What's Coming From Apple in 2015: Apple Watch, iPad Pro, iPhone 6s, 12-Inch MacBook and More

[peterdevries]

No. What a lot of people would like to see is Apple at least follow through on some basic innovations that they should be able to handle with ease.

I agree with you that some of these things would be great to see. I would buy a new Apple TV with app store in an instant. No matter the price.

However, many here seem to think that Apple has unlimited resources and that their wishes represent the bulk of Apple consumer wishes on the planet. Well, both are wrong.

1. we regularly hear that Apple has resource issues in software and hardware development, reassigning people left and right as deadlines grow nearer. You could say that they have enough capital to recruit people, and that is exactly what they are doing. But product development takes time. You can see the result of rushed product development in products such as the Microsoft Band or the Samsung Gear products.

2. although it might seem that Macrumors is the centre of the Apple consumer planet, it isn't. What many here would like to have or see in an apple product might be somewhere at position 55 if you look at all the potential developments that they are currently working on.

You are calling the watch a turd. Don't you think you are being a bit subjective here and discount those things that are irrelevant to you personally as nonsense innovations, while only those things that suit your specific needs are things done well by the company? What about the Retina iMac and Apple Pay. How is that for innovation?

 

[wizard]

This is a question that I have asked here multiple times, but no-one seems to be able to answer. Many people demand innovation and breakthrough products but are unable to come up with any sensible idea for a new device.

Yes I've asked the question before also and the same silence ensues. Beyond that these same people dismiss out of hand all the innovation that went into Apples last round of releases. Frustrating really.

The reason is clear: the personal computing market is mature and in terms of technology stagnating. Nothing wrong with that, but it is difficult for incumbent firms to move nowadays in new segments because they have all been opened.

This is one of those yes and no things. There are many interesting things happening with technology but that stuff has yet to make it into new products. On the other hand the days of massive improvements per core in a processor are close to gone.

As for new segments there are some that are yet to open. For example the integration of AI into operating systems in a meaningful way. Neural networks are another area rip for exploitation.

Apple is now entering the (possibly) final segment with smartwatches and will subsequently probably move into medical devices. That is a lateral segments that shows tremendous growth and consumer need.

I could see the medical device world as being difficult for Apple. The validation work alone would not gel well at all with their development processes. Robotics seems to have huge potential which is why I mentioned it before. Maybe the answer is medical robots. ##

But that won't satisfy the majority here. They need a new consumer grade device, a breakthrough disruptive product. What they fail to realise is that in the consumer space most current needs are and can be fulfilled with current technology.

Exactly which is why our questions never get answered.

In any event I don't understand why there is such a rush for an entirely new product out of Apple. It isn't like they are hurting right now and frankly they can't take their eye off the ball that is IOS devices.

 

[tdale]

Sure... And nobody will ever need more than 256k RAM.

The only time there's not a lot of room to innovate is when you run out of imagination. Which usually happens right before you get passed by somebody who hasn't.

How about listing innovation ideas that Apple missed last year?
Also a list of what every other manufacturer of devices and smart OS innovated last year.

 

[peterdevries]

I could see the medical device world as being difficult for Apple. The validation work alone would not gel well at all with their development processes.

It is not that bad. I brought a glucose meter to market. The approval process for a new Point of Care medical device is about 6 months and not that intensive. Especially product updates are quite easy to manage.

 

[wizard]

No. What a lot of people would like to see is Apple at least follow through on some basic innovations that they should be able to handle with ease.

It is fine that you would like to see some of these things. However that doesn't mean that Apple isn't innovating.

Like:

- App Store for Apple TV. So what if the cable companies are confounding their grand plans for TV; that doesn't stop them from adding the current box to the App Store. This was overdue four years ago. By now they just look like clueless bumbling fools that can't see the obvious.

I've actually wondered about this myself. They have basically thrown away a good opportunity here. Especially considering the latest A series chips and metal.

