Here is what analysts think will happen at Apple’s WWDC 2022 event tomorrow

When Tim Cook takes the stage and delivers the opening keynote at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 6, everyone from the company’s developers to investors will look for signals on where the company is headed. At a time when tech layoffs and hiring freezes have panicked investors, with many predicting a slowdown in tech, everybody is looking at Apple and how well-positioned the Cupertino company is to survive in the post-pandemic world.
The challenge for Apple is not only to ensure healthy iPhone sales throughout the year amid uncertain market sentiments and the global chip shortage but also to build confidence among developers to keep its crucial app ecosystem ticking. Monday, like every year, Apple will give its developers who create apps for its most popular iPhone, iPad and Mac a sneak peek into the future.
On show will also be new features in iOS 16, though the changes expected are incremental. The lock screen could undergo a major transformation, according to a Bloomberg report. Apple’s iOS 16 would support an Always On Display, which would provide basic information such as date, time and notifications glancing at the screen. Samsung’s Galaxy phones have had this feature for years, but Apple might market the always-on mode on the select iPhones as a premium feature. Apple could also bring “social” features to the Messages app and even update the Health app on the iPhone, as well as “big widgets” to iOS.

“I’d be surprised if Apple made too many radical changes with iOS,” Andrew Cornwall, Senior Analyst for mobile technologies at Forrester Research, tells . “They’re competing with Android, and Android hasn’t been forcing much change,” he adds. But Cornell expects Apple to bring new privacy-focused features to iOS 16. “I think many iOS changes will focus on that.”Best of Express PremiumPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
The one operating system that might get a big update will be the iPadOS 16. Under the leadership of Tim Cook, Apple has consently marketed the iPad as a replacement for the computer, but iPadOS holds it back from its true potential. Although Apple has already made it clear that it wants to keep the iPadOS separate from macOS, there is increasing pressure to make the iPad function more like a laptop and less like a phone. At WWDC, Apple is likely to update the iPad’s operating system bringing a redesigned interface that makes it easier to switch between tasks and see which apps are open. Apple will also reportedly introduce the ability to resize app windows and handle multiple apps simultaneously at its online-only developer conference. Right now, iPad apps can only run in full-screen mode or two apps side–side.
Over the years, Apple has beefed up the hardware capabilities of the iPad (the iPad Pro with the M1 chip is as powerful as the MacBook Air), but it has not made many changes to the software or user experience. The iPadOS needs more macOS features, and Apple can do that without making the iPad a Mac. A way to boost the iPadOS’s capabilities is allowing developers to bring iPhone apps to the iPad. doing that, it would be a way to bring Calculator and Weather apps to the iPad. It would also solve Instagram and WhatsApp’s lack of support for the iPad.

“There has been an ongoing trend for many years to make the iPad a little more in-line with macOS without trying to make it all one thing, forcing a touchscreen onto a Mac, or forcing complicated multitasking onto an iPhone,” Gartner analyst David Mitchell said. “Those are not likely scenarios, but they are trying to do what they can to bring [these] devices together.” Cornwall, too, agrees Apple is making progress to turn iPadOS into something that can replace a laptop OS, but it also faces this dual dichotomy, where the iPad Pro and MacBook Air are competitors.
There is no either/or situation, and that is exactly what is stopping Apple from making the iPadOS as powerful as the macOS. Despite the iPad OS, not the macOS, Cornwall predicts Apple will focus more on the iPad Pro in the future, with only incremental changes reserved for the MacBook Air.
Apple is also expected to announce a new version of macOS at its developer-only conference. Though the upcoming version of macOS may not pack any new surprises, Apple will focus on how macOS and apps work natively on its ARM-powered Macs. “Apple will continue to innovate with their silicon,” Cornwall said, adding that “we will see more AI-specific processing capabilities.”
With the two-year transition from Intel to its silicon complete, Apple would want developers to know how the second-generation of M-series processors might help them optimise their apps for the next wave of hardware. There could be a new version of the MacBook Air and Mac mini with the second generation of its processors. But given the chip shortage and lockdowns in China, Apple could also delay launching new Macs until September or October.

Analysts don’t expect any big changes coming to watchOS and tvOS this year. Apple is the world’s largest smartwatch company, but it has been slow to bring new health sensors to the Apple Watch due to technical and regulatory challenges.
It has also been an uphill task to sell a $179 Apple TV box to consumers who already own a smart TV at home or rely on cheaper streaming sticks from Amazon and Google. “I don’t see Apple going into the smart TV business on their own, but there’s a chance we’ll hear about a strategic partnership with a smart TV vendor,” says Cornwall.
This year’s WWDC is expected to be all about software, though Apple could surprise fans with the launch of a new MacBook Air with an all-new “retro-inspired” design and the successor to the M1 family.
In addition, Apple fans are clamouring for a mixed-reality headset, which many say is closer to an official reveal. “There’s a good chance something is coming, whether it’s coming next week or not [WWDC] nobody knows,” says Mitchell. Apple’s board of directors got a preview of the headset last month, according to Bloomberg, suggesting the device could be ready for the reveal. “I think they will, although they won’t announce dates or details,” Cornwall makes a prediction, but there are still questions about whether a mixed-reality headset is the right device for Apple to get into a new product category.