Apple’s second all-virtual WWDC will (hopefully) be its last

Hi everyone—it’s Mark. On Tuesday, Apple Inc. announced what will be at least its fifth virtual product launch in a row and one of its most important events of the year: the June 2021 Worldwide Developers Conference.

That’s the event where Apple will showcase updates to iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, macOS and watchOS—the software platforms that are the underpinnings of all of the company’s major devices. These annual changes give users reasons to buy new iPhones and stay locked into the ecosystem. They also push developers to make new apps that will keep people returning to the App Store, another key revenue generator.

For the second year in a row, the event will be a very different scene from WWDCs of yore, when attendees would fly in from all over the globe to pack auditoriums small and large to learn about the newest Apple features. There will be no nighttime bar crawl, or parties in San Jose and San Francisco.

But I believe that internally, Apple hopes that WWDC 2021 will be its last developer conference in a purely digital format—and that the return to in-person media events will begin by early next year. The company makes hardware: It wants attendees, as well as more of its employees, back in-person to use, test and develop those products.

Take conferences: By all accounts, last year’s virtual WWDC was a success. But Apple’s real-world gatherings bring dozens or hundreds of journalists together in one room, essentially ensuring coverage of the announcement can be choreographed by Apple to exacting specifications. From the way lighting shines on products to the exact moment media members are ushered to a hands-on area for a first crack at the gadgets, everything is perfectly shaped to help the world see Apple’s announcements the way Apple wants them to be seen.

Sometime in the next several months, the company is poised to announce a mixed reality headset, its first major new device since 2015. If possible, Apple won’t want to make such a critical announcement at an online event. It wants employees, the media, its partners and developers in the room.

Similarly, Apple is working faster than most tech companies to get its key engineering staff back in the office. Working from home has some benefits, but a car, the next iPhone, future smart speakers and new earbuds can’t be designed, engineered and tested from a kitchen table.

Already, some engineers are working from the company’s headquarters during certain times and on particular days. Apple is hoping for a larger return as early as June. It’s also encouraging employees to get vaccinated, offering paid time off for their shot appointment as well as for any side effects.

Of course, that doesn’t mean everything will go back to normal. Apple’s virtual events have let the company expand the range of its presentations, slicing together clips of engineers talking up new features in ways a handful of higher-level executives may not be able to. They’ve also let consumers and media take rare peeks into Apple’s labs, such as the ones used for developing and testing new processors and camera technology.

Once group gatherings are feasible again, I expect Apple will make good use of its auditorium screens and play similar videos in between high-level talking points and product announcements from top executives. I’d also imagine the virtual flourishes of its developer conferences to continue as an option—including live-streaming of individual sessions in which Apple engineers talk developers through new features.

Virtual events and remote work have performed well for Apple during the pandemic. That doesn’t mean the company doesn’t want to scale them back as fast as possible. —Mark Gurman