What to expect from Apple in 2015

Apple had a momentous 2014, in which the company finally made the iPhone bigger, launched a “phablet” version of the iPhone, and unveiled the much awaited Apple Watch. So what does this year hold for the company?

Apple Watch

While Apple unveiled the Apple Watch at an event last year, the company said that the wearable will go on sale only this year. The Watch’s release date has been marked as early 2015 in the US, and the company briefly put up the same release date for the European region as well, but quickly backtracked.

The Apple Watch will be available in three variants, the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition. While there are no detailed price breakdowns, Apple said that the range would start at $349. As we move further into 2015, we expect Apple to announce exact release dates for the Apple Watch’s worldwide rollout, and the price breakdown.

WatchKit and native Watch apps

Apple released WatchKit to developers last year, that lets them develop Glances, Actionable Notifications and WatchKit apps. WatchKit apps actually live as background extensions on the iPhone, that constantly update the Apple Watch’s screen. Full blown native Watch apps will come by the end of this year, Apple promised.

iPhone 6s/iPhone 7

Every year Apple releases a new iPhone around September, and after a substantial update last year, it’s likely that this is the year of the iPhone 6s. Rumors suggest that along with the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone, Apple will bring back the 4-inch screen size as the iPhone 6s mini.

iOS 9

Like every year, around June, Apple will preview a new iOS release. We expect the company to continue the trend with iOS 9 this year, but hope that rather than continuing to add new features, Apple devotes a considerable amount of time towards squashing bugs, and making iOS even more reliable and rock solid.

OS X 10.11

Like iOS, OS X follows an annual update cycle, so we expect the company to announce the successor to OS X Yosemite later this year. There are no rumors about this major release till now, but we expect it to be previewed in June, during WWDC, and publicly released a few months later in October.

iPad Pro

Apple has been rumored to launch a larger, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, that the company hopes would appeal buyers in the enterprise market, and bring back growth to the iPad lineup. The device is rumored to enter mass production in Q2 2015, with a 12.2 or 12.9 inch display, an A9 chip, 4 speakers and more.

Of course Apple will also update the iPad Air and iPad mini with improved internals, and possibly a newer design for the iPad mini.

12-inch Retina MacBook Air

Another long rumored product is the Retina MacBook Air, that reportedly has an ultra thin design, a 12-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2304 x 1440 and more. The device is rumored to go into production Q1 2015.

5K Cinema Display

Apple launched the 27-inch Retina 5K iMac last year, but the computer can’t be used as an external display, like other iMacs. We expect Apple will launch a standalone Retina 5K Cinema Display for Mac Pro and MacBook users, who need a 5K display, and can’t buy the 5K iMac desktop.

Broadwell Macs

Macs with Intel’s next-generation lineup of 14-nanometer Broadwell chips are expected to launch in “early-to-mid” 2015. These chips will be 30 percent faster and more power efficient that older generations, translating into better performance, and improved battery life on MacBooks.

TV

Another long rumored area of interest for Apple is the Television market. Apple has the Apple TV set top box, but the company, for years, has been rumored to work on a full blown television set. While we haven’t seen anything on those lines in these past couple of years, many people hope that Apple finally launches a Television this year. We also hope that Apple finally releases the new Apple TV with motion controls this year.

What are your expectations from Apple in 2015?