As always, there are a lot of rumors surrounding Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference scheduled for June 5th, 2023. Will we get a long-rumored 15-inch MacBook Air? Will Apple unveil new Mac desktops with new high-end M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips? Will Steve Jobs return from the dead to introduce an iZombie smartphone app that turns us all into the walking dead which he controls from his Apple Watch?
So many questions that need answers! So many rumors to ruminate on…
Ultimately we’re all in the dark until Apple’s Keynote and State of the Union presentations kick off next week. However, we can certainly share some of the rumors we’ve found swirling around—as well as give our own hopes and expectations for this year’s WWDC.
What Can We Expect from Apple's WWDC 2023?
From all of the Mac Rumors and message board fuss online, it doesn’t appear that this will be the biggest WWDC ever. The highlights are very likely to be centered around some new MacBook and Mac desktop announcements. As well as the announcement of Apple’s VR headset which will steal most of the headlines and highlights (more on the VR headset below).
However, for filmmakers and video professionals, the most exciting news tidbits might have to do with which Mac desktops end up featuring Apple’s high-end M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips.
There have been Bloomberg reports of these new chips possibly bringing additional processing power to an updated suite of Mac Studio desktops. We’ve also seen speculation that Apple could couple these newer chips with a new Apple Silicon Mac Pro and make that one of their flagship computers for high-end processing and video editing.
Could a M2 Ultra 16-inch MacBook Pro be the big story?Credit: Apple
An M2 Ultra 16-inch MacBook Pro?
Perhaps the biggest rumor for video pros and editors alike would see an M2 Ultra chip being added to the 16-inch MacBook Pro (as the M2 Max was added before it). From the same Bloomberg reports, this new M2 Ultra could have 16 performance cores and eight efficiency cores (an upgrade of the four from the M1 Ultra), up to 76 GPU cores, and up to 192GB of RAM.
This could potentially be a great addition to any video pros workflow as all of these M2 chips will have more efficiency cores, more GPU cores, and overall a higher maximum RAM ceiling when contrasted to any of the previous M1 chip versions. All great news for video professionals making the MacBook Pro their preferred workhorse laptop at home or on set.
Apple has also apparently leaked plans of accepting trade-ins of current M1-based Mac Studio models starting next week as well. Not officially signifying anything just yet, but a good sign of some new Mac Studio desktops should be coming as well.
The Anticipated Apple VR Headset
Now, we can’t talk about Apple WWDC rumors without at least mentioning the anticipated unveiling of Apple’s VR headset. Years in the works, this AR / VR headset should be the biggest news, and depending on how things shake out, potentially Apple’s greatest product ever or a huge flop — or, you know, maybe just something in the middle?
As you can see in the video above though, expectations are all over the place in terms of just how functional and perhaps necessary an Apple VR headset might end up being. But is it truly anything new? Is it truly something that people will want today? Is it something that developers outside of Apple will spend the time to build out apps, games, and more?
Is there anything about an Apple VR headset that might help film and video professionals?
All those are questions best answered after the announcements come. However, as rumors continue to swirl we can’t help but get a little bit excited about what we’ll find out here soon.
What are you potentially most excited about for WWDC? Let us know your thoughts, fears, and expectations in the comments below.
