Technologies
WWDC 2023 Biggest Reveals: Vision Pro Headset, iOS 17, MacBook Air and More
From its expected AR/VR headset to new Macs to software updates like iOS 17, here’s what Apple unveiled at WWDC.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference kicked off on Monday with a keynote address showing everything coming to the company’s lineup of devices. WWDC has been typically where the company gives us a first look at new software for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Macs. But this year, Apple revealed a bevy of new hardware, too.
The big announcement was the debut of the Apple Vision Pro headset, a «new kind of computer» as Tim Cook put it in the presentation. But with MacBook Air and other Mac hardware announcements — including new silicon — as well as software upgrades, no corner of Apple’s ecosystem lacked for updates.
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For a detailed summary of everything announced as it happened, give our live blog a look. Read on for the highlights of the presentation and links to our stories.
Apple Vision Pro, a new headset
The Apple Vision Pro is the company’s answer to the AR and VR headset race. It’s a personal display on your face with all the interface touches you’d expect from Apple, with an operating system that looks like a combination of iOS, MacOS and TVOS. And it’s not going to come cheap: The Apple Vision Pro retails for $3,499 and will start shipping early next year.
The device itself looks like other headsets, though the glass front hides cameras and even a curved OLED outer display (more on why later). The headset is secured to the wearer’s head with a wide rear band (no over-the-top strap), though as rumors suggested, there’s an external battery back that connects over a cable and sits in your pocket. There’s a large Apple Watch-style digital crown on the right side that lets you dial immersion (the outside world) in and out.
The Vision Pro has three-element lenses that enable 4K resolution, though you can swap out lenses, presumably for different vision capabilities. Audio pods are embedded within the band to sit over your ears, and «audio ray tracing» maps sound to your position. A suite of lidar and other sensors on the bottom of the headset track hand and body motions.
Technically speaking, the Vision Pro is a computer, with an M2 chip found on Apple’s highest-end computers. But a new R1 chip processes all the other headset inputs from 12 cameras, five sensors and six microphones and sends it to the M2 to reduce lag and get new images to displays within 12 milliseconds. The Vision Pro runs the new VisionOS, which uses iOS frameworks, a 3D engine, foveated rendering and other software tricks to make what Apple calls «the first operating system designed from the ground up for spatial computing.»
Interior cameras track your facial motion, which is projected to others when on FaceTime and other video chatting apps.
Apple Vision Pro can scan your face to create a digital 3D avatar.
To keep users from being cut off from the outside world, the EyeSight feature uses inside-pointing cameras and the headset’s outer display to show your eyes — essentially showing people around you what your eyes are focusing on. If you’ve dialed your immersion all the way on, your eyes will disappear on the outside screen. But you’re not totally cut off. While wearing the headset, if someone approaches you they’ll filter in to your vision.
The interface uses hand motions to control the device, though there are also voice controls. It’s tough to tell how these controls will work, and we’d expect that users will need some time to adapt to not using a mouse and keyboard.
This isn’t just an entertainment device. Apple is pitching its first new product in eight years as a work-from-home and travel device, essentially letting you open however many windows you want. It can work in the office as a display for Macs, and supports Apple’s Magic Keyboard and Trackpad devices.
The Vision Pro has Apple’s first 3D cameras and can take spatial photos, providing 3D depth with binaural audio to experience moments with more immersion. Of course, this spatial experience is extended to movies that’s «impossible to represent on a 2D screen,» Apple said during its presentation, continually teasing the exclusivity that non-headset wearers won’t even understand without trying out a Vision Pro. Disney CEO Bob Iger took the WWDC stage to vouch for the headset, and followed with a short video showing interactive 3D experiences that Vision Pro users will soon get to experience on the Disney Plus streaming service.
Now that Apple has all these new cameras and eye-tracking, it’s introduced a way to secure your data and purchases with Optic ID, which uses your eyes as an optical fingerprint for authentication. Camera data is processed at the system level, so what the headset sees isn’t fed up to the cloud.
