Apple probably won’t change the design of the upcoming iOS 16 software significantly versus iOS 7, which dropped nearly a decade ago. What you should be expecting instead are improved notifications and new health-tracking features.
iOS 16 design not expected to change significantly
Does that mean there’s nothing worthy of substance to look forward to in iOS 16? Of course not. “On the iOS side, I’m looking for some fairly significant enhancements across the board, including an update to notifications and new health-tracking features,” says Gurman. He wouldn’t specify what those updates might be.
Needless to say, better notifications and new health features aren’t the only two new features in iOS 16 but rather those that Gurman was told about. iOS is Apple’s most important piece of software and you should expect a dozen major new features as well as a bunch of improvements and under-the-hood tweaks. Gurman also shared his other predictions for Apple’s upcoming developer event.
What else should we expect from WWDC?
For starters, he doesn’t think Apple will announce or even preview a heavily rumored mixed-reality headset at WWDC. Apple would likely miss that date, Gurman says, because the latest checks point to the head-worn accessory launching at the end of this year or next year. What Apple might do instead is preview the device’s rOS (Reality Operating System) software at WWDC. As we reported, Gurman was told by sources that the iOS 16 beta, which will drop at WWDC, is “chock-full of references to the headset and its interactions with the iPhone.”
On the Apple Watch side, Gurman expects Apple to unveilnew activity and health-tracking features for its Apple Watchwith a preview of the watchOS 9 software. WWDC is a software-focused event, but Apple sometimes announces or even previews new hardware at the conference. To that extent, Gurman believes the company may unveiltwo new Macs at WWDC, including an overhauled MacBook Air.
