Prediction: Time flies Sept 15th
It’s that time of the year again where the majority of tech companies come out with their fall and holiday lineup of new products. This lineup always consists of software and hardware, with the software nearing the production phase which is stable enough for all consumers. This event from Apple will undoubtedly be a largely watched event. Apple in previous years has had at least 2 events in the fall focusing on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, among other things.
One thing Apple is notable for is that they always seem to drop a hint in their graphic for the invite as to what may be in store. My first impression from this graphic is that we are about to see a new color introduced in the Apple product line. Perhaps a new blue color Apple Watch, and undoubtedly watch bands to accompany it.
This is what I predict we will see Tim Cook and company talk about on Tuesday.
Apple Watch Series 6- Apple year over year will continue to push Apple Watch further and further as it is the newest product in the line with the most room for growth. I can see more health and safety features built into the Series 6 model which I predict to be a big hit. Perhaps a sensor for blood pressure, or blood oxygen feature which I believe developers discovered in iOS 14 beta code. I also feel that Apple wants further adoption of every iPhone use to be an Apple Watch user, so I’d keep an eye on this space with a cost conscious model that will sell like hot cakes. I’d say if somehow Apple can introduce a new Apple Watch with a baseline price of $249.00 a lot of new users would buy it. It will surely once again be at the top of this year's Holiday gift list. I predict we’ll see the same sizing of bands so you can swap out the bands with your new watch from your old one seamlessly.
iPad Air - should be launching with a full screen display and introduction of Touch ID on power button. Now I will say that Android phones have introduced fingerprint reader on a side button/ power button for years already, but it simply seems like the next realistic thing for Apple to do to enable full screen display on iPad Air. This would allow them to keep costs down as FaceID sensor I’m sure is more expensive that fingerprint sensor. A welcomed addition would be for iPad Air to move away from lighting and go to USB C Port which would put us closer and closer to a USB C future.
iPhone with LiDAR scanner - this one is up in the air as I feel this could be its own keynote event alone, but I do feel that Apple will continue their strides into AR (Augmented Reality) with iOS 14 and having this hardware included in the next version of iPhone would be a major step in that journey. The LiDAR Scanner delivers cutting-edge depth-sensing capabilities, and I’m sure that 3rd party apps are very interested in reworking their Apps to adopt this technology. If we somehow do get new iPhone, let’s hands down look for 5G Model, but I only predict a top tier phone to have that capability as this wireless technology is still in its infinacy.
Services---Services---Services . As Apple takes an even bigger leap into services, I predict we get a bundle of Apple services to get the most out of their incredible ecosystem. I’m personally looking forward to this, as I’m someone who subscribes to every service they offer. The great thing about subscribing to their Music/ News/ Arcade/ etc subscription is that if you are set up with Family Sharing you can share the benefits of all of these subscriptions across your entire family at one single cost. This will be great if Apple can give back to users like myself and have it come at a slightly lower price. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had an “Apple Everything” subscription that also included a lease of the latest and greatest products bundled with all the offerings of their ecosystem.
Apple TV - As it’s been over 3 years since Apple has updated this, I really hope we get a bump in specs for their Apple TV that will allow for a better streaming experience, as well as unlock more chances to take the leap into Apple Arcade on the big screen. The Wifi card inside Apple TV could use a boost, as well as more memory to allow for more seamless streaming and online gaming. The fact is Apple TV could also be a main competitor in the space of gaming to natively run a 4K quality console title in your living room. Now that’d be awesome! :)
Lastly - I believe we will get a firm launch dates for iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, tvOS 14, and macOS 11 Big Sur. All of these product operating systems have been in beta all summer, and I look forward to seeing them put to use for the general public and business.
That’s all I have for now.
We’ll see for ourselves in a few short hours!
You can watch the keynote tomorrow September, 15th at 1 PM EST/ 10 AM PST on apple.com/apple-events , their YouTube Channel, or the Apple TV Events App which is now a part of the TV native app on your Apple TV box.
Stay well everyone!
Looking forward to some fun updates in the Apple Ecosystem.
-Joe
