Next Week on My Mac: WWDC

Tomorrow, Monday 10 June, Apple opens its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, where it will set the stage for operating system and hardware releases over the coming months.

For those interested in upgrading to macOS 15, expected to be released around September, Apple should release an explicit list of all Macs that will officially support it, a long account of its new and improved features, and announce its name at last.

macOS 15 support for Intel Macs is of particular importance for all those looking to run the new version of macOS on older models. If this new version were to drop all support for Intel Macs without T2 chips, that could prevent the use of OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) as a means of running macOS 15, leaving those older Macs stranded with Sonoma as their last version of macOS. However, if macOS 15 does support the iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch of 2019 (iMac19,1), the last Intel Mac left standing without a T2 chip, then there are far better prospects that OCLP may be able to run macOS 15 as well.

This year speculation about new user-facing features has been confined to suggestions that System Settings is due for much-needed improvements, and ill-defined examples of how AI might be deployed more widely in macOS, including access to Large Language Models (LLMs). This leaves ample room for Apple to surprise, and I expect that some of its in-house developments in machine learning will prove more valuable and enduring than yet another ChatGPT-alike. I have recently written about some of the more innovative developments that Apple has gone public about.

Later in the day, Apple will move on to more technical content, and then in its specialist presentations and labs during the rest of the week, the emphasis will change from marketing hype to some of the more important changes taking place under the surface.

Among the most important sessions here are those detailing progress with the virtualisation of macOS on Apple silicon Macs. Its biggest shortcoming over the last couple of years has been its lack of support for Apple ID, depriving VMs of access to iCloud and preventing them from running almost every product from the App Store. Time is already running out for Apple ID support: if that’s introduced in macOS 15, then it’s almost certain to work in guests running macOS 15 but not in earlier versions, so you still won’t be able to run App Store apps in macOS 12, 13 or 14. This determines the ability of Apple silicon Macs to run older apps, including Intel-only code, regardless of the minimum version of macOS running on that Mac.

Monday should also bring the first developer release of beta versions of macOS 15, all its accompanying operating systems, and the first beta-release of Xcode 16, including Swift version 6. If Apple sticks to its normal timetable, that would bring the full release of Xcode 16 with Swift 6 in mid-September.

Normally, initial public beta-releases of operating systems don’t follow until early July, by which time most of the more serious bugs should be under control. As with last year, once you have registered your Apple ID for beta-releases, you can choose to receive them in Software Update settings by clicking on the ⓘ button on the Beta Updates row. This is considerably easier than previously, but can also result in you inadvertently installing a beta on a Mac not intended to be used for them. I will provide further advice nearer the time as to the precautions you should take before installing betas of a new version of macOS.

There is great uncertainty over whether Apple will announce or release any new Macs. Just as we thought it had settled into a cycle with M-series chips, and we were ready for the M3 Ultra to feature in the next Mac Studio, Apple released iPads with M4 chips. This leaves us with a range that’s more incoherent than when Apple was dependent on Intel: below the Mac Pro, the top-of-the-range desktop is a Studio with an M2 Ultra, while the most expensive MacBook Pro features an M3 Max. It’s anyone’s guess whether the next Studio with come with chips from the M3 or M4 series, when they’ll ship, and whether the M3 series will be quickly superseded by the M4. It’s not even clear whether we’ll know much more by the end of next week.

During the week, and throughout the beta phase, I will bring you insights into features and changes that Apple has described in its presentations at WWDC. Because pre-release software and information is provided to developers under Apple’s non-disclosure agreement, please bear with me when I can’t reveal or discuss something that you may have heard elsewhere.

I will also be working to ensure that all my more important utilities available here are compatible with macOS 15.

I hope you enjoy WWDC, and that Apple meets if not exceeds your wildest dreams.