Surprisingly, Apple has one more event in store before the year ends, and this time it’s for apps. Members of the press received surprise invitations from Apple this morning to attend a first-of-its-kind event to honour 2019’s top apps and games on December 2 in New York City.
Normally, Apple gives out awards for the best apps of the year, but this is the first time the company will be hosting a ceremony to hand them out, sounds more like the Oscars of apps! The event also falls one day before Apple announced its best apps of the year in 2018.
From what we gather, no new product announcements are expected to be made there, especially given it appears to be a low-key app event. Though some Apple fans were hoping the company would have a keynote in October. Alternatively, the company launched the new AirPods Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro without throwing a big press event.
However, Apple recently delayed the launch of the long-awaited Mac Pro redesign until December. Meaning it’s likely that we might see that machine and the Pro Display XDR at the event; it’s been teasing long enough. Although the only other new product expected to roll out before the end of 2019 might be the long-rumoured Apple AirTags.
This year seems to have marked a lot of firsts for Apple when it comes to software and apps. Apart from Apple Arcade, it also launched its first entertainment service called Apple TV+ and a digital news subscription offering called Apple News+.
With that in mind, it seems plausible that Apple could take this event as an opportunity to prove that it’s just as committed to its software platforms as it is hardware by keeping the spotlight squarely on app developers.
The app and game show might also be a chance for Cupertino to showcase some of the best games on Apple Arcade, the company’s recently launched subscription gaming service.
Apple Inc’s NYC app event will start at 4 p.m. EST on Monday, December 2. We’re not sure if Apple will provide a live stream of it yet as there’s no mention of it on the company’s event website.