• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
Apple

Five things to expect at Apple’s WWDC

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 1, 2014, 1:23 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

For an event that lasts only two hours — the length of a Hollywood movie — there’s a lot riding on Apple’s (AAPL) WWDC keynote presentation Monday.

About $94 billion, by my calculation.

That’s how much Apple’s market value has increased in the past eight weeks, driven largely by fund managers anticipating some kind of surprise Monday. Preferably a new piece of hardware. Preferably in a new category, like a wearable device or a TV.

We’ll get to the chances of a surprise of that nature in a bit. But fair warning: That’s not what WWDC is usually about.

WWDC is what its name implies: A World Wide Developers Conference.

It’s the one event each year where Apple gets to introduce developers to the new software tools they’ll need to write programs for Apple’s forthcoming devices — generally introduced at their own events, in the fall, in time for the big holiday selling season.

And for the 5,000 or so developers lucky enough to get in (they were chosen by lottery this year) it’s a rare chance to get the ear of the engineers who created those tools.

That said, what can we realistically expect from the keynote scheduled to begin — and be webcast live — at 10:00 a.m. Pacific (1:00 p.m. Eastern)?

Five things:

— New faces. In the past two months, Apple has taken on more high-profile executive talent than any time since Steve Jobs returned from exile in 1997, and this will be the company’s first opportunity to trot them out on the big stage at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. So there’s a very good chance that CEO Tim Cook will formally introduce Angela Ahrendts, the glamorous former CEO of Burberry, the legendary Dr. Dre (“billionaires boys club” for real, homey!) and Jimmy Iovine, one the savviest music producers in the business. Ahrendts will take charge of Apple’s retail empire — its online presence and its 424 stores as a senior vice president reporting to Cook. Dre and Iovine came on board as part of Apple’s $3 billion acquisiton of Beats Music and Beats Electronics. It’s not clear what their titles will be or what they’ll be doing at Apple. We may find out on Monday.

— New iPhone operating system. iOS, the software that runs Apple’s iPhones, iPads and iPod touches, got a major overhaul last year with the release of iOS 7 — Jony Ive’s “flatter” version, stripped of such skeuomorphic touches as green felt and fake leather. By all accounts, iOS 8 will be a refinement of iOS 7 with a few important improvements: Maps is said to be getting a major overhaul although a key feature —  the addition in selected cities of such public transport information as bus and subway schedules — is reportedly delayed. Other rumored improvements: A new iRadio app, the addition of a Song ID feature in Siri, a simplified Notification center.

— New Mac operating system. Conventional wisdom has it that OS X is due for a major upgrade — if nothing else to make it look and feel more like iOS. By version number it’s OS X 10.10. Judging from the banners hung in the lobby at Moscone over the weekend, it will have a Yosemite theme — El Cap, El Capitan or simply Yosemite. Functionally, this may be the version that finally brings Siri to the Mac and allows AirDrop to exchange files between an iPhone and a Mac. Any improvements in Maps and other apps that come to iOS may also appear in OS X 10.10.

— New platforms. Credit where credit is due: 9to5Mac‘s Mark Gurman broke the story in January that Apple was working on something called Healthbook for monitoring such health and fitness data as heart rate, blood pressure, nutrition, blood sugar, sleep, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, weight and pysical activity. And it was the Financial Times‘ Tim Bradshaw who reported last week that Apple was working on a smart home platform for coordinating such devices as burglar alarms, smoke detectors and thermostats. If Apple hopes developers will populate these platforms with apps and devices that take advantage of them, now would be a good time to brief them on the necessary software tools. Another platform ripe for development: Passbook, an iOS app currently used as a place to store boarding passes, movie tickets, gift cards and the like. If Apple were to connect the dots between iBeacon, fingerprint ID and 800 million credit cards to make a friction free (and credit-card free) payment system, Passbook might be the place to do it.

— New hardware. I wouldn’t bet on it, but it’s always possible that Apple could use Monday’s developer conference to pull a new device out of its hat. They did it last year with the MacPro, a secret it was able to keep because there weren’t any Asian assembly line workers to spill the beans. Improvements on its current line-up — new iMacs, MacBooks, iPads — won’t impress Wall Street. Even an early release of the larger format iPhone expected in September isn’t going to move the needle much. A new Apple TV set top box opened up to third-party programmers — through the release of an SDK (software developers kit) — would be welcome news, but would not fulfill the lingering fantasies that Apple might finally solves television’s myriad problems. That leaves the so-called iWatch, about which so much ink has been spilled. Since nobody has been able to figure out how such a thing would work, anything said about it on Monday would be a big surprise. Hopefully, for Apple investors, a good one.

I’ll be joining my colleagues Adam Lashinsky and JP Mangalindan in Moscone West Monday to cover the event for Fortune’s new website. Instructions for how to tune into the live simulcast are available at Apple’s Events page.

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in

A family crisis inspired Bill Ackman to spend $260 million to create a massive brain research institute in Manhattan
InnovationBill Ackman
A family crisis inspired Bill Ackman to spend $260 million to create a massive brain research institute in Manhattan
By Jeff John RobertsJuly 21, 2026
2 hours ago
Kid watching social media
PoliticsSocial Media
France adopts bill to ban kids under 15 from using social media
By The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
2 hours ago
Jamie Dimon says insecurity, not ego, is what destroys the careers of top CEOs
C-SuiteJamie Dimon
Jamie Dimon says insecurity, not ego, is what destroys the careers of top CEOs
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 21, 2026
2 hours ago
Christopher Nolan interacts with fans at Odyssey premier
Arts & EntertainmentHollywood
‘He’s an analog man in a digital AI world’: Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ made back its $250M budget in 3 days without industrywide AI cost cutting
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 21, 2026
2 hours ago
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis
AIEye on AI
A FINRA for AI? The idea from Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis is gaining momentum. But is it any good?
By Jeremy KahnJuly 21, 2026
3 hours ago
Two students stand next to each other and look at the papers they are holding.
AIEducation
Study finds AI boosted homework scores 18%—then tanked exam results 20%
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 21, 2026
4 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
3 days ago
The Treasury is walking a tightrope on U.S. debt by relying so much on short-term rates that are at the mercy of a suddenly very hawkish Fed
Economy
The Treasury is walking a tightrope on U.S. debt by relying so much on short-term rates that are at the mercy of a suddenly very hawkish Fed
By Jason MaJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
Jamie Dimon won't put more of his own money into the long end of the bond market right now—thanks to the $39 trillion national debt
Economy
Jamie Dimon won't put more of his own money into the long end of the bond market right now—thanks to the $39 trillion national debt
By Eleanor PringleJuly 21, 2026
10 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.