It’s (almost) iOS 7 time! The Apple keynote is September 10th (that’s tomorrow!) and it’s one of the most highly anticipated Apple events yet. Naturally, everyone is making assumptions about what will be revealed.
Apple events always trigger this sort of bookmaker fever. Journalists, developers and enthusiasts are always speculating, imagining, and betting on what Cupertino has in store for the World. And this time is no exception.
What everyone already assumes will be the heart of the event is the announcement of iOS 7 (which we tested for you immediately after the WWDC in July.) iOS 7 could be made available for download at the same time as the event or, more likely, next week.
Home screen of the new iOS 7
There’s a remote possibility that the version of iOS 7 for iPad will launch after the iPhone version, seeing as the new iOS beta has shown greater stability on the smartphone than on the Apple tablet.
One new element we expect to see at the event is the fingerprint reader, which will be integrated into mobile devices. It seems that, for the moment, it will only serve to unlock the screen, but it would be very convenient if it also became the central function for managing the new iCloud Keychain.
Some updates to OS X 10.9 Mavericks might also sneak their way into the keynote on Tuesday. We’ve already talked at length about the changes introduced in the new operating system for Mac, but this time an official release date will be announced, which could be in the very near future. There might even be a few other surprises.
The other major software news will cover the iWork ecosystem. The beta of iWork for iCloud has been available to developers since June, and in a few weeks everyone with an Apple ID will be able to try it out. It’s likely, therefore, that September 10th will be the official final launch.
And that’s not all. 9to5mac.com suggests that the iWork suite for Apple’s iOS will be made free. The proof? A screenshot taken on an iPhone with iOS 7 beta 3, which shows iWork listed in the category of recommended free apps from the App Store. This would be a very interesting step for Cupertino in the battle against Microsoft and Google on the wide range of office suites.
If we add to this juicy software news the notion that the Keynote is likely to present the new iPhone (the 5S and probably the 5C, the first plastic Apple smartphone), then you have more than enough reasons for tuning into the Keynote.
Follow all the action from the Apple keynote on our News section.
