What we expect to see from Apple at WWDC:

iOS 6

iOS is one of the big reasons WWDC has become a hard ticket to nab by developers. The software, which powers the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and even Apple TV, is also home to the App Store where developers can sell apps. It’s typically given a big update once a year, and this year is no different.

As for what to expect, the talk of the town has been an overhauled mapping application. Before your eyes glaze over, the word on that has been that there will be 3D features similar to the ones Google demoed earlier this week.

Perhaps a more exciting iOS 6 rumor is that it will add Siri – at least for iPad users. A report from 9to5Mac last week made that claim, suggesting Apple was keen on adding the voice assistant software, which so far has been an iPhone 4S exclusive, for owners of Apple’s latest tablet.

Other things that could show up are integration with Facebook (something we’ve heard before), and a handful of small tweaks to system apps like Safari and e-mail, all based on changes found in Mountain Lion.

When to expect all this is another matter. Given Apple’s track record, it’s safe to say you won’t be able to get it Monday, that is unless you’re a developer. Apple tends to run through several beta versions of the software with developers ahead of a public release. There’s a good reason for that too: the software often has bugs and last-minute features that need ironing out.

See the rest of our expectations for WWDC 2012