Abang Tech: Here’s everything Apple didn’t announce at WWDC

Saturday, 27 June 2020

Here’s everything Apple didn’t announce at WWDC

The WWDC20 keynote included the official announcements of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7, the move to custom ARM silicon for Macs, and much more. However, there are a number of things Apple didn’t unveil. Let’s take a look at everything Apple didn’t announce at WWDC.

It was a busy week with lots of exciting announcements. Notably, the first-ever totally virtual WWDC went smooth and lots of developers shared positive feedback. Some are even asking Apple to use the online format going forward. One of the biggest positives was so many more people were able to participate this year compared to a traditional WWDC in-person event.

For a recap of everything that Apple did unveil, check out our detailed WWDC keynote roundup here. Now let’s dive into everything Apple didn’t announce.

Everything that Apple didn’t announce at WWDC

Redesigned iMac

Just shy of two weeks before the WWDC keynote, we heard a rumor from leaker Sonny Dickson that Apple was planning to unveil a redesigned iMac at the annual conference with slimmer bezels and updated internals like an Apple T2 chip and AMD Navi GPUs. The next day, iMac stock at Apple’s online store was running low, potentially also pointing to a new iMac.

However, that didn’t come to pass at WWDC and in fact, no new hardware (outside of the ARM Mac mini DTK) ended up being announced across the week. But Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted that the new iMac which he says will be Apple’s last with an Intel chip, should arrive between July and September. It may not be long before we find out about the iMac that Dickson predicted. Notably, Kuo also expects a redesigned 24-inch iMac with Apple’s ARM Silicon to arrive sometime between the end of 2020 to March 2021.

Consumer-facing ARM Mac

An exciting and expected announcement during the keynote was Apple’s transition from Intel chips for its Macs to custom ARM-based Apple Silicon. In no surprise, Apple didn’t announce the first Mac that will launch with the new CPU architecture for consumers but it did open up the Developer Transition Kit that includes a Mac mini with an A12Z Bionic processor.

We also didn’t get any mentions about what the first consumer-facing Mac with Apple Silicon will be but CEO Tim Cook did reveal that it will ship by the end of the year and the company is planning on a two-year transition.

Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that it will be the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro to first take advantage of Apple’s custom silicon.

Apple Watch blood oxygen sensor

Back in March, we exclusively reported that support for Apple Watch blood oxygen monitoring (SpO2) could be on the way after finding evidence of the feature in an early iOS 14 build. As we noted at the time, it could certainly be the case that new Apple Watch 6 hardware will be required to use the feature. While Apple didn’t share anything about this along with the watchOS 7 announcement, we’re excited about the possibility of it arriving in September.

AirPods Studio

Apple Headphones

We first discovered icons of Apple’s upcoming over-ear headphones back in March in an early version of iOS 14. Since then we’ve heard bits and pieces about more details for the next release in the highly popular AirPods lineup.

Bloomberg reported that they will come with swappable magnetic earpads and headband and should launch sometime this year. Ming-Chi Kuo also predicted a unique magnetic design with production starting in “mid-2020,” alluding to a late-summer or early fall debut.

In May, 9to5Mac heard from several sources that Apple’s new over-ear headphones will feature neck, head, and left/right ear detection along with custom equalizer settings. Meanwhile, Jon Prosser said the name will be AirPods Studio with a price of $349 and previously that Apple was looking to announce them at WWDC.

Apple didn’t unveil its over-ear headphones at WWDC after all but if Kuo’s production forecast is correct they could be in the pipe now and ready for a launch sometime in the coming months.

AirTags

Back in April of 2019, 9to5Mac exclusively reported that Apple was working on a Tile-like tracking device. We later uncovered that it was using the AirTag name for the product. Just two months ago, Apple accidentally revealed the AirTags name itself in a support video on YouTube before quickly pulling it.

It feels like it’s been a long road to see AirTags launch and this week at WWDC proved that we’ll have to wait a bit longer. Earlier in the year, Ming-Chi Kuo pegged a Q3 release for this new product.

Updated Apple TV

Dolby Vision on Apple TV 4K

Speaking of a long road, the Apple TV 4K launched back in 2017, sports an A10X Fusion processor, and is still the company’s flagship set-top box. We’ve been uncovering clues this year about a new Apple TV that could have an A12 or A13 chip as well as a new remote.

We also heard a rumor that the next Apple TV could come with increased storage tiers, a kids mode, Screen Time, and more.

There was no mention of new Apple TV hardware at WWDC as tvOS 14 was announced. Whenever we do see the next-gen Apple TV, a price drop could go a long way in Apple making up ground lost to its competitors who have been selling 4K set-top boxes/sticks for a fraction of the price.

Wrap-up

In addition to an all-new design expected for the iPhone 12 lineup set to debut this fall, we’ve got a lot of exciting Apple products in the queue. What are you most excited to see unveiled in the coming months? Let us know in the comments below!

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