Apple Worldwide Developers Conference

The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in the macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS families as well as other Apple software. WWDC is also an event hosted for third-party software developers that work on apps for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices. Attendees can participate in hands-on labs with Apple engineers and attend in-depth sessions covering a wide variety of topics.

The first ever WWDC was held in 1983 with the introduction of Apple Basic, but it was not until 2002 that Apple started using the conference as a major launchpad for new products. Beginning in 1987, WWDC was held in Santa Clara. After 15 years in nearby San Jose, the conference moved to San Francisco, where it eventually became Apple's primary media event of the year and regularly sold out. WWDC returned to San Jose 13 years later.

WWDC 2020 and WWDC 2021* were hosted as online-only conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WWDC22 invited developers and press back into Steve Jobs theater for the first time in about three years. Customers and consumers watched the event via an online live streams. All of these events were hosted at Apple Park in Cupertino, California.

*WWDC21 had an outdoor viewing for select developers and press.

Attendance

A $1,599 ticket is required to enter the conference. Tickets are obtained through an online lottery. Scholarships are available for students and members of STEM organizations. Attendees must be 13 years or older and must be a member of an Apple Developer program.

Until 2007, the number of attendees varied between 2,000 and 4,200; however, during WWDC 2007, Steve Jobs noted that there were more than 5,000 attendees. The WWDC events held from 2008 to 2015 were capped, and sold out at 5,000 attendees (5,200 including special attendees). WWDC 2018 had 6,000 attendees from 77 countries, including 350 scholarship recipients.

Content

WWDC is held annually from Monday to Friday on one week in June. The conference consists primarily of a keynote address, presentation sessions, one-on-one "lab" consultations, and special get-togethers and events.

The conference begins with a Monday morning keynote address by Tim Cook and other Apple executives. (From 1998 until his resignation and death in 2011, Steve Jobs gave the keynote address, which the media often called the '' Stevenote''.) It is attended by both conference attendees and the media, since Apple regularly makes product announcements at the event. Hardware announced during the address is sometimes exhibited in the conference hall afterwards. The keynote address is followed in the afternoon by a Platforms State of the Union address, which highlights and demonstrates changes in Apple's software developer platforms that are detailed in sessions later in the week. The Apple Design Awards are also announced on the first day of the conference.

Several session tracks run simultaneously from Tuesday through Friday. The presentations cover programming, design, and other topics and range from introductory to advanced. Almost all regularly scheduled presentations are delivered by Apple employees. These presentations are streamed live, and recordings can be viewed on demand on the Apple Developer website in the conference's iOS and tvOS applications. Lunchtime sessions are given by a variety of guest speakers who are industry experts in technology and science; these sessions are not streamed or recorded. In the past, some sessions included question-and-answer time, and a popular Stump the Experts session featured interaction between Apple employees and attendees.

At the labs, which run throughout the week, Apple engineers are available for one-on-one consultations with developers in attendance. Experts in user interface design and accessibility are also available for consultations by appointment.

Apple organizes social get-togethers during the conference for various groups, such as women in technology or developers interested in internationalization or machine learning. The Thursday evening Bash (previously the Beer Bash) at a nearby park features live music, food, and drinks for all attendees 21 years or older.

History

1980s

1983

In 1983, the first WWDC was held. During this time, the event was called The Apple Independent Software Developers Conference. Participants of the event had to sign an NDA, so not much is known about the event, but what is known is that people got a first look at Lisa, the world's first personal computer with a graphical interface.

1984

In 1984, Jobs introduced the famous Macintosh, the second graphical interface personal computer, to developers. This was also the first year the conference was open to the media.

1989

In 1989, System 7 was announced.

1990s

1991

In 1991, WWDC saw the first public demonstration of QuickTime.

1995

In 1995, WWDC'95 focused almost fully on the '' Copland'' project, which by this time was able to be demonstrated to some degree. Gil Amelio stated that the system was on-schedule to ship in beta form in later summer with an initial commercial release in the very late fall. However, very few ''live'' demos were offered, and no beta of the operating system was offered.

1996

In 1996, WWDC'96's primary emphasis was a new software component technology called '' OpenDoc'', which allowed end users to compile an application from components offering features they desired most. The OpenDoc consortium included Adobe, Lotus, others, and Apple. Apple touted OpenDoc as the future foundation for application structure under Mac OS. As proof of concept, Apple demonstrated a new end-user product called Cyberdog, a comprehensive Internet application component suite offering users an integrated browser, email, FTP, telnet, finger and other services built fully of user-exchangeable OpenDoc components. ''ClarisWorks'' (later renamed '' AppleWorks''), a principal product in Apple's wholly owned subsidiary '' Claris Corporation'', was demonstrated as an example of a pre-OpenDoc component architecture application modified to be able to contain functional OpenDoc '' components''.

1997

In 1997, WWDC marked the return of Steve Jobs as a consultant, and he reacted for an insult by a developer. WWDC'97 was the first show after the purchase of NeXT, and focused on the efforts to use OPENSTEP as the foundation of the next Mac OS. The plan at that time was to introduce a new system then named '' Rhapsody'', which would consist of a version of OPENSTEP modified with a more Mac-like look and feel