Apple Developer Weekly #223 WWDC25 Starts on June 9
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From 13
WWDC timing has been announced.
Every year during March and April, I feel that "iOS development becomes boring" because the latest version has stabilized. This is part of the annual cycle. But this feeling completely disappears after WWDC introduces new things.
However, if you ask me whether I would want to attend WWDC in person again (I attended 2016-2019), I would say the cost is too high and the rewards too small.
In previous WWDCs, there would be a large group of developers asking questions and interacting on site. The Keynote wasn't pre-recorded, but presented live. Although it lacked post-production effects, the experience was much more impactful.
The Labs, where you could discuss issues face-to-face with Apple engineers, were also one of the best parts of the previous WWDCs. I once personally witnessed an Apple engineer open up code, check the underlying implementation, and then advise on the recommended way to call an API. These experiences are lost in online Labs.
Of course, attending Special Events in person can still bring surprises. For example, the year Apple Vision Pro was announced, some developers got to experience the hardware firsthand. These things are impossible to know or plan for in advance.
In summary, I hope Apple introduces more tools this year to make developers' work easier and to unleash more creativity!
13 on March 31, 2025
🧪Apple Releases & News
Watch out for issues! LLDB in Xcode 16.2 crashes on macOS 15.4 Beta. This problem persists even in RC 2.
📣WWDC25 Dates Announced
The most important time of the year for Apple developers has been announced: June 9-13, held online.
If you want to enter the lottery to attend in person (to watch pre-recorded videos), immediately register for the lottery on the official website! The deadline is 11:59 p.m. PT on Wednesday, April 2.
On another note, Swift Student Challenge winners have been announced. Some students from Taiwan won. Besides congratulating them, I also wish them luck in the lottery for free trips to WWDC in person. I hope to hear their stories afterward.
🧠Apple Website Features Lumon Terminal Pro
It's also promoting Severance. I think it's pretty cool to see it on the official website.
Additionally, the website features a behind-the-scenes video highlighting that the show was edited on Mac. Please note that it might contain spoilers for Season 2.
I personally haven't watched Season 2 yet, but I plan to catch up soon.
If you're interested and happen to have purchased Apple products, check if you have complimentary Apple TV+. Otherwise, you'll need to subscribe.
🎧AirPods Max Will Soon Support Lossless Audio and Ultra-Low Latency Audio
AirPods Max will unlock 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio. This is expected to arrive with iOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4 updates.
Additionally, Apple has released a matching USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable (the previous AirPods Max used Lightning, so there was a Lightning to 3.5mm audio cable).
This 1.2-meter cable costs NT$1,290. A notable feature is that it's "bidirectional," so it likely contains both a DAC and an ADC, which might explain the high price.
However, if you want the highest audio quality output from Apple products, you can simply use the USB-C cable that comes with your headphones to connect to Mac, iPhone, or iPad. No need to buy this cable.
🚀Introducing swiftly 1.0
A new official tool for managing and installing Swift toolchain versions.
This is primarily for developers working on the Swift language itself, not a tool for developers who use Swift.
🪩DJ with Apple Music
DJs can now use the Apple Music library for mixing. Although this doesn't have much relevance to us as developers.
🤖Alex Sidebar 2.5
Alex is an AI development assistant tool centered around Xcode, which I also mentioned in issue 219.
This week, it released version 2.5, adding many major features like multi-file modifications, point-in-time recovery, screenshot annotations, code structure visualization, auto-completion, and more. Worth trying.
Interestingly, by the time I was writing this, they had added even more features and had already updated to version 2.5.4.
🎨Play to Xcode
Play is an iOS interface and interaction design software. Their newest feature allows exporting design projects directly as Swift Packages.
🧱More iOS Development-Related MCPs
In the last issue, I mentioned iMCP and ios-simulator-mcp. This week, I discovered another xcodebuild MCP.
🎮Assassin's Creed Shadows and Control: Ultimate Edition on Mac App Store
For gaming enthusiasts, you've probably heard of the Assassin's Creed series. The latest, "Shadows," is now on the Mac App Store. However, this version has been controversial, with low ratings from players.
More importantly, its performance on Apple Silicon isn't great (if you really want to play it—though you probably shouldn't—I would choose to play it on PS5 Pro).
Additionally, Remedy's 2019 hit Control: Ultimate Edition is also available on the Mac App Store. It reportedly performs much better than Assassin's Creed. At the time, this game was a showcase for ray tracing in games. Now it can be played on Mac with ray tracing enabled.
I personally quite enjoy this game.
That's all for this week's Apple Developer Weekly. Feel free to like❤️, comment💬, or reply✉️ to share your thoughts.
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