Apple WWDC 2022 Keynote Live Blog: iOS 16, WatchOS 9, MacOS Ventura, M2, Gaming and More

That's it. Apple is asking us to move to a new spot. Thank you for reading and following along!

OK, Cook is finishing up, reminding us of everything we just heard: The M2 MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. 

OS releases will be available to developers today, and public betas next month. They'll be available to everyone else for free in the fall.

WWDC runs through this week. There will be 175 sessions over the week for developers.

And that's it.

Apple says its new Stage Manager will make multitasking a lot easier on the iPad, and it'll work with external displays.

With Stage Manager, you can resize windows, and the dock is visible.

You can see recently used apps on the screen, and you can format the layout however you want -- even with overlapping windows. (I've been hoping for this one!)

"Like you saw earlier, I can resize windows and rearrange everything just the way I want," Federighi says.

With an external display, the iPad looks very MacOS-y. You can have up to eight apps running simultaneously, with four apps running on each screen. You can drag and drop across displays as well.

"It's an entirely new way to multitask," Federighi says, highlighting the "full external display support."

Apple says it's also upgraded the Files app, Calendar and other apps to answer a lot of longstanding requests. Files now allows you to change file extensions. You can undo and redo across the system. 

Calendar can now show availability. And you can cards in Contacts, and create lists. (I guess that's the new term for "groups"?)

Apple says it upgraded the search and replace function across the system too, making it a lot easier to use.

Apple now talking up the iPad's gaming features, highlighting the M1 chip. Apple says the Metal 3 technology will bring the upscaling and direct storage features to the iPad. And it has a new feature that allows games to download items in the background while you play.

Apple's also adding "activity" to the Game Center dashboard, showing your scores and games you're playing with friends.

And SharePlay allows you to play a game against a friend.

The features are coming to iPadOS "later this year" suggesting maybe not the fall?

Apple says it has a new feature where you can collaborate in apps with a group in Messages. So, if you're in Pages and chatting with your team on Messages, the document is connected to the conversation.

"I can get back to the messages conversation or initiate a FaceTime call," Federighi says.

You can collaborate with a group in a group FaceTime too. And in shared tabs, you can see which tabs people are looking at in the tab bar.

Apple says it'll also offer a collaboration API, so developers can build these types of features into their apps too.

Now for iPadOS upgrades. "This year, in iPadOS 16, we have a big release," says Federighi.

He says it'll have shared photos, shared tab groups, better mail and weather from iOS and MacOS. Apple's adding a new feature called WeatherKit to bring weather into apps.

Apple's adding HandOff to FaceTime, allowing you to start a video chat on your iPhone and pick it up on the  iPad or Mac, and vice versa.

Apple's adding a new feature called Continuity Camera, which allows you to use your iPhone as a webcam.

Federighi shows how he can use a stand to add Continuity Camera to a laptop. He says you don't have to turn on the iPhone; it automatically knows it's acting as a camera.

It also has a new feature called Desk View using the iPhone's ultra-wide camera. "I didn't even need to adjust the camera on my phone," Apple says.

You can use Continuity Camera with any video chat app, including Teams and Webex. And Apple's working with Belkin to create stands that will hold the camera at just the right height and angle.

Apple says its Metal software, which helps power games, is getting an upgrade.

Metal 3, Apple says, will support a technology called MetalFX Upscaling. It renders smaller, less compute-intensive frames, and then upscales it. No Man's Sky will be among the first to have that when it launches on Mac later this year.

There's also a Fast Resource Loading API (think Direct Storage in the PS5 and Xbox).

Resident Evil Village is also coming to the Mac, Apple says. And now we hear from the developer. A MacBook Air will run 1080p well, and a Mac Studio can play at 4K.

Apple says it's expanding its Safari browser with a new feature called Shared Tab Groups.

You can see what your friends are looking at live, Apple says, and you can easily connect over FaceTime or Messages.

Apple says it's also adding a new feature for password protections, called Passkeys.

They use cryptographic techniques, Apple says, and uses Face ID or Touch ID to create a unique passkey for each website.

