On June 11, at 1 AM Beijing time, Apple's annual WWDC conference finally began. Rumors say Apple is going all-in on AI this year, and I bet Android competitors are waiting up late at night, just like me, with zongzi in hand, for the announcement.

This year, Apple didn't announce any new hardware at WWDC, so there's no rumored iPhone SE. However, all six of Apple's platforms have received updates. And the much-anticipated AI features were only released towards the end, integrated into various apps to enhance the user experience.

So, what are the specific changes? Let's take a look.

visionOS

Right off the bat, Apple announced visionOS 2, a system version tailored for AR headsets.

This version can display larger photos and even 3D spatial photos. Spatial photos can be generated from 2D photos using AI, which combines your left and right eye perspectives to instantly make the photos 3D. You can also share these photos with faraway friends through the headset's co-viewing feature.

In terms of device compatibility, the headset will support wireless connection to MacBooks, displaying a 4K large screen in front, which can be expanded into an even larger ultra-widescreen in the future.

For spatial video recording, it's not just the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max that can do it. Apple has also teamed up with Canon to launch a spatial lens suitable for the Canon EOS R7, promising more professional content in this area.

As a groundbreaking product, when it will be available in other countries is also a point of great concern. Apple announced that the headset will be launched in two batches, with China being one of the first batch countries, available on June 28th. The official website already has a link. The second batch will be on July 12th. No need to look for American resellers this time around.

iOS

As expected, iOS 18 has a more Android-like feel in terms of its icon interface.

It supports a "very flexible" app icon placement design, as well as a "very thoughtful" dark mode for app icons, and even a "very personalized" app icon color adjustment feature, which Android phones would surely appreciate.

The Control Center has also been redesigned with a multi-screen layout, allowing you to switch to the Music interface, Home Control interface, and even add multiple control items, adjust tile sizes, and customize your Control Center interface. Huh? Tiles? Windows users say they're familiar with that!

To protect privacy, iOS 18 has added app lock and app hiding features, and I bet many people will hide their less-than-savory apps.

You can also decide which contacts in your address book an app can access, ensuring your private social circle remains private.

The Wallet app has also received an upgrade, incorporating AirDrop's "bump to pay", allowing you to transfer money to others by simply bumping your devices together. This feature is quite convenient, but how many people in China will use Apple Pay?

Then, in terms of the Photos library, Apple has made some changes. iOS 18 redesigns the Photos interface, with a grid view of all photos at the top and a "Collections" view organized by themes at the bottom. You can directly filter in the grid view, for example, to remove screenshots, leaving only real photos. The Collections view adds a Travel library that classifies photos based on where you've been, allowing you to better relive memorable journeys.

Audio & Home

In audio and home, AirPods were the first to debut.

This time, AirPods support nodding to answer calls and shaking your head to decline calls, helping you quickly operate even when your hands are full, like when you're on a crowded subway or carrying heavy items. It also supports adaptive noise cancellation, with AirPods Pro automatically adjusting the noise reduction level based on the ambient noise level. And it uses personalized spatial audio technology for a better gaming experience.

Next is tvOS. It not only supports 21:9 screen mirroring, adds unique screensavers, but also introduces an enhanced conversation feature. When the background noise in a movie is loud, it can enhance the clarity of the actors' dialogue for a better viewing experience.

watchOS

In terms of health, the watchOS has added a training load feature that tracks exercise intensity, converting various parameters into your load intensity assessment to avoid fatigue and injury. For women, watchOS has also added a pregnancy tracking feature in the Health app's menstrual cycle tracking, displaying relevant pregnancy data.

In addition, a new Health app called Vitals has been added, which can monitor daily health data such as heart rate and respiratory rate during sleep. Any data that exceeds the normal range will be highlighted in the app. If multiple indicators exceed the normal range, you will receive a special notification reminding you to pay attention to your health.

Besides health features, watchOS has also made the watch's Smart Stack feature even smarter. For example, a rain widget will pop up before it rains, a translation widget will pop up when you arrive in a new country, or you can "check in" after a late-night jog, notifying your concerned friends and family to put their minds at ease.

Furthermore, the watch's face is now customizable. AI can help you find suitable photos from your album for the watch face, supporting overlapping images and time, as well as changing the overall color to create a personalized watch face.

iPadOS

iPadOS also supports the same home screen personalization and custom Control Center as iOS, and adds a "Floating Tab Bar" feature.

The tab bar can be placed horizontally in the middle of the screen or dragged to the left, becoming a sidebar. This usage method applies to all native iPad apps, and Apple's executive Craig calls it very elegant.

More interestingly, after more than a decade, iPad's native calculator app has finally been developed!

Looking at the interface, it's still the familiar formula and taste, but when paired with the Apple Pencil, this feature takes on a new flavor.

When you use a stylus to calculate, it will automatically calculate the answer for you after you write the equal sign. It can also help you solve physics problems, even updating the results after you modify variables. It can even generate equation graphs to view real-time changes to the curve after changing parameters!

Apple, I shouldn't have mocked you. It seems you've put in a lot of effort in this decade-long development!

In terms of handwritten notes, iPad will automatically beautify your handwriting. The words are still yours, but Apple helps make them smoother, more upright, and clearer. It can also automatically convert the font to your handwriting when you copy text into handwritten notes and help correct the content you write.

And when you want to insert some text in the middle of your handwritten content, you can hold down the stylus and drag to create space for inserting handwritten content, making it easier to create and modify handwritten content.

macOS

Although Craig is still introducing macOS, he kicked off with a parkour segment, which caught everyone off guard.

The new system is called Sequoia, named after the Redwood tree. But Apple, your Redwood seems to be growing a bit slowly. With Sequoia, Apple has finally achieved interconnectivity, allowing you to insert an iPhone's mirrored screen on a Mac and supporting file drag-and-drop between multiple devices, finally catching up with Android's long-standing feature.

It also supports automatic window arrangement, neatly arranging windows side by side, finally catching up with Windows' long-standing feature. So, Apple, when will you continue to lead in this area?

In terms of applications, macOS has improved its native browser, Safari, claiming to be "blazingly fast" when browsing the web and lasting 4 hours longer than Chrome. When browsing, it can highlight key information on the page, automatically summarize and obtain abstracts, a boon for those who frequently read guides and long articles.

However, Apple is still determined to make Macs suitable for gaming, discussing their efforts in this area, such as their Metal 3 technology, ray tracing, and announcing that the next installment of "Assassin's Creed" will be coming to Mac. I see, so that parkour segment was for this!

AI Technology

After introducing a plethora of new content, Apple's AI features finally made their appearance.