After Microsoft, Apple Moves Its Biggest Tech Event Online Due to Coronavirus

This year’s edition of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, will only take place online, as the Cupertino-based tech giant has decided to cancel the physical event due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The event will take place in June, and Apple explains that it decided to move to an online-only format in an attempt to reduce the risk of infections.

Thousands of developers and Apple partners typically attend WWDC, so by switching to an online event, Apple avoids exposing large crowds to the new virus.

“We are delivering WWDC 2020 this June in an innovative way to millions of developers around the world, bringing the entire developer community together with a new experience,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

“The current health situation has required that we create a new WWDC 2020 format that delivers a full program with an online keynote and sessions, offering a great learning experience for our entire developer community, all around the world. We will be sharing all of the details in the weeks ahead.”

Physical version of Microsoft Build also canceled

Apple uses the yearly edition of the WWDC to provide early looks at its new software, including previews of the next iOS updates for iPhone. This year, Apple is expected to offer a demo of iOS 14, the next iPhone software update due in the fall.

Earlier this week, Microsoft also confirmed that it’s moving Build, its largest tech conference of the year, to an online-only event due to the same high risk of contracting the coronavirus infection. Several other tech giants announced similar plans, including Google and Facebook.

Apple says additional details about this year’s online-only WWDC will be shared closer to the June kickoff date, including information on how we can watch the event.