robjn

The bars take up a little less space than the dots. If the screen is going around the sides of the camera and earpiece - this change may enable the signal strength, and network info fit neatly to the left of the camera.

This new feature and hardware limitation of older devices will help drive sales of new hardware. We can expect some cool AR demos when the next iPhone is unveiled.

The WWDC looks great for Apple's business. The Apple Payment Card means Apple will (like a bank) be holding onto and able invest a chunk of user money. The iPad became a far a more serious professional device, with a file system and other features. We now have iMacs with the power to run VR - a compelling reason for many to buy them, and even more powerful iMac Pros in the pipeline as well as the yet to be seen MacPro. Also a revitalized iOS App Store.

Analysts previously bemoaned Apple's lack of VR, supposedly non-pro iPad, lack of Amazon Echo type device etc. Apple has answered almost everything.

Apple have put a lot of work into building an opitmized foundation for AR and VR and it promises to pay off in terms of performance. Same with HomePod - rather than rushing to market, they worked "for years" perfecting an advancement in acoustics and audio processing to create a speaker worthy of an Apple product. HomePod is not competing directly against Amazon Echo because Echo sounds relatively poor, neither is HomePod competing directly against Sonos, because Sonos is not so smart - it is competing against both and neither - it stands alone - it is perfectly positioned - it's much more than a great speaker.

The ecosystem has got much stronger with this WWDC in a way that will reinforce iPhone sales and complement them with another great accesory in HomePod. There's still a wait for AirPods, with supply lagging behind damand and already Apple has shown us what's next.

If a new hardware feature requires developer support from day one it will have to be previewed in order for developers to get to work on supporting it.

Few situations necessitate this kind of preview but it does happen. New screen resolutions don't necessitate this. Third party app integration with a speaker or some new iPhone sensor might, but Apple can often launch a new hardware feature with just Apple support and open it up to third party developpers later.

Are these case makers just guessing.
i thought Apple stopped sending them drawings ahead of anouncements

This is how Tim Cook introduced Apple Pay. 'Our goal is to replace the wallet, we're starting with payments'. So these new comments are more or less restating what Apple previously said.