Monday will give iPhone owners their first look at the big changes coming to their smartphones this fall.
Apple will virtually host its Worldwide Developers Conference this week, starting with a keynote address Monday where they are widely expected to unveil iOS 16, the latest software for its iPhones.
The keynote will likely also serve as a platform for sharing software updates related to their other products as well, including iPads, MacBooks and the Apple Watch.
USA TODAY will provide live updates on what’s coming to iOS 16 throughout the keynote, which starts at 1 p.m. ET.
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There’s a new MacBook Pro, too
The updated MacBook Pro is mostly similar, only it’s going to get the new M2 chip, which means it’s going to be faster than the M1 laptops. The new MacBook will launch next month starting at $1,299.
Surprise: It’s a new MacBook Air
Apple is upgrading to M2 chips, the latest version of the chips which will run future Mac computers. The first computer to receive one is the MacBook Air, which Apple says is their best-selling laptop.
Naturally, Apple is revealing a new MacBook Air. It’s under half an inch thin and weighs under three pounds. It also boasts a 13.6-inch display. It will be available in four colors, and supports MagSafe charging, two Thunderbolt ports and a headphone jack.
The Air has enough battery life for 18 hours of video playback, and fast charging.
The new MacBook Air starts at $1,199 and launches next month.
Track medications on Apple Watch
The watch will soon add a Medications app to easily track which medications you take and when to take them. Users can manually add them or take a picture to quickly add to the app. Users can also set schedules to know when to take their medications. The app will provide alerts if your medications have critical or serious interactions.
Improvements to Apple Watch Sleep app
The next watch update will include support for sleep stages, checking how much time you spent in specific sleep stages, such as REM sleep. If you own a Fitbit, then you’re likely aware of how it works.
For heart health, WatchOS 9 is adding AFib history, which provides long-term tracking of when users are in atrial fibrillation.
It’s time for Apple Watch updates
Let’s start with faces. Apple is adding four more faces, including a lunar calendar face, the play time face with animated numbers and a metropolitan face in various colors. Faces will also add new complications, which are essentially super small widgets with info such as dates or heart rate.
As for fitness, WatchOS will leverage tools like machine learning to better track running during workouts, with details such as stride and ground contact time. Users can also quickly see which heart rate zone they’re in during a workout.
If you follow the same route when you run, you can also track your best times to try and beat previous sessions.
What’s new with CarPlay
Apple is introducing some updates to the in-car system CarPlay. Among them: upgraded odometers with an Apple aesthetic, widgets providing trip information, navigation tools and weather details. Users can also perform tasks like adjust the temperature in the car without leaving CarPlay. The iPhone communicates with your car’s real-time systems to display all the information within CarPlay. Users can even customize how that information is displayed.
Apple’s new Safety Check app
To help protect personal safety, Apple is releasing a Safety Check app, created in partnership with domestic violence groups. The app can manage access to your device, disable location sharing, or set up an emergency reset of your phone. It can also reset any privacy permissions and double check who has access to information on your phone.
Family Sharing updates big for parents
Apple is tweaking family sharing to make it much easier for parents to set up devices for kids and to adjust the parental controls. Kids can also send requests via Messages to earn more screen time. I for one look forward to 1,000 messages asking me for five more minutes on YouTube. iPhone owners can also created shared libraries available to whomever you select, to automatically share photos with family or friends.
New territory for Apple Maps
The app will soon feature multi-stop routing, which lets users add multiple stops during a single trip. Transit features get upgraded as well, providing details on schedules and pricing for different services. Maps will also provided a detailed City view to offer a better perspective of surroundings.
Buy Now, Pay Later comes to Apple Pay
Apple introduces the option to pay later for items you purchase through Apple Pay Later, which allows consumers to break down the purchase of an item on Apple Pay through multiple installments.
New ways to use your license on iPhone
Apple is slowing rolling out the option to add your driver’s license to your iPhone. Arizona and Maryland are the first states to do this, with others coming soon. One upcoming use case involves verifying with the Uber Eats app that you are over 21 to order certain items.
A more useful Live Text feature
Perhaps one of the coolest upcoming uses for Live Text: the ability to open the camera within the Translate app and immediately see text in view translated. Visual lookup will not only spot items in an image and allow you to search them, but you can grab specific elements in the photo and paste them into a message.
Messages gets an update, too
New features such an undo send, marking threads as unread, and the ability to edit a message after it’s sent are among the new tweaks to make the app easier and more efficient, said Federighi. Composing messages will also improve thanks to an upgraded on-device dictation feature. When using dictation, the keyboard remains open so you can both dictate and type if needed. It even does emoji dictation. Mind blown emoji indeed!
iPhone notifications that are less obnoxious
Notifications will stream from the bottom of the screen with iOS 16, and users can even hide them completely. There are also live activity widgets on the lock screen for special events like tracking sports scores, listening to music and tracking an Uber ride. Users can also customize Focus mode so lock screens can match the moment, such as when you’re at work.
iOS 16 gets a big lock screen update
Apple’s Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, confirms what we already knew: iOS 16 is the next major software update for the iPhone. He starts with the lock screen, calling it “the biggest update ever.”
It’s far more personal, offering different fonts, styles and colors, along with tiny icons for information such as noise levels, weather and more. It’s similar to the Apple Watch and how you update and personalize watch faces. Making the updates requires just a simple drag and drop interface.
Users can easily swipe to update the fonts, and Apple is finally going to eliminate faces on wallpapers get covered up by the time.
Tim Cook starts things off
No surprise, but Apple’s CEO begins from the halls of Apple’s new futuristic headquarters to officially start WWDC. Cook is currently recapping all the ways Apple is trying to foster robust developer environments, including new academies focused on underrepresented communities. Cook says the Apple community has grown to more than 34 million developers.
What is WWDC?
The conference had previously been hosted at a convention center in San Francisco before the COVID-19 pandemic transformed it to a virtual experience in 2020.
How to watch WWDC
The keynote is available to stream on Apple’s website or through the Apple TV app available on various streaming devices. Apple also streams its keynote through its YouTube channel.
What we know about iOS 16 right now
The most notable rumored update Apple could reveal is iOS 16 supporting an always-on display, which could provide basic information to users without having to wake the device. Other rumored features coming to the iPhone include upgrades to the Messages app and the Health app.
When will iOS 16 launch?
Typically, the arrival of the latest version of iOS lands just before the launch of a new iPhone in the fall. Last year, Apple launched iOS 15 on Sept. 20, four days before the debut of the iPhone 13.
Will my iPhone support iOS 16?
The most recent releases of the iPhone will almost certainly support iOS 16. The question is whether much older models going back to the iPhone 6S, which launched nearly seven years ago, will still run the latest version of iOS. If you’re clinging to one of those models, it might be time to consider an upgrade.
Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.
