Yahoo Finance tech editor Dan Howley reports live from California with updates on Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference and some of the major software updates the company has announced so far.
Video Transcript
SEANA SMITH: Another big company, Apple, kicking off its Worldwide Developers Conference today, as the company reveals all sorts of new features, updates, for its most popular products. Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley is live on the ground at Apple HQ in Cupertino, California. Dan, give us the latest. Because we did get some exciting announcements out of the developers conference today.
DAN HOWLEY: That’s right, Seana. They announced a slew of updates to iOS– that’s the software that powers the iPhone– as well as iPad with the iPadOS software. Those are both going to version 16. And one of the most talked about features, I think, so far has the ability to retract or delete text messages that you’ve sent someone. So if you’ve ever sent someone a message in haste, if you’ve been in an argument back and forth, you can now retract that, take back your words. You can also edit a text that you’ve already sent. So if you have a typo in there, you’ll be able to just edit it right away, and you won’t have to look like a big idiot, like I usually do when I send my texts.
In addition to that, the lockscreen is going to be completely different now. You’re going be able to add widgets to it, customize it, so it’s not going to be the same boring lock screen. You’ll be able to even see the progress of your Uber, where it is on the way to come get you, and vice versa, from that screen. They also updated iPadOS, as I said. That’s getting new multitasking features, so it’s becoming more and more like a competitor to a laptop. They’re giving you the ability to basically put windows on top of each other as you would with a standard laptop. It’ll be interesting to see how it competes, though, with Apple’s own Mac line of products.
And speaking of the Mac line, Apple introduced its new M2 processor. And that’s the follow-up to the M1, obviously. And the first products that they’re going to appear in are the new MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro stays the same as last year. Besides that M2 chip, the MacBook Air is fully redesigned. It’s only 2.7 pounds. It brings back that MagSafe charger that if you accidentally kick your cable, you won’t send your MacBook flying off the table. And a new display as well as new cameras. So big updates there, updates to Watch OS as well as Mac OS included. So huge show here out of Cupertino.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: And Dan, as we talk about that M2 chip, how much of a game changer is that in terms of what this means for its competition with some of these other big tech names, as it’s really doing this in-house?
DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, I think it’s huge, right? Look, we have Microsoft. They’re using Intel chips in their own products. We have other companies that are increasingly moving to their own chips. Now we have Google launched its own Tensor chip in its latest Pixel phone. They’re going to be rolling out a newer version of the Tensor chip. We have Amazon working on its own chip. So this is seemingly the way the industry is moving to bring everything in-house.
And it’s not just a matter of not having to pay other creative outlets, other product developers. Rather, it’s a way for them to ensure that their software works well with their hardware. So that’s where Apple says they’re able to benefit so much from those M1 and M2 chips. It’s the same thing that you’re getting– same kind of rhetoric you’re getting from Google when it comes to their own Pixel phones. They say that because they have their Tensor chips, their software can do a lot more.
So I think it’s something we’re going to continue to see happen in the industry. That means that companies like Qualcomm and Intel and AMD, they’re going to have to step their game up to ensure they can stay ahead of the likes of Apple and Google when it comes to them making their own products.
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