- As others have posted here, where in the world is the 4k, TB2 Cinema Display?! It has been the obvious missing companion to the MacBook Pro Retina and the coffee can MacPro for a year and a half now, but nowhere to be seen. Plenty of TB2 hubs on the market, and everyone else has had 4k monitors for half the price of Cinema Display for a full product cycle. This is such an easy no brainer we've got to wonder if anybody is even showing up for work in Apple's monitor development office anymore.

It looks like Apple is leaving this up to third parties. Honestly I can't blame them at all, most likely they don't make enough off the hardware to cover development costs. Further no matter what they do thousands go online to whine about the product.

In any event I doubt we would see a new monitor until TB3 hardware hits, so you have a big wait on your hands.

-Multiple OS upgrade cycles since TB came out and since PCI expansion slots completely disappeared from Apple's product line and still OS/X can't handle GPU cards in external PCI boxes over TB?! This was the promised solution to removing internal PCI options from all Apple computers and is a couple years overdue now, which is even more absurd considering that it has been working just fine on Apple's own hardware when running Boot Camp with Windows from even a couple generations ago.

No one ever promised GPU cards over TB. Further many of us have repeatedly said it won't happen anytime soon. I'm not sure why this still hasn't sunk in years later.

Just a few examples. Apple's product line up is already amazingly small and simple compared to comparably sized companies in all industries and they have more money than anyone else, yet we are supposed to believe they can't handle even simple developments like these examples by now, let alone in a timely manner for a company that is supposedly still innovative? Yeah right.

You must realize that these are personal desires and that Apple has in fact delivered much innovation in the last few years. It might not be the innovation you want but it is innovation none the less

If current management is so overwhelmed by the iTurd-on-a-wrist-band development that they can't attend to the gaping holes in their core product families, then time for some new management.

Honestly this is nonsense as they have significantly overhauled both IOS and Mac OS. They have done so while devlivering vastly improved hardware in many cases.

 

[tdale]

No. What a lot of people would like to see is Apple at least follow through on some basic innovations that they should be able to handle with ease.

Like:

- App Store for Apple TV. So what if the cable companies are confounding their grand plans for TV; that doesn't stop them from adding the current box to the App Store. This was overdue four years ago. By now they just look like clueless bumbling fools that can't see the obvious.
- As others have posted here, where in the world is the 4k, TB2 Cinema Display?! It has been the obvious missing companion to the MacBook Pro Retina and the coffee can MacPro for a year and a half now, but nowhere to be seen. Plenty of TB2 hubs on the market, and everyone else has had 4k monitors for half the price of Cinema Display for a full product cycle. This is such an easy no brainer we've got to wonder if anybody is even showing up for work in Apple's monitor development office anymore.
-Multiple OS upgrade cycles since TB came out and since PCI expansion slots completely disappeared from Apple's product line and still OS/X can't handle GPU cards in external PCI boxes over TB?! This was the promised solution to removing internal PCI options from all Apple computers and is a couple years overdue now, which is even more absurd considering that it has been working just fine on Apple's own hardware when running Boot Camp with Windows from even a couple generations ago.

Just a few examples. Apple's product line up is already amazingly small and simple compared to comparably sized companies in all industries and they have more money than anyone else, yet we are supposed to believe they can't handle even simple developments like these examples by now, let alone in a timely manner for a company that is supposedly still innovative? Yeah right.

If current management is so overwhelmed by the iTurd-on-a-wrist-band development that they can't attend to the gaping holes in their core product families, then time for some new management.

The innovation question resolved.

NONE of what you ask for is innovative. These are existing tech, already invented, they are just missing from your personal wish list.

Gaping holes in the core product families? Each group had a range of products, some of which can be custom specced. You said others have larger ranges and you said Apple has plenty of money, now you know why. A smaller but complete range is better, rather than 20 models of everything

 

[wolfsbane58]

Taking a look at some of the rumored things that Apple is supposed to be coming up with in 2015, the biggest concern... by a VERY wide margin that Apple needs to address are the things that made the company successful to start with in the past...

Integration
Quality of components, both hardware and software
and ease of accessibility to applications and personal files.

