iOS 17 to Allow Sideloading Apps on the iPhone: Report

Summary:

In this week’s edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported that iOS 17, expected to be unveiled at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, will pave the way for app sideloading and third-party app stores on the iPhone.

iOS 17 will cause some noise beyond WWDC itself. Apple is working to overhaul the software to open up the iPhone to sideloading — the downloading of apps outside of its official store — to comply with new European regulations by next year.

The EU last year passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which, among other things, will force Apple to allow sideloading and third-party app stores on the iPhone (at least in Europe) by March 2024 at the latest.

In addition to iOS 17 and the AR/VR headset that’s widely expected to headline the event, Gurman also expects Apple to announce the following at WWDC 2023:

  • The new xrOS operating system for mixed-reality products and an accompanying software development kit
  • New MacBooks
  • iPadOS 17
  • macOS 14
  • watchOS 10

According to the analyst, watchOS 10 will be a major upgrade for the Apple Watch, complete with an updated user interface.

As for the new Macs coming at WWDC, Gurman noted that Apple is currently working on several new models: a 15-inch MacBook Air, an updated 13-inch MacBook Air, an entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, a refreshed 24-inch iMac, the first Mac Pro with Apple Silicon, and updated high-end MacBook Pro models, as well as two next-generation Mac Studio models.

While Gurman said that all of these Macs should launch sometime this year or in early 2024, Apple will likely only announce some of the new laptops at WWDC. Furthermore, Gurman said that the new MacBooks coming in June won’t feature next-generation M3 processors but will instead have something similar to the current M2 chips.

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