iOS 17 Rumored to Have 'Fewer Major Changes Than Originally Planned' as Apple Shifts Focus to AR/VR Headset

[giebe]

Still waiting for a better calendar app. But other than that, I don't need major new features. Daily stuff works quite well. I don't even use all the new features of iOS 16.

I'm more excited for the AR glasses. Waiting for them since about 2-3 years.

 

[BvizioN]

So a 2 Trillion Dollar company can't focus on two major products at the same time?

How bitter and entitled some people are

I admit that I am a bit of fanboy when it comes to Apple product but I can honestly say his question is legit. No company focuses on one product only. iOS is their biggest platform.

 

[GuilleA]

2023 is gonna be so boring. Who gives a **** about a VR headset?

 

[I7guy]

An enormous number of new software features were launched in the last two years. It’s okay to slow the pace, focus on fixing bugs, and give the average consumer time to digest all the features

Sure. There's that. But we all know that Apple marches to it's own cadence.

 

[nebojsak]

I'm a bit sad that innovation on iOS and probably MacOS will suffer because Apple wants to make a product I don't even care about.

Why are some folks so obsessed with innovation? You can't innovate (apart from minor things) on mature products/technologies, you can only polish, refine and make them stable and reliable, which is the main thing I expect from Apple as their customer. It's not 2007. anymore.

 

[citysnaps]

So a 2 Trillion Dollar company can't focus on two major products at the same time?

It's more about some people having a difficult time comprehending Apple routinely does that and much more.

 

[citysnaps]

No one wants Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality. We want practical tools to assist us through our lives.

AR and VR are just video games.

Hard to believe we are trying to be pulled even further away from actual reality.

I believe you could benefit from engaging in a wee bit of research with respect to what AR is about.

Hint: It's not video games.

 

[v3rlon]

I am not sure what major updates iOS needs. Are there some things I would like it to have? Sure, but there aren't any crazy changes I see needed.

Multiple timers with Siri, better email rules system, and a few more features on photos would be nice.
Specifically, for photos
Let it take Plugins (from Topaz, On1, etc)
Give me multiple multi-user Libraries with different user lists (this is one for the whole family, here is one for photo club, etc)
Midi or hotkey control for things like Loupedeck
And, as long as I am dreaming, a public facing gallery album (anyone can see, only I can edit).
Find ways to make HomeKit more useful. Integrate with things you do around the home

 

[Darth Tulhu]

I just want the damn Music app to WORK IN LANDSCAPE.

WTF is taking Apple SO LONG to fix that s***!

 

[matthew12]

Honestly, if iOS 17 is more of a "Snow Leopard"-esque update that has limited new features but mostly just fixes bugs and underlying existing tech, I'd be fine with that. Apple seems to always be scrambling for the first 3 months of any new OS release ever since probably iOS 12/13.

AR/VR, however, I feel is still too early to do anything interesting. Batteries and other tech aren't there yet to support something I might always have on my face, such as glasses. Like, if I have to plug in my glasses every few hours, that's just stupid.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Still waiting for a better calendar app. But other than that, I don't need major new features. Daily stuff works quite well. I don't even use all the new features of iOS 16.

I'm more excited for the AR glasses. Waiting for them since about 2-3 years.

What do you want as a better Calendar app? I’ve been thinking about the Calendar too and went back to using the Apple app over Google Calendar just because it works. What would you like to see improved/changed.

 

[compwiz1202]

not even app icon design change?

or ability to change fonts??

Come on Apple.....

And we need our 7.4k new emojis which are actually 74 in 100 different colors

 

[compwiz1202]

And I had 9 nieces and nephews between 7 and 17 at my family Christmas gathering who all enjoyed playing Beat Saber. I’d kind of dread when one of the older ones would ask to try it, because everyone else would want a turn when they saw one cousin playing it.
We also played some 4 play co-op games on the TV. And physical board games. They all have a place.
My family is quite spread out over the US. in the future, it may be fun to play board games over the internet in VR when we can’t meet in person. I’ve already enjoyed playing games like poker and Cards Against Humanity in VR with internet friends.

Love board and card games. If we had the money, we would get that virtual games cabinet. Worst part about board games is losing the parts

 

[compwiz1202]

Talent is a finite resource. For every talented developer who understands and indisputably believes in the mission and can work as an effective team player behind the VPs in charge, there are thousands of people who show up for the paycheque with average performance. Everyone has their share of each at their own job and you know who they are. If the company is big enough, you know there are many more of the latter group than the former. Hiring those key people is limited by the number of them who exist and no amount of money is going to make more of them.

Moving the A-Team to the priority project is very common and to be expected. The B-Team can maintain the existing product line but they're not going to work like the A-Team.

Yea someone said you can't just throw money at it. You can to a point. Higher salaries and better benefits will attract more of the top tier but also more low. You need a team that's good at recognizing the diamonds in the rough through all the buttkissers and BSers

 

[compwiz1202]

I am not sure what major updates iOS needs. Are there some things I would like it to have? Sure, but there aren't any crazy changes I see needed.

