WWDC 2020: Wish List And Predictions

Apple’s WWDC kicks off on Monday, so it’s time for our annual wish list and predictions! This is always a fun time for the Apple nerds out there, and a much bigger deal for most regular people than they realize. Here are my thoughts about this year’s keynote, which is set for Monday, June 22nd, at 10AM (pacific time).

Wish List:

  • Fix the atrocious Apple Music app. Get rid of the useless Browse, For You, and Radio tabs at the bottom, and replace them with Playlists, Artists, and Albums. Work in better sorting. Streamline the search feature. [recycled from last year’s list]

  • It is HIGH TIME for some Siri improvements. We have been waiting and watching for years, every year expecting this to be the keynote where Apple rolls out a badass new Siri. They’ve teased us a few times with things like Siri suggestions and other minor voice improvements, but at the end of the day, I don’t give a shit about having Siri tell me hockey scores.  I’m talking Iron Man-style, JARVIS-level intelligence. I know that Apple is behind the curve on this as a result of their focus on privacy, but they’ve gotta figure out a way to at least get Siri up to speed with the Google Assistant. [recycled from last year’s list]

    Please. Please, please. Puhleeeaaaazeee. PLEASE. PLEASE make this the year that Siri gets a major boost. I would honestly be completely content, nay, happy, if this were the only change they announce this year. It’s so overdue. Siri was the first voice assistant on the scene, and now she’s in last place for speed, accuracy, and general capabilities. There’s so much potential here to make a truly intelligent voice assistant that would really set the iPhone apart from its competitors.

  • I doubt Apple will ever implement this because it would be de facto acknowledging the fact that people use their iPhones to take nudes, but a locked photo album is also overdue.

  • New privacy features are always welcome. They didn’t disappoint last year, but a VPN or a social network would still be great.

  • iPadOS 14 has the potential to send my MacBook packing, if it’s upgraded as it deserves to be. The iPad Pro Magic Keyboard already has me reaching for my iPad more than I reach for my Mac, but there are some relatively basic everyday workflows (word processing, desktop class browsing, etc.) that are still just easier on the Mac. If they can use iPadOS 14 to make some of those processes even marginally easier, it will make the iPad a much more powerful platform and a truly viable option for people in the market for a new laptop.

  • In my opinion, macOS just deserves some bug fixes and attention to detail.

  • As I mentioned in my Apple Card review, I would really like for them to expand the capability of the Cash card to function more like a typical checking account.

  • I would really like for them to revamp the Apple Watch UI in a meaningful way, and finally give the side button a distinct, useful role in controlling the device. [recycled from last year’s list]

Predictions

  • Some people are speculating that we’ll see some new hardware at this year’s keynote. It wouldn’t surprise me to see an upgraded iMac, but I’m not holding my breath for anything brand new like the rumored, tile-like tracking devices (supposedly to be named “AirTags”).

  • I predict that Apple will, once again, disappoint me by leaving the Music app practically untouched. [recycled from last year’s list]

  • It seems like this may be the year that iOS finally allows for some basic widgets to be permanently affixed on the home screen, and a moderate rethinking of how the home screen functions.

  • I feel sure that we’ll see the Apple Watch move more into the category of health/fitness device. Sleep tracking, finally?

  • This isn’t an original prediction by any means, but it seems clear that Apple will announce that they’re moving on from using Intel processors in the Mac and begin the transition to their own, Apple designed ARM chips.

I said this last year as well, but this WWDC doesn’t feel particularly exciting. Maybe it’s because so much else is going on in the world, or maybe it’s because Apple’s most exciting platforms are reaching maturity and are now only getting incremental software updates. In any case, lower expectations going in means that there’s a higher likelihood of them surprising us with cool new stuff.

TechnologyBroc Ganttjune20