Everything Apple Will Be Working On In 2018

Apple released a lot of things in 2017, and in typical Apple style, it made a lot of money by doing it.

Most of these things were not surprises. We have a new Apple Watch and an Apple TV that look and generally work like the previous models; an iPad Pro of different sizes; expanded the lines of the Mac computer (now it comes in black!); and two smartphones that are almost identical to the iPhone 7, and a third that costs $ 1,000.

In a word, the year was quite boring.

While nothing was particularly revolutionary, neither was anything particularly terrible. Analysts had expected the company's product launches to unleash a "supercycle" of sales during the year, but so far, it seems that Apple's earnings and earnings were broadly in line with recent years.

It remains to be seen if that will change with the iPhone X and Christmas sales, but what does Apple have for 2018? Will there be a new device with aluminum cladding that will inspire another technological revolution like the iPod or the iPhone, or will we see another year of iterative updates to the existing product lines? This is what could be to come in 2018.

HomePod

One thing that is almost certain to be released in 2018 is HomePod, the answer of Apple's smart speaker to Amazon's Echo and Google Home. When it was announced at Apple's developer conference in June, Apple expected to ship it in December. Since then, the company said the device will be shipped in early 2018. The $ 350 speaker, which is approximately $ 300 more expensive than Amazon's and Google's smart hub offerings, will focus more on playing music than controlling other IoT devices, answering questions such as Echo and Home in general. Apple has a lot of ground to catch up in the growing field; Estimates suggest that Amazon has already sold more than 15 million Echo devices. Apple has a lot to prove with a $ 350 device if it's going to match or beat Amazon and Google.

More phones

With the iPhone X, 8, 8 Plus and SE, Apple put more new models of smartphones on sale in 2017 than ever before. Reports suggest that this trend will continue in 2018 with three iPhone models that look like the current X, but in sizes that match 8, 8 Plus and X. There is also talk of a new SE model in miniature, which means that Apple could continue to attract a range of customers with new devices that start at approximately $ 350 and continue to more than $ 1,000.

New AirPods

Analysts expect Apple to release an updated version of its AirPods wireless headphones in the second half of 2018, according to 9to5Mac. There is not much information on how they will be different, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities suspects that Apple will ship more than 26 million units next year, twice as many as 2017. The new AirPods probably have a case that can load wirelessly, as Apple announced this at their iPhone event in September. What brings us to ...

Wireless everywhere

In September, Apple also showed a new type of wireless conductive charger that can charge multiple devices at once, including an Apple Watch, an iPhone and AirPods in a new case. Although Apple has stated that its new phones have backup glass because it is much easier to charge wirelessly through glass than through metal, we may be able to see more Apple products that can be charged wirelessly in the future. Many competing smartphones use plastic on their backs (which is also good for conductive charging), so perhaps we will see Apple incorporate wireless charges on their iPads and Macs in the near future, bringing it one step closer to its apparent objective. to produce glass and metal slabs perfectly hermetically sealed.

FaceID everywhere

Apple introduced the "TrueDepth camera system" in the iPhone X, which is essentially a series of cameras and sensors that map and recognize the face of a person with intricate details. He uses it for FaceID, his security technology that replaces the fingerprint-based TouchID that has been in the last generations of the iPhone. It does not always work perfectly, but it's often fast and would be a useful way to log in to other Apple devices, like iPads and Macs, all of which already have front cameras. Many experts have asked Apple to incorporate the technology in the next Apple products, and considering how TouchID proliferated to iPads and then to MacBook Pros, it seems very possible that this is something that Apple will do in some of its new products.

More wearables

Apple has hinted that it plans to delve into medical wearables, beyond its work with the current Apple Watch. Some have suggested that you intend to develop a separate device to provide more information and health monitoring in real time for people who need it. He has worked with the US Food and Drug Administration. UU (FDA) to better understand how to develop software for medical purposes. Third-party add-ons for Apple Watch, such as AliveCor KardiaBand, which tracks heart health through an EKG sensor, have already obtained FDA approval to send information from an Apple Watch to the user's doctor.

Next year may be when Apple goes from being an auxiliary player in the medical field to one that is creating a portion of the $ 2.7 trillion that EE. UU Spends annually on medical care. "There is much more in the area of ​​health, there are many things that I can not tell you about the ones we are working on, some of which is clearly a commercial business there," CEO Tim Cook told Fortune in September. "I think it's a big area for Apple's future."

CAROS?

