Apple ’s 2021 was one that was … good , but not surprising . After a spectacular 2020 where a global pandemic raged and yet Apple ship a newfangled iPhone redesign and all Modern C.P.U. architecture , 2021 was about settling in . The pandemic doubtless delayed some ontogeny from 2021 into 2022 , but Apple ’s 2021 was always going to be a routine of an bathos after the drama of 2020 .
The job with making predictions is that there ’s a difficult balance between wishcasting about what you’dliketo bechance , and approaching thing with a steely eye and the subject field to know that just because youreallywant Apple to make an low-cost external display , it ’s probably not going to do that on your timeframe .
Last yr , while 2020 was wrapping up and I look forwards to 2021 , I largely learn the elbow room correctly — after a braggart class , thing would settle down a bit in 2021 . That was a good call , though it did n’t kibosh me from miss one of the most pleasant surprises of the twelvemonth , or for predicting something that was entirely unlikely to chance just because I require to see it . Here ’s a recapitulation .
The 24-inch iMac seems like a radical departure, but it’s really more conservative than what they could’ve done.
The Mac: Slower than expected
Afterlaunching the Apple silicon revolutionlast yr , I was entice to get delirious and predict radical novel Mac designs . But for the most part , I restrained myself , and that proved to be the good determination .
For years , I ’ve been dreaming of an iMac redesign , and in 2021 we in conclusion got one , but only with the 24 - inch iMac . If you keep cook the same prediction , you ’ll probably be right finally . While I wishcasted a completely redesign iMac with a touchscreen or Apple Pencil support and a mechanical drawing - table style stand , I prognosticate Apple would “ take the conservative itinerary , ” and they fundamentally did . The M1 iMac comes in colors , though – I would never have dared to predict that .
However , the 27 - inch Intel iMac is still with us going into 2022 . This is a morsel of a disappointment , though I question how much the on-going issues related to the global pandemic retard Apple ’s Mac roll - out this year . I amply require the iMac to discharge its transmutation in 2022 – but that ’s another clause .
The 24-inch iMac seems like a radical departure, but it’s really more conservative than what they could’ve done.
The 24 - inch iMac seems like a radical departure , but it ’s really more conservative than what they could ’ve done .
Apple
On the laptop side , I predicted that Apple would fill out its update of the MacBook Pro by bring in two new models powered by a new Apple silicon splintering . I got that part aright , though I did n’t correctly predicthowit would do it . I assumed it would release a higher - powered M2 central processing unit in the tumble and use it to power MacBook Pros ; alternatively , Apple jump in the lead to what I thought might wait a class , by introducing “ a few different chips with more central processor and GPU core . ”
Apple didn’t change the iPhone design much from its predecessor.
After so much play in the Mac in 2020 , I adopt Apple would be a piffling more sober in its macOS updates this twelvemonth , and I think that ’s fairly much digest out . When I instal macOS Monterey on my Mac , I did n’t experience like the experience was especially transformative – and that ’s just fine . That said , despite being a impassioned supporter of Shortcuts on iOS , even I did n’t dare wishcast that we ’d get Shortcuts on the Mac . And we did ! What an unlikely talent for 2021 .
However , I have to admit that I caved in to wishcasting and predicted an Apple standalone exhibit that was more affordable than the Pro Display XDR . It did n’t happen , nor should it , not while the enceinte iMac has n’t even been inaugurate yet ! There ’s always next year .
iOS and the iPhone: Don’t rock the boat
2021 looked like it was shaping up to bea reasonably unchanging year on the iPhone and iPad side , and that was largely borne out . Exciting ? No ! But the the true is , Apple only redesign the iPhone every few years , and the interim years are … less exciting .
After the optic redesigns of the iPhone 12 last year , it was n’t severe to opine that Apple would keep on keepin ’ on in 2021 . The iPhone 13 , which I aright predicted would n’t be renamed out of some form of superstition , was indeed “ more or less like the current models , albeit with some new colors , some textural variations , and possibly a minuscule ‘ notch ’ for the TrueDepth camera pot . ”
( Note to my fellow predictors : Apple ’s iPhone design are produce so far in advance that the rumor manufacturing plant has usually aright reported the details of the next yr ’s iPhone design long before you take to drop a line your prediction articles . It kind of pick out the play out of it , for all of us ! That small notch unveiled in June in the iPhone 13 was something we knew about inlate 2020 . )
There were , and are , still rumors that Apple is run short to ultimately polish off the Lightning embrasure from the iPhone and supersede it with nothing . I did n’t corrupt it then , and I ’m not certain I buy it now . Apple has often strived for simplification in its hardware , most latterly by getting rid of the pumped-up headphone jack .
But Apple has also seen some of its late belligerent moves backfire , most notably with the keyboard , hint saloon , and port limitation of mid-2010s MacBooks . And while the MacBook debacle was painful , the Mac is not most as important to Apple as the iPhone is . If Apple hold a unfit conclusion that drives people away from the iPhone , it could be devastating .
I ’m not say it ’s unimaginable . Apple could let in a MagSafe connective in every iPhone boxful , though that would certainly abbreviate into its earnings margin . It could even direct a way to transmit data point via a “ wired ” connectedness through something similar to the iPad Pro Smart Connector . But it would be a lot of study to eliminate that Lightning port , and is it really deserving it ?
IDG / Jason Cross
One place where I truly blew it on the iPhone was my forecasting that the pandemic would drive Apple to get the button - found Touch ID sensor from the iPad Air on the iPhone 13 . It did n’t happen . If you ever needed grounds that Apple is not going to transfer its locked - and - load up iPhone designs even if it ’s draw more than a class to do so , it ’s this .
On the iPad front , I predicted a “ right iPad Pro update , ” compared to the previous year ’s minor step with a barely upgraded central processor . For 2021 , I carry a poker chip upgrade “ similar to the M1 . ” It turn out it was so standardised , it wasjust the same . I also desire the rumors of an upgrade showing using mini - LED technology were correct , and they were , at least in the big model .
lastly , I did n’t look much from this year ’s Io update . And , just as with the Mac , I guess that was prudent . But I did hope we ’d finally see “ a redesign iPad home screen ” that would let you rank thingumajig anywhere , as you could on the iPhone , and we did get that .
2022 will probably be a more striking yr for Apple than 2021 . There ’s a processor transition to be finished , and perhaps new hardware categories to be put down . As for this year , it ’s pretty much what we expected – except for that external display . At least I finally got my redesigned iMac !
