Photo taken by journalist Zhang Jian [align]
At 1am Beijing time on June 11th, Apple's 2024 World Developers Conference (WWDC) officially opened. As usual in previous years, at the WWDC conference every year, Apple would focus on introducing the new system. This time, Apple is no exception and has released a series of software updates, including iOS 18, iPadOS18, macOS15, and visionOS2.
At the meeting, Apple released the following message:
1. Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate their ChatGPT. Apple has announced that it can directly call ChatGPT in the system, as long as you agree and there is no need to create an account, existing accounts can be associated.
2. Apple announced the "Apple Intelligence" suite around AI features, which can prioritize push notifications, summarize text, and generate images.
3. Apple has released VisionOS 2, the operating system for Vision Pro, which uses robot learning to create spatial and 3D images.
4. The Apple headset Vision Pro will be launched in China, Japan, and Singapore. The starting price of the Chinese version is 29999 RMB. Pre orders are accepted at 9am on June 14th and will be available for sale on June 28th.
5. Apple announces the launch of the calculator application on the iPad.
6. Apple has released macOS 15, which will feature a feature called "iPhone mirroring" that allows users to operate iPhones using a Mac.
7. Apple has proposed the concept of "private cloud computing": "Apple Intelligence" will enable cloud computing mode on dedicated servers using Apple chips, ensuring the privacy and security of user data.
8. Apple announced the launch of satellite SMS functionality for iMessage and SMS applications.
9. Apple has released updates for systems such as iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and WatchOS 11.
Among them, generative AI functionality is undoubtedly the biggest highlight. At the meeting, Apple announced "Apple Intelligence" around AI features, which is suitable for operating systems such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It can prioritize top push, proofread some text, generate images, etc. At the same time, AI instructions can also run across applications (such as emails, maps, calendars, and personal information stored locally).
For example, Apple stated, "If my meeting is rescheduled in the late afternoon and I am concerned that it may delay me from attending my daughter's performance on time, then Apple's intelligent system can process the relevant data to help me or remind me of who my daughter is, the performance details she sent a few days ago, the time and location of my meeting, and the estimated traffic situation from my office to the theater."
In addition, with the support of Apple Intelligence, the performance of Apple's voice assistant Siri has significantly improved, which is also a major highlight of this WWDC. Moreover, users can request the system to call ChatGPT in response during the use of Siri and a series of applications. Sam Altman, the "father of ChatGPT," said on social media, "I am very pleased to collaborate with Apple. ChatGPT will be integrated into Apple devices later this year!"
However, Apple investors seem to have had a lackluster response to this press conference, with Apple's stock price closing down 1.91% in the early hours of June 11th Beijing time. Last week, Nvidia's market value broke through $3 trillion, officially surpassing Apple and becoming the second largest technology giant by market value in the US stock market. But this is not just a comparison of the two stock prices, but also a comparison of the strong growth momentum of AI and the innovation challenges faced by consumer electronics.