consumer perspective there seemed to be some interesting things going on their.
"Apple is dragging hundreds of millions of users behind their mobile OS now, and they're going to do it slowly and steadily unless and until they're forced to make a radical change.
Right now they're not and they didn't."
I hope they don't plan on going down this path for very long. The competition is catching up fast. WP8+Win8+Xbox+Skydrive ecosystem is looking very good.
Couldnt agree more. A good following is no excuse to continue to take risks and innovate at break neck speed.
Truly great ideas will be adopted by the masses without having to worry about pace.
Try telling anyone who loves apple anything they don't listen at all. someone tell me why a dell, hp or acer or any other model can cost half what a new apple of or laptop does?
Does the phrase "race to the bottom" ring a Dell?
I mean bell.
Oh, and have you priced Ultrabooks lately? No?
Quick tip: just get a MacBook Air instead of an Ultrabook. Same price, lasts years longer, runs Windows (if you really need to.)
Not only is this an outdated way of thinking, as the others stated, it is patently false. Are Mac's slightly more expensive, when you build a machine with the same parts, you are at about the same price. The difference is that with Apple, you CAN'T buy one with cheaper parts, as you can with HP, Dell, etc.
And since, in my experience, a Mac tends to last longer, you come out even or ahead. Not to mention the support you receive when you walk into an Apple Store, and it is worth every penny.
ISRS = brainwashed :lol:
Is that why their hard drives keep failing? They're not worth the money.
Power Nap is huge. It brings the new MBP to the same level of iCloud connectivity as the iPhone. No more waking up the MBP, waiting for iCloud updates, then getting on with your work. It's already done.
Many of the software features in OS X 10.8 and iOS 6 are, as Rene has suggested, "fresh coat of paint" level improvements. Like the reflection-changing volume slider button in the iOS 6 Music app. And the new notifications icon in ML DP4.
But Power Nap is the exact opposite in every way. It's a deep reinforcement and extension of the Mac hardware foundation. No glamour, no showroom appeal, but soon Mac users will wonder how they ever lived without it. And Power Nap should eventually trickle down to all Macs as HDDs are replaced by SSDs. We can't wait.
"I attended almost none of them"
Frustrating to hear as someone who missed ticket sales by 15 minutes.
It's also frustratingly the case with a lot of designers -- very few of the sessions are designer centric. The ones that are are phenomenal (like the one mentioned above) and worth the price of the ticket alone, but it would be great to see Apple start a full-on designer track. They have so much they could share in that area, it's really a shame they don't yet.
LOL. Back in the day, the "designer" was the summer intern from the art school who created icons and clip art. The actual GUI was designed by the marketing department.
Agree. There should be a separate "media track" for bloggers / journalists.
What could they show to developers that requires vice presidents to sign it
What part of "Non-Disclosure Agreement" do you not understand? -- They can't talk about it :)
Now the developer videos are posted, can you give some clue as to which session you are referring to above is a must-watch? Thanks.
Adam: I asked Rene via Twitter, and he replied "iPhoto for iOS".
as Marvin said I am inspired that anybody able to make $6830 in one month on the computer. did you see this web page makecash16com