At WWDC earlier this month, Apple shared so many exciting updates. Here's a look at some of our favorites.
1. Launch of the new 10.5 inch iPad Pro
Building upon its bestselling and beloved product, the iPad, Apple announced a new 10.5 inch iPad Pro to replace the prior 9.7 inch model. The new sizing allows you to have a full on-screen keyboard. The new ProMotion display technology at a refresh rate of 120Hz offers easier, smoother scrolling with swift responses. Animation and movement are more seamless, making the new iPad Pro models (both 10.5 and 12.9) able to display HDR video for the first time.
For folks like us who like to draw and tweak things on screen, you'll also like the lowered 20ms latency of the Apple Pencil for a more natural drawing experience. We also love the bigger color range available with a brighter 600-night display with True Tone for outdoor lighting, and also the two cameras available (12 Megapixels rear-facing and 7 Megapixels front-facing) first introduced with the iPhone 7. The new iPad Pro is designed with iOS 11 in mind.
Photo from Apple.com
2. AR Kit Offers Immersive App Experiences
Apple introduced the new AR Kit where we can build augmented reality apps for the iPhone. This means we can track motion, estimate scale, plan out ambient lighting and even locate objects (like a plane for instance). AR Kit builds upon the iPhone's existing high quality imaging capabilities and thus do not require additional external hardware like the HoloLens from Microsoft.
Photo from Apple.com
Photo from Apple.com
AR Kit Demo at WWDC 2017 via WingNut Studio, game development company founded by film director, Peter Jackson
3. iOS 11 Design Changes
The new iOS 11 offers some design changes system-wide, providing an increasingly seamless look with borderless buttons and bolder fonts, while overhauling some interface elements such as the Control Center with customization options and new animations. The Lock Screen and Notification Center are now merged, simplifying access.
New iOS 11 Control Center via Apple.com
New iOS 11 Integrated Notifications & Lock Screen via Apple.com
4. Oldest and Youngest App Developers
There's a lot to love about the new releases and product enhancements that were announced in 2017 WWDC, but one announcement by far, caught our attention immediately - the oldest (80s) and youngest (10 years old) app developers. Amazing, isn't it?
Just goes to show that age is literally no limit - on either end of the spectrum! So maybe you started the first part of your life doing one thing. Who knows? There may be an app developer in you yet!! :)
Youngest (10) and oldest (80s) app developers at WWDC 2017.
5. Xcode's Fast New Refactoring System
In terms of code, one thing that we're excited about is the ease and speed of use in the new refactoring system and source editor available in Xcode 9. This definitely makes things faster for repetitive steps and also better organization.
Image of Ken Orr, senior Xcode manager presenting at WWDC 2017.
We're also excited about the GitHub integration now available through easy cloning with full notes.
This is the first blog post in a series of 3 covering some highlights from WWDC 2017.
