Apple Shares Further Details of Upcoming Online Developer Conference, Including One-on-One Labs

This year, Apple has been forced to move its annual developer's conference (WWDC) online, and up until today information on what that would actually look like was scarce.

In an email sent to developers, Apple outlines the lineup for the event with the first line reading: "Get ready for a WWDC like never before, with a jam-packed, all‑online experience coming to you from Apple Park".

The email goes on to note not only the obvious inclusion of online video streams of the Keynote presentation - where Apple is likely to show off all upcoming changes in iOS 14 and macOS 10.16 - and engineering sessions, but also a revamped developer forum and one-on-one labs.

Apple has long had a developer forum where engineers could ask technical questions of each other and share assistance. However, the platform has been rather bare bones to say the least and Apple no doubt felt the need for an upgrade, to better serve the online-only conference.

The announcement of one-on-one labs is perhaps the most exciting for developers. WWDC has always featured labs, where developers could go and talk to Apple engineers and discuss specific technologies, however, given the online-only nature of this year's event it was unclear if they would feature in this new format. Apple makes it clear on their updated conference site that only paid members of their developer program will be eligible to request and appointment and that availability will be limited.

The conference kicks off with the headlining keynote on June 22, 10 a.m. PDT.