The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has been given a date and details have been confirmed. Unlike previous dates that held the event in May, this year's conference will start on June 22.
It's the WWDC's 31st year and Apple says it's going to be the biggest yet. Of course, the event will be held virtually for the first time in history to follow stay-at-home and quarantine guidelines.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple decided that this year's conference will be an online-only event. Fans of the company have actually expected the announcement because of social gathering bans. It's either WWDC will be held virtually or the tech giant will skip it altogether.
Another big difference this year is that WWDC 2020 will be completely free. Attendees usually have to shell out around $1,600 to go to the conference. As mentioned, it will start Monday, June 22, and it only requires one to be a registered developer. The event will consist of online sessions focused on MacOS, iPadOS, and iOS developers.
Apple always starts WWDC with a keynote presentation from its executives and surely, this year won't be any different. Although the Cupertino tech giant hasn't confirmed anybody as of writing, the company's biggest names will likely be in attendance, such as CEO Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, and Phil Schiller.
The WWDC keynote is an integral part of the event as it has to appeal to both the public and the developers. There are usually over 5,000 developers attending Apple's developer conference -- let's see how many will be attending this year now that it's done online.
Schiller in a release was all positive about this year's WWDC. "WWDC20 will be our biggest yet, bringing together our global developer community of more than 23 million in an unprecedented way for a week in June to learn about the future of Apple platforms," the executive said.
Apple will likely release more information in the weeks to come. In the meantime, it's hosting a Swift Student Challenge through May 17. It will give students a chance to win some Apple goodies.
Like other tech companies running online events, Apple is likely working on some details to run the virtual event as seamlessly as possible. That being said, it will be fascinating to see whether the first virtual WWDC will be as successful as the company wants it to be, even amid the threat of the coronavirus.
