Apple WWDC 2020 is now online-only: here’s what you need to know
The show must go on
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Apple’sWWDC, the annual World Wide Developers' Conference that the company hosts each year to show off its new software, is not set to take place in California any more.
Instead of its usual spot of San Jose, the June event will happen online only, for reasons that are implicitly related to the coronavirus pandemic that has seen authorities advise against meetings of 1,000 people or more. This news was announced in theApple newsroom,with ‘the current health situation’ alluded to as the reason for the change.
At the event, we are expecting Apple to unveiliOS 14,watchOS 7,macOS 10.16, an update toiPadOSand more of its latest software, and it’s also possible we’ll see theiPhone SE 2andnew iPad Pro 2020there as well, if not before.
TheWWDC2020 presentations will now be replaced with online livestreams, and seeing as the vast majority of WWDC viewers were doing so via Apple’s livestreams anyway, this won’t make a huge difference for many people.
In fact, perhaps the online event will now be tailored more to the majority of viewers, who are sitting behind a computer or TV rather than in front of the Apple stage.
This isn’t the only tech event that’s felt the ramifications of coronavirus - in fact, many tech companies have cancelled, postponed or altered launch events, with the majority of them becoming online-only.
Still, the show must go on, and coronavirus won’t affect software development as much as it will hardware, a lot of which is made in China. So while theiPhone 9might be delayed (as rumors suggest), we’d still expect iOS 14 and macOS 10.16 to come out on schedule.
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Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.
He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist.
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