Apple has been working on autonomy and cars for some years, without a discernible end goal. At one point, reports circulated that he was working on a rival car for Tesla, and then reports indicated that the project had been reduced. Apple has admitted that it is working on some autonomous technologies: it filed an application for registration as a freelance car testing company in California in April and published online investigations in November.

"It's a core technology that we consider very important," Cook said, calling autonomy "the mother of all AI projects," in an interview with Bloomberg in June. He confirmed, for the first time publicly, that Apple is working on "autonomous car systems," rather than automobiles themselves. While still tight-lipped, Apple has been more eloquent about its medical and autonomous research than about other technologies in the past. Maybe we are preparing for a world in which Apple carOS works with autonomous vehicles. We may learn more about your ambitions in 2018 as car companies extend their testing of autonomous vehicles throughout the year.

Glasses AR?

Apple has been working on smart glasses that superimpose information about the real world for a while, but with the exception of a few leaks of potential prototypes from its manufacturing facilities in Asia, very little information has been discovered. Like medical and self-contained devices, Cook has hinted that AR is a transformational technology. He also said that AR could be "a great business opportunity" for Apple, and reports suggest that the company could have an augmented reality product in the coming years. The signals point to 2019 or 2020, but maybe Apple will surprise us with a new piece of portable technology in 2018, as it did with its AirPods wireless headphones in 2016.

The company also announced the first Macs that are compatible with VR headsets and software in June, so maybe we can also see Apple dig into the world of virtual reality next year.

What about the business of Apple?

Beyond the new products, 2018 could be a crucial year for Apple's businesses. In 2016, the company recorded the first drop in revenue year after year in more than a decade. For 2017 (its fiscal year ends in September), Apple grew again, registering revenues of $ 229 billion, above the $ 216 billion generated the previous year. But it was still below the $ 233 billion it generated in 2015, which remains the best year of revenue and earnings to date. Apple will exceed those heights, or we have to play "Apple peak"?

There are some signals to analyze in the next year to determine how healthy Apple's business is:

China and India

 Cook has repeatedly considered China and India as growth areas for Apple's business, although neither has arrived. The company is launching low-cost phones, such as the iPhone SE, and investing in the regions, hoping to increase awareness and goodwill towards the brand. Cook has said he is "very optimistic" in India, and opened a center to help Indian developers get applications on their App Store in March. Similarly, Apple has invested in Chinese companies and Chinese energy, as well as research and development centers in the country. China is the third largest Apple market, after the Americas and Europe, but in 2015, it was the second largest. Unless Apple can show why its products - which have a premium over many Chinese models that do most of the same things - are superior to those of its competitors, it is likely to continue to face an uphill battle in these markets.

Services

Apple's service sector, which includes sales of music, games, applications and movies, as well as subscriptions from AppleCare, iCloud and Apple Music, and Apple Pay rates, has been on the verge of being depleted in recent years. It is now Apple's second largest business after the iPhone, generating almost $ 30 billion in revenue in 2017.

Apple invested in the original programming in 2017, presenting two (not very good) shows, Carpool Karaoke, based on the talk show segment of James Corden, and Planet of the Apps, an imbecile Shark Tank, but for applications. Fortunately, he hired two Sony TV veterans who worked on successful programs such as Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Crown and, ironically, Shark Tank, during the summer, and a British television executive in October. With any luck, what it produces in the future will be more visible and, in reality, could convince potential customers to subscribe to Apple's subscription services, rather than rivals such as Netflix or Hulu. Look to see what other offers of original content Apple works in 2018 to keep users locked in their ecosystem.

All that foreign income

Apple has more than $ 200 billion in offshore accounts of non-US companies that have not repatriated to avoid paying US taxes. The Trump administration has suggested a tax plan that would create a one-time "repatriation holiday," allowing companies to return money to US shores. UU To obtain a discounted tax rate. Trump has yet to specify what this rate would be, and Max de Haldevang, of Quartz, explained why he does it and whether it will work as planned:

 As Trump says, money can go back into the economy and "work, work and work". When Congress tried to do this in 2004, the money really went back to the US coasts. UU; $ 312 billion in gross revenue. The problem, however, was that most of it was returned to shareholders, rather than reinvested in the US economy.

Anyway, Apple would almost certainly take advantage of this opportunity to take much of its income in foreign currency to the US. UU For a low price. The company has already committed to invest in companies that manufacture products in the US. UU., Including the optical components company Finisar and glass manufacturer Corning, which will probably delight Trump and encourage him to announce those vacations sooner rather than later. If Apple actually spends more of its billions in new plants, stores or jobs in the United States, it is uncertain, but it would definitely free up funds for some of its most ambitious projects.