WWDC 2013 Dates, Tickets And Registration Announced: What Will Apple Unveil For iOS 7, OS X 10.9?

Apple announced the official details for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Wednesday, which will again take place at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco from June 10-14.

Tickets for WWDC 2013 will go on sale starting Thursday, April 25, at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets are limited to one per person and five per organization, but to buy a ticket, you must be already be a member of one of Apple’s developer programs, including its iOS Developer Program, iOS Developer Enterprise Program, or Mac Developer Program. Tickets cost $1,599 each.

“We look forward to gathering at WWDC 2013 with the incredible community of iOS and OS X developers,” Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of marketing said, in a statement. “Our developers have had the most prolific and profitable year ever, and we’re excited to show them the latest advances in software technologies and developer tools to help them create innovative new apps. We can’t wait to get new versions of iOS and OS X into their hands at WWDC.”

Apple will be hosting hundreds of activities at WWDC, including more than 100 technical sessions on a wide range of topics to help Apple developers learn about integrating and deploying the latest iOS and OS X technologies in their current software, and Apple will also have more than 1,000 of its own engineers from Cupertino in attendance to provide hands-on insight and code-level assistance into iOS and OS X techniques.

WWDC 2013: What Will Apple Unveil At The Main Event?

Developers will jump at the chance to spend time with some of the leading minds in technology and software development during the five-day developers conference, but the reason most Apple fans look forward to WWDC each year is for the company’s keynote, led by CEO Tim Cook, which will certainly include some software-related announcements and unveilings.

Following tradition, Apple is expected to unveil its latest operating systems for its mobile devices (iOS) and desktop computers (OS X) at the WWDC 2013 keynote. Apple’s iOS 5 and iOS 6 were introduced at WWDC 2011 and WWDC 2012, respectively, and OS X Mountain Lion was also unveiled at WWDC 2012; at WWDC 2013, Apple is expected to unveil the ninth edition of its Mac OS X software line, likely named “Lynx,” along with iOS 7, which will include new features for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users.

While iOS 7 may be unveiled at WWDC 2013, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber said iOS 7 is “running behind” schedule, which means the new mobile software may not be ready for its purported reveal date in June.

“What I've heard: iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on it,” Gruber said in a Branch chat with several Apple reporters on Tuesday. “Let me know if you’ve heard this song before.”

Gruber was referring to 2007, when Apple had to “borrow some key software engineering” resources from its Mac OS X team to work on software for the first iPhone. FOX anchor Clayton Morris also said he'd heard "from engineers who've been moved off of their current 'nonprofit generating projects' in order to work on the high priority software projects."

WWDC 2013 may also introduce some new hardware. At last year’s WWDC, Apple upgraded its Mac lineup, refreshing its MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops with newer processors and also introduced the first MacBook Pro with Retina display. Considering how Apple fans were upset at how the Mac Pro was completely neglected at WWDC 2012 (and Cook’s response to a concerned fan) consumers can expect Apple to introduce a new Mac Pro tower desktop, likely with a complete redesign, at WWDC 2013.

“Our pro customers are really important to us,” Cook said. “Don’t worry, as we’re working on something really great for later next year.”

We’re fully expecting a new Mac Pro to release at WWDC 2013 – we’re even surprised Apple hasn’t released the computer even sooner, considering how Apple can no longer sell the computer in Europe, given a new regulatory guideline that went into effect on March 1. To sell the Mac Pro in the EU again, Apple would need to unveil a new Mac Pro that meets the new EU safety and electrical standards -- specifically, IEC 609501 Amendment 1 requires Apple fix the amount of power guided through its I/O ports, as well as the placement of its fan guards.

Besides the Mac Pro, it’s likely Apple will release upgraded versions of its MacBook Pro and MacBook Air at WWDC 2013, and possibly remove the non-Retina MacBook Pro model from its inventory, citing low sales of the computer. China-based DigiTimes said earlier this month that Apple will release "its new MacBook products at the end of the second quarter," but the Mac computers will see only "single-digit" shipment growth in 2013, while KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in January that Apple would "do away with the non-Retina MacBook Pro line in 2013, moving to an all-Retina lineup at cheaper price points than the current Retina models," and even make a few tweaks to the design of the Retina MacBook Pros.

Kuo, who had correctly predicted Apple's entire product pipeline in 2012, also said Apple will release a new MacBook Air at WWDC 2013, but there will be no Retina display as it is still too difficult to match such a high-density screen to a computer as thin as the MacBook Air. He did say, however, that the 2013 MacBook Air will most notably be powered by Intel's new Haswell chips, and its form factor could see another reduction in terms of relative thickness.

The MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are two fan favorites that will likely see some improvements at WWDC 2013, but there’s a possibility that both computers will be ignored at the event, considering how Apple gave those laptops significant specs bumps and price drops earlier this year.

It was also rumored that Apple may introduce its two highly-rumored iPhone 5 successors at WWDC 2023, including the security-heavy iPhone 5S and the cheaper-made iPhone 6, but it’s more likely that Apple would choose a separate event to release such an important and popular device.

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