The Empire Strikes Back

CA—Apple finally unloaded new products for 2017 at its WWDC Developer Show, which is usually a quiet affair focused on operating systems, ecosystems, and what’s coming in the fall with macOS and iOS.

- Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

WWDC is also about various peripheral platforms, including watchOS (wearables), tvOS (Apple TV), HomeKit (smart home automation), and CarPlay (infotainment). This year, it was studded with huge hardware announcements as well.

Apple did focus on software. They talked about iOS 11, which brings a new file system as well as various design tweaks. macOS High Sierra, the future notebook and desktop OS, looks and feels more like an incremental update, but also brings better graphics performance and the ability to run VR applications—a first for Macs.

Under significant pressure to reveal new products and updates, Apple did its best to quiet detractors and also provide significant responses to surging competition. For PC professionals who complained that Apple had abandoned the Mac, the company offered product refreshes across the board with all the iMacs and MacBooks getting new Intel Kaby Lake processors and even faster SSD storage options.