It was the most effective of occasions, it was the worst of occasions. Okay, for many of us 2020 wasn’t the most effective of occasions. However on the iOS entrance, Apple positively appeared to be in a feast-or-famine mode.
The corporate launched 5 new iPhone fashions (did you overlook the second-generation iPhone SE?), and there was a serious iPad Air revision that mainly turned it right into a low-end iPad Professional. The iPad Professional bought an underwhelming replace—however a tremendous new accent within the Magic Keyboard for iPad!
There was extra to cheer than boo within the iPhone and iPad world in 2020, and that places it just about forward of a lot of the world. However can 2021 ship one thing higher? It’s time for some predictions.
Fortunate quantity 13
The final two years have seen Apple increment the iPhone’s title by a single quantity, going to iPhone 11 after which iPhone 12. This is able to usually make me sure that an iPhone 13 was on the horizon, fairly than an iPhone 12S. However we dwell in a world the place some buildings don’t label their thirteenth ground because the thirteenth ground due to… boogins? Dangerous mojo? Superstition, that’s the world.
Will an iPhone 13 ever exist? I can’t see Apple leaping over it and going straight to 14, and Apple can’t tread water by including letters to the top of the iPhone 12 perpetually. My cash is on Apple calling it the iPhone 13, making a joke about superstitions on the product roll-out, and shifting on as standard.
After a serious exterior design refresh with the iPhone 12, I count on Apple to depart issues be in 2021. The brand new iPhone will look kind of like the present fashions, albeit with some new colours, some textural variations, and perhaps a smaller “notch” for the TrueDepth digicam stack.
It looks as if it’s most likely going to be one other yr or two earlier than Apple tries its hand at a folding iPhone, however I wouldn’t be shocked if we bought a”portless” iPhone created by omitting the Lightning port. If it occurs, Apple would most likely revise the MagSafe connector launched this yr to additionally assist knowledge transfers and toss one within the field. But when I needed to predict—and I do, that’s why I’m right here—I’d guess that the much-rumored portless iPhone received’t occur in 2021. Why drive your self to incorporate a MagSafe charger when you may promote them as profitable add-ons?
For those who wager on Apple rolling some digicam enhancements into the brand new iPhone you’ll by no means go broke. I’m certain the following iPhone cameras will likely be higher, larger, extra able to capturing stills and video, you title it. The sensor stabilization characteristic launched this yr within the iPhone 12 Professional Max would possibly discover its manner all the way down to the iPhone Professional. And I do predict that Apple will preserve rolling super-high-end options into the Professional Max.
Lastly, I’m going to foretell that the worldwide pandemic will lastly have its affect on the iPhone product line. Because of the prevalence of masks in society, and the unlucky barrier they kind to Face ID scans, I predict that Apple will roll the button-embedded Contact ID from this yr’s iPad Air into the following iPhone, as a complement to Face ID.
iPad updates for certain
I don’t need to sound ungrateful, however that 2020 iPad Professional replace was underwhelming. The iPad Professional’s A12Z processor is now based mostly on two-year-old know-how. The entire replace felt like a placeholder, and in 2021 we should always get a correct iPad Professional replace, one which makes use of an A14X processor that provides efficiency just like what we see on the Mac with the M1.
The opposite addition I’d prefer to predict for the iPad Professional is its show. I don’t assume the iPad Professional will get bigger—as somebody who makes use of a 12.9-inch mannequin day by day, it’s already fairly giant. Making both mannequin any bigger would drive Apple to additionally produce new fashions of the Magic Keyboard, which is a ache.
However what in regards to the show tech contained in the iPad Professional? There are conflicting rumors about whether or not Apple goes to make use of mini-LED know-how within the iPad Professional. But it surely certain looks as if with the ability to declare the iPad Professional a real HDR show can be one thing Apple would shoot for, no?
OS updates coming
Apple all the time surprises us with OS updates, and iOS 15 will undoubtedly deliver some shocking new options and tweaks of outdated requirements.
What I’m most occupied with, nonetheless, is an iOS 13 characteristic being delivered to the iPad for the primary time: A redesigned dwelling display with the flexibility to position Widgets wherever, fairly than in a sidebar on a single web page. I can see why Apple didn’t try and rebuild the iPad’s dwelling display throughout the identical cycle because the iPhone’s, however now’s the time. It’s time for a rethinking of the entire thing, maybe diverging much more from the iPhone’s design than one would possibly count on. I believe it’ll occur.
Past that, although, I believe we could also be in a comparatively quiet yr for iOS. To make certain, an unlimited quantity of labor will likely be happening underneath the floor—Apple wants to enhance the movement of apps from iPhone and iPad to the Mac, work to raised unify iPad and Mac Catalyst growth, and develop SwiftUI because the multi-platform way forward for writing software program for Apple software program platforms.
However to the common person, I believe it should appear to be a smaller replace yr. A number of sudden enjoyable additions, developer upgrades, and bug fixes. After a yr like 2020, I believe it may be sensible for all of us to deal with therapeutic wounds, fixing bugs, and including as little drama as potential to the proceedings.