On June 3 in San Jose, California, Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. [1] In his keynote speech, he managed to shock Apple fans all over the world with his announcement that the iTunes that you know and love is about to be destroyed; he also mentioned a few new features Apple was releasing along with a brand new Mac.
New Features
On Monday, Apple launched its Apple Worldwide Developers Conference which runs from June 3 through until June 7, where thousands of people from across the world convene for the week to attend tech talks, consultations, labs, and coding sessions. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced some new features that were coming to Apple’s watches and iPhone’s, as well as revealing Apple’s, brand new Mac. Besides these exciting updates, it was also announced that the crowded but familiar iTunes app would be replaced by three separate apps.
Apple showed various, new, watch faces at the conference and with the latest watches come new apps for the watch. Everything from calculating a restaurant tip with a swipe of your finger, to making memos on the go, to tracking your health more accurately- watchOS 6, the latest Apple watch software, has it.
The iPhone software will also be getting an update, with the release of iOS 13, the new software will allow your iPhone to make reminders easier, offer you a “dark mode option” (like the one available on Mac), along with enhancing the security on your phone.
Cook also announced a new Mac, not only designed with a sleek exterior but also created with professional developers and creators in mind. The new Mac will run for about $5,999, or if you want the Pro Display XDR, you can catch that for $4,999. [2]
Bye, iTunes
Finally, with all of these software updates (including the new Mac OS Catalina- the new Mac software), Apple announced the news that iTunes as you know it will be no more. Sure, iTunes was a collaboration (a cluttered closet, if you will) that housed everything from music, to movies, to apps and audio content, but some would argue that it could’ve just been cleaned up and been better than new. Even redesigning iTunes so that it looks less outdated and more streamlined, like Spotify, Pandora or Pocketcasts would’ve fit better than adding two new apps to everyone’s phones. Instead, Apple is introducing three new apps which will house all of your podcasts, music, and tv shows/movies.
The three apps look remarkably the same as each other- which , in turn, look the same as the old iTunes. Instead of organizing the clutter in iTunes, Apple just managed to multiply the clutter.
Notes:
- ^Inc., Apple. “WWDC19.” 4 June 2019, developer.apple.com/wwdc19. (go back ↩)
- ^Pasarow, Anabel. “Apple Says Goodbye To iTunes & Announces A Ton Of Cool New Features—Here’s The Lowdown.” 4 June 2019, www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/06/234364/apple-wwdc-keynote-2019-watch-iphone-tv-updates. (go back ↩)
