WWDC 2013 Rumors: New Devices and Software Expected

World Wide Developer Conference, or WWDC, is a developer conference hosted by Apple. One of the biggest tech event’s in the world, tickets for the conference — which costs $1600 — sold out it two minutes this year. Here’s what we know.

As far as new devices go, don’t expect the iPhone 5S or 6. In a recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said he was excited to the new products coming “in the Fall of 2013 and 2014.” While this may be just another example of misdirection from an Apple CEO, rumored chip shortages and issues in the supply chain lend credence to Cook’s comments. Obviously to see the new iPhone 5S sometime in the summer, but it seems like Apple will be unable to mass-produce the device within a few weeks.

But, we should see some new software updates to Apple’s mobile and desktop operating system. Software updates are a staple at WWDC; last year, Apple unveiled iOS 6 and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

iOS 6 debuted to a lot of fanfare from the press, but when the operating system was publicly released, it was universally panned. A year before Apple’s contract with Google Maps was up, the Cupertino giant decided to terminate it’s contract with Google and develop a Maps app in-house. But, Apple Maps was so inept that users clamored for the return of Google Maps on iOS. Google released an app in the App Store a few weeks later.

After such a disastrous PR mistake, Cook is hoping that Apple will be able to bounce back at WWDC 2013. We wrote a lot on iOS 7 the other day, outlining some brand new features and leaked images. Check it out here.

While we did say that it was unlikely there would be a new device — based on Cook’s comments — we should note that 9to5Mac says KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo think Apple will be announcing some important changes to the Macbook line at WWDC 2013. Kuo guesses that these new Macbooks will be powered by Haswell processors, which are lauded for drastically improving a device’s battery life. Apple computers usually don’t have the same amount of fanfare as the mobile devices (probably because they don’t make as much money), but a new device or 10 would be welcomed.