APPLE HEADS TO WWDC2020 FACING SOME BIG QUESTIONS, AND NO, THEY'RE NOT RELATED TO HOW THE COMPANY IS GOING TO DO ITS FIRST-EVER ONLINE-ONLY DEVELOPER CONFERENCE During the coronavirus pandemic, large public gatherings are not yet safe, so there are no cheering crowds, face-to-face demonstrations or crowds of mac, iPhone and Apple Watch app makers who descend on the San Jose Convention Center

However, there are many announcements, most of which will be made during the WWDC kick-off on Monday But what these announcements cover is a matter of speculation

We know what apple is going to talk about with a wide stroke WWDC is the place to showcase the changes, fixes, and enhancements the company has made to the software that powers Macs, iPhones, smartwatches, and more All Apple software platforms, including IOS14, MacOs1016 and watchOS7, are in the limelight, and Apple may have a hardware surprise or 2 sleeves

However, the exact announcement at WWDC They remain in the air Still, you can make some educated guesses as to what exactly you'll hear when Apple tells you about its plans for the rest of 2020 and beyond HERE ARE THE 2020 BIGGEST QUESTIONS APPLE FACES WITH WWDC5 AND WHAT THE ANSWER IS

The Worldwide Developers conference will be held on 6/22 (Mon) and will be held online until 6/26 (Mon)

Most events will include highly technical talks aimed at people building software for Apple's various platforms But this week begins with a keynote at WWDC on Monday, with Apple providing an overview of the software updates scheduled for later this year

The keynote will begin Monday at 1 pm EDT/10 am PDT And it is very easy to follow together from home

Apple hosts a live stream of keynote speeches on the apple Events web page Anyone who has an Apple TV can watch it on the big screen via the Apple Events app This stream is also available on YouTube embedded above

The leaked WWDC announcement before the show includes Apple's plan to ditch Intel chips in favor of its own ARM-based processors for laptops and desktops (Basically, Apple wants to repeat what A13Bionic did with an iPhone that sets the standard for mobile processing Apple is reportedly making an announcement at this year's WWDC, forcing developers to start recreating the app for this brave new world 1 year ago One tipster suggests that an ARM-based MacBook could arrive again this year, but it seems incredibly early

That's what we know What we're still hearing and waiting for is Apple outlining how the migration will work WWDC will provide apple with a platform to make the switch case and explain to app makers what they need to do to prepare the software And for those of us who have never learned coding, WWDC is an opportunity to outline the benefits of MacBook ARM

Obviously, there are improvements in speed and power efficiency But how many apps should be converted, and some of the older apps we rely on wll work well We can guess some of those answers, but it's good to hear some definitive stuff directly from Apple

I've been at Apple's developer conference for most of two decades, and when someone asks me what new hardware to expect, my rote response shakes my head and says, "WWDC is primarily for software announcements"

That's still true, but in recent years Apple has shaken things up Of the last 3 Wwdc's, 2 featured hardware releases, with the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR coming in the last year and 2017 with the introduction of the new iMac, MacBook and iPad Pro Obviously, someone in Cupertino didn't get a note about this being a software-only incident

This time, we're not going to see the benefits of the hardware debut that was dealt with three years ago However, rumors suggest that the new iMac 2020 may be on the way, and rumors point to getting some step-by-step time at WWDC2020

The rumored iMac update is more than just an update Instead, Apple is reportedly re-designing the iPad Pro for inspiration Think of new hardware such as thinner bezels and AMD's Navi GPUs Apart from a few tweaks here and there, the iMac has maintained the same look since 2012, so we're eager to see how apple will change things

It's also possible that Apple could announce AirPods Studio, a new pair of over-ear headphones that will compete directly with the likes of the bose700 These cans will vie for a spot on our best noise-cancelling headphones list and reportedly offer replaceable ear pads WWDC provides the first official look at the next versions of iOS 14, watchOS7, and macOS, and in use when these software updates arrive later in the year, but what I'd like to hear is updates that end users can't actually see— arkit, part of Apple's developer toolkit for building augmented reality apps New barge

Why? That's because the ARKit update could provide tips on what will happen with this fall's iPhone12 update The iPhone12Pro model is reportedly adding LiDAR sensors to the rear camera array, just like the sensors on this year's iPad Pro This could mean an improved portrait effect for photos, but LiDAR sensors can also help make the AR app more immersive If ARKit gets extensive stage time at WWDC, it could provide insight into Apple's expectations of what the new iPhone can do Superimposed directions and landmarks with the map app on your iPhone screen New filters for Photos app Some other possibilities that we have not started to think about Potentially, ARKit updates can give us a lot of clues In addition, the new ARKit should pave the way for a killer application that could appear on Apple's rumored Apple Glass augmented reality glasses

To be honest, I expected the apple Watch5 to come with sleep tracking When they didn't, and when subsequent leaks suggested that Apple was still working on this feature, all eyes would imagine APPLE jumping into that new feature during the Watchos6 preview at WWDC2020 if the debut sleep tracking on the apple watch and the upcoming watch were included on the card But if you want to keep an air of mystery about the watch before the fall launch event it's inevitable, the company also expects that sleep tracking and such features must be

For what it's worth, watchOS7 will add the ability to log indicators to measure sleep quality Hardware-dependent features like Spo2 sensors that can monitor blood oxygen levels to detect sleep apnea-like conditions may remain a hash until it's time to talk Apple Watch6 later this year

Apple's typical pattern with iPad features in iOS updates spares attention to new features for the tablet family, and then completely ignores the iPad last year, since many new features were brought to the iPad, including multitasking upgrades, Apple Pencil improvements, and redesigned cursor support We expect the iPad to shrug in 2020

Not only did Apple improve the iPad in 2019, it also introduced iPadOS as a separate entity from the standard iOS The 2 mobile operating systems share a lot of features, but with iPadOS, apple can showcase something specifically designed to get the most out of your tablet

With iPadOS14 in the works for later this year, it seems unlikely that Apple will return to its all-other year approach to updating the iPad We expect further improvements in cursor support, such as gesture control and variable cursors The new drawing features of Apple Pencil could also be on the table And to show that iPadOS is not just a cosmetic variant of iOS, we hope Apple will surprise us with the unexpected