Read more: Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ retrospective
New MacBook Air 15
As was rumored, Apple announced a new MacBook Air 15, a larger version of the MacBook Air 13 that launched last year.
The MacBook Air 15 is powered by an M2 chip and gets up to 18 hours of battery life. Configurations can come with up to 24GB of memory and up to 2TB of storage, retailing for $1,299 to start (or $1,199 with a student discount).
The 15-inch model is 11.5mm thick and 3.3 pounds, and has two Thunderbolt ports and a Magsafe cable connector — along with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It has an above-display 1080p camera in a notch, three microphones and six speakers with force-canceling subwoofers.
Read more: 15-inch MacBook Air M2 Preorder: Where to Buy Apple’s Latest Laptop
Mac Studio with M2
A new Mac Studio has landed and it comes with Apple’s latest silicon. The new model comes with an M2 Max chipset, or the new M2 Ultra chipset — essentially two M2 Max chips combined, which enables up to 192GB of memory.
The M2 Ultra stole the spotlight with new capabilities, with a 24-core CPU and streaming 22 videos at 8K ProRes resolution at once. It can support up to six Apple Pro Displays at once.
The Mac Studio starts at $1,999 and will be available starting next week.
Mac Pro with M2 Ultra
Apple wasted no time announcing that its new high-end desktop Mac Pro model would get the M2 Ultra as well. The new Mac Pro gets all the M2 Ultra upgrades as the Studio, including support for up to 192GB of RAM.
The Mac Pro has eight thunderbolt ports, two HDMI ports and dual 10GB ethernet ports, with six open PCIe Gen 4 slots. The new Mac Pro comes in both upright tower and horizontal rack orientations.
The new Mac Pro starts at $6,999 and will be available starting next week.
iOS 17
iOS 17 brings a ton of quality-of-life improvements, and the iOS 17 developer beta is available now to download. Finally, you can use more filters while searching within your Messages. In addition to pressing and holding on messages to reply, you can also simply swipe on specific messages to reply to them, and voice notes will be transcribed.
Say goodbye to gray screens when you get calls — now you can set full-screen photos or Memoji to contacts when they call you. And if someone leaves a voicemail, you can see it transcribed in real-time to help you screen calls if you don’t recognize a caller.
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A new safety feature, Check In, sends a note to a trusted contact when you reach a location — like when you make it home safe after late-night travel. If it’s taking you longer to get to a destination, you’ll be prompted to extend the timer rather than alert your contact. It also shares your battery and signal status. Check In is end-to-end encrypted.
Last year, Apple introduced an iOS feature to let you copy photo subjects and paste them as stickers — and now you can do that with video to essentially create GIFs to share with friends or even as responses to Messages. All emoji are now shareable stickers, too.
AirDrop has been a helpful tool to send files between Apple devices, but now you can share your contact info with Name Drop. You can choose what you want to share between email addresses, phone numbers and more.
Also, say goodbye to relying on Notes to jot down your thoughts — Journal is a new secure app for personal recollections. Apple is pitching it as a gratitude exercise, but iOS will auto-include activities like songs and workouts you’ve done to your personal log.
Apple Maps got an update that Android owners have had for years — the ability to use Maps offline, especially helpful when you’re outside network range while outdoors or conserving battery.
A new mode, StandBy, converts an iPhone to an alarm clock when it’s charging and rotated horizontally. It gets smart interactions like a large visible clockface along with calendar and music controls.
Lastly, as was rumored, you won’t have to say «Hey Siri» anymore. Just saying «Siri» will bring up the voice assistant.
Read more: Apple Finally Lets You Type What You Ducking Mean on iOS 17
iPadOS 17
iPadOS 17 brings more controls to widgets, which don’t just show more info at a glance — they have more interactive buttons to let you control your smart home or play music.
iPadOS 17 is bringing more interactive personal data to the Health app, including richer sleep and activity visualization.
