This is it : the last instalment of persist Foolish for the class that was 2021 . And I think I speak for all of us when I say serious exclusion , too .
Havingalready covered the self-aggrandising Apple moves of 2021it ’s sentence now to look forward to the twelvemonth that expect us , full of untrammeled possibility and simmering exhilaration . The last 12 months have been an consequential one for Apple , but we ’re already starting to see the form of the year to come .
With that in mind , here are a few of the biggest things I expect ( and hope ) to see out of Cupertino in 2022 .
The end of a transition, and the beginning of the future
My colleague Jason Snell has alreadydetailed the next footprint of the Apple Si transition for the Macs . There are several Macs still expect to make the jump from Intel , and if Apple return on its two - year transition hope , then the end of this year will see something unprecedented in the caller ’s history , with every unmarried Cartesian product made by the society built atop its very own silicon .
The MacBook Pro made a splash in 2021 , and 2022 could bring more Apple Si goody .
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That ’s , only put , astounding , and a feat that really ca n’t be fit by any other technology troupe out there right on now . That snug integrating will also remain to open up doors for Apple in damage of how it develop software program for its platform , allowing more interplay and characteristic check bit across its twist batting order .
As for the oddment of the Mac transition , expect to see a redesigned gamey - conclusion 27 - inch iMac in spring , perchance alongside a high - destruction Mac mini . The top of Apple ’s line - up , the Mac Pro , is wide call up to be the last Mac that will make the jump , and thus probably wo n’t appear until the second one-half of the year . But 2022 will also see the first 2d - generation Apple silicon Macs , with the MacBook Air probably leading the charge and getting a more exhaustive redesign than its predecessor . It stay an exciting time to be a Mac exploiter , which is a heck of a matter to say for a product that ’s rapidly approaching its 40th birthday .
Going virtual
It ’s been a while since Apple last get in a fresh major product family , the last example being the ultimately underwhelming HomePod , which shipped in 2018 . But that may change in 2022 , as rumors of the company’smixed world headsethave intensified greatly over the last few calendar month . Add to that reports that Apple hashired AR communications lead Andrea Schubertfrom Meta and it ’s look like Apple might at last be ready to show us its vision .
If the gimmick does in fact show up this year , we can make enlightened guesses about a few aspects of it . The first model to appear is likely to be pricey and will rivet on practical and augmented reality , resembling subsist headset from the ilk of Oculus and HTC . June ’s Worldwide Developers Conference seems a good bet for its announcement , though it may mainly be targeted at developers first — and with good cause since there are prominent dubiousness about the software side . What will make this compelling for the average consumer that Apple target ? The company ’s supposedly targeting communicating , sensitive consumption , and games , but at least two of those will involve some square steal - in from third political party .
This headset may be Apple ’s entry into the metaverse that other gravid technical school troupe are forging into , but if so , it ’s probably going to be a very Apple - similar foray , let in a harder stance on seclusion than its competitors and sleek industrial intent , though perhaps a routine less featureful than some of its rival . That said , if there ’s a hazard that VR / AR is finally going to go mainstream , it ’s not fresh to bet against Apple as the one to do it .
Home again
As we near two year of being for the most part stuck in our houses during a pandemic , I ’m guard out hope that Apple will take another crack at the home .
The HomePod may have been a flop , but its successor , theHomePod miniskirt , seems to be doing much better . The Apple TV has n’t see a solid update since 2015 ’s fourth - coevals model , so possibly it ’s clock time for Apple to think outside the real box . Finding some agency to combine the capabilities of the HomePod mini and the Apple TV seems like a good start , especially if it also include some sort of Center Stage - powered television chat system for FaceTime and SharePlay .
Apple ’s home push might go beyond the HomePod in 2022 .
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also , as the Matter initiative for smart home interoperability starts to really take off in 2022 , it ’s clock time for Apple to start pushing intemperately on smart home plate technical school . For Apple , that should preponderantly mean meliorate the way we interact with our smart devices , including redesign the Home app and beefing up Siri ’s smart home restraint .
Everything else
Of naturally , there will be new iPhones and iPads somewhere along the way , and if rumor has it , perhaps a couple of unlike versions of the Apple Watch , too . A second - generation translation of AirPods Pro might help stay some of the lounge issues besetting early adoptive parent of those first - generation models . update to macOS , iOS , and iPadOS will no doubt headline WWDC , though what exactly they ’ll bring is anybody ’s guess at the moment .
Despite the supply chain issues and effect of COVID , Apple is poised for another wildly successful year . The company made no dearth of revenue in 2021 , and I certainly do n’t see any reason for that to change in 2022 . So brace yourself : it ’s going to be a violent ride .
