Apple and COVID-19: Updates on Upcoming Apple Events

Image via Apple 

WWDC has been announced already but there is no announcement or an invitation for the spring Apple event. This year’s WWDC 2020 is shifting to an online webinar as the coronavirus outbreak caused many public events and large conferences to cancel, to prevent people from spreading the virus amongst large groups. Even the invitation artwork for WWDC this summer is only a silver MacBook Pro, with WWDC stickers on the lid. There is no word on when the WWDC online conference will take place, only the month and the general information are specified in the webpage.

As a matter of fact that WWDC is now in a webinar consisting of video keynotes and sessions, Apple might be cancelling their spring event for later this month. If the company does the event this month, then the keynote would not have an audience and will only be recorded live from the Steve Jobs Theater. Otherwise, Apple would have no choice to only announce the iPhone SE 2, iPad Pro 4th generation and the 13-inch updated MacBook Pro on Apple Newsroom. The Cupertino firm announced hardware releases on Apple Newsroom back in spring 2017 with the 5th generation iPad and new Classic Buckle and Hermès bands for Apple Watch, following with the 2019 iMacs, 3rd generation iPad Air and the iPad mini 5 announcements a few weeks prior to the March 2019 event. This might be an invidious time for Apple fans and employees to move on to webinars for the next two Apple events, amongst the closures of Apple’s stores and most of the corporate offices outside China for the rest of the month.

Now it is time to stock up on the snacks, sit down with the iPad or Apple TV at home and watch the event on the Apple website. The coronavirus outbreak has infected thousands of people around the world, with 169,652 cases and 6,518 deaths as of writing this article. In the US, the CDC recommended all event organisers to cancel all events and gatherings with 50+ attendees, which also includes WWDC 2020 and the spring Apple event this year. WWDC 2020 is expected to introduce iOS 14, watchOS 7, tvOS 14, macOS 10.16 and iPadOS 14. The event marks the beginning of the new iOS, iPadOS and watchOS beta testing season,  which is every summer. With this public health crisis emerging rapidly throughout the world and the economy crashing to the lowest end, everything from work, conferences and Apple events have to shift to watching videos and FaceTiming close peers during this devastating outbreak.