Apple will be hosting a session at this year's Game Developers Conference for the first time, offering an introduction to ARKit, its augmented reality platform for developers.
The session will be presented by Michael Kuhn, who leads Apple's ARKit engineering team.
Entitled "Introduction to Apple's ARKit: Best practices and recent updates," the talk will cover core concepts of the ARKit framework and the ARKit API. It's designed to teach game developers how to get started with ARKit, and it will cover ARKit best practices.
This session introduces core concepts of the ARKit framework, it's underlying principles, and the ARKit API. It explains how to get started with ARKit using the different tracking and scene understanding capabilities as well integration into rendering/game engines. The session also highlights best practices for AR like starting an experience, placing objects in the real world, interacting with them and implications for games. In addition it explains basic concepts and challenges of AR and Computer Vision to help avoid common pitfalls and allow the creation of great experiences.
Apple has not previously offered developer sessions at GDC, but this is the first GDC since the launch of ARKit and Apple is likely hoping to get more game developers interested in implementing augmented reality features.
ARKit was introduced as part of iOS 11 back in September of 2017, and since then, developers have incorporated augmented reality features into more than 2,000 apps. Major improvements are coming to ARKit with the launch of iOS 11.3 and ARKit 1.5, which may come out right around when GDC takes place and will likely be a topic of discussion.
ARKit 1.5 can map irregularly shaped surfaces for better detection of ambient surroundings, it can recognize and map vertical surfaces like walls and doors, and it includes an image detection feature that works on everything from movie posters to bar codes.
The 2018 Game Developers Conference will kick off on March 19 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and it will last until March 23.
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors.
Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow.
MacRumors...
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further.
During its WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple said that 13...
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Heal...
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
Popular accessory maker Anker this month launched two separate recalls for its power banks, some of which may be a fire risk.
The first recall affects Anker PowerCore 10000 Power Banks sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 in the United States. Anker says that these power banks have a "potential issue" with the battery inside, which can lead to overheating, melting of plastic...
Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Chase this week announced a series of new perks for its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card, and one of them is for a pair of Apple services.
Specifically, the credit card now offers complimentary annual subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, a value of up to $250 per year.
If you are already paying for Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music directly through Apple, those subscriptions will...
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history.
The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
OK explain what am i missing here, how much more is there to a console than CPU/GPU and a controller. The controller on Switch is nowhere near a good controller, you can buy a good controller and pair it easily with an AppleTV. On the Go gaming can be easily done on your iphone. Plus mobile gaming is a totally different market, i am trying to discuss a "good" Micro console here. Nintendo Switch is neither. The biggest reason for its success is not mobility but availability of good games even many AAA titles. Look at Wii U gamepad. It had portability but the games are no good. Wii U failed for teh same reason, lack of good games, and what can serve good(AAA) games better if not good hardware?
Another example of this is the success of NES Classic launch. NES has great number of good games, even some of Nintendo's own IP is superb on NES. The NES Classic relaunch succeeded piggy backing on the old time gamers Nostalgia about NES Classic and availability of good games. which also wasnt portable but small enough to carry in your bag to your friends place. along with regular size NES controllers.
I agree that good games is the no.1 reason for the success of a console, but you can't say that because Apple TV has better CPU/GPU than the Switch it is a more capable console. Again, it doesn't even come with a game controller. If you want to compete on the stationary console market, first make something that rivals the best in that field, PS4 Pro/Xbox One X.
Very nice Apple has to up its game among Game Devs. They have a very capable Gaming Console in AppleTV with power far superior to Nintendo Switch or Sony PS3 but they are unable to sell it as a capable game console to either users or devs, which feeds the loopback cycle of lack of good AAA game content. It burns my heart looking at Nintendo Switch being an inferior hardware making it and a superior hardware like Apple's A'series chips not able to succeed in the gaming market.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
