Anticipating Apple

What will 2013 bring?

By Anca Gagiuc on Jan 16, 2013 in Technology

After a stellar 2012, what does 2013 hold for Apple?

Let’s have a look at the online speculation and buzz, and tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Apple Radio

One of the new products on this list is the “Apple Radio”. This will be a free service that would gain revenue through ads, as its (most likely) competitor, Pandora. Rumors about it appeared last fall and since then Pandora’s stock fell approximately 12%. No major labels are on board yet and according to speculations, the launch would take part sometime in March.

Apple Television

Right before the holiday season, in November, analysts say that Apple will release an actual television, not just the Apple TV. The iTV might measure between 42” and 55” and costs are estimated at around $1500-$2000.

iPhone 5S

Like its older brother, the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 will get its second-generation offspring. No technical specifications leaked yet, but bets are set for a better battery life and an improved camera.

iOS 7

We all remember the chaos caused by the release of iOS 6 without the Google Maps (and YouTube), so the pressure is high for Apple to release a strong and stable operating system this year. iOS could bring an improved version of Passbook, the digital-wallet app.

iPad Mini with Retina display

November 2012 was another great month for Apple due to the launch of iPad Mini, and although it’s only been out a few months, more and more are turning their attention to the next generation, the iPad Mini 2. Rumors have it that it will address the disappointment of those who have been expecting the Retina display with the first model. Shenzhen Century Science & Technology (SCST), a subsidiary of Foxconn, seems to have supplied Apple with One Glass Solution (OGS) panels with Retina-class resolution for testing; these are said to supply higher resolution while maintaining the same size display of 7.9 inches. The iPad Mini 2 could be on the shelves starting with March.

OS X 10.9

For over two years Apple has worked hard to make iOS and OS X operate closer, bringing features from the first one into the second. This convergence most likely will continue as we look to OS X 10.9 and beyond. OS X 10.9 has already been appearing in analytics logs across the web. Guessing it will launch around July 2013, some say it will be called Lynx. Speculations show the addition of Siri voice command integration which is basically an enhancement on the current Dictation feature found in Mountain Lion. Moreover, Apple might bring its mapping service to the Mac, a strategy that would enable developers to embed maps into their App Store applications using the MapKit framework. Since Jonathan Ive is leading the Human Interface software teams, we might be seeing changes in the eclectic mix of different user interface styles. Bottom line, expect Apple to introduce more components showing integration across iOS and OSX.

“Cheaper iPhone”

This is the most discussed Apple “product” of the year so far. There isn’t any major news agency not asserting, again, that Apple would be producing a “cheaper iPhone”. Considering that Apple’s stock has fallen 25% since it reached an all-time record, closing high of $702.10 last September – this week, Apple’s shares closed 4 p.m. trading at around $526/share – we might be inclined to believe the rumor.

Some say that like the iPad Mini, a cheaper iPhone could be a strategy the company takes to protect its operating system as the more people use iOS, the more attractive it is for developers to code for it. Following this logic, the more apps iOS has, the more attractive the devices are to the users.

This cheaper replica could resemble the standard iPhone, but in a less-expensive body (polycarbonate instead of aluminum housing), while many other parts could either remain the same or be recycled from older models. The fact that Qualcomm recently launched its latest Snapdragon family of chipsets – including the dual-core MSM8960 and the quad-core APQ8064 – for entry-level and mid-range smartphones, might have paved the way for Apple to actually make this come true.

Reuters had posted an article headlined “Apple exec dismisses cheaper phone as market share grab-report” based on an interview with Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of worldwide marketing, for The Shanghai Evening News, but withdrawn it the next day, after The Shanghai Evening News made “substantial changes” to the article.

Maybe this story sounds familiar to you; it should. Back in 2011 many media publications wrote that a cheaper iPhone would be launched that year, in addition to the standardly priced one. In October that year, the only phone that came out was iPhone 4S.

What do you hope to see from Apple this year?