It was a big day for Apple fans everywhere, as the company debuted its next series of major software releases coming later this year. In addition to the usual suspects, Apple also surprised many, as it introduced something that we didn’t expect to see until later this year.
There is even some new hardware for you to get excited about that is coming over the next few weeks.Although the dust hasn’t exactly settled just yet, these are the biggest announcements to come out of WWDC ’22.
Without a doubt, Stage Manager stole the show during the WWDC ’22 Keynote. Not only is this new feature coming to the Mac, but it’s finally bringing window-ed app support to supported iPad models. With Stage Manager, are presented with a completely different interface designed to make it easier to multi-task.
Up to four apps are displayed on the screen, but this is configurable and you actually only start with one. There’s a sidebar that appears, giving you access to those other apps with just a click or a tap. Stage Manager also supports app bundling, meaning that you can create groups of apps or windows that appear. This means that when you tap the group, all of the windows will appear together.
The different app windows can be resized, making it so you can have more than just two apps on the screen in one time, without needing to worry about SlideOver mode.
Apple M2
The argument could easily be made that the Apple M2 announcement was the biggest introduction of the day. And in most cases, we’d agree, but we’re in the honeymoon phase of Stage Manager for iPad, so Apple M2 takes the #2 spot.
Another reason why Apple’s M2 chip is a bit further down the list is that Apple’s M1 Ultra and M1 Pro chips are still the most powerful processors in the lineup. The M2 is a direct replacement for the M1, and includes a few of the same limitations such as only being able to use one external display.
From a performance standpoint, however, the Apple M2 chip is said to offer almost 20% better CPU performance compared to M1. As for GPU performance, M2 offers 2.3x faster performance at the same power level. All of this while providing incredible battery life, and offering almost 2x better performance compared to 10-core PC laptop chips.
Without adding insult to injury, Apple also announced the all-new 2022 MacBook Air. Along with being powered by the M2 chip, Apple is finally bringing a long-overdue redesign to the laptop. It still offers industry-leading battery life, while also sporting the latest technology found in Apple’s processing architecture.
iOS 16 Lock Screen
Apple’s caught a lot of flak over the years for its commitment to a stale mobile operating system. The implementation of Shortcuts and Widgets have opened the floodgates for user customization, but it’s still not where we would like it.
With iOS 16, Apple is giving some much-needed love to the Lock Screen and notifications on the whole. Users can now customize their Lock Screens with different wallpapers, custom fonts for the time, and different widgets. The widgets are akin to the complications that you’ll find on your Apple Watch, giving you quickly-glanceable information such as your next calendar event, progress on your Fitness rings, and more. We’re also expecting to see app developers release different widgets, to give users more options outside of Apple’s built-in solutions.
Revamped CarPlay
If you were surprised to see CarPlay talked about, you weren’t the only one. Apple completely sidestepped mentioning the rumored RealityOS, while acting like the tvOS platform doesn’t exist. But those decisions were for a good reason (mostly, at least), as Apple gave us a look at a completely new revamp for CarPlay. This is arguably the biggest change to CarPlay since its inception, offering a uniform design across an entire dashboard.
During the Keynote, CarPlay was shown to be handling things like the speedometer dashboard on a car, along with providing controls to the in-car air conditioning system, and much more. Different controls can be accessed just with a tap, without ever forcing users to leave the CarPlay interface.
What makes this announcement a bit of a head-scratcher, is that this felt like a fully-fledged teaser with no timeline. Apple didn’t mention which cars it would be coming to, nor did the company provide any indication as to when it would actually be available. No matter what the case, you’re definitely going to want to get this in any car possible.
Apple Passkeys
This one might not be appealing to many, but if you’re tired of a convoluted system for your passwords, Apple just provided a fantastic solution. Apple Passkeys are coming later this year, and are specifically designed to replace passwords as we know it. With these, your “passwords” aren’t stored in the cloud, and instead are stored right on your Apple device.
But what makes us really excited is that Passkeys aren’t going to be limited to just Apple devices. Instead, you’ll be able to use Passkeys on practically any device, and will just need to authenticate using TouchID or FaceID in order to log in. We were really hoping for a standalone iCloud Passwords app with iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, but this could be an absolute game-changer.
There’s So Much More
Without simply re-hashing the other articles we’ve published, there’s so much more to be excited about following Apple’s WWDC 2022 keynote. We didn’t even mention that users will be able to edit and even unsend messages, along with improvements to the Mail app, and even the ability to run shortcuts from Spotlight.
You can even use your iPhone as a webcam, without needing to download any third-party software. And that doesn’t even touch on the approved AFib History functionality with your Apple Watch and the Health app, along with Medication tracking right from your wrist.
Let us know what your favorite announcement was from WWDC ’22!
Andrew Myrick is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is having a never-ending supply of different keyboards and gaming handhelds that end up collecting more dust than the consoles that are being emulated.
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