Apple has confirmed its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will take place between 11 and 15 June this year at San Francisco’s Moscone West. The iOS platform and OS X Mountain Lion will dominate proceedings, but could it see the unveiling of the iPhone 5?
“We have a great WWDC planned this year and can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice-president of Worldwide Marketing.
“The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world.”
Apple says developers this year will be able to explore the latest capabilities of iOS and OS X Mountain Lion via 100 technical sessions, and 100 hands-on labs run by 1,000 Apple engineers.
There has been speculation that Apple will release its iPhone 5 this year during the summer period, not to mention expectations that Apple will release a physical TV later this year or early next year.
Will there be any big reveals at WWDC 2012?
The WWDC, which Apple runs itself, is primarily used to showcase new software and technologies for developers. Software, rather than hardware, is the focus of the event but in the past Apple unveiled the Mac Pro, the international version of the iPhone 3G, the 13-inch MacBook Pro and in 2010 then-CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4. Jobs had also unveiled the first iPhone at the Moscone Centre in January 2007 during MacWorld.
So an announcement around the new iPhone – let’s call it iPhone 5 for the moment – isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. And indeed if Apple wants to unleash an apps revolution for the TV platform to coincide with the arrival of a physical TV, then the WWDC would be just the place to get creative juices flowing.
However, the last few iPhone releases occurred later in the year, in the October time frame, so expect the emphasis to be primarily on future capabilities of the iOS operating system, the forthcoming Mac OS update to Mountain Lion and the convergence course between iOS and Mac platforms. Any hardware insight will be a bonus or an unexpected pleasure. As usual, only Apple really knows.
Last year in excess of 5,000 people attended the WWDC.
