Now that we know what happened at the WWDC 2012 it's time to dwell into what everything means... or doesn't...
The Hits
New MacBook Pro: This is a big one, probably one of the best laptops of the age. The new MacBook Pro takes mobile computing to a whole new level. Apple has targeted this device to professionals. The internal hardware is top notch and this is the least interesting part of the device. The Retina Display is staggering. No screen out there even comes close to this, it's beautiful. Despite of some heavy-duty internals and the amazing display the MacBook Pro is slimmer than its predecessors. The design is elegant is ever and the Pro manages to churn out 7 hours of battery. MBP? Mind blown permanently (no seriously).
Mountain Lion: So what do you do with a perfect OS? You make it better. This is exactly what Mountain Lion is. There weren't any shortcomings in Lion and yet Apple introduced an array of features in Mountain Lion (200 of them to be precise). Messages, notification centre, AirPlay etc make an appearance in the latest instalment of the Mac OS. This $19.99 update reaches a Mac near you this July.
The Misses
Widgets on iOS: A huge disappointment as far as iOS was concerned. It is rather unclear why Apple chooses to leave these out. Widgets have been on Android since forever and I don't really understand what Apple has against them. Apparently the "world's most advanced mobile operating system" is too rudimentary to support widgets, or maybe Apple is just being stupid (both being highly unlikely and yet here we are).
Siri on Mountain Lion: Not as big of a deal as the absence of widgets but a miss nonetheless. Apple has added dictation to Mountain Lion but for some reason they've chose to withhold Siri. Maybe they want to leave Siri to the mobile devices or they are waiting to enhance Siri further before they bring it to the cat family. In any case, Siri users will sorely miss not having the personal assistant on their Macs.
The Other Ones
Maps: No Google Maps on iOS any more... We get Apple's Maps now. Although Maps are blessed with features such as turn-by-turn navigation, flyover and real-time navigation updates I'm not entirely convinced about the decision to drop El Goog's cartography. Mapping is something new. Apple can't just stroll in with a nice interface and some cool gesture stuff and steal the show. Mapping requires a huge amount of vital data and its obvious that Google has more of this than Apple. The coolest idea would be for Apple to collaborate with Google and make a kickass Maps application but I guess rivalry is more important than awesome.
Passbook: A strange one this is. Don't get me wrong, the app is beautiful and everything (like all Apple software) but I can't quite grasp Apple's aim here. Maybe Passbook is kid who'll one day grow into a iWallet but the answer lies very much in the far future. I'm gonna keep my eyes on this one and see how it pans out.
Nothing to suggest a 4" iPhone: 98.7641% of iPhone 5 rumours point towards a 4" display. iPhones (even iPod Touches) always come with a 3.5" display hence most of the software, both by Apple and third-parties, is harmonious with the current display. A 4" display would require mending existing software to be in harmony with a new display and hence it was believed that Apple would in some degree announce some change in their SDK to facilitate developers to create/modify apps optimised for a larger screen size. Well nada... Nothing at the WWDC coheres with this. Of course this point is based on the presumption that we have a 4" screen coming. Nothing is clear here I'm afraid.
The Hits
New MacBook Pro: This is a big one, probably one of the best laptops of the age. The new MacBook Pro takes mobile computing to a whole new level. Apple has targeted this device to professionals. The internal hardware is top notch and this is the least interesting part of the device. The Retina Display is staggering. No screen out there even comes close to this, it's beautiful. Despite of some heavy-duty internals and the amazing display the MacBook Pro is slimmer than its predecessors. The design is elegant is ever and the Pro manages to churn out 7 hours of battery. MBP? Mind blown permanently (no seriously).
Mountain Lion: So what do you do with a perfect OS? You make it better. This is exactly what Mountain Lion is. There weren't any shortcomings in Lion and yet Apple introduced an array of features in Mountain Lion (200 of them to be precise). Messages, notification centre, AirPlay etc make an appearance in the latest instalment of the Mac OS. This $19.99 update reaches a Mac near you this July.
The Misses
Widgets on iOS: A huge disappointment as far as iOS was concerned. It is rather unclear why Apple chooses to leave these out. Widgets have been on Android since forever and I don't really understand what Apple has against them. Apparently the "world's most advanced mobile operating system" is too rudimentary to support widgets, or maybe Apple is just being stupid (both being highly unlikely and yet here we are).
Siri on Mountain Lion: Not as big of a deal as the absence of widgets but a miss nonetheless. Apple has added dictation to Mountain Lion but for some reason they've chose to withhold Siri. Maybe they want to leave Siri to the mobile devices or they are waiting to enhance Siri further before they bring it to the cat family. In any case, Siri users will sorely miss not having the personal assistant on their Macs.
The Other Ones
Maps: No Google Maps on iOS any more... We get Apple's Maps now. Although Maps are blessed with features such as turn-by-turn navigation, flyover and real-time navigation updates I'm not entirely convinced about the decision to drop El Goog's cartography. Mapping is something new. Apple can't just stroll in with a nice interface and some cool gesture stuff and steal the show. Mapping requires a huge amount of vital data and its obvious that Google has more of this than Apple. The coolest idea would be for Apple to collaborate with Google and make a kickass Maps application but I guess rivalry is more important than awesome.
Passbook: A strange one this is. Don't get me wrong, the app is beautiful and everything (like all Apple software) but I can't quite grasp Apple's aim here. Maybe Passbook is kid who'll one day grow into a iWallet but the answer lies very much in the far future. I'm gonna keep my eyes on this one and see how it pans out.
Nothing to suggest a 4" iPhone: 98.7641% of iPhone 5 rumours point towards a 4" display. iPhones (even iPod Touches) always come with a 3.5" display hence most of the software, both by Apple and third-parties, is harmonious with the current display. A 4" display would require mending existing software to be in harmony with a new display and hence it was believed that Apple would in some degree announce some change in their SDK to facilitate developers to create/modify apps optimised for a larger screen size. Well nada... Nothing at the WWDC coheres with this. Of course this point is based on the presumption that we have a 4" screen coming. Nothing is clear here I'm afraid.
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