Comparatively talking, 2023 has been a quiet yr for Apple product releases. Certain, we received the same old annual iPhone and Apple Watch releases and a few refreshed Macs, however these happen with such regularity that it might have been extra uncommon if these merchandise hadn’t proven up.
What we didn’t get had been any new iPads. Take into consideration that for a second… That is the primary yr because the iPad was launched over 13 years in the past that Apple didn’t have a single new iPad mannequin to indicate us.
Fortunately, a number of stories recommend that Apple has some thrilling issues in retailer for the iPad in 2024, and there’s an excellent likelihood we’ll see a product-packed March occasion that can herald a bigger iPad Air and a brand new M3-powered MacBook Air lineup.
Nevertheless, the true focus in 2024 can be Apple’s wearables, which, based on Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, will “take middle stage.”
In fact, we already know Apple’s revolutionary Imaginative and prescient Professional headset is anticipated to land early subsequent yr. Definitely by March, though some more moderen stories recommend the primary items could also be able to go on sale by the tip of January, even when inventory is initially a bit tight.
Whereas the Imaginative and prescient Professional was arguably Apple’s most distinguished announcement of 2023, it has but to change into an precise product that individuals can put their arms on (nicely, apart from a couple of privileged builders who’re required to successfully guard it with their lives). That may change early subsequent yr, and Gurman says it should usher in a complete new period of wearables for the corporate, from new AirPods to the so-called “Apple Watch X” to mark the smartwatch’s tenth anniversary.
However will probably be the corporate’s wearables enterprise — together with the upcoming Imaginative and prescient Professional, AirPods and Apple Watch — that take middle stage. The Imaginative and prescient Professional marks a brand new class for Apple, whereas the earbuds and smartwatch are poised to get a few of their largest upgrades ever.
Mark Gurman
Gurman shares the predictions in his newest Energy On e-newsletter, the place he provides that this can mark a possibility for Apple to show issues round in these product classes, the place gross sales have been declining because the burst of client spending in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ‘Apple Watch X’
The Apple Watch Collection 9 marked a small however important replace in Apple’s smartwatch lineup, due to its extra highly effective S9 chip that ushered in a giant leap in efficiency. Such a transfer is probably going a step towards the mythic “Apple Watch X,” nevertheless it was the one significant enchancment on this yr’s watch, which retains the identical bodily design as its predecessor and features no new well being sensors.
The truth is, the Apple Watch arguably hasn’t gained any important well being sensors since blood oxygen monitoring got here to the Apple Watch Collection 6 in 2020. Maybe paradoxically, that is the advance that’s gotten the Apple Watch banned within the US whereas Apple’s attorneys type out patent infringement claims.
Following a giant rumor mill misfire of a major new design, the Apple Watch Collection 7 appeared in 2021 with little greater than a bigger display and quick charging. The Collection 8 added a physique temperature sensor to the combo, however that’s of comparatively restricted usefulness for anyone who doesn’t have a feminine reproductive cycle that must be monitored.
So, it’s truthful to say that the Apple Watch is due for greater and higher issues, and Gurman believes that its tenth anniversary would be the time for Apple to usher in a brand new look and a few important enhancements, very like the iPhone X did for the iPhone lineup in 2017.
Whereas long-rumored options like blood glucose and detailed blood stress monitoring are seemingly nonetheless years away, sources have revealed to Gurman that subsequent yr’s mannequin will achieve hypertension and sleep apnea detection.
The hypertension detection is akin to what Apple did with the physique temperature sensor. Apple couldn’t excellent getting an correct physique temperature from the wrist, so it settled for measuring relative physique temperature. Equally, it hasn’t been capable of get correct blood stress monitoring, however presumably, it might probably get shut sufficient to a minimum of warn you of bizarre readings that you just may wish to have checked.
As for sleep apnea, the Apple Watch has supported sleep monitoring for a couple of years now, so it’s in all probability not an excessive amount of of a stretch to increase these algorithms to incorporate sleep apnea, seemingly by factoring in audio cues akin to loud night breathing.
AirPods and Extra AirPods
We additionally didn’t see any noteworthy AirPods releases this yr. The second-generation AirPods Professional had been repackaged right into a USB-C charging case with extra mud resistance and one way or the other gained help for lossless audio for the Imaginative and prescient Professional, however these are the one issues that set them other than the 2022 Lightning model — and the primary two may be added by choosing up the USB-C charging case by itself.
Nevertheless, Apple has in any other case been on a roll with its AirPods, which makes 2023 one thing of an aberration. The final time we had such an uneventful yr for AirPods was in 2018, when the unique first-generation AirPods had been nonetheless the one ones in the marketplace. By 2019, we received the second-generation AirPods and the primary set of AirPods Professional, and whereas 2020 virtually ended with out something new, Apple rounded out the yr by sneaking within the AirPods Max in December.
With the third-generation AirPods now two years previous, we severely anticipated Apple would use the iPhone 15’s USB-C swap to usher within the “AirPods 4” this fall. Nevertheless, when you think about that even Apple’s Mac equipment haven’t but gotten the USB-C remedy, it’s clear the corporate has its arms full proper now.
That may make 2024 a giant yr for AirPods, but when Gurman’s sources are appropriate, we may very well be getting greater than we bargained for, with Apple planning to launch two variations of the “AirPods 4” subsequent yr.
Reiterating data that he shared in October, Gurman notes that Apple’s third-generation AirPods have “been considerably of a dud with customers.” When Apple launched these in 2021, it stored the sooner 2019 second-generation variations in the marketplace at a lower cost, placing the newer mannequin into a clumsy middle-child place.
Prospects in search of a discount could be well-served by the older AirPods 2, whereas others might spend not rather more and get the AirPods Professional, which might usually be discovered on sale costs that lessened the hole even additional.
That’s left customers confused about which AirPods to purchase, and Apple loses income every time they go for the cheaper mannequin. In some instances, customers flip to a competitor’s product, aiming to get comparable options to the AirPods Professional at a lower cost.
Mark Gurman
Apple’s answer to that dilemma can be to launch two fully new variations of the AirPods 4, one among which can embrace lively noise cancellation — a primary for a non-pro set of AirPods. It’s unclear how Apple will model these to set them aside — “AirPods Air” feels odd, though not out of the query — however the lower-end mannequin may be the “AirPods Lite” we’ve been listening to about. Nevertheless, Gurman’s sources recommend the 2 new fashions will characteristic the identical design.
Whereas we’ll additionally get a USB-C refresh of the AirPods Max, little else is anticipated to vary on these higher-end cans as they don’t promote nicely sufficient to justify important analysis and growth investments. We must always get H2 chips that can help Apple’s Adaptive Audio options from iOS 17, bringing them on par with the present AirPods Professional.
As for these, new AirPods Professional gained’t seemingly arrive till 2025, however by that point, Apple might have been capable of crack the largest AirPods nut it’s been engaged on for a couple of years now: including new well being sensors to its earbuds. Listening to help options might arrive as a software program replace subsequent yr, seemingly as a part of iOS 18, however issues like physique temperature and coronary heart charge monitoring would require extra {hardware}.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]