WWDC 2023 Product Announcements

Jan 25, 2024

Like in previous years, Apple's ongoing Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2023 saw a slew of new product announcements packed into the keynote address on Day One. The highly anticipated event is a platform for the world's most valuable company by market capitalization to flaunt its coveted products.

At WWDC 2023, Apple added another product, the Apple Reality Pro, to its product lineup. Besides the run-of-the-mill updates to iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and others, the company also showed off its biggest laptop yet for consumers.

Here's what Apple announced at WWDC 2023 so far:

Powered by visionOS, a new addition to Apple's list of device-specific operating systems, Apple Reality Pro certainly isn't very affordable at $3,499. The mixed reality headset marks Apple's official foray into the AR/VR race though it seems the company is focusing on mixed reality, at least for now.

This is evident from EyeSight, a spatial computing feature that enables 3D imaging while revealing the user's eyes to the outside world, thus ensuring the user isn't cut off. However, the user does have the option to tune in and out of the immersive experience as needed.

Apple Reality Pro packs the powerful M2 chip (also used across high-end Macbooks), 4K displays (one for each eye), an OLED outer display, a new R1 chip to process data from a dozen cameras, five sensors (LiDAR), and six microphones that take inputs from the user's hands (gesturing), voice, and more. The chip also processes inputs from interior cameras that track eye movements.

visionOS is developed from scratch, with the company noting it as "the first OS designed from the ground up for spatial computing." The new OS borrows iOS frameworks and is architecturally similar to iOS and macOS.

It features foveated rendering, a 3D engine, Optic ID for authentication, and some apps (Adobe Lightroom, Microsoft Teams and Office; Cisco WebEx, Zoom). The choice of apps indicates the company could market the device for work-related purposes at the outset. It could evolve for gaming later on.

Apple Reality Pro will be available in early 2024.

See More: Apple Bans ChatGPT Use, Seeks Hundreds of AI/ML Professionals

Apple now has the distinction of developing what it claims is the "thinnest 15-inch laptop to date." The company confirmed at WWDC 2023 that the new device will ship on June 13, 2023.

The 15" MacBook Air is more or less similar to last year's MacBook Air 13, complete with an M2 chip, up to 24 GB RAM and 2 TB of internal storage, a MagSafe connector, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports, TouchID in the keyboard, a 1080p camera, and a Liquid Retina display.

Differences include a bigger battery (66.5 W vs. 52.6 W in MacBook Air 13), the display of course (15.3" vs. 13.6"), and the thickness (0.45" vs. 0.44" in MacBook Air 13, and the weight (3.3 pounds vs. 2.7 pounds).

MacBook Air 15 caps at $1,299, while the company has reduced the price of the MacBook Air 13 to $1,099.

It isn't just devices galore at WWDC 2023. Apple introduced the M2 Ultra, the powerful new iteration of its internal silicone, following the M1, M1 Ultra, the M2 Max, and the M2 Pro. M2 Ultra is designed with two M2 Max dies through Apple's UltraFusion technology.

M2 Ultra is designed on the 5 nm wafer and features 20 CPU cores (20% faster than M1 Ultra), 64 GPU cores (capable of up to 76 cores and 30% faster than M1 Ultra), and 32 Neural Engine cores (40% faster). It can support up to 192 GB of memory, 134 billion transistors, 800 GB/s bandwidth, and six Pro Display XDRs.

Apple confirmed that the Mac Pro workstation is shedding Intel for the company's in-house silicon, thereby completing the transition for its entire product line. However, the company surprised everyone by announcing the new Mac Pro model featuring the M2 Ultra.

Clearly, Apple is targeting the high-end computing needs of professionals with 192 GB of RAM, a 24-core CPU, and up to 76-core GPUs. And if that's not enough, Apple built in six open PCIe Gen 4 slots and eight Thunderbird ports for additional expansion. The two HDMI ports also have a higher bandwidth, capable of delivering signals at 240 Hz and 8K resolution.

Mac Pro Specifications

Source: Apple

Mac Pro also has two 10 GB ethernet ports, two USB-A ports (up to 5Gb/s), one USB-A port (up to 5Gb/s), two serial ATA ports (up to 6Gb/s) packed into two different designs: (Tower finish – 20.8 x 8.58 x 17.7 in, 37.2 pounds) and Rack finish (8.67 x 18.98 x 1.81 in, 37.9 pounds).

Mac Pro Tower is priced at $6,999, while the Mac Pro Rack is priced at $7,499.

Mac Studio, while tiny, should deliver the performance you’d expect from being powered with what is supposedly Apple's most powerful silicone ever, the M2 Ultra. Mac Studio also comes with the M2 Max chip.

Apple claims the M2 Max version of the compact budget desktop is 50% faster than the previous generation Mac Studio (powered by M1 Ultra) and up to 4x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac, while the M2 Ultra version of Mac Studio is twice as fast as the M2 Max one.

Compared to Mac Pro, Mac Studio understandably features less power. The M2 Max model comes with a 12-core CPU, up to a 38-core GPU, and up to 96GB of unified memory with 400GB/s of memory bandwidth, while the M2 Ultra model is powered by a 24-core CPU, up to a 76-core GPU, and up to 192GB of memory with 800GB/s of unified memory bandwidth.

Mac Studio M2 Max and Mac Studio M2 Ultra Specifications

Source: Apple

The M2 Ultra Mac Studio supports 8K resolution, 240Hz frame rates, six Pro Display XDRs, and has 64 GB RAM, 1 TB storage, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, four Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 10Gb Ethernet port, an enhanced HDMI port, and two USB-A ports, and more.

The M2 Max Mac Studio is priced at $1,999, while the M2 Ultra model would cost $3,999. Both models will begin shipping on June 13, 2023.

Apple introduced visionOS for the Reality Pro headset. The company also rolled out upgrades to all of its operating systems.

The next iOS version isn't all that flashy regarding upgrades, but it has some excellent improvements for users. They are as follows:

Expect iOS 17 rollout in fall 2023.

macOS Sonoma public beta is expected in July, with a broader release scheduled for fall 2023.

iPadOS 17 isn't expected until fall 2023.

Apple also previewed FaceTime on Apple TV and unveiled the new AirPods.

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Image source: Shutterstock

Asst. Editor, Spiceworks Ziff Davis