The rumored machine for the iPhones for the – likely – next month (yes, it’s close!) Is already running at full speed, but what do you think of a dose of speculation about next year’s devices? Why investment bank analysts Barclays have traveled to Asia and, in conversations with sources within Apple’s supply chain, are bringing several new features; among them, some related to possible future devices.
The most interesting news, as noted by MacRumors, are precisely those related to iPhones of 2019. According to the analysis of analysts, it is already “widely understood” in the corridors of Asian factories that future models will totally abandon the 3D Touch – that is, all (speculated) three models from next year will no longer bring the technology. This complements a hunch by the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who stated that, this year, the «entry-level» iPhone with LCD screen will not come with the feature.
It remains to be seen, of course, whether Apple will simply abandon the method of interaction (which seems unlikely, considering the effort made in recent years to expand its use) or adopt another technology to evoke it – some vehicles bet on some form of control without touch, perhaps just with the pointing of your fingers, as Samsung tried a few years ago (and abandoned). It is good to note that analysts classify these plans as provisional and Apple may change its mind until next year, of course.
On a related subject, but speaking of the iPhones 2018, the same note claims to have evidence that the devices can, yes, support an external interaction device – nobody nominally mentions the Apple Pencil, so we can consider that Apple would be thinking about a kind of stylus for your new iPhones (to compete with the Galaxy Note line) or even to bring support for the iPad Pro pen.
We’ll have to wait and see.
Audio products
Another forecast brought by analysts is that Apple will even launch a new version of AirPods, apparently in the last quarter of 2019. No, that doesn’t change the plans related to AirPower (which should really hit the market next month with an updated – and optional – case for first generation AirPods); likewise, it is not known what news could bring these “AirPods 2” – if we take into account information previously brought by Mark Gurman, however, we can expect a water resistant model with support for the command “Hey, Siri” .
Finally, the note thickens the chorus that indicates the launch of a HomePod cheaper – according to analysts, such a launch would be for next year (without specifying a period) and its main reason would be to revert the “disappointing sales” of the current smart speaker from Apple, which would have less than 5 million units shipped since its launch. The new model would have a “greater appeal” to consumers, but the note does not speak of specifics about the project.
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Which of these rumors will come true? Only time will tell. We, however, can discuss which ones we want to make come true. What do you think?
