WWDC was nice, apart from the nice stuff we didn’t get

WWDC 2022 final week was quite a lot of enjoyable, with quite a few software program bulletins and, to be frank, extra Mac information that we had dared to anticipate. But we’re onerous to please right here at Macworld, and may’t assist however take into consideration all of the issues that weren’t revealed.

Let’s begin with the gadget that many pundits anticipated to be the tentpole announcement your entire occasion can be based mostly round: Apple’s lengthy and eagerly awaited AR (or blended AR/VR) headset. The {hardware} itself remains to be a great distance off, by most accounts–it in all probability received’t arrive till 2023–nevertheless it appeared cheap to anticipate some kind of preview of the interface and AR environments that Apple is engaged on. No such luck.

The headset is one in every of Apple’s wild playing cards, rumored merchandise that will trigger real pleasure at any occasion. Another on that record can be the Apple Car, however this too was conspicuous by its absence. Apple’s apparent growth work on this space was confined to some cool CarPlay updates that additionally received’t be right here till subsequent yr and should take even longer to get proper. To be clear, completely no person anticipated the Apple Car to look on stage honking its horn halfway by way of the keynote, however its continued absence is symptomatic of a wider lack of pleasure.

In the place of innovation we received iteration—satisfying and substantive iteration, however iteration nonetheless. It was a lovely shock, for instance, that the brand new MacGuide Air and MacGuide Pro each received the M2 chip, which wasn’t anticipated till later this yr, however these are nonetheless simply new variations of current product traces. Only Apple can generate such hype from a product refresh.

The Air, admittedly, received a wise new look together with its new chip, however we’d like to have seen these new vibrant colours that leakers predicted earlier than the occasion. And the Pro wasn’t even redesigned. It was actually only a spec bump.

While we’re with regards to iterative refreshes, how for much longer will we now have to attend till the launch of the second-gen AirPods Pro? Among different issues, these are anticipated to convey help for Apple’s Lossless (ALAC) format, and on that foundation alone would have been an honest match for an occasion specializing in software program and providers. There additionally weren’t any new iPads–which perhaps was a protracted shot, however the iPad Pro was unveiled at WWDC 2017–and the wait goes on for the subsequent model of the Mac mini, which hasn’t been up to date since 2020.

Perhaps probably the most disappointing miss, nonetheless, was any phrase in any respect in regards to the subsequent model of the Mac Pro. WWDC is the Mac Pro’s conventional stomping floor, with each the 2013 and 2019 fashions launched there, and the brand new mannequin was broadly anticipated to make some kind of look this yr, even when solely as a glimpse of labor in progress. What a grand flourish that would have made.

IDG

Launch bottlenecks

I’m having an pleasurable moan right here, however after all I acknowledge that WWDC is primarily a software program occasion. There are 5 working techniques to speak about, and when you chuck in these MacGuide updates as properly there was by no means going to be room for a lot else.

WWDC 2022, certainly, was filled with new options, with iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura all creating buzz with essential and intriguing new options. Expecting Apple to search out time amid all that to speak about new iPads or AirPods was all the time unrealistic. Even if there was time, it could have diminished the affect of every announcement if it was crammed in with dozens of others.

What I’m acutely aware of, although, is that Apple occasions don’t come alongside fairly often. Sometimes you get solely three in a given yr: a spring occasion in March or April, WWDC in June, and the iPhone launch within the fall. Other years we get 4, with a Mac occasion in October, and a few years, there are much more than that. But this yr there received’t be one other occasion for 2 months. This is all we’re getting for some time.

Apple may unfold issues out, significantly because it doesn’t at the moment need to fly and feed giant teams of builders and reporters every time it holds an occasion. There may very well be a digital occasion monthly with out creating any nice logistical complications that I can see. But this isn’t the Apple method. And so long as that’s true, annoying journalists like me are going to hold on complaining about all of the issues that aren’t introduced on the uncommon events when the corporate speaks to us.