Apple WWDC 2021 is digital-only this year too, starts June 7

Apple said on Tuesday that its annual developer conference, WWDC, will begin on June 7 and go on till June 11. The company says WWDC 2021 will include keynote and State of the Union events, online sessions, 1:1 labs for developers, and more.

In 2020, Apple held its first digital-only Worldwide Developers Conference due to the pandemic. A year later, with most countries, including the US, grappling with the rising number of Covid-19 cases, Apple is continuing with a virtual conference instead of an in-person event. Typically, thousands of developers and media flock to Cupertino, California to attend the annual conference.

There is no clarity on what exactly Apple plans to announce at its keynote address, hosted by the company’s CEO Tim Cook. But we’d usually expect to see new software versions of iOS, macOS, WatchOS, tvOS, iPadOS — the software that powers the iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and iPad.

Last year, Apple used its annual Worldwide Developers Conference to launch iOS 14 and its revamped home-screen widgets. We also saw the announcement of iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7 and other updates. Perhaps the biggest news that shook the entire tech world was Apple’s move to ARM-based chipset over Intel-powered processors for its Mac computers. Later that year, Apple officially introduced a range of new Macs powered by the M1, the company’s first ARM processor for Mac.

Apple isn’t known for announcing new hardware at the WWDC, though in the past it did announce the Mac Pro at the event. Although Apple has not confirmed it yet, there are reports of the company holding a separate event next month to announce a couple of new products.

One of the persistent claims is the arrival of updated iMacs with an all-new design and Apple Silicon under the hood. The iMac hasn’t got a facelift since 2009. Last month, Apple discontinued the iMac Pro, its powerful desktop machine. It also stopped selling the 21.5-inch iMac with 4K display with 512GB and 1TB SSD options. There are also rumours of Apple launching a new iPad Pro with an A14X chipset and a mini-LED display.