Two new notebooks and many innovations for the iPhone: Every year at its developer conference, the company shows how Apple sees the future.

The software is usually in the foreground.

New operating systems and applications appear, trends and framework conditions are named, and in the fall the corresponding devices come along with the completed software.

Michael Spehr

Editor in the "Technology and Engine" department.

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The mostly virtual conference, which runs until June 10, focuses this year on the iPhone operating system iOS 16. Almost 45 minutes of the two-hour opening event revolved around the smartphone.

A virtual reality headset has not been unveiled or even hinted at, despite rumors to the contrary.

The hardware surprise was rather the two notebooks with a new processor.

iOS 16

The new iOS 16 is about to start for developers.

As always, many old devices will also be equipped with the new software after completion.

The changes this year consist of many small measures for more productivity.

The main ones concern the lock screen and Apple Carplay.

The lock screen of iOS 16 is updated, more information from individual apps can be seen at a glance even when the display is locked.

There is a new menu to customize the lock screen, which includes colors and fonts.

Mini programs called widgets can be placed directly on the lock screen.

You can quickly switch between different lock screens.

With the new live activities, you can follow real-time events on the lock screen.

The whole thing can also be combined with the focus function, for example to hide unimportant information in the evening or at the weekend.

iMessage now allows retrieving and editing already sent messages.

The function for sharing app content ("shared with you") gets an interface for external apps.

The dictation function of iOS will be fundamentally revised in order to switch between finger and gesture control as well as dictation more quickly.

In addition, punctuation marks are automatically inserted.

The dictation function works on the device, i.e. without data transmission of the audio snippets to external servers.

The Live Text feature, which can be used to extract text from photos, is being expanded with iOS 16.

It should even be possible to extract text from videos.

With artificial intelligence, you can freely copy objects from videos and photos to other apps.

This looked spectacular during the demonstration.

The Apple wallet for payment transactions or digital IDs is intended to replace even more physical keys and keys can be shared with apps like Whatsapp and other programs.

Apple Pay is getting an extension called "Later" for loans with installment payments.

It remains to be seen whether this function will come to Europe.

Apple's Maps now masters stopover planning and better public transport support.

Third-party providers can use the maps to integrate their information.

Family Sharing lets you share Apple subscription services with the entire household.

Now parental control of the child's activities and the assignment of age-appropriate content should become easier.

It's also easier to share photos within the family.

There is also a new iCloud library for shared content that can be populated by all family members.

Also this year, Apple emphasizes the privacy of iOS users as a plus.

A new security check lets you quickly reset all privacy settings to prevent stalking.

Apple Homekit for the smart home supports the new "Matter" network protocol, which we have already reported on here.

It offers better data exchange and the integration of different devices, 130 new products are in development.

The Home app will also be revised under iOS 16, for example to see all rooms at a glance.