Apple held a special announcement event this evening (Monday), as part of its annual developer conference – WWDC 2023 – which turned out to be one of the stormiest in recent years, this after the announcement of its mixed reality glasses. As mentioned, this is the first time that Apple has unveiled a product of this type, a dangerous move that it tends to think carefully before implementing. The first hint of the exciting sequence of announcements was in the words of CEO Tim Cook , who noted at the beginning of his remarks that during the event, the company is expected to present "some of the biggest announcements so far".
The first product that the company unveiled during the event is a MacBook with a 15-inch screen. Apple claimed that it was "the best 15-inch laptop in the world", and that it was the thinnest laptop with a screen of this size. The price of the new MacBook stands at 1,299 dollars, and you can order it now. It will be available next week. In addition, the price of the model with the 13-inch screen will drop to 1,099 NIS).
Later, the company unveiled the iOS17 operating system, which includes several new features, alongside useful and requested updates. Among the upgrades to the iPhone's phone application, you can mention the creation of customized pictures for contacts, so that they appear during your conversation. These images will also be used for the display of the contacts in question, with the use of this feature actually working like customizing the lock screen.
Another feature includes a live transcript for voicemail messages, as soon as the user receives you – the transcript will appear immediately on the screen, and it will be possible to decide in real time whether you want to answer the call. In addition, it will be possible to leave "Face Time" video messages to people, instead of a voicemail message.
MacBook with a 15-inch screen (photo: Apple)Another feature includes embedding a geographic location in the text messages, alongside the possibility of checking in for the purpose of maintaining safety. Alongside this feature, Apple also added an auto-completion option – which will complete the text the user writes, along with an improvement in auto-correction. Another feature – which you didn't think you would want – is an improvement in identifying the people in the photos, when there is a special setting that will identify the pets. Later, Apple confirmed the various reports about a change in "Siri", the popular personal assistant. Now, it will be possible to contact her using her name – Siri, and you don't need to say "Hey Siri".
The next announcement deals with AirPods, which received a special listening mode, which combines the two possible modes into one – so that the "transparency" mode (which allows you to be connected to the environment) and the noise filtering will work at the same time. This means that the users will be able to continue to follow what is happening around them, while at the same time the distracting background noises will be reduced. In addition, a new feature will automatically lower the music the user is listening to, and take care of weakening the background noise, so that you can focus on the person standing in front of you.
iOS 17 operating system (photo: Apple)Even at this event, Apple made sure to keep the tradition, and waited until the end of the event to reveal the most anticipated product – in this case its first mixed reality glasses. Their introduction was preceded by Cook's well-known sentence, which precedes every significant launch – we have one more thing. In this announcement, Apple actually confirms the reports from the last few months, which turned out to be true, except for one thing – the name of the product is Vision Pro, and not as reported.
From an external point of view – they are somewhat reminiscent of diving goggles, when you can see the eyes of the users, and Apple claimed that the interface is suitable for a variety of uses, including work and watching movies. In fact, the glasses allow the creation of a combination of the natural environment – and the virtual environment, when the company claimed that when participating in video conference calls, you will be able to see the people around you, in full size.
The new glasses include various sensors under the eyes and buttons on the sides and the ability to display reality and add augmented reality to it that includes your computer or iPhone screen. The change in the level of augmented reality is carried out using the wheel, when any slight movement can activate the system.
The glasses are also perfect for watching series and movies, when Disney entered the picture and the CEO of the company joined the event, revealing that the company signed an agreement with Apple in favor of the glasses to add customized content to the product.
The glasses will be available for purchase early next year, and their price will be 3,499 dollars.
