Apple broke sales records in 2014 with great iPhones , then quenched farseeing - time fans with a Retina iMac and an updated iPad — all great product , but we ’re looking forward to 2015 , when we await to see even greater releases out of Cupertino .
Apple Watch
Apple’smost anticipated intersection of 2015is one that ’s already look the igniter of day : theApple Watch . stick in alongside the iPhone 6 and Apple Pay in September , Apple ’s own smartwatchwill offer notifications , fittingness feature , not to mentionadvanced hapticsandSiri on your carpus , via a pair iPhone . Apple’sWatchKit SDK , in developers ’ hands now , will result in “ glances ” and small apps that complement fuller apps on your iPhone . control for a music role player is one example , not to mentioncontrols for the array of HomeKit - enable deviceswe expect to hear about in January at CES .
So while Apple has with child plan for the ticker , it ’s still a first - gen product in a new family — will enough mass buy it ? I cerebrate it could decidedly make a splashing . After all , Apple Watch already has a nerveless mental attitude . Bycourting the fashion industryso intemperately , it ’s almost like Apple already thinks they have the current crop of smartwatches beat . Apple is go after the luxury watches and its clientele of people who are down to grease one’s palms things made from solid gold . Just like it dominates the in high spirits end of the computing securities industry , Apple is aim , we think , for the upper crust of the watch market , and it ’s run low to be incredibly fun to see how that work out . Apple did n’t make up MP3 players or tablets , but it did make those things cool , and lord knows the smartwatch market could use some of that in 2015 .
HomeKit and HealthKit
This year was both a doozy and a snoozefest when it came to Apple ’s two open growth platforms , HealthKit and HomeKit . Both were foretell at WWDC back in June and were billed as Apple ’s hubs for all things associate home plate and fitness tie in . course , we had mellow hopes for what both of these platforms could be like . And then … . Not much happened .
HealthKit will become more authoritative when Apple Watch launches .
HealthKit was the first to roll out . It launch with iOS 8 in September , and with it we got a standalone health app from Apple for the iPhone — predict , fittingly , Health — that exhibit all of the information that the iPhone ’s M7 or M8 sensor track . However , when you look at Health ’s data tracking point , the designing is a little lacking , which is why you ’ll need to apply a third - party wellness or fitness app with HealthKit compatibility to really make use of this data .
However , HealthKit needs one more thing before it can really take off as a hub : the Apple Watch . We anticipate to see a better HealthKit experience in 2015 , because the political platform is trusted to be a drive force-out behind the wearable ’s features . Once the Apple Watch launch , we ’ll in all likelihood see more third - political party health apps derail on the HealthKit bandwagon , too .
HomeKit will formally launch in 2015 , so we ’ll finally see some compatible connected home product hit the shelf . Rumor has it we ’ll see some HomeKit machine prototypes at CES in January , so we ’ll get an former sense of taste of what ’s to come . We also reckon thatHomeKit will be closely tied to the Apple Watchas well — imagine controlling your smart lightbulbs and gizmo with a gentle strike on your carpus .
These connected hubs are only half - baked political program now , but once the Watch launches they ’ll really take off , start the threshold even wide for third - political party apps and gadget .
Apple TV will become your attached home hub , perhaps using Apple Watch as a outside control .
Apple TV
The Apple TV has served Apple pretty well over the retiring several years , provide a way to play iTunes content on your goggle box as well as rain buckets such Internet heavy hitters as Netflix , HBO , YouTube , and MLB.com . But it ’s sentence for it to take some crucial next stair .
The first is to make the Apple TV even more entertaining . This could come in the form of more networks and media generator , thus bring the dream of line cutting closer to world . But it might also mean an Apple TV that supports an app store of its own — one that convey games and interactive metier to Apple ’s placed - top corner .
In addition to a more entertaining Apple telly , Apple might produce one that facilitate us pull off the many gadget in our homes . Thanks to Apple’sHomeKit engineering , we will soon be able to use our mobile equipment to moderate many of our menage ’s smart appliances , include lighting and security systems , thermostats , refrigerators , and power outlet . While we could do this with a host of individual apps , a single app that talks to aHomeKit hubwould be immensely more commodious . And the Apple TV seems like the utter candidate . It ’s always on , it does n’t practice a pile of power when idling , and it could protect the data coming into and out of your home ’s impudent equipment . tally the power to trigger some of these functions from an Apple Watch and you ’ve got a scented rest home .
The Beats Music app will be revamp and connect the iTunes family in a bid to overreach Spotify .
Beats Music
Apple did n’t buy Beats Electronics this year because the company wanted to expand into earpiece manufacture . What execs in Cupertino were after was Beats Music , the unique subscription - based cyclosis service that could take exception Spotify with a little help . Apple ’s revenues fromiTunes medicine downloads are droppingdue to streaming , and iTunes Radio ( withits many limitation ) is n’t incisively killing the competition .
So next twelvemonth , we have a bun in the oven Apple to overhaul Beats Music and rebrand it as an iTunes cyclosis servicing . The companionship is reportedly in talks with platter companies to push the monthly subscription damage down from $ 9.99 to $ 5 a month , and we require the revamped service to stay a premium one — no ads , just songs .
Musicians are infelicitous about the royal family they receive from streaming services ( see : Taylor Swift ) , but Apple could turn it all around using itsexisting relationships with creative person and labels . The caller revolutionized the music manufacture once before with iTunes and iPods at the dawn of the 21st century , but can it draw out off the same hat trick today ? Apple seldom forges new territory , but has a track record of perfecting Cartesian product and services that other companies struggle to get correct . And if Tim Cook can get Taylor Swift on board , Spotify ’s in trouble .
