A woman holds her new Apple iPhone 5S after buying it at an Apple Store at Tokyo's Ginza shopping district
A woman holds her new Apple iPhone 5S after buying it at an Apple Store at Tokyo's Ginza shopping district September 20, 2013. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

The Worldwide Developers Conference takes off on Monday, June 2. There is every possibility that Apple will use the WWDC 2014 platform to have big announcements about the future of OS X, iPad and iOS. While one cannot expect much about hardware developments, a lot is expected in software advances.

iOS 8

There should not be any major changes in the iOS 8. It will rather be a more polished version of the iOS 7 with several major new features in addition to that. An app named Healthbook is expected to be introduced. This app will collect health information like heart rate, sleep and blood pressure.

OS X

The Mac OS may get a big makeover. The updated OS X may still work the way its previous version did. However, it will be a more stylised version to suit the looks of the iOS 7. Similar designs will help both the operating systems to work more closely.

Split-screen iPad

The split-screen will help the iPad run two apps at the same time when it is held in landscape mode. The apps will then appear side by side. Brian Chen of the New York Times, on the other hand, tweeted that this feature was not ready for iOS 8 and would not be a part of WWDC.

Siri

iOS 8 will make Siri even more effective. It will reportedly be able to identify details of songs by listening to it. Apple is apparently partnering with Shazam to come up with this feature. In addition, Apple may also introduce Siri to OS X.

Apple Maps

Apple had its share of troubles in 2012 with its Maps and even apologised for it. Apple Maps is expected to have a big makeover too. Directions for public transit will be included. However, Apple is expected to work really well before introducing the new features as it would not like to face embarrassment again.

iPhone 6

It has been strongly rumoured by several news agencies that iPhone 6 is on its way soon. A much bigger display with a 5.5 inch screen is expected. This highly expected mobile phone may well be announced at WWDC. However, The Verge reported that the company is still working on it.

MacBooks

There may be a slimmer MacBook Air announced with 12-inch Retina display. If it happens, it will be a first significant upgrade in design in the last four years. However, the release of this product may be put on hold for some time.

Reference: 9to5Mac

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au