It ’s been a assorted year for Apple devotee , with much of the society ’s focus and developmental resource trained on 2024 ’s Vision Pro launch . While the Mac got a mess of update models and an entirely raw cow dung generation in 2023 , the iPhone and Apple Watch both see extremely conservative launches and the iPad got no launch at all .
But have ’s imagine a unlike timeline ; one where Vision Pro does n’t subsist and Apple ’s engineers and designers have unlimited clip to work on anything they take to . In other words , which Apple products did n’t get an update in 2023 , but should have ?
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
iPad mini
Of the iPads that were miss in 2023 — which is to say , all of them — the iPad mini was themostneglected . Whereas the standard iPad and iPad Pro last got a refresh as “ late ” as October 2022 , and the iPad Air was update in March 2022 , the sixth - gen iPad mini arrive in fall 2021 . It ’s in earnest overdue . By the meter Apple ’s next fountain outcome rolls around we ’ll have been waitress two and a one-half old age for Apple’snext micro - tablet .
At one period the iPad mini seemed colligate with the iPad Air , its larger but feature - comparable mid - range sib , but the miniskirt ’s longer update beat since 2019 has shifted it down into a low equivalent weight of the standard iPad . ( Among other things the Air update in 2022 fetch an M1 background - class processor , whereas the 2021 iPad mini is stuck on the A15 . ) I ’m not against the miniskirt being commercialize as a budget , entry - storey option , but that ’s a decision to be actively made , not something you allow to bit by bit happen through inaction .
Aside from more herculean processors , the iPad mini ( which has no Smart Connector ) still has n’t got entree to Apple ’s orbit of Magic Keyboards , and perhaps a new lilliputian edition could avail to make the mini a viable option for work on the go . But correctly now , it is n’t going anywhere .
AirPods Max
If the iPad miniskirt is miss , having see no update since September 2021 , what do we say about the AirPods Max ? They fare out in December 2020 and were promptly discount forever .
It does n’t help that they were flawed from the starting line . The design of the headphones themselves is dissentious ( I do n’t like it butmy colleague Jason Crossdid ) while the Smart Case is unifyingly horrendous in both pattern and office . But the feature set , which seemed solid at launch , has grown steadily less impressive over the retiring three old age to the extent that an update is now sorely needed . My colleague Jason will sink for nothing less thana total rethink .
For what it ’s worth , the AirPods Max arereportedlydue for an update in 2024 , but since this is predicted to involve only some newfangled colors and a USB - ascorbic acid porthole , it feels like too little , too late .
Foundry
Magic Mouse
We ’re really going retro now . From products last refreshed in 2021 and 2020 , we turn to one last updated in the far - off and altogether more innocent 24-hour interval of 2015 ( aside from a fresh black colour in 2022 ) . But it ’s still current , as far as Apple is concerned : shell out a small fortune for a Modern iMac today and you ’ll find a Magic Mouse nestle in the packaging like a sinister meter - traveller from the earned run average of bad design .
As with the AirPods Max , I hadreservationsabout the Magic Mouse ’s overall design terminology from Clarence Shepard Day Jr. one , but permit ’s result those away for now . ( I ’ve given up hoping that Apple will ever make the sort of ugly mouse that in reality finger upright in the hand . ) or else , let ’s focus on the lack of Force Touch – a feature the Magic Trackpad has had since 2015 – and the vexatious charging apparatus that means you ca n’t use the thing at the same clock time .
The sentence was ripe in 2023 for the Magic Mouse to as if by magic transform into a mouse that ’s worth a damn , and I ’m gutted that yet again it did n’t .
Apple
Pro Display XDR
If you ’re call for $ 4,999 for a display , you ’d better trust it ’s good . ThePro Display XDRcertainly was good , when it descend out in 2019 , but things have moved on , and it ’s surprising Apple did n’t find clip in 2023 to give it an update .
That ’s not just us saying that . Multiple punditspredictedthat Apple would launch a new Apple atomic number 14 - equipped version of the Pro Display XDR in 2023 alongside a novel Mac Pro . The new Mac Pro part of the rumor come true , but there was n’t a new display with it .
At this price point , it would be reasonable to await state - of - the - artistic creation technical school , not the in effect that 2019 could offer . ProMotion , mini - LED , and a bump from 32 to 36 inch and from 6 kibibyte to 7 K would all be on the board for anew Apple display , and it ’s about time for Apple ’s pro customers to get them .
Siri
even readers , my apologies : you ’ve hear thisallbefore . But I consecrate to keep complaining about Siri until Apple did something about it , and I do n’t break vow thinly .
Right now , as outlined frequently on this site , Siri is not set for use , face up glaring payoff with its truth and officiousness . alas , fixing the accuracy of a service requires an acknowledgment that it was inaccurate in the first position , which is why this does n’t appeal as a high - antecedency project . But Apple could finesse its way of life past that barrier by announcing “ Siri 2.0 ” and focusing on the young voguish features this provide – since that ’s another area where Siri is behind its competitor – and then casually mentioning in pass that it ’s “ the most exact voice assistant we ’ve ever made . ”
Considering how all important Siri is to certain Apple products ( namely the HomePod ) and how deeply implant it is in the entire Apple ecosystem , I receive it odd that the company did n’t give it a major refresh in 2023 . Perhaps it will get one in 2024 , but I wo n’t be prevail my breathing time . Or hula - ing my braids , as Siri 1.0 would put it .