They're securely synced across Apple devices, Apple says, including Apple TV. And it'll work across platforms too, Apple says. You'll be able to walk up to a Windows machine, for example, and it'll show a QR code you can scan with your phone to use Face ID.

Apple says it'll allow new features including Undo Send and Schedule Send. (Finally!)

It'll also include followup suggestions, Apple says. And it has new Search functions, that deliver "more accurate and complete results."

It'll start offering suggestions the moment you start typing, Apple says. It's coming to iPad OS and iOS.

Spotlight supports quick view, and you can search the web for images. Apple says you can search inside images too.

There's also sports information built into Spotlight. Notice a trend?

And Spotlight's been added to the bottom of the home screen on the iPhone, making it easier to bring up, Apple says.

Apple's adding a new feature called Stage Manager, which rearranges all windows to the side, and brings one app front and center. So it's kinda like a new multidesktop.

"For an App with multiple open windows, Stage Manager collects them together into a pile" and you can cycle through them by clicking.

You can also have overlapping windows and apps as well. You can pair Notes and Pages together, for example, grouping apps together.

"I love working this way," Federighi says. He says it's also easier to grab items from the desktop.

You can clear the stage and drag them over to an app in Stage Manager.

Apple says it's upgraded the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip, allowing up to 24GB of unified memory. "Multitasking and working with large assets is super fluid," Apple says.

Apple says new support for ProRes encode and decode means it'll handle those videos 3x faster.

MacBook Air starts at $1,199 ($1,099 for education)

MacBook Pro starts at $1,299 ($1,199 for education).

Apple's keeping the M1 MacBook around as well, offering a sub-$1,000 computer ($999, or $899 for education).

Apple shows off its newest ad for the MacBook Air, including highlighting its color-coordinated braided cables. The computer interacts with an iPhone to let you copy and paste across devices.

The new MacBook Air has a 1080p camera, and a sound system that supports "immersive spatial audio" using beam forming.

Apple says its MacBook Air is fanless and silent. It delivers the same 18 hours of video playback. And Apple announces a new "compact" adapter with two USB-C ports, and you can charge up to 50% in 30 minutes with special high-output chargers.

Apple now says it's redesigning the MacBook Air. Apple says it's the world's best-selling laptop. Now it's redesigned around the M2 chip.

It comes in four different colors -- dark blue, silver, space grey and "starlight." It's reduced by 20% in volume, and it's 11.3 mm thin, under half an inch, and 2.7 pounds.

It also has the new MagSafe, Apple says. And there's an audio jack with support for high-impedance headphones.

It also has a larger display, now 13.6 inches, which has thinner borders. And it's 25% brighter than before.

Apple's GPU in the M2 is 10 cores, up from 8 in M1. It has 25% higher graphics performance at the same power level as M1, Apple says. And Apple says it's faster than an equivalent PC chip with a fraction of the power.

M2 also includes a new secure enclave and neural engine, which is more than 40% faster than the M1.

Systems with M2 will be able to playback multiple streams of 8K video, Apple says.

"It takes the amazing performance, capabilities and efficiency of M1 even further," Apple says.

Warning: Super chip nerdery below.

Apple says it's continuing to focus on the tradeoff of performance and power.

The new M2 is 5nm, and 20 billion transistors. 100GB per second of unified memory bandwidth (50% than M1)

For M2, Apple has enabled up to 24GB of unified memory. 

It has an eight-core CPU, with improvements in the high-performance cores with more cache. The efficiency cores are better too with better performance. And it does so in the same power limits. Apple says this is better than "the comparable PC chip."

Apple says it's excited about how the transition to Apple Silicon has gone. "Users have been blown away by the phenomenal capabilities of these M1 chips," Apple says.

Now, Apple's announcing its second-gen chip.

Apple's new Medications app can give you reminders about when to take specific medications. "We wanted to make creating the list easier, especially if you take multiple medications," so the camera app can actually scan a label and import all the info into the app.

Apple's also added drug interactions features that alert you when you add drugs that may interact with one another. Also, it'll tell you when the medications might have interactions with alcohol or other items.

