What we learned at WWDC 2016

Apple’s highly anticipated keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) took place in San Francisco on Monday. This annual event is a prime location for Apple to unveil new products, software, features and create a buzz that can be felt from the shores of the bay to the walls of China. So, what’s in store for consumers, schools and business utilizing Mac, iPad and iPhone?

macOS: New name, more functionality
OS X appears to be a thing of the past as Apple announced macOS Sierra as the newest operating system for the Mac. Aside from a snazzy name, macOS Sierra comes with a slew of enhanced capabilities.

• Siri for Mac — Everyone’s favorite voice assistant is headed to the Mac. Siri will be able to help you search for files, play music, scour the web, send messages and more.
• Auto Unlock — macOS allows you to automatically unlock your Mac when your iPhone or Apple Watch is in close proximity.
• Apple Pay — You can now utilize Apple Pay online and on your Mac. For security purposes, you’ll need to authenticate the purchase using Touch ID on your iPhone.
• Universal clipboard — Provides you with a single clipboard that works across iOS and macOS.
• iCloud Drive — Improved support for iCloud Drive provides more continuity between devices and makes it easier to move older files to the cloud.

macOS Sierra is available for developers now and will be generally available in the fall.

iOS 10: Bigger and better than ever
Apple’s software for iPhone and iPad took a major step forward with the announcement of 10 new features and enhancements in iOS 10 aimed at making iPad and iPhone devices faster and a better experience for users.

1. Redesigned Lock screen — New raise-to-wake feature allows you to see the Lock screen without touching any buttons. Also includes the ability to interact with apps without ever leaving the Lock screen.
2. Siri — Siri is now open to developers and will come with the ability to communicate with more apps.
3. Quick Type — Siri intelligence is on its way to the keyboard. This enhances Quick Type suggestions, allows for multilingual typing and intelligent scheduling.
4. Photos — Facial recognition will be available to the Photos app and allow for a better way to bucket photos into “memories.”
5. Maps — All new design provides for proactive location features, better search capabilities and Map Extensions: the easiest way to search for a restaurant, book a reservation, book a ride to the restaurant, and see when your ride will arrive—all without leaving Maps.
6. Apple Music — New user interface allows for greater clarity and simplicity when searching your music. Also has the ability to suggest artists and genres you may be interested in.
7. News — Enhancements to this app provide quick access to the stories you want most and offers suggestions on new topics you may like. Also comes with the ability for subscriptions and breaking news notifications.
8. HomeKit — With a new app called Home, you now have greater control over the home automation products (lights, blinds, door locks, etc.) in your household.
9. Phone — If you’ve ever wondered what was actually said in voicemail, you can now have your voicemails transcribed! Also new is the ability to identify and block spam calls.
10. Messages — Saving the best for last, Apple introduced rich links so you can preview content with the app, made emojis three times larger, provides emoji suggestions, and offers bubble effects to animate your messages.

Similar to macOS, iOS 10 is available to developers now and will be available to the public in the fall.

Helping students learn how to code
Following the exciting announcements of macOS and iOS 10—and new enhancements and features to watchOS and tvOS—Tim Cook, Apple CEO, returned to the stage to announce an incredible new feature for iPad called Swift Playgrounds.

Swift Playgrounds is an app specifically designed to help students learn to code using their iPad. Cook called it the “Absolute best way to teach anyone to code.”

This app is constructed in a game-like manner where students will enter code to tell their character how to move around the game. This is a fantastic way for students to have fun, while also learning how to code right on their iPad.

Put these features in your user’s hands
As always, JAMF will support macOS and iOS features on day one, allowing you to immediately empower IT, employees, teachers and students with the new Mac, iPad and iPhone capabilities. Although the new operating systems will not be generally available until the fall, you can start planning your upgrades now.

Request a free Jamf Pro trial to get started.