The start of a new year is the perfect time to look forward, set some resolutions and intentions, and plan out the next 12 months. Now that we've got the CES craziness out of the way, we can turn our attention to what our favorite fruit-themed company has in store for 2022. It turns out, it's a lot.
The year ahead
In various articles to kick the year off, we've looked at Apple's product lineup to find the next logical steps for the company. We also spent a little time speculating on things to come in the hopes that we can somehow will them into existence.
There are two products clearly lagging behind the rest of the pack when it comes to hardware upgrades, and those are the new MacBook Air and the 2022 iPad Air.
Despite still being excellent devices, both Air-branded products are letting the side down when it comes to hardware. We're expecting a substantial MacBook Air update this year and maybe a more minor spec bump for the iPad Air to get it at least in line with the iPad mini 6 that outpaces it currently.
A little more in the realm of wishcasting is our look at the Apple TV in 2022. Though it did get updated in 2021, it was a minor spec bump and not a fundamental re-thinking of the category. For the fifteenth (yes, fifteenth) anniversary of the product's debut, we took a look back at the device's history and laid out where we think the Apple TV needs to go in 2022 and beyond.
It's not all hardware, though, as we dived into the slate of upcoming Apple TV+ content which has seemingly exploded out of nowhere. There's certainly a lot of Apple TV+ shows and movies to look forward to over the next year or so.
We also spoke to several industry experts to get their insight into what Apple has in store for 2022. If you don't believe Apple is in for a bumper year, check out their predictions.
iPhone at 15
Like the Apple TV it shared a stage with, it's also the fifteenth anniversary of the original iPhone's unveiling this month. Our own Christine Romero-Chan took a look back at 15 years of iPhone and shared some thoughts on the road ahead. It's wild to think how far we've come in such a short span of time and quite how much the iPhone revolutionized phones and technology more broadly.
The one product Apple never skips out on is the iPhone, its most important and profitable device, so of course we have rumors aplenty about this year's iPhone 14.
We're expecting Apple to keep the body design much the same as the iPhone 13 while ditching the notch in favor of a pill-shaped cutout in the display, something that most of this week's rumors have focused on. We may see a 48MP camera upgrade too, a rumor reiterated again in the last week, making for the best iPhone camera yet.
There are also fresh rumors of a 5G-enabled iPhone SE launching at a spring event slated to take place in the next few months. It will be interesting to see what Apple does with the iPhone SE line as it tries to keep the price accessible while modernizing the specs.
Reality disappointment field
The main thing we were all looking forward to hearing more about and hopefully seeing this year was Apple's AR/VR headset. The device has been the subject of intense rumor and speculation for the past couple of years and signs had been pointing to 2022 being the year it would finally see the light of day.
However, the most recent reporting now suggests the product has been delayed to 2023 due to overheating issues, as well as development challenges related to cameras and software.
It's important Apple gets this stuff right, so I don't mind the company pushing the product to a later date. Despite that, the news will come as a disappointment to those ready to see Apple dive into a whole new product category.
Plenty to look forward to
The new year is a time filled with hope. While we're unlikely to see any new products from Apple until a spring event at the earliest, we can also enjoy not having our dreams dashed until then, at least. Unless you wanted to try on Apple VR this year, that is.
Until next time!
— Adam Oram
