SAN FRANCISCO ? There was big news out of Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. And, to the chagrin of many, it wasn't a new gizmo like an iWatch or a radically redesigned operating system.

Instead, the news was the ascent of Craig Federighi from affable, well-coiffed sidekick to star. Could he be the new Steve Jobs?

Some background on such blasphemy.

Federighi, senior vice president for software engineering, was funny, informative and had 6,000 developers riveted with his mix of jokes and insider tech talk. Perhaps more to the point, he was on stage for most of the two hours, which represents an impossible-to-ignore shift from WWDCs past. At one point, Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomed him back on stage calling him "Superman."

Federighi, 49, actually is a logical choice to become a key developer -- and perhaps even the consumer-focused face -- at Apple.

Having met the man a year or so ago during a conversation with Apple design chief Jony Ive , I can attest to Federighi's youthful enthusiasm and impossibly great hair, often a source of his self-referential humor. I can also vouch for Ive's brilliance as a designer as well as his monk-like reserve ? there's a reason no one's seen the Brit stomp the stage at WWDC, and likely never will.

And then there's Cook, who remains comfortably at the rudder and sees no problem ceding the public spotlight. While analysts and consumers are, respectively, predicting doom and clamoring for new product, the measured Southerner told me last week that his vision for the company is crystal clear.

"We've never stopped innovating," he said during a private meeting announcing Apple's $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics. "As the year closes you won't hear many people" complaining.

Apple's plans could still include an iWatch and a larger iPhone 6, both of which will now be expected at the company's next big confab here in the fall. Both will be needed to give Jobs' once unstoppable juggernaut the boost it needs to reclaim market and fan confidence.

The recent Beats Electronics purchase is certainly meant to recommit Apple to its iTunes-led music roots, with a handy subscription service it can now spool up into a Spotify competitor. Beats is, in fact, just one of 27 acquisitions Apple has made with its $160 billion in cash over the past 18 months, Cook told me.

Despite such activity, the market was quick to comment on this gadget-less WWDC. Apple's stock price was down .7%, despite the tweaks and developer-focused news.

Depending on what big buzz-generating and category-defining products it trots out later this year, Apple's future may still be cloudy.

But Federighi's is not. His marathon stand-up gig today managed to bring back to WWDC a bit of the electric air that Jobs generated, if perhaps without the founder's unique intensity and with a touch more humility and humor.

When it came time during the conference to tee up the Beats purchase while showing off a new iPhone interface, Federighi found the rapper and Beats co-founder Dr. Dre in his address book and dialed, his nervousness not seeming at all feigned. "Yeah, I talk to people like him all the time," he whispered to laughs.

Dre's deep voice suddenly boomed through the Moscone West auditorium.

"Hey, Doctor, you're on my speakerphone," a wide-eyed Federighi said.

Such genuine enthusiasm is exactly what Apple counted on to make its product launches near religious events in the past. We have yet to see what an iWatch and new iPhone may look like. But you can bet who'll be unveiling them.

Della Cava covers technology and culture for USA TODAY out of San Francisco.