WWDC 2021 Wish list

With WWDC right around the corner, these are my wishes for Apple‘s developer conference.

Apple‘s worldwide developer conference (WWDC) has become much more than just an event for developers. New products get shown, the updated software versions are presented, and all around, it is a hectic week for the California company.

As has become standard leading up to significant tech events, numerous rumors are floating around what new products will be presented and what new features the new OS will have. Regardless of these leaks and rumors, here are my top wishes for WWDC.

A more powerful iPad OS

iPad OS has become a pretty versatile OS, and even though I quite like it, it has some significant shortcomings. For some years now, iPad OS has been the reason for the debate whether the iPad Pro‘s with a keyboard can really replace your Laptop. The devices would easily be powerful enough, yet they are limited by iPad OS.

Personally, I recently got a new m1 iPad Pro, and so I am pretty biased towards a more powerful approach, allowing me, for example, to work with Final Cut Pro X on my iPad.

Furthermore, I hope for more powerful apps on iPad OS 15. I generally hope that iPad OS 15 will get a bit closer to the functionality of a computer OS.

In no way do I advocate that iPad OS should merge or assimilate to MacOS. I simply would like to have some more multitasking options closer to that available on computer OS. The last change to iPad OS that I hope will come with the new version is the possibility of more customization to the home screen. I would love to have Widgets on my Home Screen on my iPad, and I think this is a feature that Apple could implement relatively easily.

All in all, an evolved iPad OS is my number one wish for WWDC. After using a 2018 iPad Pro and now a 2021 m1 iPad Pro almost every day for the past two years, I am eager to integrate the devices more into my creative workflow.

iOS 15 with more customization

While many leaks float around on what may be presented at WWDC, new versions of the various operating systems are a given. I am very content with iOS 14 and like how widgets and stacks complement my iPhone home screen. However, I wish I could freely put them anywhere on the screen, and they would not fill it up from the top. This is a very minor complaint. However, it is something that I have come across enough times that it bothers me in iOS 14. Like my wishes for iPad OS 15, I hope that iOS 15 also introduces more customization options to the Home Screen, such as the option to fill the Home Screen from the bottom up and not only top down.

However, overall, in my opinion, iOS is very well-rounded, and I do not have any great wishes like with iPad OS.

New hardware

Over the last 8 months, Apple has introduced many products with the m1 SoC (system on a chip). Nevertheless, I am starting to feel that now would be the time to introduce a new SoC, whatever the name. I would love to see a chip geared towards performance and not energy efficiency, as already the m1 performs amazingly. I think a performance-oriented chip would blow the competition out of the water. However, I think the most important thing that needs to come with these new chips and new hardware, in general, is the option for more I/O.
Personally, I do not have a preference on what kind of hardware with a new chip apple introduces, whether that is a new 16-inch MacBook Pro, an all-new 14-inch or even an upgraded 13-inch MacBook Pro, or a redesigned iMac Pro. In my opinion, it is simply important to also cement the Apple chips as capable of extremely high performance and not only high performance with extraordinary energy management.

Miscellaneous

While the above-listed points are some points that have a high probability of being addressed, there are some minor things that I hope get introduced or presented at WWDC.

First of all, I really hope that with the start of WWDC, Apple update/configure their Music servers for lossless audio. While there are some reports that a few users already have seen the icons pop up and enjoyed lossless music, I hope that for the start of WWDC, Apple enables the feature for all of us.

Second, I hope for a release date of season 3 for „For all mankind. “ I love this Apple TV original series and as Apple did for the second season of Ted Lasso during their Spring loaded event.

Lastly, I would enjoy it if Apple introduced more health tracking features in the health app. While the first time I heard the rumor, I thought it was a bit of a reach, after some consideration, I really liked the thought, and it is something I‘d love to see as an addition to the health

For now, I hope that you can enjoy WWDC and look forward to the new announcements just as much as I do and as always
Stay safe
Raffael