No matter what you think of its succeeding prospects , we can all agree that the Apple Vision Pro is weird , right ? One of the world ’s most potent companies has spend a ten cook to transport a new product and political program that ’s embodied in a $ 3,500 VR headset that lets you utilize apps in 3D space .
After a decade of firm and boring looping , Vision Pro is … not that . And I get it on it .
Apple is so disciplined and conservative with its product choices and has mostly benefit from that tendency . jolly much every hardware merchandise Apple ships sell in such great turn that it make it abysmally hard to try out in public . ( The Sony - made video display in the Vision Pro are available in such limited provision that Apple wo n’t even be able-bodied to sell a million of them in the first class , which is credibly just as well since the Cartesian product isvery much a version 1.0 . )
Apple has filed patents for a foldable iPhone, but that doesn’t mean one will actually ship (but we hope it does).
While I admire the great forethought Apple charter before it brings a mathematical product to marketplace , I do sometimes think that the company is missing out on some potentially great product because they ’re not willing to get weird and risk failure . Consider theoriginal MacBook Air , which wasdeeplyweird but lead to a 2d - contemporaries model that became the template for Apple ’s laptop computer aim for the next decade !
The technology already exists today for Apple to create some savage stuff , the likes of which we ’ve never seen from them . The Vision Pro has broken the seal . lease ’s get eldritch , Apple .
Know when to fold ’em
For the iPhone and iPad , one clearly weird direction is foldable screens . legion reports advise that Apple ’s been play with fold up projection screen internally for years , but unlike some of its competitors , it ’s never been unforced to transport a folding merchandise . perchance it ’s time to give that a attempt ?
I ’d love to see a smaller iPhone that folds out into something more like an iPad mini , provide a twist that match better in a pocket while still being capable to stretch out when in function . Alternately , envisage an iPhone that starts with the size of it of something like a Pro Max but can be folded up to fit better in your pouch .
One of the great things about folding devices is that they can ( optionally ) display information when fold ! I jazz the idea of Apple adapting doojigger to make them viewable on a closed iPhone . I ’m also already on the record book aboutadding einsteinium - Ink display to the exterior of iPhones – imagine an iPhone that is any color you desire it to be , and that can also expose information right on its case !
Apple has filed patents for a foldable iPhone, but that doesn’t mean one will actually ship (but we hope it does).
Apple has filed patents for a foldable iPhone , but that does n’t mean one will actually ship ( but we hope it does ) .
USPTO
Now regard a folding iPad . mayhap it ’s one that can be large when in habit but small when tucked away . Or perhaps it ’s the size of a traditional iPad but can get close up down into something pocket-sized . Which one works comfortably ? I have no idea ! Let ’s experiment !
You know what would be cool? If Apple made a Magic Trackpad that had a button panel like Elgato’s Stream Deck Mini.
And let ’s not leave the Apple Watch out of the bizarreness . Some mass choose to wear no watch at all or favour a more traditional watch . Apple could look at a screenless wellness band that syncs to the iPhone and comprise all the of import Apple Watch sensors , so people can close their rings while wearing a watch of their pick . ( Even weirder , how about an Oura - like sensor doughnut you wear on a finger ? )
Weird PCs
For twelvemonth , personal computer manufacturers have tried all sort of different build and size for laptop computer , while Apple has more or less stayed with a single , traditional design . ( Except for the Touch Bar … that was weird in a bad direction . Look , weird product can give out ! That ’s part of why they ’re eldritch ! )
What ’s weirder than aniPad that can run macOS ? How about alaptop that runs iOSrather than macOS ? iPadOS actually runs really well in laptop conformation via the Magic Keyboard , but that ’s not quite the same as a proper laptop shape . I still have some hope that the next generation of iPad Pro might sport a case that makes it more laptop - like ( weird ! ) and that it might even run macOS via virtualization ( weirder ! ) , but that ’s not proceed to aid schoolhouse that might be concerned in buy an iPadOS - based laptop computer that ’s affordable .
You know what would be cool ? If Apple made a Magic Trackpad that had a clit instrument panel like Elgato ’s Stream Deck Mini .
And while I am not proposing that Apple change from the classical MacBook purpose , I bonk a unearthly outlier . The 12 - column inch MacBook , with its single USB interface , was sure as shooting uncanny – but it was also little and light and could be great if it was revived in Apple silicon shape .
I also need some unearthly Mac accessories ! How about a Magic Trackpad with an include Touch ID push ? Not weird enough ? Imagine if it also had a serial publication ofStream Deck - inspired programmable keys .
Keep the weird at home
It ’s easier for Apple to get weird with ancillary ware . view the home , where Apple has been funnily silent beyond the Apple TV and HomePod . There ’s so much that Appleshould be tryingin the menage !
As someone who has had an Amazon Echo Show and a Nest Home in my kitchen in recent years , I ’d love a HomePod with a CRT screen that runs some adaptation of tvOS . And it seems raw for Apple to build up a product that ’s part Apple TV , part HomePod , to make a smart soundbar ( that could also incorporate a Center Stage camera for full FaceTime compatibility ) .
I ’m not saying that all ( or even any ! ) of these are good ideas . What I ’m saying is that if Apple would take the chance on four or five wild mind , it might teach enough to make one or two hit . ease up the sluggish maturation in its Wearables , Home , and Accessories product family lately , it feel like it might be worth getting a little weird and risking failure to chart some novel counsel in house tech .
likewise , just because the Mac is going great does n’t mean it could n’t be more . Experimenting with wilder laptop plan does n’t necessarily mean the old models have to go away . reckon if Tim Cook came into an executive meeting at Apple and demanded that every single portion of Apple ’s merchandise line let in one outlier intersection , something uncanny that pushed the envelope a short bit . Would n’t that be fun ?
Apple has a lot drop dead on , and I know that every new project risk make misdirection at a fellowship that ’s already judge to do an terrible tidy sum at once . That ’s why it has build up a culture of “ a thousand no ’s for every yes , ” as the saying goes . And you roll in the hay , that ’s a pretty good strategy . But if Vision Pro has prove us anything , perhaps it ’s that it ’s worth giving out a few more solution of “ yes ” just to see what might happen next .