And it'll be available on the Apple Watch and iOS 16, Apple says.

Health data is encrypted on device and not shared without permission, Apple says. And Apple will now periodically remind you who you're sharing health information with to make sure you're still OK with that.

Apple's adding "Sleep Stages" that track how long you've been awake or in REM, core or deep sleep. "Researchers are still looking into what happens when you sleep, and how it impacts your help," Apple says. So people who've opted into the company's heart research feature will now help with sleep data as well.

The atrial fibrillation alert is changing now too. WatchOS 9 can now track how long you've been in A-fib, and pull it up for a doctor. It can tell you what time of day or week A-fib is more common.

"We expect to receive FDA clearance for A-fib soon," Apple says.

Apple says it'll use the iPhone motion sensors to track steps, flights climbed and other details. These were tracked before (kinda) in the activity app, but now it's being brought into the Fitness app.

Apple says the workout app is one of the most popular apps on the Apple Watch. Apple's adding new running form metrics, which track how you move up or down to understand your "vertical oscillation." It does this by understanding your torso movement based on your wrist position. (This is kinda wild when you think about how much math is involved -- the only sensor it has is on your wrist.)

Apple's also adding heart rate zones, which help you to identify how hard your workout is.

And you can add alerts to a workout, to have the watch alert you when your heart rate moves above or below a target zone for example. Or when you need to rest vs push harder.

"Running with a power target can help you go the distance," Apple says.

You can now race against yourself if you're running a route you typically take, Apple says. This isn't just for runs, but also for walking, hiking and other activities.

There's also a feature that understands when you're a triathlete, switching between swimming, cycling and running.

New Apple Watch faces coming in the update to WatchOS 9, including support for Islamic and Hebrew calendars.

There's also a way to pin apps at the top of the dock, to make them easier to access.

The Podcast app will work for kids as well, Apple says. The app is controlled through family setup.

Apple quickly notes it's added a "rapid response" feature to bring important security updates to phones faster. Think of the zero-day security issues that we've heard about over the past couple years. There's not much detail beyond that, but curious to see how much change can be done in the background. I know a lot of people with settings apps are still waiting for updates.

Apple says 79% of people buying a car expect it to come with CarPlay.

Apple has been working with automakers to bring content to all the screens in a car. "It goes beyond what you can do with CarPlay today," Apple says. You can control temperature and radio within CarPlay, and there are widgets powered by the iPhone that can sit in the gauge cluster.

The next generation of CarPlay powers the instrument cluster. Apple says it's communicating with the iPhone in a "privacy friendly way" and no matter what shape of screens are in the car, Apple's system will work with it.

The instrument clusters are also all sorts of different colors and designs. You can have more digital look or a more analog one. Honda, Audi, Lincoln, Jaguar and others are already on board, Apple says. Vehicles supporting the new CarPlay will be announced next year, Apple says.

Apple says it's created categories at the top of the Home App. And it's made it easy to view up to four video feeds at once from cameras around your home.

Apple also says it's creating lock screen widgets to make home automation and information more easily accessible.

Apple starts by talking about Home by pointing out that you can control lights, double check locks or even change the temperature when you're not there.

In order to build a connected ecosystem, Apple says it's joined with the Matter standard (it's announced this before), to work with Samsung, Amazon and others to make sure products work together.

"The matter standard creates the underlying standard to connect smart home accessories, and it allows us to innovate on top of it," Apple says.

Apple also says it can't see the data coming from home accessories.

There's also a new Home App, which is redesigned to be easier to navigate and organize.

Federighi talks about a new feature called Safety Check, which focuses on abusive relationships.

Apple says it's been working with domestic violence organizations to help create a new section in the iPhone's settings to control shared information, including shared locations. It resets privacy permissions for all apps, and protects access to Messages by automatically logging out of all devices other than the one in your hand.

Apple says the National Center for Victims of Crime likes the features so far. 

Apple's expanding its Photos app, making it easy to share photos with friends and family. Apple says you can share all photos or set rules like only share photos of you and your significant other. You can also tell the photos app which people to share a photo with.

And if there are other people nearby, you can automatically share photos taken on a camping trip, for example.

