As is tradition on this site, that at the end of the year we review the predictions that were made and how the year has panned out before predictions for 2016 are made.
So, to the specific predictions:
Apple:
Apple will announce the new iPhones on the 8th of September and they will be in stores on the 18th of September.
Damn! I forgot labour day! Apple announced the new iPhones on the 9th and was available on the 25th. Close but not as close as I’ve been in previous years.
There will be two main new iPhones, the 6s and the 6s Plus. They will have improved cameras and new A9 processors. Expect some extra magical feature.
Spot on! Easily expected in the ‘tick tock’ release schedule. The extra magic, well that will be 3D Touch mixed in with Live Photos.
I also imagine that there will be a replacement for the 5c. It will be based on the A7 from the 5s and have Touch ID for Apple Pay. It will have a 4 inch screen and possibly a plastic body. This will be the new entry level iPhone.
Bugger. Not one mention of this phone this year. It would appear the supply chain are pointing at this as a 2016 device.
There will be new iPads in October. Announced on the 13th and in store by the 30th. There will be new A9X processors and very possibly the arrival of a larger one which I expect to be called the iPad Plus.
Half bugger. The iPad Plus wound up being the iPad Pro and was announced at the same time as the new iPhones but wasn’t available until the November. Got the processor dead on too.
iOS 9 Announced in June and OS X 10.11 teased at the WWDC in June and available in September.
Spot on.
The new MacBooks are a given. A fanless design and possibly a retina display and colour options.
Couldn’t have been more right with this one. Retina MacBooks with colour options.
All desktops will be refreshed with new generation chipsets. There’s a chance of new displays too.
iMacs, MacBook Airs and Pros got a refresh internally and the much maligned Mac Pro and Mac Mini still need some love and that will come early in 2016 I should think.
The Apple Watch may very well launch in February in time for Chinese New Year. If there’s going to be one thing that holds it back, it will be battery life.
Bugger-ish, a month off for ordering. As for things holding it back, have a look at this epic review to see what I wound up thinking.
So not too bad a call when time comes to that Apple specifics.
Android.
What a fractured mess android remains. It’s kind of heartbreaking really. To look on the current android landscape, there’s almost no one doing something to make a difference. The OnePlus devices are great but held back by manufacturing numbers, Samsung don’t release sales figures and the only people buying the new Galaxy handsets are people who are resolutely non-Apple that they will but a device that apes the design, but not the functionality.
Android needs a hero and right now, it’s not clear who that is going to be.
Microsoft
well, Windows 10 came out and is pretty good. Well, I say that after using it briefly a few times but it’s sure as hell not going to save Microsoft. Yes, it’s unified the platform (apart from mobiles, as it’s not available yet and it’s not going to be on a lot of devices.) but it won’t save the PC market. The new hardware from Microsoft looks really impressive, but again, it’s expensive and it won’t solve the decline of PC sales.
Other Trends
4K, well, even the iPhone shoots that now, so that’s adoption pretty much commonplace and in the fast lane.
The connected home is still the gift that hasn’t given yet. Lots of potential but noting yet for popular adoption.
Well displays have been focused on curved displays rather then anything overly special, it given that as of today, you can get a 50″ 4K to for £399, I’d say the movement in display technology has been the price!
Online Security. Ohhh online security. 2015 was the year is some exceptional hacks. From the Ashley Maddison hack to TalkTalk in the UK, there have been some monstrous attacks on sites and their users. The future isn’t bleak for the inhabitants of the Internet, but we have not seen the last of attacks and security is going to be a continuous theme of the future.
Round up
Well for this year, there’s been a lot of what we already have seen and known. Yes, the Apple Watch has come along in to the wearables market but it didn’t invent it, regardless, it’s my product of the year.
Not as many super cars this year, but out of what I’ve driven that I want to own, it’s never been a better time. Both the Golf GTE and the Jaguar XE are great cars in their own rights but for the hard choice of what I’d own? The GTE is the logical choice, but I can’t help but think I’d still buy the Jaguar.
2015 hasn’t been a bad year in tech, but it’s not been an earth shattering one. Technology hits platos, then someone comes a long with a big change and the race is on again. 2015 was a plato year that lines up 2016 to be an accelerator year.
