There’s a lot of talk about Apple and what their next innovation will be. The pressure to deliver innovations grows harder every year. Apple’s shareholders are very demanding, and it sometimes seems like anything short of miracles is regarded as a disappointment…
The buzz is about an iWatch or a new TV solution, along with spy reports and pictures of new product details from the“next iPhone,” and so on. There’s also some talk about a new, large iPad, and I really hope that rumour is true.
But we don’t hear much about the MacBooks. What will the next generation of MacBooks be like? We got a mind-blowing cylindrical MacPro in the autumn of 2013. We also got big upgrades on iWork. It’s about time to get new MacBook models as well.
Horace Dediue writes:
But the bigger story is how Apple’s mobile platform has nearly reached the sales volume of Windows. In 2013 there were only 1.18 more Windows PCs than Apple devices sold. Odds are that in 2014 they will be at parity.
If you look at this graph from his blog Asymco, you can see that Macintosh (Apple’s computers) has just a small part of the number of devices that Apple has sold.
I am sure Apple wants to expand and gain more market share, especially in the computer market. iPads and iPhones are fantastic devices, but most people need computers to do their work. The thing is: once someone has bought their first Apple device, they kind of want one more and then another. I think it often starts with someone buying an iPhone.
Another trend is BYOD, Bring Your Own Device. It has been going on for a couple of years now, and as Horace writes, the centre of decision-making has moved from the IT departments to the individual user. The result is that more people are free to choose what they like, and in many cases, that means Apple devices.
Therefore, I think that the next big wave of development for Apple is not TV solutions or watches. I think they will start selling a new generation of MacBooks that are so delicious everyone wants one. It seems like they are starting to revolutionise the MacBook in many ways, and last week we saw evidence of a patent for a flexible display device and a pressure-sensitive touchpad. I think we are getting closer to a MacBook without a keyboard… actually, I started thinking about that in autumn 2010, so it’s not a new thought. A physical keyboard means more parts that can break. I always wear out my keyboard with my nails. It’s time to add a touch board to the MacBook.
We won’t know what it will look like until we do. But I’m convinced that a new generation of MacBooks is an important part of establishing a solid market share among people who will use their Apple devices for work and personal use. The competitors need to work much smarter to challenge Apple’s growing success.
