Hi , it ’s me , Father Time . This is my 421stMore Colorcolumn , only about 20 of which have been part of my annual attempt to forebode the hereafter while blaming myself for failing to properly augur the year gone by . ( Look , if I get them all right , 421 of the columns would be prediction - free-base ! )
To the task of predicting , I make for geezerhood of experience . The Mac ’s 40 year older and I ’ve been associated with Macworld for 27 of those years , which is , uh … two - third base of the Mac ’s macrocosm ? Geez . You screw , I was the summer intern once ! ( Kurt Cobainwas awake then . )
Anyway , who adept to listen to than Father Time , just before he turns into a New Year ’s Baby ? Next clip I ’ll once again dauntlessly assay to predict the hereafter , but for this column we ’re all give out to indicate at joke at my failure … or will we?Maybe I had a adept year in 2024 . Let ’s see .
Did not see that coming: the M4 chip made its debut in an iPad, not a Mac.
Year of the iPad
The iPad leave 2023 in a shambles . It had n’t been update in more than a class . But I used my prediction sense to assume that the mathematical product product line would be refreshed and set off to make more signified in 2024 , and it did .
Did not see that add up : the M4 chip made its debut in an iPad , not a Mac .
metalworks
A new Mac mini in 2024? Yes, but a smaller redesign wasn’t expected.
I predicted that the iPad Air and iPad Pro would severalize themselves by using different keyboards , with the airwave using the old Magic Keyboard while the fresh Pro model would get a fancy new keyboard ( with atomic number 13 and a function dustup ! ) along with a gorgeous OLED display .
sail through it . permit ’s move on … oh , wait , what ’s this ? Unfortunately , I ’m being told that I explicitly utter about how the M3 chip would be corking for the iPad Pro . And of class , in that Apple pulled one of the greatest surprise of the year : the iPad Pro debut with a never - before - see check , the M4 !
I also neglect on the low - last iPad front . While I aright foreshadow the demise of the 9th generation iPad with household button , I think there would be a 11th generation bump to the billet . There was n’t . The 10th genesis model is still with us . At least the original Apple Pencil and its janky Lightning to USB adapter is finally history .
For its 10th iteration, the new Apple Watch didn’t have much to talk about.
All quiet on the Mac front
“ With the M3 C.P.U. already out in the world , I suspect that the Mac ’s 2024 will be for the most part devoted to update exist good example to add in the M3 , ” wrotesome dummy in December 2023 .
A newfangled Mac miniskirt in 2024 ? Yes , but a smaller redesign was n’t anticipate .
Yes , the M3 MacBook Air debut . But after that , things stick weird . That iPad Pro got all the M4 glory ! and Apple just pressed fast - forward on all of its product release , skitter over the M3 and going to the M4 with aredesigned Mac mini(not predicted by me , alas ) and new interpretation of theMacBook Pro .
Siri is still a work in progress, but its new glowing outline presentation is neat.
unluckily , that means I missed in predicting that “ all exist Mac models will see M3 updates … . not just the Mac mini but the Mac Studio and Mac Pro . ” rather , Mac Studio and Mac Pro fans wait for an M4 release sometime in 2025 . But at least the Mac mini we experience was better – minor and quicker – than I expected back in December .
At least I got a few other modest Mac predictions decently : “ Apple will update its stimulant twist from Lightning to USB - C … at least a year later than we all desire they would do it . No new Apple display standalone this twelvemonth , though . I ’ve been burned too many time . ” Someone could really lead up the sexual conquest by constantly omen no new Apple standalone display .
Some other hardware and services
The problem with predicting the iPhone is that we hear about the shape and size of iPhone example so far in advance that it takes all the playfulness out of it . So I auspicate some improvements in foot iPhone camera hardware , but we already recognize about one more class for the iPhone Plus , though nobody predicted those eye - poppingly bright colouring material on the iPhone 16 models .
For its 10th iteration , the new Apple Watch did n’t have much to peach about .
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Sometimes it ’s the pick you do n’t make : I said I was n’t seeing the rumor of a revamped tenth day of remembrance Apple Watch , and the updates there were much more pocket-sized .
I did inaccurately predict that Apple would make another passel for variation right . The company ’s MLS experimentation continues to run out , but I expect Eddy Cue would have talked Tim Cook into a few more tribulation balloons by now . At least I accurately predicted that Apple would – despite always being mentioned – not make any big business deal to purchase studios or cyclosis services .
And then there ’s the Vision Pro , which if you ’ll think back to last year had been announce but had n’t yet shipped . I am going to give myself a pat on the back for my non - prediction prediction that there would n’t be a “ percipient verdict ” on the AVP by class ’s end , because it ’s “ a 1.0 mathematical product with a high-pitched monetary value . ” That ’s somewhat much where we are , unless you consider this year substantiation that whatever the Vision Pro is , it ’s unacceptable for it to be a hit product because it ’s just too limited and expensive . Apple ’s playing the prospicient biz with visionOS , and I do n’t gestate that we ’ll be able to guess this saga for many years yet .
And now, Apple Intelligence
But who are we kidding ? The full-grown write up of the year is Apple ’s whole-souled embrace of declamatory language models with the introduction of Apple Intelligence . We all sort of lie with this was going to happen , but the level of dedication Apple has made to the bite is admirable .
Siri is still a work in progress , but its fresh glowing outline presentation is orderly .
Connor Jewiss / Foundry
“ This experience like the year where Apple will aggressively show off its attempts to integrate more machine - learning - based engineering science into its devices , ” I write last December . Yep , I got that right , but I was wrong in suspecting that Apple would only enable some features on the iPhone 16 Pro . rather , it ’s the iPhone 15 Pro that can lord it over its grim - end first cousin , while all iPhone 16 models are eligible .
I do n’t really know what to make of my prediction that “ Siri 2.0 is survive to happen . ” That ’s manifestly unseasonable , but I do enjoy all the caveat I repose out , saying it would have a lot of guardrails and limit “ that make it less utilitarian than other chatbots ” and “ will in all likelihood be label as a genus Beta . ” If there ’s a better Siri come in , it ’s still not here at twelvemonth ’s ending … unless you utilize ChatGPT with iOS 18.2 .
Apple Intelligence is in fact not just the account of the year , but the narration of next yr . And in all probability the next few . It ’s notable that Apple ’s believably going to be rolling out Modern Apple Intelligence features all the way through WWDC next year . At which item it ’ll begin selling us on new features for the next cycle , which will once again only be partially complete when 2025 comes to an oddment . All those who trifle the prediction game , be warned .
