Apple’s Online-Only Worldwide Developers Conference Begins June 22

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Apple set a start date of June 22, 2020, for its first virtual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), held entirely online given the COVID-19 pandemic.

The weeklong WWDC20 will include keynotes, sessions, news and other events, all available in the Apple Developer app and on the Apple Developer website for free to all developers. (The price for WWDC tickets last year was $1,599 apiece.) The annual event, now in its 31st year, is a showcase for Apple’s latest products and technologies including iOS, macOS and tvOS. Program details will be available in June ahead of the event, the company said.

The company had announced the cancellation of this year’s in-person WWDC back on March 13 . Apple also pledged to give $1 million to organizations in San Jose, Calif., to offset revenue losses associated with the event.

“WWDC20 will be our biggest yet, bringing together our global developer community of more than 23 million in an unprecedented way for a week in June to learn about the future of Apple platforms,” Apple SVP of marketing Phil Schiller said in a statement.

Apple also announced the Swift Student Challenge , a competition for student developers (13 and older) to use the company’s Swift programming language to create an interactive scene that can be experienced within three minutes. Winners will receive an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set; entries are due May 17.

According to Apple, developers have earned over $155 billion since the App Store launched in 2008.