Apple WWDC 2019 keynote: Scenes and surprises

Apple is kicking things off with an animated video -- and the theme is identical to its event invites, featuring floating iconography including exploding robot and unicorn heads.

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Next up is a neat black-and-white trailer showing people using Apple products -- with a catchy tune playing in the background, of course.

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Finally, CEO Tim Cook comes on stage to get things going. He seems to be going over recent announcements at first, including Apple TV Plus, which his company revealed earlier this year. 

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Speaking of  TV Plus, we're getting our first look at the service's original programming. Apple is showing a trailer for a show called "For All Man Kind." It looks stunning. We can't wait to watch when the service launches.

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Cook just confirmed TVOS will soon support PS4 and Xbox controllers!

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Another feature coming to the Apple TV is profiles for different family members. Called multi-user support, it allows for different, switchable profiles for all users. Each family member will then have their own recommended shows and music on the home screen.

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Apple is now talking about the Apple Watch, introducing a new gradient face, digital face, and more. There's also taptic chimes, so you'll hear a sound at the hour. Apple says new apps for voice memos, calculator and audiobooks are coming too, as will tip calculator and split-the-bill features. 

More importantly, however, Apple is making it possible to run an independent app on the watch -- no need for an iPhone app. To complement this, Apple is launching a new App Store for Apple Watch.

There will be apps curated by an app store team, and you can also ask Siri for help finding new apps to purchase and install on your watch. 

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The ability to stream content without a phone is cool, but we personally love the new ability to track menstrual cycles. It's a simple way to monitor cycles and get Fertile Window predictions. This will be available in the Health App in iOS, so you won't need an Apple Watch to use it either.

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Apple is moving fast -- onto iOS 13 next. It's announced Dark Mode that, like the mode already available on MacOS, transforms the visual appearance so that your iOS device will, well, appear darker.  With a black background instead of the usual white, supported apps will also swap their light backgrounds for black, and their text is reversed, too.

The new iOS will also bring with it a SwiftKey-style keyboard swiping feature. 

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Apple is now talking about app logins. It notes Facebook and Google logins can be used to track you. It has an alternative option: Sign in with Apple. Apple says it is a "Fast, easy sign in... without tracking." You get authenticated with your device, and you're logged in with a new account without revealing personal location.

Some apps may ask for your email, so Apple will let you create a random address that forward to your real email. Each app gets a unique random address. "This experience is meant to let you have control over your data," Apple says.

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There's a new Apple Maps rolling out to the entire US by the end of 2019!  It looks more 3D-like and detailed. Apple said it outfitted literally hundreds of cars with custom sensors and Lidar and traveled four million miles to remake its map system. The app includes a new launch screen, too, with favorites and collections and organizing trips.

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Apple is now talking about HomeKit. It notes many home cameras send video the the cloud to analyze. Apple wants to improve this with a new feature called HomeKit Secure Video with on-device analyzing. Encrypted streams are sent to iCloud, and no one can see them. You'll be alerted to activity and can review what's been recorded.

HomeKit is also coming to routers, adding a firewall between smart home accessories and your network. Launch partners include Linksys, Eero, and Charter/Spectrum.

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Apple is introducing audio sharing to AirPods, allowing you to share sound from your phone to someone else's AirPods. 

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Apple is now telling us about what it's done to Siri. The company's assistant it finally going to start sounding a little bit more human with iOS 13. It will begin using a new Neural Text to Speech system. Siri is also being reworked to function better on CarPlay.

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Apple made a new OS for signature tablet line: iPad OS. "We have some big changes coming to iPad," says Craig Federighi, Apple's software chief. It's based on iOS and includes new multitasking features, new gestures for the user interface, and a new Home screen layout. All in all, it should allow for a more computer-like experience.

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Apple says iPadOS' new home screen features widgets that can expand alongside app icons. Apple is also adding new multitasking gesture, like the ability to slide between multiple apps and drag and drop apps side by side. iPadOS also bring an improved Files app with a column view and information pane. The Files app will even support thumb drives! Meanwhile, iCloud Drive supports folder sharing, and the Safari browser is getting desktop-like browsing complete with a download manager.

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Apple is official debuting an all-new redesigned Apple Mac Pro. 

It's a throwback to Apple's "cheese grater" Mac Pro that came before the "trash cam" model.  And it's built to be modular. The new Intel Xeon processor inside the Mac Pro offers up to 28 cores, with up to 300W of power and cooling. System memory can be go up to 1.5TB, says Apple, with six-channel memory across 12 DIMM slots. There are also eight PCI Express slots, four of which are double-wide for larger expansion cards. Two USB-C and two USB-A ports are included on the system, too.

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Apple says it's giving the new Mac Pro a custom expansion module called an MPX Module. It's a quad-wide PCIe card that fits two graphics cards and has its own heat sink and a Thunderbolt 3 connector. Apple explains you can add AMD's Radeon Pro Vega 2 or Radeon Pro Vega 2 Duo -- two of the latter, no less, giving you four GPUs in total.

According to Apple, the new Mac Pro is launching this fall, with a starting price of $5,999. You'll get 32GB of memory, an octa-core Intel Xeon CPU, Radeon Pro 580X graphics, and a 256GB SSD. 

Lastly, Apple is introducing a 6K monitor, the 32-inch Pro Display XDR, to go with the Mac Pro. It starts at $4,999.

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Lastly, Apple is killing iTunes. One of the most famous apps in the company's history is finally being broken up into three smaller Mac apps: Music, Podcasts, and TV. This is surely good news for those of you who have hated iTunes' clunky, outdated design and tools.

The developer preview of Catalina is now available to Apple Developer Program members. A public beta program will be available later this month. It will officially launch this fall as a free software update for Macs introduced from mid-2012 and later.

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