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Feb 9, 2012
— https://sf.gl/625
Apple Predictions for 2012 – 2013
- All Apple products with screens will begin to have Retina-grade displays, starting with the iPad 3 coming in the first half of 2012, then the MacBooks and finally the Thunderbolt display and iMacs.
- iPad 3 will have, other than retina display, double the ram, quad core processor, better 8MP camera, thinner, but same 10hr battery life. The design will be similar to that of iPad 2. Oh, and Siri. Coming Q1 2012.
- Mac OS X will merge with iOS in the next version coming late 2013, potentially removing a lot of functionality, upsetting professionals. There will be no 10.8. It will simply be called iOS. (They've run out of cat names)
- iMacs will never have touch-screens though.
- Apple's 42" television set will premiere before 2013. It will look like a large Thunderbolt Display. It will feature iOS. Apple will also partner with TV stations to offer more on-demand programming. It will probably feature Siri so you can channel surf without moving your body. It will be available in black and white.
- Mac Pro will be discontinued after the next and final generation comes when Intel's new chipset is ready in mid 2012, so sometime in late 2013. Super fast Thunderbolt-equipped iMacs will take over Mac Pro's market.
- Apple's server offerings will be replaced with cloud services and the increasingly powerful Mac Mini. (Apple doesn't even use their own hardware for servers anymore)
- Final Cut Pro X will receive rigorous updates. Video professionals will regret their shift to Media Composer as digital formats replace tape.
- We will see the transition to ARM-based Macs in late 2013 or the beginning of 2014, starting with the MacBook Air.
- As battery life will be longer, we'll begin to see security features in the MacBook power adapters like Apple recently patented.
- iPhone 5 mid-late 2012 will have a new, thinner design going back to round corners plus Siri will end its beta phase at the same time. It will have LTE support. iPhone 5 won't have any exceptional features, but it will be the best selling iPhone ever.
- iPod Classic will be discontinued and replaced with the iPod touch which will be renamed iPod. It will be expensive because of the 128GB SSD.
- iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano will merge.
Apple will become more consumer and entertainment oriented and will slim its product line accordingly.
Right now, Apple is preparing and conditioning us for the iOS merge with their Lion operating system.
As we've seen with the release of Lion and the 10.7.3 update, retina support on Macs is coming soon.
ARM-based Macs are further away; it's simply not fast enough yet. But it'll come unless something drastic happens at Intel.
Apple's TV will become the best selling TV ever, no doubt about it. Right now, TVs suck with their slow menus and bloated designs with huge bezels and bright LED lights. Consumers want an easy to use, minimalist designed, internet-connected television with an Apple logo on it. And they'll pay a premium for it.
Mac Pro is becoming a legacy machine. Apple will probably have to release a new one to please their professional market, but they're not happy about it. Thunderbolt display will mostly be a dock for Macbooks.
Right now is an exciting time at Apple. It seems like their growth can't stop. But will their changes succeed? Will the competition finally pull itself together and release products worth buying?