CUPERTINO, Calif.—Apple's watchOS hasn't been known for big, flashy feature updates in recent years, but 2023 could be an exception. During the company's annual WWDC keynote, Apple announced a ship date for watchOS—and a couple of notable new additions for Apple Watch users.

The main focus of the watchOS 10 update is the addition of widgets, similar to those previously seen in iOS and iPadOS. Using widgets, Watch wearers will be able to access some information and features of Watch apps without actually launching or browsing around in those apps. Widgets will appear on the watch face by just turning the digital crown, and appear in a "smart stack", and you can long press on the stack to add more widgets. Apple demoed widgets for the weather, stocks, the calendar, fitness, timers, and complications, and of course developers will be able to add more, too.

Apple also spruced up some of the built-in app. The activity app now has corner icons for awards and other fitness tracking, and there are new full-screen views. These corner icons will be a theme in most of the new app designs. There are two new watch faces, a minimalistic color-based watch face called "palette", and a licensed Snoopy & Woodstock watch face.

Enlarge / The iPhone 14 Pro. (credit: Apple)

Apple has released a new batch of software updates for all of its platforms today, adding some of the last noteworthy features to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura before it announces their replacements at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month. The iOS and iPadOS 16.5 updates and macOS 13.4 update are available to download now.

Apple is mostly done adding marquee features to these versions of its software, and the list of improvements is short. The biggest addition in iOS, macOS, and iPadOS is a sports tab in the Apple News app, which apparently makes it easier to follow sports news. And they resolve an issue across all operating systems that would keep Screen Time activity from being synced properly. And iOS and iPadOS pick up new Pride-themed wallpapers.

The iOS and iPadOS 16.5 and macOS 13.4 updates also fix some outstanding bugs. In macOS, there’s a fix for a problem that would keep Macs from using an Apple Watch to unlock, plus a fix for Bluetooth keyboards taking too long to connect after a restart. The iOS update fixes a Spotlight freezing bug and problems with the Podcasts app in CarPlay.

Enlarge / The Apple Watch Series 7, which uses a chip that is very similar to its predecessor (the Series 6) and its successor (the Series 8). (credit: Corey Gaskin)

Technically, each year's Apple Watch includes a processor upgrade. The Apple Watch Series 8 comes with an Apple S8 processor, which is a larger number than the S7 SoC that came with the Series 7 or the S6 that came with the Series 6.

However, none of those processors has actually provided much by way of a performance upgrade; they all seem to use an identical processor with a CPU architecture based on the Apple 13 (presumably the small, energy-efficient cores) and a 7 nm manufacturing process from TSMC.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman ( via MacRumors ) says this year will be different. He says the next-generation chip (presumably the Apple S9) will be a more substantial upgrade than the last few, with a new processor based on the same architecture used in Apple's newer A15 chip. And if the CPU is changing, Apple could also take the opportunity to upgrade the manufacturing process, potentially providing a boost in battery life (and other features) along with an increase in speed.

Enlarge / The 2021, 24-inch iMac with Apple's M1. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Apple released new updates for most of its software platforms today, including macOS Ventura 13.3, iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, tvOS 16.4, and watchOS 9.4.

These are all feature updates, meaning they actually add new functionality in addition to fixing bugs or addressing security vulnerabilities.

iOS and iPadOS 16.4 add a number of minor features. The headliner is (of course) 21 new emojis, like new heart colors, additional animals, and a shaking head. Beyond that, though, Apple says you'll see improved voice isolation on phone calls, support for notifications from web apps that have been added to your phone's home screen, new ways to weed out duplicates in your Photos library, and a number of bug fixes.

Enlarge / The new Freeform app included in the iOS 16.2 and macOS 13.1 updates. (credit: Apple)

Apple has released the final versions of macOS 13.1, iOS 16.2, and iPadOS 16.2 to the public after a few weeks of beta testing. In addition to the standard bug fixes and security patches, these updates include the collaborative Freeform app that was announced back at WWDC, increased use of end-to-end encryption for iCloud data , and (for iPhones) the vocal-reducing, karaoke-friendly Apple Music Sing feature.

Freeform uses your AppleID and iCloud to sync changes on a large, bulletin board-esque canvas between multiple users in real time. Input can include typed text, images, files and documents, shapes, and handwritten text or images done with an Apple Pencil, creating something that is similar in form to a shared note or document but with more input flexibility. Users can have multiple boards shared with different groups of people, communicating in real time via Messages or FaceTime.

The iCloud encryption additions are grouped together under the "Advanced Data Protection" banner, and they expand the service's use of end-to-end encryption. Device backups for iPhones and iPads can be fully encrypted, as can Safari bookmarks and data from the Photos, Notes, Voice Memos, Reminders, Shortcuts, and Wallet apps. Calendar and Mail data remain unencrypted "because of the need to interoperate with the global email, contacts, and calendar systems."