Apple announces WWDC20 and the Swift Student Challenge

Apple plans to host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference starting on June 22 this year. For the first time in 31 years, the event will be entirely virtual. Over 23 million Apple developers around the world are invited to take part in the conference free of charge.

Along with the 2020 WWDC Apple announced another first, the Swift Student Challenge. Submissions are now open through May 17 to students around the world interested in coding. Swift playgrounds on any topic that can be experienced in three minutes or less can be submitted for judging. Winners receive an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set.

According to Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, over 350 student developers from 37 countries participated in last year's WWDC. Apple offered scholarships to winning students using a Swift-based challenge in 2019. Last year's event, held in San Jose, California required a $1,599 ticket from each developer in attendance.

Apple is expected to reveal iOS 14, iPadOS 14, tvOS 14, macOS 10.16, and watchOS 7 during its keynote event. Reports indicate iOS 14 will continue to improve quality and stability behind the scenes, with all devices running iOS 13 eligible for the update. It's not clear if the company plans to launch any new products, although Apple AirTags are said to be in development.