The next iPadOS update brings quality-of-life upgrades like more lock screen customization and multiple timers (helpful when cooking), as well as improvements to the follow-you-during-video-calls Stage Manager feature for iPad selfie cameras.
With all the screen space on an iPad, Apple expanded what you can do with PDFs, which can be autofilled and signed from within iPadOS. iPad owners can collaborate in real time while tweaking PDFs, and the files can now be stored in the Notes app.
MacOS Sonoma
MacOS Sonoma, named after one of California’s most famous wine-producing areas, continues the WWDC theme of adding more widget functionality.
Sonoma also has some gaming upgrades like a new gaming mode that prioritizes CPU and GPU to improve frame rate. Apple is paying attention to immersion with lower latency for wireless controllers and speakers or headsets. The company is also courting developers with game dev kits and Metal 3. But the biggest gaming announcement is that legendary game creator Hideo Kojima’s opus Death Stranding is coming to Macs later this year. «We are actively working to bring our future titles to Apple platforms,» Kojima said during the WWDC presentation.
On the business side, Mac has improved videoconferencing with an overlay that shows slide controls while you’re presenting. Apple also introduced new reactions — like ticker-tape falling for a congratulations — that can be triggered with gestures.
PassKey, the end-to-end encrypted password chain tech Apple introduced last year, can now be shared with other contacts, and everyone included can edit and update passwords to be shared with the group.
Safari has security updates including locking the browser window when in private browsing mode, and profiles to separate accounts, logins and cookies between work and personal use.
AirPods and audio upgrades
Apple has a handful of improvements to its audio products. AirPods will get Adaptive Audio, which combines noise-canceling with intelligent audio to drown out annoying background noise while letting through important sounds — like car horns or bike bells. It’ll also pass through voices in case someone starts a conversation in person.
And it’s far easier to digitally take control of the music with SharePlay while somebody with CarPlay is driving — a prompt will go out to others in the car asking if they want to take control.
Apps in WatchOS 10 are getting a new look.
WatchOS 10
Yet again, widgets make an appearance with WatchOS 10, the next operating system upgrade for Apple Watches. Widgets are now accessible in a stack from your home screen — just use the digital crown to scroll between them.
Apple has focused on cycling this year, improving workouts by showing functional threshold data, an important metric for cyclists. It also connects over Bluetooth to sensors on bikes, and there’s a new full-screen mode for iPhones that allows you to use it as a full screen while cycling.
Hikers, rejoice! WatchOS 10 has upgraded its compass with cellular connection waypoints, telling you which direction to walk and how far you have to go before you can get carrier reception. It also shows SOS waypoint spots, and shows elevation view in the 3D compass view. There’s also a neat topographical view.
Apple is also expanding its Mindfulness app to log how you’re feeling in State of Mind, choosing between color-coded emotional states. You can even access this from your iPhone in case you’re away from your Apple Watch.
Health focuses for 2023
On top of the WatchOS Mindfulness updates, Apple introduced a neutral survey to self-report mood and mental health, which acts as a sort of non-medical way to indicate whether you may want to get professional help.
Apple also has a new cross-device Vision Health focus in the Health app, and a new feature on the Apple Watch measures daylight time spent outside to watch for myopia in younger wearers. Screen Distance uses the TrueDepth camera on iPads to warn people if they’re too close to the screen.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 29, #963
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 29 #963.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
What a fun NYT Connections puzzle today! There’s a favorite children’s story in one group, and four classic author surnames that, naturally, don’t show up in an «author surname» category. Read on for clues and all of today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Maybe it’s Maybelline.
Green group hint: Too hot, too cold, just right.
Blue group hint: Raise a cup.
Purple group hint: They all sound like words with a similar meaning.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Makeup.
Green group: Featured in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Blue group: Ending with drinking vessels.
