 WWDC2017!

Yeah, it happened again! I am so happy to be writing to you guys about non speculation or leaks or whatever, but rather about the more than 2 hour keynote of amazing fun (more about this year's weird experience in a later post). By the time I sat down and did my whole Apple Keynote setup (beats, MacBook, iPad, snacks and 2 cups of apple juice), I was ready for software only and got WAY MORE than that. If I wrote down everything I thought about yesterday when watching the keynote, my fingers would fall off. 

So, after thinking about it for a while, here are my thoughts about the main topics Apple talked about yesterday at the WWDC2017 keynote in order of importance TO ME: iOS, watchOS, HomePod, macOS and tvOS.

Here we go:

The iOS ecosystem is the most important part of the Apple universe of money making hardware, and yesterday proved as much. We are still waiting for the 10th anniversary iPhone, but in the mean time Tim Cook gave us a conference of the environment around it to remind us of a point: it's not about the hardware or the software only, it's about the relationship between both. The new 10.5 inch screen on the iPad Pro is NOT the big news about the new iPad, some people seem to look right past the most important new characteristic of its screen: 120 Hz dynamically adjusted refresh rate! Basically, the software and hardware latency has been reduced to nothing and will change depending on the task the screen is taking on graphics-wise. When you use it, you will KNOW the difference without knowing any tech specifics.Plus, iOS 11 was clearly announced towards being a nice update for iPhones and a massive change to iPad. More and more the iPad is becoming a tool for anyone to enjoy, specially in design, education and business management, it is finding its place and pace to become truly relevant.

I cannot stress enough how much I have come to love and appreciate my Watch series 2. It is clear the smartwatch has not taken over the market by storm, but I believe that health is something people have and will continue to value more and more as technology proves it to be so. So many people can benefit from the simple standing up, from a nice walk and not necessarily hardcore sports training and fitness. WatchOS4 clearly embraces that and targets the sports fanatics by improving the already great workout tracking capabilities and also targets the normal people who work out once in a while by allowing the watch to sync with gym equipments to have a better picture of the workouts of less intense consumers that just want to stay fit. To the smartwatch deniers I say: do not underestimate the market power health can have.

The HomePod, SiriSpeaker, AppleHome, whatever you wanna call it that makes you happy. This is something that most of you might wonder why it was not higher up in my importance order of Apple WWDC announcements. Well, the truth is the smart home market is VERY slow in Costa Rica (CR) and Central America. Every time I travel to the USA or Denmark (my second home), I see its importance and wish with all my heart that I could have a smart home back in CR. So the fact that I want this "Pod" just as much as the next apple freak doesn't mean I shouldn't be honest about the fact that I won't buy it because First, it won't be sold in Costa Rica anytime soon and second, even if I buy it the next time I travel to the US, it will just be an overly expensive and underutilized Apple Bluetooth speaker. I much rather spend less money and get AirPods which are truly useful for me wherever in the world I go, unlike the HomePod that would just lie somewhere in my living room looking awesome but being a bad investment.

I dreamed of having a Mac, any Mac, since I was about 10 years old. I have been part of Apple happiness for over a decade now, but I did not buy my first Mac until 4 years ago. OS X and now macOS have been a huge proof of the great strength of Apple's ecosystem: Continuity. The grand update to almost all Mac hardware made the software update become more about the technology than about the new features. A better file, video and graphic systems; updated photos, safari, siri/search, notes and mail apps. No small feat to update their entire lineup of hardware (except MacBook Air) and the software to back up those improved capabilities. 

I am not a very knowledgeable computer geek, but I know enough to be scared at how intense the iMac Pro announcement got, as soon as the 18core option was announced. My favorite tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee made a great point in asking Apple to "matte black all the things". Well, they listened Marques! So please keep on asking Apple for awesome things. Clearly the sneak peak is more than good enough to make a point: the Pro user will not be forgotten. Plus, they did specify at the interviews days after that this is NOT meant to replace the Mac Pro, that line will be brought back better in 2018.

Finally, my least important and least surprising announcement: tvOS. I stand by my point on the Apple TV: it is an enormous opportunity to break into a market that has evolved into different formats and great diversity. 

There are SO many details to get into because of this long WWDC keynote, but I wanted to give you guys the main thoughts on the topics. I will leave you guys with this: Every year, WWDC makes me extremely excited far beyond the keynote announcements, I know and never underestimate the power of developers and new SDKs (software development kits) to make the products that exist and the ones to come better than ever.

P.S. watch Planet of the Apps! On Apple Music NOW