Multiple timers with Siri, better email rules system, and a few more features on photos would be nice.
Specifically, for photos
Let it take Plugins (from Topaz, On1, etc)
Give me multiple multi-user Libraries with different user lists (this is one for the whole family, here is one for photo club, etc)
Midi or hotkey control for things like Loupedeck
And, as long as I am dreaming, a public facing gallery album (anyone can see, only I can edit).
Find ways to make HomeKit more useful. Integrate with things you do around the home

I've never understood the timer thing. If you can name timers, why can't you have multiples. Why even have a name then. Should be able to have dinner and laundry etc timers

 

[Realityck]

Yea someone said you can't just throw money at it. You can to a point. Higher salaries and better benefits will attract more of the top tier but also more low. You need a team that's good at recognizing the diamonds in the rough through all the buttkissers and BSers

If you want to know Apple's plans one needs to research what startups or companies they bought in the past.

Apple buys startup focussed on lenses for AR glasses

Apple Inc has acquired a startup focussed on making lenses for augmented reality glasses, the company confirmed on Wednesday, a signal Apple has ambitions to make a wearable device that would superimpose digital information on the real world.

www.reuters.com

Akonia could not immediately be reached for comment. The company was founded in 2012 by a group of holography scientists and had originally focused on holographic data storage before shifting its efforts to creating displays for augmented reality glasses, according to its website.

In augmented reality, digital information is overlaid on the real world as in the popular game Pokemon Go. Mobile phones use their camera system to do this on the phone’s screen, but major technology firms are racing to create glasses that will show digital information on transparent lenses.

Akonia uses holography to create transparent augmented reality display

Akonia Holographics, a startup in Longmont, Colorado, spent years trying to make holographic data storage work. It didn’t succeed, but now it found a new use for the same technology. The company now plans to use holography to make inexpensive transparent displays for augmented reality...

venturebeat.com

The team started working on holographic data storage in the 1990s at Bell Labs, then spun out of Bell Labs in 2000 as InPhase Technologies. But that company eventually went bankrupt, and Akonia was founded in August 2012 after acquiring millions of dollars in assets and the entire 200-patent portfolio from InPhase. The goal was to produce a storage product.

But during the past year, the company decided to shift markets and repurpose its displays for AR, using what it calls its HoloMirror technology, which the company says is the perfect solution for the transparent eyepiece that combines the view of the outside world with a computer display.

“We believe we can solve the problem of the eyeglass that sits in front of your eyeball,” Anderson said. “You can overlay something like a green arrow for navigation or a Pikachu for a game.”

Akonia hopes to raise money in the coming months to get a pilot line going to manufacture the displays. But over time, it hopes to find a big partner that can handle the manufacturing. Akonia is working with customers now who are paying engineering fees to develop prototypes. It isn’t too complex, as it is essentially one piece of plastic in between two pieces of glass.

“Our proprietary holographic photopolymers have been developed and refined for over 2 decades, and along with our ability to design and develop complex holographic recording systems we have a unique insight into how to use holography to create the most elusive and difficult component of an AR headset: a thin, transparent eyepiece that provides good display performance at a reasonable cost,” Anderson said.

Akonia hopes to get production going by 2018 or so. The company has 20 employees now. It previously raised money for its data storage plans, but it is using that money for the display technology now.

“Our end goal is to license the technology,” Anderson said.
--------------------------------
And Apple did just that when they bought them.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Maybe I’m just getting old…but i don’t think AR & VR are gonna be as huge as some people think they’ll be. When I asked my teenage niece about AR VR & the “metaverse”, she just laughed and said all her friends think it’s stupid. I know that’s not very scientific… i just don’t think it’s gonna take off like the smartphone did. Not everyone is gonna want one. I see it as a very niche thing. But what do i know? 🤷‍♂️

She’s not wrong. They’re predicting holding meetings etc in the “meta verse” but nobody will want to wear that thing and sweat for hours at a time.

Also, people still don’t know how to open a PDF file.

 

[Razor_Crest]

Bug fixes. Finally!!!

 

[_Spinn_]

This seems very risky. Diverting attention away from the cash cow to a niche product most people won’t want.

 

[dysamoria]

I don’t care. Literally the one single thing I want from Apple software updates is bug fixing.

 

[Jensend]

This seems very risky. Diverting attention away from the cash cow to a niche product most people won’t want.

Are people always going to continue replacing iPhones and iPads at the rate they do now? My 5.5 year old iPad Pro is performing a lot better than my iPad 3 was when it was that old. (except the battery life on the Pro is awful). The only upgrade I really want is an OLED display. Small touchscreen devices are at the point where upgrades have diminishing returns, especially as we approach the lower limits on transistor size.

VR/AR headsets have a ton of headroom for significant yearly improvements.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Are you suggesting the people that make the tv shows interfere with the people that do the software development? (It may be true(/s), but I like their TV shows, so I would want them to keep making them.)

No, I'm suggesting making TV shows is distracting Apple itself.

 

[I7guy]

No, I'm suggesting making TV shows is distracting Apple itself.

Tv shows, AirPods, macs, cars, music and watches as well?

 

[Samplasion]

If one doctor can deliver a baby in 2 hours, can two doctors deliver a baby in 1 hour?

No but they both can deliver a baby in 2 hours, bringing the total to 2 babies in 2 hours, or a rate of 1 baby/hour.

 

[Samplasion]

the EU legislation will only decrease privacy,

That's not how it works. Facebook releasing their app on their website doesn't magically bypass the tracking restriction iOS imposes on apps.

increase complexity, and result in a poor user experience (outside the App Store).

That depends entirely on how Apple plans to implement sideloading.