Four Things I Expect from WWDC 2017

Monday, June 5, has two-fold significance to me. It is both my birthday and the start of Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). Luckily, my benefits package at work includes my birthday as good-ole paid time off, so I'll be watching the keynote live and tweeting my reactions.

I always have high expectations for WWDC, and this year is no different. There are four main things I expect to see from Monday's keynote.

1. More Hardware than Usual

Apple tends to focus on software updates at WWDC. This trend is understandable since "Developers Conference" is in the name of the event. But this year, I think we'll see a lot more hardware than usual.

We could see spec-bump updates to the MacBook and MacBook Pro, new form factors for the iPad Pros and even an all new device category—Siri Speakers. 

2. iOS Design Refresh

It's been four years since Apple killed skeuomorphism with their controversial iOS 7 update. I doubt this year's design refresh will be so drastic, but I expect more of a change than in past years. There will be some new design concepts across the OS to accommodate the rise of larger phones.

3. Better iPad Productivity

Oh, I really hope this is big part of the announcement! If the iPad is going to rebound from its multi-year sales declines, it will need some serious software love from Apple. I'm sure they know this, and that's why I believe they've built new productivity functionality for the iPad. 

4. Focus on Siri and other Services

Whether the highly anticipated Siri Speaker is announced or not, I think Apple will spend a lot of time pitching their vision for the future of Siri and their other services. The services business is the fastest growing part of Apple, and they've spent a lot of time discussing it in recent earning calls. I think that focus will translate directly into stage time at WWDC.

Apple Music, iCloud Drive, the App Store will all get nice updates, and Siri will be significantly revamped, because it needs to be way better. The Siri API will probably be opened up to far more types of interaction with third-party apps, and the Siri brand will continue to be applied to interactions other than voice. I expect to be able to type to Siri this year.

Header image from Unsplash.