Apple Says Goodbye To iTunes & Announces A Ton Of Cool New Features — Here's The Lowdown

This morning in San Jose, CA, Apple CEO Tim Cook delivered a keynote at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, where thousands of coders and creators the world over are convening for a week of tech sessions, labs, consultations, and guest talks. To kick off the conference, Cook announced some brand new features coming to the Apple Watch and iPhone, as well as a brand new Mac — and, let us tell you, they are good. Ahead, the lowdown. (Spoiler alert: buh-bye iTunes as we know it.)

In addition to a bunch of new beautiful watch faces, there are some awesome new apps coming to watchOS 6, the latest Apple Watch software. There's an audiobook app for Apple Books, a calculator app (which lets you calculate how much to tip or how to split the bill), and, perhaps most excitingly, a new Voice Memo app for the Watch, which lets you record notes whenever, wherever. There are also some new health and fitness features — including a noise detection app for hearing health and a period tracker that helps you track your cycle and fertility, available both on the Watch and on iPhone in the Health app.

Plus, you can track your fitness activity more comprehensively than ever — with nine metrics including cardio fitness, flights of stairs climbed, movement, and more. And now you can buy and download Watch apps with the new App Store on Apple Watch right on your wrist.

Dark Mode is officially coming to the iPhone. iOS 13, the new operating system announced today, will include a dark colour scheme display, like the one already available on Mac. Also, when you text in Dark Mode, you can swipe to type rather than tapping keys. Reminders is getting a much-needed facelift, too, with a new Quick Type bar and an integration with Tasks. Also, you can tag one of your contacts in your Reminders — so that next time you're Messaging them, you'll be alerted of the reminder.

And when it comes to apps, Apple is putting a major emphasis on security and privacy. You now have the option to share your location with an app just once, and then require it to ask you again the next time you use it. Also, if you're sick of giving each new app you download your email address, iOS 13 is integrating a feature that lets you generate a unique random email address for each app.

And, my personal favourite: Memoji is getting a major makeover — now, you can add a ton of more makeup and accessories to make yours look even more like you. (Brb while I spend an hour doing this.)

Now, Siri can read your Messages to you as soon as you get a text — right on your AirPods. There’s also a new audio share feature, meaning, for those of us who have ever wanted to share a song we’re listening to with a friend, now we finally can. Siri's voice is also getting an update, too — and it's more natural-sounding than ever.

Cook also announced the introduction of the most powerful Mac ever created, the Mac Pro, designed with professional creators and developers in mind, and to support projects that require major bandwidth like production rendering, virtual instruments, and app simulation, with impressive Final Cut and Logic integrations. As far as the specs, it's a 32-inch LCD display with over 20 million pixels and a 6K Retina display. And you can connect up to six displays to get up to 120 million pixels. Prices start at $5,999, and the Mac Pro will be available starting this fall. Or if you just want to opt for the Pro Display XDR, you can get that for a cool $4,999.

As part of Mac OS Catalina, the new software powering Mac, Apple is kicking iTunes to the curb in favour of three separate apps: Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV. And now, as part of Catalina, there's a new feature called Sidecar lets you use your iPad as a second display for your Mac. Find My iPhone is getting an update, too — the new Find My feature lets you locate any device, even if it's offline and sleeping. And to combat devices being stolen, there's a new and very robust Activation Lock that keeps thieves from getting into your Mac.