Apple's Virtual WWDC Event to Kick Off on June 22

Apple's virtual WWDC event will start on June 22, Apple announced today. It will be hosted in the Apple Developer app and the Apple Developer website and it will be free for all developers. Apple does plan to hold a keynote event, presumably on June 22 when WWDC begins.

"WWDC20 will be our biggest yet, bringing together our global developer community of more than 23 million in an unprecedented way for a week in June to learn about the future of Apple platforms," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "We can't wait to meet online in June with the global developer community and share with them all of the new tools we've been working on to help them create even more incredible apps and services. We look forward to sharing more details about WWDC20 with everyone as we get closer to this exciting event."

As with the standard WWDC that Apple has hosted in past years, WWDC's 2020 digital event will span a week. Apple normally charges $1,599 for a ticket to attend WWDC, but this year, millions of developer will be able to participate.

Apple will be hosting a Swift Student Challenge as part of the event, and is taking applications as of today. In a typical year, the Swift-based challenge is used to determine who will get a scholarship to WWDC. Apple says that though the event is digital, there's still an opportunity to recognize the creative contributions of young developers.

"Students are an integral part of the Apple developer community, and last year WWDC saw attendance from more than 350 student developers spanning 37 different countries," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "As we look forward to WWDC20, although our gathering will be virtual this year, we want to recognize and celebrate the creative contributions of our young developers from around the world. We can't wait to see this next generation of innovative thinkers turn their ideas into a reality through the Swift Student Challenge."

Student developers from all over the world can enter the Swift Student Challenge by creating an interactive scene in Swift Playgrounds that can be experienced in three minutes. Winners will receive an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set, with more information available on Apple's website.

Apple says that developers should download the Apple Developer app where additional WWDC program information, such as details on the keynote, the Platforms State of the Union, sessions, and lab schedules will be shared in June. Apple will also make this information available on the Apple Developer website and by email.

At WWDC, Apple will unveil iOS and iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, tvOS 14, and macOS 10.16. There's no word whether we might see new products introduced around the event, but Apple is working on AirTags, Tile-like Bluetooth tags that could come out around that time.

There's also a new 23-inch iMac in the works, along with high-end over-ear headphones, some kind of wireless charging mat, a new iPad Air, an updated Apple TV and more, with details on what Apple is developing available in our upcoming products guide.