In each of these subjects, Apple has fallen flat on its face of late. Seriously, the amount of issues that users are facing being able to just simply update their iPhones through iTunes alone, or retain crucial files or apps without iTunes deleting them every time their devices are updated is just ridiculously unacceptable. You now, I don't even mind so much that most of the components inside new iMac is about two generations behind computers from their competitors. But there is absolutely no excuse for the amount of hardware issues and bugs with hardware and software integrations. But I look at some of the components on these new systems, and I simply see absolutely no reason to update. I just don't gain much out of it.

And seriously, Apple... fix IOS already! It seems that every time you put out a new version, for every bug that you "fix", 10 new ones pop up!

 

[wizard]

It is not that bad. I brought a glucose meter to market.

Hey maybe it is one I use!

The approval process for a new Point of Care medical device is about 6 months and not that intensive. Especially product updates are quite easy to manage.

The place I work for apparently has to deal with a higher level of compliance (implants drugs and other attached products). It is harder than hell to get anything done that might change a process even if that process is 30 years old. Validations of a change that may take 15 minutes to implement can take months or longer to get approved.

While I can understand that for the actual products used on the patients the QC people extend such requirements to the packaging equipment used to ship the product in. They seem to think the way a cardboard box is glued to get her will impact a product that is already sealed in another container.

 

[tdale]

Taking a look at some of the rumored things that Apple is supposed to be coming up with in 2015, the biggest concern... by a VERY wide margin that Apple needs to address are the things that made the company successful to start with in the past...

Integration
Quality of components, both hardware and software
and ease of accessibility to applications and personal files.

In each of these subjects, Apple has fallen flat on its face of late. Seriously, the amount of issues that users are facing being able to just simply update their iPhones through iTunes alone, or retain crucial files or apps without iTunes deleting them every time their devices are updated is just ridiculously unacceptable. You now, I don't even mind so much that most of the components inside new iMac is about two generations behind computers from their competitors. But there is absolutely no excuse for the amount of hardware issues and bugs with hardware and software integrations. But I look at some of the components on these new systems, and I simply see absolutely no reason to update. I just don't gain much out of it.

And seriously, Apple... fix IOS already! It seems that every time you put out a new version, for every bug that you "fix", 10 new ones pop up!

Wow, integration was low in the SJ era. You could hardly share anything, anywhere. iOS 8 brought increased Android features including sharing to many new options, apps can talk to each other, Handoff, Continuity, etc. Integration between iOS and OS X is greater than ever.

The bugs are exaggerated. Squeaky Wheel Syndrome

 

[peterdevries]

The innovation question resolved.

The "innovation" word is overused here and most people do not know what it means. There are several types of innovation of which the following two are the main ones:

Disruptive innovation: an invention or new product that drastically changes market dynamics and creates a whole new product category. An example is the iPhone or the iPad.

Incremental innovation: changes or enhancements to existing products, software or hardware that improve their functioning or make it more effective / efficient. Examples are the retina display, keyboard lighting, SSD drives in laptops, retina iMac.

What most people here are arguing as not being innovation is the second category in which Apple is actually extremely active. In addition, what most people here are demanding are innovations of the first category, which are extremely hard to create and are usually not created by big corporations but by small independent startups (Although Apple is an exception). Examples of that are Instagram and Whatsapp.

The reason why Apple is introducing less disruptive innovations is two-fold:
1. The market for consumer electronics has matured rapidly and there is less room for disruptive innovations.
2. As a company with its size, Apple needs to focus on retaining its profit margin and cost basis. That means it is more likely to focus on securing existing revenue lines than in risky endeavours that might not pay off. But again, Apple is an exception. Their Smartwatch and Apple Pay might be disruptive. The problem is that many here do not like these products and are therefore discounting them as innovations. Totally subjective behaviour.

 

[2010mini]

Another year, another Apple TV prediction

 

[X38]

[...]
You are calling the watch a turd. Don't you think you are being a bit subjective here and discount those things that are irrelevant to you personally as nonsense innovations, while only those things that suit your specific needs are things done well by the company? What about the Retina iMac and Apple Pay. How is that for innovation?

