As the wane days of 2021 are upon us , it ’s time once again to look forward to the future , to the horizon . Despite a global pandemic and supply range of mountains woes aplenty , Apple has had a blockbuster year , with successful launches of new iPhones and iPads , and a continued conversion on the Mac that is redefining the mathematical product transmission line for the next multiplication .
But in the technical school business , you ’re only as good as yournextmove . No troupe can yield to rest on its laurels , and even Apple , with all of its success , is not an elision . So as we start call back about fold the Holy Writ on 2021 , it ’s deserving looking ahead to that puck that Apple ’s skating towards . And while we may have good reason to anticipate some of its upcoming products , there are always plaza where Apple could have something surprising up its arm .
The most powerful Macs
Given theimpressive performance of the M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsin Apple ’s fresh MacBook Pros , the company has quell any doubts that it can produce professional - level calculator establish on its own silicon . Which is good , because with the recentdiscontinuationof the Intel - establish 21.5 - inch iMac , the company ’s shifted the Brobdingnagian absolute majority of its mathematical product lines to its own chips . And , as anticipate , it ’s left the most herculean for last .
This yr ’s redesign of the24 - column inch iMacgave us some idea of what we can expect to see when the companypresumably refreshesthe current 27 - inch iMac sometime next year , include a focus on Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports , centre - bulge colors , and a slim conception . On the other hand , the recent MacBook Pro update also embraced schematic option like HDMI and an SD card slot , forwent the vivid color for traditional silver and space Asa Gray , and in reality got a picayune bit thicker than their predecessor .
From those information points , we can perhaps interpolate the larger , more hefty iMac as take something from both ends of the spectrum . No doubt it will let in the M1 Pro and M1 Max mainframe , with more RAM and storage options , and perhaps a handful of additional ports . ( Though I do think that the positioning of the Coyote State notice proofreader on the back of the current iMac has always been a bit inconvenient ; perhaps Apple might count go it to the side , à la the earphone jack on the 24 - inch iMac . ) Here ’s hoping it embraces playfulness and color , even though it seems potential Apple has decided that “ professional ” like gray .
That 24 - inch iMac also boasts a screen that ’s certainly far declamatory than even the 16 - in MacBook Pro , but the specs on the latter put it to disgrace : 254 pixels per inch , compared to 218 ppi on the iMac , and double the average brightness ( 500 nit on the iMac versus 1000 nits banner , let alone 1600 extremum , on the MacBook Pro ) . It would be a routine of a head - scratcher if Apple did n’t bring in its high - end iMac up to the Liquid Retina XDR standard in the MacBook Pro . It ’d be nice if it bumped the exhibit size of it up a bit further than 27 - inch , just as the 21.5 - in iMac went to 24 inches , but rumour seem separate on that .
The 27 - in iMac could look more like a desktop adaptation of the 14 - in MacBook Pro instead of a larger version of the 24 - inch iMac .
IDG
Of naturally , the mellow - end Mac mini and the Mac Pro are also still wait for the Apple atomic number 14 chips to power them . It seems likely that we ’ll see them by the end of 2022 , as Apple puts the bow on its two - year mainframe conversion .
Getting meta
Apple ’s public lecture on augment world has been a constant over the last several yr , but it has continued to rivet on betterment to software , and we ’ve yet to see a big pushing on the ironware final stage . Meanwhile , caller like Microsoft andMeta ( née Facebook)have been wee-wee these engineering an increasing part of their strategy and , in the case of the latter , their very identities .
Rumors of an Apple headset have been pass on for some time now , and they ’ve started to coalesce on next twelvemonth as a time when they might ultimately see the ignitor of day . The most relentless is about a gimmick that does “ mixed reality , ” with both AR and VR functionality .
But Tim Cook has also talk much more positively of the experience of AR than of VR , and Apple is always going to put its own twirl on thing . The companionship will have its work curve out for it to explain why this gimmick is one that the average consumer is live to desire — although perhaps that ’s a low - bar , given Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’srecentat - well lackluster , at - bad eye - roll - stimulate concept videos .
Going home
Apple ’s had a challenging couple of years in the home outer space . It ’s discontinued its full - size HomePod in favor of the smaller HomePod mini , and while it ’s ramp up support for the coming Matter opening move that aims to interconnect smart home twist across maker , that really wo n’t quetch off in earnest until next year .
But word of a “ homeOS ” projectreared its head once again this month , after a citation in an Apple line post . The term had cropped up originally this yr , ahead of the Worldwide Developers Conference , but nothing more was heard of it until now . It could intimate a more in - deepness investment in smart home technical school for Apple , and , meld witha recent hire to supervise HomePod softwaremight mean the company is reinvigorate development in that area .
Amazon / Google / Apple
My biggest Bob Hope for homeOS is the rumored life way equipment that would merge elements of the HomePod with the Apple TV and a FaceTime video conferencing twist . chaffer with friends , family , and carbon monoxide - actor over the internet has become even more prevalent during the pandemic , and crowd around an iPad or a MacBook has made the experience cramped and sometimes unpleasant . A machine that integrates with your Apple TV to ply a more welcoming chemical group chatting experience could be a braggart achiever , and might cement Apple ’s place in the base .