Apple points out that Apple TV Plus is easy to share among families (a slight shade throw at Netflix, ahem).

Apple says it's going to be much easier to set up a device for a kid or family member. If you turn on an iPad for the first time, just bring it near the iPhone and it'll confirm setup.

Parents can also allow more screentime in messages, so it's a lot easier than having to go into the settings of the device.

This is a new Apple TV feature. If you're watching a sports game on Apple TV, it'll give you live updates on your phone's lock screen. (The game industry used to call this a "second screen experience," but could never quite get it beyond the gimmick stage.)

Apple News will now have a section for sports, bringing you live updates on important games and news.

Apple says it's added detailed imagery that developers can use. So scooter company Bird, for example, can more easily show where a scooter is. And "look around" works in apps too now, so an app like Zillow can show ground-level imagery of a house.

Apple's expanding its new map functions, such as cycling, and better representations of places in Las Vegas, Chicago and other locations.

Apple says it's adding multistop routing (a definite preference for me). You can add up to 15 stops on your route, and you can add items with Siri without having to take your eyes off the road, Apple says.

Apple announces Apple Pay Later, which splits a payment into four equal payments over six weeks at 0% interest.

Apple is also introducing receipt and order-tracking information, which can be brought into Wallet. Apple says Shopify is going to start offering this feature, and other merchants are signing on.

Apple's expanding its wireless key program, working with car manufacturers and work sites to create Apple Wallet keys. Apple says it's working to create an open standard so people can easily share keys, no matter which device they use.

Apple says it's also added a feature where you can hold down your finger on a subject in a photo -- like a dog , and literally copy and paste it into another app, like Messages. It got an "ooh" and "ahh" from the audience.

Apple says it's powered by machine learning that rapidly does a bunch of computing using special functions on the phone's chips. 

Apple says it's expanding its live text feature as well. Currently, it reads text in photos or screenshots. Now, it'll work in video as well -- all you have to do is pause and you can tap.

You can also convert currency and foreign languages much easier. Apple says it has a new "Live Text" view that can translate a whole restaurant menu, for example.

Apple says its dictation feature is used 18 billion times a month, and it's done entirely on device. Apple says now it will allow you to switch between voice and touch much more easily. If you hit the microphone, the keyboard stays available and you can type while talking.

Dictation also will start automatically adding dictation to the text, Apple says. "Mind-blown emoji!"

Apple is also expanding its SharePlay feature, making it easier to share from within FaceTime and Messages. "This was the number one requests from developers," Federighi says. You can kick off a SharePlay within Messages under the app drawer, which is below the text entry field.

Federighi says there are three major changes coming to messages: You'll be able to edit messages when you misspell something (it says "edited" below), you can also "undo send" and you can also mark a message as unread so you can come back to it later.

Apple is also creating a new idea, called Focus Filters, which allow you to filter tab groups in Safari, or emails from specific people, to limit the info you see when you're at work or at home or whatever else. Developers have new APIs to work through too.

Federighi says there's also a new "Widget Kit" software code for the lock screen for developers.

To make this all work better, notifications are now going to come up from the bottom of the screen.

There's also a "Live Activities" function -- allowing developers to create notifications for a football game, for example, or your workout.

"There's a lot of ways these activities build upon what we introduced last year, with Focus," he adds. Widgets, he says, can be tied to specific focuses. If you're in work mode, it can have calendar on the home screen. And then at home, your activity and music.

You can change the lock screen by pressing and holding, Federighi says. You can change elements of the lock screen by tapping on it. So, you can have different fonts for time, for example.

There are also widgets, which currently borrow from the Apple Watch. So there's calendar, activity, weather.

"So much room for personalization."

He says also there's shuffled photos or "suggested photos," which bring up relevant photos throughout the day. In the past, I've had Siri bring up photos of friends and family on their birthdays, for example.

Federighi says iOS 16 will have "the biggest update ever" for the lock screen.

It has Apple Watch-style widgets and colors. The date and time now come in different fonts and colors as well. There's a bunch of filters too.