Purple group: Homophones of words meaning «brutal.»
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is makeup. The four answers are bronzer, foundation, liner and stain.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is featured in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The four answers are bear, bed, Goldilocks and porridge.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is ending with drinking vessels. The four answers are fiberglass, Silverstein, smug and stumbler.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is homophones of words meaning «brutal.» The four answers are Gorey, Grimm, grizzly and Scarry.
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Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 29, #493
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 29, No. 493.
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features some tricky terms. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Checkmate!
Green group hint: Think Nadia Comăneci.
Blue group hint: Soccer stars.
Purple group hint: H2O.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Chess pieces.
Green group: Gymnastics terms.
Blue group: Premier League Golden Boot winners.
Purple group: Water ____.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is chess pieces. The four answers are bishop, pawn, queen and rook.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is gymnastics terms. The four answers are handspring, round-off, salto and twist.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is Premier League Golden Boot winners. The four answers are
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is water ____. The four answers are bottle, boy, hazard and polo.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
Technologies
Google Gives Chrome an AI Side Panel and Lets Gemini Browse for You
The update also includes Nano Banana image tools and deeper integrations with Google apps like Gmail, Calendar, Maps and Flights.
Google is turning Chrome into something closer to a digital copilot.
In the next wave of Gemini updates rolling out, Google on Wednesday revealed a set of new AI-powered features coming directly to its browser, aimed at reducing the frustrations of exploring the internet each day. Built on Gemini 3, the updates introduce an always-available side panel, deeper app integrations, creative image tools and a new browser agent called auto browse that can complete multistep tasks on your behalf.
Essentially, Google wants Chrome to be like an AI wingman that browses, compares and multitasks for you.
Read more: More AI Is Coming to Google Search, Including a Chatbot-Like Interface
Now you can automate browsing
To me, the standout new addition is auto browse, a browser agent designed to handle tedious and time-consuming chores. Instead of hopping between tabs, filling out forms or manually comparing prices of things like products or flights, you can ask Chrome to do the legwork.
Auto browse can research flights and hotels across different dates, collect documents, schedule appointments, manage subscriptions and help with tasks like renewing a driver’s license or filing expense reports.
In a live demo I saw, Product Lead Charmaine D’Silva used the new tools to plan a family vacation. Gemini compared destinations and prices across multiple travel sites, checked school calendars to see when her kids were off and lined up schedules to find workable travel windows. When it came time to book, though, D’Silva emphasized that the final decision and purchase were still hers, underscoring Google’s plan to keep humans in control for key tasks like booking and purchases.
The feature is rolling out to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US now, signaling Google’s broader push toward more agentic AI experiences.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
A new side panel experience
Another update rolling out now is a redesigned Gemini side panel in Chrome, available across MacOS, Windows and Chromebook Plus. Instead of opening a separate tab, Gemini now lives alongside whatever you’re working on, making it easier to multitask without breaking your flow. Testers have used it to summarize reviews across sites, compare shopping options and juggle packed calendars while keeping their main task front and center.
AI image editing with Nano Banana
Chrome is also trying to become more creative. Google is bringing Nano Banana, its AI image editing and generation tool, directly into the browser. You can now edit and reimagine images you find on the web without downloading files or switching apps — whether that’s mocking up a living room redesign or turning raw data into an infographic at work.
Chrome connects with other Google apps
Under the hood, Gemini in Chrome is becoming more connected to the rest of Google’s ecosystem. Integrations with Gmail, Calendar, Maps, YouTube, Google Flights and Shopping will allow the assistant to pull in relevant context and take action across apps. Planning a trip, for example, could involve referencing an old email, checking flight options and drafting a follow-up email to your travel companions. Now all in one place.
More to come
Looking ahead, Google says personal intelligence is coming to Chrome in the coming months. With user opt-in, Gemini will remember context from past interactions to deliver more tailored, proactive help across the web, while giving you control over what data is connected and when.
