Apple updates hardware, software and services every year and is never afraid to cannibalize an existing product range to make way for new ones – the iPhone has eaten the iPod, after all. Now, we’ve heard that Apple is preparing its Salvo product in late 2022 / early 2023, and as expected, it may include AR specs.
What’s the story?
Mark Gurman A. Bloomberg All recent Apple speculation has intensified in recent posts. In short, upcoming arrivals include:
- Macs with M2 and M3 models, with an M2 Pro, Max, Ultra and Extreme configuration.
- Four iPhone 14 devices – two with an A16 chip and always on-display.
- IPad update with M2 iPad Pro model and an A14 entry-level model.
- Including three Apple Watch models, one SE and one Rugged version.
- The mixed-reality headset, equipped with an Apple chip, is probably a low-power, high-performance M2 processor.
- With an Apple TV upgrade, extra gaming capabilities and a better processor.
- Homepod, which may include a display.
- And an AirPods Pro upgrade with a heart monitor.
That rounds up, so what can it tell us?
New business opportunities are coming
First, it tells us that Apple is preparing to open a new business division around AR glasses. CEO Tim Cook has been guiding us toward this for centuries, and we’ve written extensively about the company’s alleged plans. But these new frontiers are now emerging and will allow businesses to build customer-internal collaboration relationships, digitize business processes, and explore / advance new market opportunities.
We can speculate that companies already in space are probably preparing to pivot their own product design and development roadmaps to reflect Apple’s final design. Sony, Microsoft, Valve, HTC and Meta will all be watching and you can expect some spicy conversations from at least some of the competitors through the Metavers Standards Forum car. Negotiations are cheap, but the overall impact will be to promote rapid growth across existing AR / VR industries.
Content and service developers will directly benefit, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts. I agree.
The Apple Silicon Roadmap is coming together
Second, it tells us that Apple is very, very focused on its own Apple silicon chips. We already know this, but considering implementing employee-preferred schemes or introducing / expanding support for iPads / Macs, any business can now (if they haven’t already) see a clear roadmap for product development that takes years Wide. Apple has demonstrated its commitment to regular security and software updates as the market for enterprise-supported products and services expands. There seems to be very little out of inertia to stop the business from placing additional Apple products. Perhaps that’s why Zamf CIO Lin Lam expects the company to be the number one (endpoint) vendor by 2030.
This is why Apple will continue to develop its offerings to enterprise professionals.
For end users? Fast, growingly powerful computers with incredibly low power requirements, all of which have on-chip features (such as UWB (probably) and / or machine-learning capabilities) most of which have not yet been expanded.
The built-in and unnecessary reverse of existing products, including Apple’s commitment to continuous software upgrades, means that the Mac or iPad you buy today (or next year) will be a better machine next year.
One more thing: we don’t know, and we haven’t been told, but it seems that Apple is betting on the end of the covid-related manufacturing recession. With this in mind we will rely heavily on health data as we enter the fall.
Health, fitness – and eye care?
Third, it tells us about our health. A second report today explained that the new AirPods Pro will use USB-C, a microphone for use as a hearing aid, motion sensor, built-in fitness tracking, temperature detection and heart rate sensor.
In other words, Apple is expanding its health data collection system across its personal products, further expanding its reach towards enhanced health.
While not promoting Apple’s AR products, Cook has often praised his company’s work in the field of health. While I don’t think we’ve yet seen Apple’s big idea in that sector, adding health sensors to airpods gives us a solid direction of travel and if nothing else, perhaps digital health solution developers should sign up for Apple. Developer account.
Starting with iOS 16, Apple has told us to expect the ability to store vision prescriptions in our HealthKit. It says that this type of prescription is easy to use. But due to the exposure of AR glasses and such data is now available to developers through ‘requestPerObjectRead‘Approved, it’s not hard to see if there’s anything more to it. After all, 75% of US adults rely on prescription glasses. In mixed reality there isn’t a huge amount of value if what you see is overlays.
Apple Quad Return
When Steve Jobs returned to the nearly dead Apple and cut the craft, the company adopted a much simplified product roadmap: Pro, Consumer, Mobile, Desktop. There were and still are shadows in this, and new product families now exist, but the company has focused around that division.
Apple’s claimed decision to equip the iPhone range (albeit optimized and improved) with the A15 processor while placing the A16 chip only on Pro iPhone models suggests the company back to that strategy. The Pro iPhone (and presumably, all of Apple’s Pro products) will acquire additional features and capabilities to make them more clearly distinguished from the consumer range. Apple has reached a point where it is the only truly credible competitor in itself. What does a firm need to do?
[Also read: We already know how Apple will prosper in uncertainty]
Consumer users certainly don’t have to worry too much about it: these high-resource features may eventually become universal features, usually for more than two years.
Green slide
One thing that isn’t being discussed too much is how Apple will continue to work to reduce the impact of hardware production as it seeks to meet its own zero carbon 2030 goal. Production is inherently a waste of resources, raw materials, water, fuel and much more. The need to optimize production processes across every industry continues and this means that durability and recycling will be key to the firm’s new hardware design. Apple’s approach to “designing” sustainable business practices across its own and partner businesses will help inform each enterprise what is possible.
The green slides that Apple creates during its innovative product presentations should be looked at in depth for what they reveal for process innovation, the use of recycled content, and much more. Above all, the application of more efficient, less wasteful production and distribution practices will leave a lot of wasted cash in any organization. How much can your own guidance help Apple’s decisions in this regard to help you run your business more efficiently?
Another thing
Bloomberg Also a new model seems to predict the introduction of a multitouch screen on top of the homepod. If it does, it could conceptually provide more visual elements like album art and an on-device music selection system, but it’s not too big to imagine support for relevant home-focused apps and widgets. How much will Matter and Thread support enable smart homes?
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