Craig Federighi, head of software, begins the announcements with iOS 16 that has "new intelligence, sharing and communications features." 

He says there's new personalization features as well -- starting with the lock screen.

Cook on video begins by talking about the company's Developer Center for Apple engineers to connect with developers. He also highlights "Tech Talks" on Apple's website, and app academies.

He also says that in Saudi Arabia, Apple opened its first app academy for women in February.

"Last year, many millions of developers engaged in WWDC, and we expect many millions more to engage this year," Cook says. He adds that the developer community is about 34 million people.

"Today we're going to push our platforms further than ever for our developers and users."

WWDC begins with Tim Cook on stage, saying he's so happy to have developers here at Apple Park. "We've got an amazing day planned for you." He says we'll "view the keynote" and then get tours of Apple Park.

Then Craig Federighi, head of software, gets on stage. "As software engineers, the focus of our life's work is building a platform," he says. "When that platform really comes to life is when it's in your hands."

"We are thrilled to share this moment with you," Federighi says. Whenever Apple's developers work in secret, he says, they always talk about this moment, when we get the reveal.

And with that, the show starts.

Half the seating area is in the famous California sun, while the other half is in the glorious shade. Dan Ackerman and I started in the sun, but quickly began to melt. We've now found a mostly shady spot and have filled our water bottles.

What does this have to do with Apple, you may be wondering?

Dear reader, know we're braving the California sun for you.

To be sure, this is an unusual Apple event. It's the first in-person public presentation the company's given since COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020.

WWDC is also serving as the celebration for Apple opening a developer center on its Apple Park campus. The developer center is intended to act as a place where app makers can work with Apple employees to improve their programs.

So there's plenty of reason for Apple to pull a "one more thing..." surprise announcement. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Apple's been rumored to be working on a headset that straddles the worlds of virtual reality and augmented reality, which could move the company into the highly contested metaverse, which is already populated by rivals such as Meta and Microsoft.

Quick reminder: Virtual reality, or VR, is where a screen is placed so close to your eyes your brain is tricked into thinking you're inside a virtual world.

Augmented reality, or AR, is where computer images are overlaid on the real world. If you've played Pokemon Go on your phone or used a face filter on Instagram, that's AR.

Apple's headset is expected to involve some combination of both technologies, offering VR for immersive experiences and AR when you want to interact with the outside world.

The company isn't expected to show off its headset at WWDC this year, though a recent report from Bloomberg said its board of directors recently got a look at the device. But it may announce new software for its AR Kit technology, which helps power AR-enabled apps such as Smash Tanks and Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs.

What that new technology will be is anyone's guess. But there are a lot of rumors suggesting Apple may also introduce a new term for its AR and VR software, RealityOS.

WWDC is always an interesting event for Apple-watchers like me. Typically, Apple events are about new devices you can hold in your hand. During WWDC, the focus is on what you'll be able to do with the software upgrades that come in the fall.

Yeah, Apple might show off some hardware too. There are rumors a new MacBook Air or Mac Pro could be in the offing.

But it's the iOS, iPadOS, WatchOS and MacOS upgrades that will matter most.

This year, we're expecting possible new lock-screen widgets for the iPhone, enhanced multitasking features for the iPad and closer connections between the Mac and its i-device brethren.

"OK," you might be thinking, "that may excite some people, but will any of it change my life?"

To that point, I suggest you consider rumors about Apple's VR and AR technology.

Welcome to CNET's Apple liveblog. I'm blogging live from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. And as a bonus, CNET's editorial director for computers and gaming, Dan Ackerman, is here with me.

That's right, after a two-year hiatus, we've returned to live Apple events -- sort of.

Apple had been holding its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose until the COVID-19 pandemic forced it online. The benefit was that Apple made the event free for everyone to participate, opening up its weeklong presentations about coding, apps and technology plans to the world. And we could all do that while sitting at home in our pajamas. (Or was that just me?)

This year, Apple's invited a group of developers to its Apple Park spaceship-shaped headquarters. It also invited Dan and me! Follow our Twitters for live photos as we prepare for the event to begin: @danackerman and @iansherr.