Apple WWDC21: Expect Big Things

Apple’s annual developer event promises updates to all OSes and maybe one new one

Apple CEO Tim Cook at a 2018 product launch. (Credit: Lance Ulanoff)

Consumers get excited about all of Apple’s big launch events, the ones where the Cupertino tech giant unveils a passel of new products intended to brighten their days, improve their lives, and help them get more done.

I like them, too but the real juice comes from Apple’s annual, information-packed Worldwide Developers Conferences (WWDC). This is where Apple charts the roadmap, not for just current and future products, but the software and code that underpins all of it.

Look at it this way:

• The iPhone is just a slab of metal and glass without iOS.
• Apple TV is a black plastic brick without tvOS
• Apple Watch is merely pretty jewelry without watchOS
• The iPad is an unwieldy aluminum and glass slab without iPadOS
• The Mac is an attractive desk ornament without macOS

The nitty-gritty details, often dealing with programming languages and connective tissue like all the various kits (HomeKit, HealthKit, ResearchKit, CareKit) and APIs, can be a little hard to digest for consumers, but these are the things that help build the Apple ecosystem and connect it to a wide…