Apple WWDC 2018 kicks off June 4

wwdc-2018-evento-san-jose — Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference starts June 4.
Apple

Apple announced Tuesday that its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is kicking off June 4 in San Jose.

The confab is a one-stop shop for software developers across Apple's varied and growing universe of products, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac computers and the new HomePod speaker. Apple usually uses the opening keynote to provide a peek into what users can expect on the software front for those platforms. Beta operating system software often hits during or soon after the show, followed by final versions later in the year.

This year's show, running through June 8, will take place at the McEnery Convention Center for the second time in a row.

WWDC also places an emphasis on a lot of its software that will be open for developers to make apps with, such as SiriKit for the Siri personal assistant, HomeKit for home appliances and ARKit for augmented-reality applications. Apple will also likely provide looks at this year's iOS 12 for the iPhone and iPad along with the next MacOS for its computers.

New hardware announcements also can play a part during WWDC. Apple last year announced the HomePod speaker and the iMac Pro computer. We may well see new iPads and/or updated MacBooks in June, too. But don't expect an iPhone announcement: That's still expected in September. (The last June iPhone unveiling at WWDC was the iPhone 4 way back in 2010.)

Developers hoping to attend can apply for tickets on Apple's WWDC website until March 22 at 10 a.m. PT, at which point a random selection process will pick who gets offered tickets. Students and anyone part of science, technology, engineering or mathematics organizations can also apply for a chance at 350 free tickets to the conference on Apple's WWDC18 Scholarships website starting on March 26.

Originally published at 10:13 a.m. PT, updated at 11:07 a.m. PT with additional context.

Tech Culture: From film and television to social media and games, here's your place for the lighter side of tech.

Batteries Not Included: The CNET team shares experiences that remind us why tech stuff is cool.

Let's block ads! (Why?)