Retina iMac and Apple Pay are not relevant to me, but I respect that they are probably useful things for Apple to do and a reasonable commitment of resources.
The iWatch is a flop. It's primary usefulness requires you to wear it all the time, but it is too expensive and fragile to wear while doing many of the activities that it is intended to be worn while doing. It also is only useful when viewed for periods of time much greater than a wrist watch, but being worn in the same fashion, it won't be usable that way without causing a lot of wrist and arm pain over time. Not a well thought out product at all. Apple has money to burn, so they can afford to make big bets on a few bad ideas, but as an Apple customer I find that irritating when it distracts from developing actually useful and needed products. Yes, the technical resources don't exist to do everything at once even with infinite money, but basic, simple things like the absent Cinema Display update can't be excused by those kinds of resource constraints. That kind of failure can only be explained by a lack of management focus, which is inexcusable in the context of committing so much focus to diversions like the iWatch.

 

[peterdevries]

The iWatch is a flop.

It's not on the market yet so it by definition cannot be a flop yet.

That kind of failure can only be explained by a lack of management focus, which is inexcusable in the context of committing so much focus to diversions like the iWatch.

Do you seriously think that Apple has not considered to develop a 4k display? It is probable that Apple decided not to develop one due to the fact that there are already numerous cheap ones on the market, or that they want to invest in their iMac line. That might also explain why we never see mac mini updates.

If you understand basic business strategy, it is very clear that Apple is intending the Smartwatch as a diversification to offset shrinking revenue and market shares of their other products that are in a more mature stage of the lifecycle. This is too expensive and risky to be a diversion?

All that is happening is that Apple is not producing the products that you would like it to produce. So why don't you look elsewhere for those products? What is the issue here?

 

[X38]

The innovation question resolved.

NONE of what you ask for is innovative. These are existing tech, already invented, they are just missing from your personal wish list.

I didn't say anything about "innovative", but since you brought it up, had Apple brought out things like the AppleTV app store and PCI GPU support over TB when they (Apple) first started talking about such things themselves, they would have been regarded as extremely innovative. Now they are just long over due. (Just as a few examples.)
All of which still proves the point being made by many on this thread that current Apple management is starting to look strategically unfocused. No doubt Cook is great at managing day to day operations, but in terms of strategic innovation leadership he is starting to look very Ballmer like. Some people can see that coming now. A few folks (I was NOT one of them) saw it coming some time ago. From the comments here, it's obvious that some of you won't be able to see what is happening until it's history.

 

[MellowFuzz]

Dear Apple, the flip side of "intense focus" is "narrow horizons".

 

[X38]

...
Do you seriously think that Apple has not considered to develop a 4k display? It is probable that Apple decided not to develop one due to the fact that there are already numerous cheap ones on the market, ...

All that is happening is that Apple is not producing the products that you would like it to produce. So why don't you look elsewhere for those products? What is the issue here?

1) Of course they considered a 4k display - they pretty well screamed it when they made 4k display over TB2 a major selling point of the MacBook Pro and MacPro. If they abandoned it due to market competition, then why in the world would they still prominently carry the now decrepit Cinema Display (and still stuck on TB1 of all things) at twice the price of the current generation in the market. Sorry, but there is just no excuse for this one - the only explanation is management lost its focus on core product development.

2) Duh! You finally get it, but still don't understand. The whole point of the comments on this thread is that Apple is not developing many of the products that many people want and that are starting to become available elsewhere. The inevitable result is loss of customers. Which is the whole freaking point of criticizing the original article.

 

[Col4bin]

The iPad Air 2 was hardly an incremental update. How this gets ignored is totally beyond me.

I really doubt Apple Watch will be the type of success that some are demanding. It will be successful in Apples eyes though.

Hardly! Just putting Broadwell in the laptops will be major.

Broadway, Haswell, wishing well. Still a spec-bump.

 

[peterdevries]

From the comments here, it's obvious that some of you won't be able to see what is happening until it's history.

What Apple is currently doing is focussing on those products that generate revenue. That is the reason why they dropped the iPod and the server products. Obviously retina Cinema displays are not considered to be hard earning products, or we would have one by now. The exception might be the Apple TV with App store, but all indications point into the direction that Apple is working on something bigger in TV. There have been enough rumours and actual quotes by SJ in his biography.

