Apple’s vision of virtual reality can now be distinguished

Having already written about Apple’s biggest events of 2021, it’s now time to look forward to the year ahead, a year full of unlimited and exciting opportunities. The past 12 months have been eventful for Apple, but we can already guess what the next year will be like.

The end of the transition and the beginning of the future

My colleague Jason Snell described the next step Apple move to their wizards for the Mac. There are still many Macs waiting for Intel to make a decision. If Apple keeps its two-year transition promise, the end of this year will deliver something unparalleled in the company’s history, as every single product is made by Apple based on the company’s chips.

The integration will also open doors for Apple in how software develops their platforms, allowing for more interaction and features across the entire range.

Expect to see a redesigned 27-inch Imac in the spring, with solid performance, and perhaps an equally powerful Mac mini. The Mac Pro isn’t expected until the second half of the year. But 2022 will also see the second generation of Macs with Apple processors, with the MacBook Air taking the lead with a truly redesigned look, compared to its predecessor. It’s an exciting time to be a Mac user, considering it’s a product approaching its 40th anniversary.

become virtual

It’s been a long time since Apple entered a new product category, most recently the humble Homepod, which launched in 2018. But things could change in 2022, now that rumors of the company’s mixed reality headset have ramped up in recent years and months. Add to this news that Apple has hired an AR specialist Andrea Schubert From the Meta, which makes it seem like Apple might finally be ready to show us its vision.

If a headset appears this year, it is possible to make some well-founded guesses about it. The first model to emerge is likely to be expensive and will focus on virtual and augmented reality. It would be similar to current headphones, think Oculus and HTC. It may be shown at WWDC in June. The question is how will Apple convince the average consumer. We expect it will focus on connectivity, media consumption and gaming, but at least two of these will require significant investments from third parties.

The headset can be Apple’s entry metaverse, which other big tech companies are talking about, but in this case it will probably be in a very typical Apple way, with a tougher stance on integrity than the competition, as well as a sleek industrial design, but with fewer features than some competitors. However, if there is a chance that vr/s will become mainstream, it will likely be Apple that succeeds.

back to home

Since we’ve been pretty much sitting at home during the pandemic for the past couple of years, I hope Apple takes other steps in the smart home.

The Homepod may have been a failure, but its successor, the Homepod mini, appears to be doing better. The Apple TV hasn’t seen a significant update since 2015, it’s time for Apple to think outside the box. Finding a way to combine the features of the Homepod mini and Apple TV can be a start, especially if it also includes some kind of video chat for Facetime and Shareplay.

Likewise, now that the Matter smart home compatibility initiative is actually gaining traction, it’s time for Apple to lead smart home development. For Apple, this should essentially mean that it improves how we interact with our smart devices, including a redesign of the Home app and improvements in Siri smart home controls.

everything else

Of course, new iPhones and iPads will be launched along the way, as well as two different versions of the Apple Watch. No doubt updates for Mac OS, IOS, and Ipad OS will be released during WWDC, but what exactly they will contain will be someone else’s guess.

Despite supply chain issues and the effects of Covid, Apple is poised for another successful year. The company didn’t have a revenue shortfall last year, and in my life I can’t believe it’s going to change in 2022.

Wait: 2022 will be a road trip.

Translated and edited by Peter Arnstadt