Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2017 Announcements

Apple has announced many new products at their annual Worldwide Developers Conference in California.

This includes 2 new iPads, a new 10.5-inch model and an updated 12.9-inch model. The 10.5-inch version has smaller buttons to keep the overall size down and has the same front and rear cameras as the iPhone 7. Both models can adjust their refresh rate which they say will maximise the performance and batter life of the device.

The rumoured Siri speaker, officially called the HomePod, has also been announced. The user interaction for the HomePod is powered by Siri and can be used just like Siri on the iPhone to find out information about the weather, sports, traffic, news, and to play music. It’s approximately 7 inches in height and will come in white and space grey. It is set to release in December 2017.

iOS 11 is set to release this autumn and brings some interesting updates with it inducing upgrades to Siri, iMessage, and the way your device takes photos. A new safety feature Apple has added is that your phone can recognise when you’re driving and automatically turn on Do Not Disturb to prevent distractions. Apple Music will now show what your friends have been listening to and allow you to share playlists.

Siri, which is available on iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, and Macs, is also getting some upgrades. Apple has updated the Siri interface to allow for multiple results when asking it a question. Perhaps the most useful new feature is Siri’s ability to translate for you. It can translate from English to Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Apple has also introduced ARKit to help developers create augmented reality apps. This will allow for motion tracking, and to even find planes. Popular apps, including Pokémon Go, will implement ARKit to improve real-time rendering.