The other thing that Apple is doing now is actively diversifying into new territories: payments and smart watches. Both segments that are showing tremendous growth, regardless of your personal view of the usefullness. Apple is preparing for the moment their other products lines are becoming less profitable. That is a moment that will come, and clearly recognized by Apple MGMT.

Look at the focus on health, which could indicate a diversification into medical devices. The hiring of medical devices professionals (Blood Glucose Measurement Experts) point clearly in that direction. In the future we will likely see much more health functionality in the smart watch.

So, it is easy to argue "that people don't understand what is going on here" and you do and that Apple is doomed if they don't follow your advice, but there us a whole line of facts that point the other way too.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

guess you haven't seen the many, many hot fixes for any version of windows, including the current 8.1.

The best you can do to defend Apple is to point the finger at Microsoft and compare the two? Pretty sad.

 

[tdale]

The best you can do to defend Apple is to point the finger at Microsoft and compare the two? Pretty sad.

No it isn't sad at all, its just being accurate. The Apple bashers here just portray their biased view, and when someone balances that with the view looking at A and the view looking at B, then calling that defending is Pretty Sad.

 

[Mtmspa]

Amazing all the experts here that never created or marketed or ran a business. More like two year olds crying in the store checkout line wanting candy and mommy says no.

 

[tdale]

Truth be known there may not be that many Apple users in this thread. Some of the posts are bizarre.

 

[puma1552]

OK I will bite, what could they have updated? By the way they did update the Airs by lowering the price which is significant for many. In any event you imply that there was no product refreshes in 2014 when there obviously was. So apparently you have a worthless opinion here.

Oh and by the way yes Intel screwed up get over it.

Oh really when was the last time we saw a speed bump after four months?

Yep! You know why though I N T E L that is why.

In some cases this is true. In the case of the MBP's, Apple might be forced to wait for SkyLake if the latest rumors are true. Again I'm not sure why you are blaming Apple for Intels screw ups. Hell I'm in need of a laptop right now but im holding off in the hopes that Broadwell releases soon. I don't sit here blaming Apple though, I will save that for after Broadwell releases and Apple drags its feet pushing out new laptops.

Awfully defensive for someone who didn't read my post.

The whole post was about the things Apple could've updated BESIDES the processor, you act like the only part of a computer is the processor and nothing else can be updated. God I don't know, RAM, screen, graphics card, they could've updated the machines quite a bit besides the processor.

When has Apple provided a minor speedbump after four months? You must be new to Apple, this was the norm even 3 years ago - major refreshes every 8 months and a small speed bump every 4. Where have you been?

And dropping the price of the Air? That makes the line less stale how?

Get a grip, who pissed in your cornflakes? Don't like my opinion? Tough ****. Telling me my opinion is "worthless" is completely uncalled for when the reality is Apple's computers have fallen deathly by the wayside for all things iOS. That's the reality, and the truth.

 

[johnnyturbouk]

iPad Air 2 - Aready has 2gb Ram. And the CPU/GPU is fastest in class already.

sorry meant the mini 4

 

[manu chao]

1) Of course they considered a 4k display - they pretty well screamed it when they made 4k display over TB2 a major selling point of the MacBook Pro and MacPro. If they abandoned it due to market competition, then why in the world would they still prominently carry the now decrepit Cinema Display (and still stuck on TB1 of all things) at twice the price of the current generation in the market. Sorry, but there is just no excuse for this one - the only explanation is management lost its focus on core product development.

You say this as if this has not happened before. How often did they 'forget' to update the Mac mini over its ten-year life span? For how much of its life has the AppleTV been 'out-of-date'?

This is simply setting priorities. The iPhone sells about 100 times more units than the Cinema display. If you are going to increase the screen resolution significantly (which happened on smartphones earlier than on laptops and thereon earlier than on desktops), where do you put your engineering resources?

The iPhone is the core product of Apple, focussing on Cinema displays would be the opposite of focussing on core product development.