2022 has been an interesting year for Apple, with price increases impacting much of its product portfolio across Europe and minor updates to flagship products such as the iPhone.
The long-awaited MacBook Air redesign has arrived with the second-generation Apple-designed M-series chipset. The base iPad also gets a new paint job, and with the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island, the notch is finally on the road to redundancy. We’ve also expanded our Apple Watch line with the very good Ultra model.
But many of Apple’s 2022 releases felt like a stopgap. The iPad Pro is just a chipset upgrade, and the smaller 11-inch model doesn’t have a Mini LED display, wireless charging, or an upgraded Pencil. The iPhone 14 arrived with the same internals as the iPhone 13, and the AirPods Pro 2 improved audio but didn’t add the rumored fitness features many were hoping for.
And then there were upgrades we never saw. No iMacs or Mac Pros. No AirPods Max 2. No M2 Max or Pro MacBook Pro. Perhaps more predictably, there’s no Apple Car either. With that in mind, let’s see what we can see from Apple in 2023.
iMacs and MacBooks
Aside from the MacBook Air redesign, 2022 has been a pretty slow year when it comes to Mac upgrades. This means it will likely be available in bulk in 2023.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple had previously planned to release a Mac Pro powered by Apple’s Silicon, but it was postponed for various reasons. Gurman has suggested that there have been multiple changes in the company’s plans for the machine, so things are looking pretty bleak here, but 2023 looks like the year he’ll see Apple Silicon shift to the high-end market. I feel like
You can also add an M-series iMac Pro to a Mac Pro with an M-series chip. The iMac M1 was and still is, with its small display and low-end internals making it more of a family machine than a pro.
Both of these pro models should be powered by a beefier version of the M2 chipset, so we might see both when they’re ready.
A more consumer-friendly and colorful M2 version of the iMac would also make sense, but I’m a little surprised we didn’t see one this year. You can also expect updates to his 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. There is also the possibility of getting 15 new MacBook Airs of his. Apple has increased the screen size of its most popular laptop for the first time.
In the same report, Mark Gurman also said Apple is currently working on a slew of new external monitors, including the updated Pro Display XDR.
iPads and iPhones
It’s a little too early to really know what the iPhone 15 series will look like, but we can speculate that they’ll be arriving in multiple sizes in September. There is always the possibility of joining models and standard models.
The most likely change for the 2023 iPhones will be a switch from Lightning to USB-C, but rumors suggest it may be the Pro models that benefit from faster charging. I hope the model adopts dynamic islands (currently a Pro only feature). It’s also probably time to revamp the design.
Given the updates to the iPad Air, iPad Pro, and iPad this year, it’s entirely possible that we won’t see much movement in the iPad space next year. If so, a Mini LED version of the iPad Pro 11-inch would be a welcome addition, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see an M2 refresh of the iPad Air.
The iPad that didn’t get an update this year was the Mini, but like the iPhone SE, this doesn’t feel like a really popular product enough to get an annual update. The iPad Mini 6 doesn’t ask for updates, and you can keep using it for a few more years.
AirPods Max 2
In 2022, both the base AirPods and AirPods Pro were refreshed, but the AirPods Max (Apple’s ANC-equipped over-ear headphones) didn’t get a second version.
As with the AirPods Max sound, there are certainly some areas that need rethinking (where is the power button?). Considering we haven’t heard anything since the original pair’s release, it makes sense to give it another go in 2023.
Apple’s first crack into VR/AR
Apple hasn’t entered a new product category since the launch of the Apple Watch, but that could change in 2023.
Rumors had swirled that Apple would finally release its first VR headset next year, possibly running software called xrOS. What shape this device will take is yet to be decided, as is its price, but if it does, it could be the biggest Apple release of the year.
