There is a good chance that Apple could start strong in 2024. This year we are hoping to see an array of surprises such as the launch of the Vision Pro, Apple’s first major new product since the 2015 Apple Watch, plus new iPads, Macs, AirPods, and iPhones. The Apple Vision Pro could potentially make its debut as early as February.
The Apple Vision Pro represents a leap forward for wearables. It has the potential to be the best VR headset but also the most advanced mixed-reality headset. Apple is calling this category spatial computing, and the headset has been designed to be the ultimate work-and-play device.
You can use the Apple Vision Pro to watch movies on a giant screen, play back your photos and videos in 3D spatial video (including those recorded on an iPhone 15 Pro), as well as work across multiple desktops floating in front of you. You can also do FaceTime calls right in the headset using your digital avatar.
Since Apple announced the Vision Pro at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2023, there has been a slow drip feed of leaks and news. First, developers were invited to try it out, and then members of the press got the chance to take it for a spin. In both cases, the feedback has been extremely positive.
The Vision Pro will be priced starting at $3,500, and it will initially be available only in the United States, which explains why we aren’t going to get another event. Apple is likely to launch the Vision Pro via a press release, but we’ll be hearing about it all year long.
VisionOS, the operating system that runs on the Vision Pro, will come out when the Vision Pro does.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro series should both arrive in September with a boatload of upgrades and a smarter Siri and AI could very well be at the top of the list.
Apple is reportedly investing big in AI for 2024 and beyond and has found a way to squeeze LLM (large language models) chatbots like ChatGPT onto a device instead of having to rely on the cloud. So get ready for AppleGPT. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 might get a 3nm processor, and all four iPhone 16 models could feature a new Capture button for making snapping photos and videos easier. The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are tipped to get larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, up from 6.1 and 6.7 inches.
On the camera front, the iPhone 16 could see a vertical camera arrangement to enable spatial video capture for the Apple Vision Pro. Both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max could boast a 5x tetraprism lens.
It looks like iPads in 2024 could be an eventful product category for Apple. The company is tipped to release the first OLED iPad Pros ever, which would up the display quality of the iPad Pro 2024. We should also see the fast Apple M3 chip come to these slates and the largest iPad Pro go from 12.9 to 13 inches.
The next iPad Pro could also sport a new glass body, which would enable MagSafe wireless charging. We could also see a new Magic Keyboard with a sturdier aluminium frame and a revamped Apple Pencil.
Other rumoured new iPads include an entry-level iPad 11 with a faster chip and support for the new Apple Pencil with USB-C and a new iPad Mini 7 with a larger 8.3-inch display.
The new Apple Watch will reportedly get not only a new design but also the ability to detect hypertension and sleep apnoea. The next generation of Apple Watch will detect instances of sleep apnoea, according to Bloomberg. The Apple Watch Series 10, also called Apple Watch X, is scheduled to be released in 2024. The addition of this sleep-related function may be a valuable resource for people with this common but serious sleep disorder. Research suggests that sleep apnoea is thought to affect nearly a billion people worldwide and incidence is rising.
According to the UK’s Sleep Apnoea Trust, 13% of men and 6% of women between the ages of 30-75 in the UK have sleep apnoea which equates to some 10 million people living with sleep apnoea in the UK alone. Reports claim the Apple Watch Series 10 will be able to recognise sleep apnoea by detecting snoring and measuring heart rate, breathing rate, body movements, and sleep patterns. The new Apple Watch won’t be able to definitively diagnose sleep apnoea–only a doctor can do that.
Instead, when it detects sleep apnoea symptoms, it will alert the Apple Watch wearer to contact their doctor. From there, the sleeper’s doctor can refer them for testing. If diagnosed, the doctor can treat them for sleep apnea.
In other news, could there be more in store for Mac in 2024? The M3 chip has already proven to be quite a beast for the MacBook Pro 14-inch with M3 and the MacBook Pro 16-inch with M3 Max. But Apple also has plans to bring the M3 chip to the MacBook Air series. Apple is tipped to unveil a MacBook Air M3 in early 2024 alongside the new iPads. But it could be as late as spring or summer. So, we would expect both 13- and 15-inch MacBook Airs with the more powerful M3 chip, which packs 10 GPU cores (up from 8).
In addition, Apple is reportedly exploring a cheaper MacBook option that would ostensibly replace the MacBook Air M1 and better compete against the best Chromebooks, though don’t expect Chromebook-level prices from Apple.
2024 is going to be a big year for Apple beyond just hardware refreshes and annual software updates. Whatever happens, the next twelve months could be very interesting indeed.
