This Is Apple’s Future Product Line For 2014
Based on speculation, rumors, and general conversation, this is what I think will, or should, happen to Apple’s product line this year.
iPod
The iPod Touch and iPod Nano will go away.
Every year, not to mention every quarter iPod sales decrease. Presumably iPod Touch sales are the vast majority of those numbers and it’s still decreasing.
And as much as the iPod Touch and iPod Nano fit nicely into certain people’s lives, they are just becoming redundant products for most people.
For those using the iPod Touch for gaming and want a non-phone iPhone, they will be pushed towards the iPad Mini. For those in the camp of the iPod Nano, there will be a new device.
iWatch
I think Apple will get rid of the iPod Nano in favor of its new wearable–though I don’t think it will be a watch.
I think the device that people are currently referring to as the iWatch will simply be a next generation iPod type of device.
A way to think of it would be the square Nano which could be given many different straps, bands, and places to wear it beyond just on the wrist.
This would be a way for Apple to only make one, or two, devices that work for men and women equally.
Third party accessories are already a known thing. A new device configurable in a dozen ways would push that even further. Everything from watch straps to necklace chains to hats with special pockets for the device could be on the docket.
Apple TV
It’s time for a new Apple TV regardless how far it actually pushes into cable TV’s territory.
It’s time for casual gaming on the Apple TV as well. Another alternative for iPod Touch users that only use the device to play App Store games.
An App Store would flood TV screens with a lot of types of apps that don’t work, but a known and viable app option is games which is the case alone for putting third party iOS apps on TVs everywhere.
MacBooks
MacBooks are a little more difficult to leads to more wild speculation. But what if something crazy happened in this space?
What is the new rumored 12" retina Macbook Air-like device was also the iPad Pro?
What if this new device had an embedded A7 or A8 in addition to an Intel Processor and could boot OS X and iOS, would this satisfy a growing market segment looking for more capability for their iPads?
An impossibly thin device with a full keyboard and touch implemented in someway running both iPad apps and desktop apps could be a killer combo and allow experimentation while never compromising the mobile OS or the Desktop one.
It’s wild to think about, but all these parts are likely to collide at some point. ARM chips coming to laptops, a bigger screened iPad, and a smaller and thinner Air.