Initial WWDC Keynote Thoughts
Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 9:05AM 
Some random and incomplete intial thoughts about the WWDC keynote. It always takes a while for the full impact of these announcements to sink in, so these are my initial knee jerk reactions.
OSX Mavericks - Looks like they have little low hanging fruit left to gather so have focused on many under the hood improvements. The power management seems to have been a priority. Of the new features they did announce, happy to see improvements in the Finder with tabs and the use of tags. The big one for me was the multiple monitor support - some great new changes. Pity I've just split my two 27" Thunderbolts across my sitting and walking desks! iCloud Keychain might hurt one of my favourite apps - 1Password - although the 1Password guys are very astute and are bound to keep one step ahead with additional functionality and cross platform support.
iBooks and Safari - meh!
New MacBook Airs - No Retina displays as expected but good spec bumps, especially in power management. I'm assuming the stats were based on OSX Mountain Lion, so performance may be even better with OSX Mavericks. The whole MacBook Air section seemed rushed, and no wonder with what was comimg next. A look at the spectacular new Mac Pro.
Mac Pro Sneak Peak - Easily my favourite keynote quote from Phil Schiller EVER!! - "Can't innovate anymore, my ass,"
As I anticipated, the new Mac Pro was much smaller, with a total reliance on Thunderbolt 2 for expansion. I could live with that. The tube form factor was a huge surprise, and it was good to see it arose out of a design principle and not fashion. Everything centered around a huge central core for heat management. Such a tiny thing too. Specs to die for and a masterstroke by Apple. Support for 3 x 4K displays - wow. Can't wait to see the 4K Thunderbolt Retina Displays. They even had Muse as the accompaniment.
I'll reserve my full judgement until the sticker price of this baby is revealed, but it ain't going to be cheap!
iOS7 - Well Apple didn't disappoint, and gave us what we've been asking for - a refresh of the iOS UI. Not sure if they've gone far enough in some aspects, and too far in others. Glad to see they've addressed some of the functional aspects of iOS that were sorely in need of update. Control Center is something thats been needed foreever, and the multitasking looks great, both in function and appearance.
The Photos app seems to have taken a few hints from EverPix and the Weather app a few design traits from the Yahoo Weather app.
But overall, I quite liked the aesthetic of the new iOS7, but it may take a bit of getting used to. The parallax effects and elegance of the new design was quite refreshing. The design community have gone banannas over the new icons for the major apps, with Safari taking the brunt of the critisism. Hate to say it, but I have to agree, the new icons look shocking!
I'll download iOS7 and install it on my iPod touch to try it out.
Overall
As far as the keynote overall is concerned, I felt Tim Cook was more natural and relaxed than in previous events, and Craig Federighi showed almost no signs of nerves - a very polished and competent performance. I doubt we'll ever see Jony Ive on stage, I think he needs the control and crafted delivery that can only be given in a video.
A solid two hours of information delivered at a good pace and with a few gems.
They could have done without the 3rd party devs and the slighly botched demo at the beginning, what where they thinking?
Notable ommission was anything to do with the Apple TV or an Apple TV SDK - obviously, now is still not the time to elevate Apple TV out of hobby status.
Reader Comments (6)
"Can't innovate anymore, my ass," I agree. Really its all about being user friendly and a look and feel refresh (later model car with new paint and features). I like what is offered.
It is consumer positive and friendly (a sales enhancer) with a look and feel refresh. The "techo's" got the MAC PRO ordinary people got the important stuff, like better battery life, functionality, sharing and cross device sharing.
The minority (techo's) may have differences of opinion. The consumer (the important people) will love it.
Hi Don, as always great post about your first thoughts following a good 2 hours keynote by Apple… again targeted to developpers while maintaining interest level for broader audience… Just one remark, though, I think you just overlooked a bit Anki's demo : this, partly failed, showcase is definitely a hint to computing future and very likely a direction we should look closely at if we want to guess where Apple is going…!! Wearable interactive devices, home entertainment with control and automation, human assistance or enhancement robotics… with the brain in iOS devices !!
Don,
My first thought of the MacPro regarding price was that (at least at the base level) it was going to be affordable. Most of the chatter out there is contrary to what I assumed.
So what do you think? Why do you think it's going to be "expensive?" Do you think there will be a base model with maybe 8 gigs of stock ram and a decent amount of SSD storage for $2499?
The thing is for an audio or video pro - there will be a huge amount of additional expense for monitors, RAIDS, and expansion chassis. I'm sure this is something apple is aware of. On the other hand cost factor for expansion is probably not something they are too concerned with ...
-paul.
Don,
Good points all. Two major things I was hoping for in iOS, having just moved to an iPhone from Android...
1. Widgets. They have a dashboard in OS X, why not in iOS?
2. Definable positions for icons on the home pages. (This may be there, but they didn't mention it)
I expect that MacPro will be $4-$5k.
BOb
It's innovation like cylinders instead of cubes that goes to prove that Apple has what it takes in the post-Jobs world. :)
I think the quote without the last 2 words makes perfect sense.
"Can't innovate anymore"
My reasons for this what is innovative about this?
Mac mini: smaller and no optical drive.
Macbook Air: smaller and 0 expandability
Macbook *** retina: smaller and 0 expandability
Mac ***: smaller, no optical drives and 0 expandability
Notice a pattern here it is a easy formula and is not inovation it is just repetition so Apple can't innovate anymore if the changes listed above is all they are capable of.
As for consumers being the important ones I can't wait to see them turn on Apple when the new shiny thing shows up then where will they be having already blown off those who stood by them for decades.