2024 is fast fading behind us and thus , as is our customs duty , it ’s time to throw off our eye back at the year that was and see how things agitate out for Apple .
A pile has happened to the ship’s company over the preceding twelve months – not all of it to Apple ’s liking . As Apple has gottenlarger and larger , it ’s receive itself increasingly in the crosshairs of government , not to mention its evenly weighty competitors . While the companionship stay wildly successful from a financial stand , it ’s struggled middling when it comes to its vision of the future . In short , there are definitely crack puncturing Cupertino ’s traditionally invincible image .
Let ’s take a head trip down retention lane and see the stories that influence Apple ’s 2024 .
We’ll be hearing moreabout Apple Intelligence in 2025.
Continental drift
If there ’s one story from 2024 that is likely to have an outsized impact on Apple ’s creation going forwards , it ’s the company ’s brush with the European Commission . This come to a head in 2024 as Apple was force to comply with the region ’s Digital Markets Act and eject a strong program update that allows for third - political party app statistical distribution on iOS and iPadOS .
Apple continues to throw its weight around , sometimes using its bully pulpit of notarizations for reasons that would seem to go beyond the state intentions of platform condom and security .
And yet , as simple as that sentence seems , the realism was anything but burn and dry . Apple did its darnedest to comply with the letter of the legal philosophy but still keep its traditional App Store manakin on top , even as the EC set about to enforce the intent of its rule . The result has been an queasy stalemate : yes , third - political party app stores are presently available in the European Union , but they have n’t had a big impingement yet . And Apple continues to throw its weight around , sometimes using its bully pulpit of notarizations for intellect that would seem to go beyond the stated intentions of platform rubber and surety .
Remember the Apple Vision Pro?
The history ’s just at an end , either . Apreliminary ruling from the EC in Junedeemed that Apple was not in conformity with the DMA , with a terminal conclusion to be handed down in March of 2025 . depend on how it all shakes out , the App Store good example may be on the ebbing .
Between that and other pending legal and governmental affair elsewhere around the populace — admit the U.S. where the company found itself target by an antitrust legal action — Apple may find itself fighting battles on multiple front in the yr to come .
Intelligence gathering
After more than a year of being hold lately to the AI party — and what an ill-chosen face - melting , variable number of fingers party it is — Apple made a stir at this class ’s Worldwide Developers Conference by uncover its own maraud into the market place : Apple Intelligence , a suite of AI tool that touches everything from writing to image generation to improvements to Siri . With this proclamation , Apple seemed to be banking heavily on its reputation of redeem not the first result to marketplace , but the undecomposed .
We ’ll be hearing more
Apple
But even now , those Apple Intelligence features have only just get going to roll out , with the arrival of the second round — including disputatious AI icon coevals feature — gestate imminently , as of this writing . reaction to the first rhythm was mixed to underwhelmed , especially when compared to offerings from competitors that have already pushed well past where even Apple ’s not - yet - here features promise to be .
Apple Intelligence is a multi - year endeavour , however , and next class will bring some of its most anticipated features , include a wise Siri that ’s cognizant of users ’ personal setting . More than anything else , that seems poised to answer the question of just how far behind Apple really is when it comes to AI features that set it asunder from everyone else .
Apple ’s clearly gift a lot of clock time and energy on this front , even if it started somewhat later than its competition . The real question linger out there is whether generative AI is a flashing in the goat god or a technology that really will transmute the industry . The final result of that larger issue could dictate just how relevant Apple Intelligence end up being — and how smart Apple expect .
Automotive vision
Much care in the Apple - watching kingdom is focused on what big project the company will take on next . This year bear witness just how much of a struggle Apple itself has had in answering that interrogation .
Remember the Apple Vision Pro ?
metalworks
After a decade , theApple Car project drive its way into the gravewithout ever getting to the product stage . The stuff of recurrent rumors , the car project was Apple ’s attempt to find out the next bragging thing , but it was get stuck in an unclear sight and high turnover in its leadership . In the end , the most positive sign was that the company had the courage to pull the wad on something that was n’t working .
But with the car project go , all centre turned elsewhere for Apple ’s future .
It ’s almost quaint to consider back to the first of the year , when the most foreknow Apple Cartesian product was the comer of theVision Pro . But as was for the most part have a bun in the oven , its in high spirits price tag and limited feature article mark outweighed its telling technology . It was only saved from being a flop by chastity of the fact that Apple did n’t really expect it to do a blockbuster stage business in the first place . The real validation will be in whatever changes the company gain for the product ’s successor : will it slough features and cost to attract to more client , or will Apple stick to its high expectations and anathemize the torpedoes .
The rest of the story
Elsewhere , Apple made the jump to its recent micro chip architecture , which powered an telling and well - regard revamp to theMac mini , as well as nice updates to theMacBook Proline and theiMac . And , of path , theiPhone 16 linedebuted , marking the first time ever the companyadded a physical controlfor the 2nd year running , perhaps try that Steve Jobs and Jony I ve ’s throttlehold on Apple design may in conclusion be issue forth to an end .
As for what bulk large in front for Apple in 2025 , well , there ’s plenty on the visible horizon – it may just be one of the party ’s big years ever . We ’ll break down exactly what to ask next time . take aboutwhat ’s coming from Apple in 2025 .
