I’m not Miss Cleo, but did my best to try to solve the visual riddles and spot the Easter eggs in Apple’s artwork.
On Wednesday, Apple sent media invitations out for the keynote at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference 2019. The WWDC2019 presentation takes place at 10 a.m. PT on Monday, June 3 in San Jose, California. The weeklong conference will likely show off upcoming versions of iOS 13 and the latest MacOS as well as reveal new hardware.
If previous years are any indication, the WWDC invitation usually hints at a theme or initiative Apple is likely to unveil. So like Batman and Robin (the ’60s TV version) I tried to solve the riddles in the invite.
This year, there are five illustrated drawings each of an Animojicharacter: monkey, robot, skull, alien and unicorn. Sorry, no koala or dragon. The artwork shows each character having their Animoji mind being literally blown with a puff of smoke projecting emojis, coding symbols and icons for things like Swift and Metal. There are even head and skull fragments drawn in — ew.
A new Mac Pro… finally
The choice of Animoji character is curious but could shed light on where Apple is going. The monkey drawing has icons of a paint brush, musical notes and a camera eliciting a definite playful creative vibe. In previous years, Apple has been criticized for its seeming lack of support of creative professionals.
Last year, Apple informed a handful of reporters that it is working on a major overhaul and update to the “trashcan” Mac Pro — one of the symbols of Apple’s creative neglect. That update is said to be released in 2019. So this monkey with a paintbrush coming out of his head could signal that we will finally see a new 2019 Mac Pro.
Apple Arcade and more gaming
The skull illustration includes a joystick and bowling pin as debris. At Apple’s last event in March, the Arcade subscription gaming service was announced for iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple TVs. Arcade will have more than 100 new and exclusive games made by studios and developers from around the world, including Annapurna Interactive, Lego, Sega, Cartoon Network, Konami, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Will Wright and Ken Wong. Despite the showy teaser there weren’t many details like price and release date about the service. Perhaps Apple will share more about it at WWDC.
Marzipan dreams of iOS and MacOS together
The drawings of the robot and alien are two sides of the same coin. There is an iOS calculator icon exploding out of the robot’s head and the MacOS launchpad icon jettisoning out of the alien’s noggin. These symbols could point to the unification of iOS and MacOS app development, a so-called OS unicorn — get it?
The unicorn picture also incorporates icons from iOS and MacOS. At WWDC 2018, Senior VP Craig Federighi said that iOS and MacOS will not merge into one operating system. But Apple showed its iOS News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home apps ported over to MacOS. Apple could bring this cross-platform framework to third-party developers. Apple has been rumored to have a project codenamed Marizpan that will offer such functionality.
More Apple Pencil support and more Animojis
All of the artwork looks drawn which could indicate more Apple Pencil functionality. Could that mean full support for using an Apple Pencil on an iPhone XS Max a la the S-Pen on Samsung‘s Galaxy Note 9? Or is this a more literal indicator that you’ll be able to draw your own Animojis? Just spitballin’ here. It most likely indicates that more Animojis will be coming to your iPhone and iPad.
Bye, bye iTunes
The musical notes on the monkey drawing is a MacOS Easter Egg supporting the rumor that Apple is breaking apart iTunes in favor of several smaller standalone MacOS apps including one called Music.
The iPad gets trackpad support
Nearly all of the drawings have what looks like either a location arrow or cursor arrow. The more ambitious rumor is that the iPad might finally get trackpad/mouse support which would mean the addition of a cursor of some kind. This would truly transform the iPad Pro and its bonkers fast processor into a true laptop replacement.
It’s more likely the icon is a location arrow which would support rumors of an upgrade to the Maps app that lets you save important addresses.
New iPhone mute switch or iOS toggle switch
Several of the WWDC drawings have an oval with a circle to one side. I immediately thought this was the iOS toggle switch and perhaps it hints at more improvements to iOS notifications.
But my colleague Vanessa Hand Orellana pointed out it could also be a reference to a rumored new mute switch on the next iPhone. Apple hasn’t released a new iPhone at WWDC since the iPhone 4 and I’d be dubious if it released one there this year.
Dark mode
All of the drawings have one major thing in common. They have a dark background and light colored artwork. Last year, MacOS Mojave got a dark mode, but there are rumors that a similar mode might come to iOS this year. (In the meantime, you can try these apps with dark mode settings.)
