Apple CEO Tim Cook is very upbeat about where his company is going. He told investors today that upcoming Apple products will “blow you away.”
Cook also indicated that Apple’s magic pipeline isn’t just brining more of the same. Cupertino is branching out.
The executive didn’t use his speech during today’s annual Apple shareholders meeting to make any specific revelations. Instead, he talked about “planting seeds.”
And he said he feels very positive about the fruit these Apple ventures eventually will bear. Cook said he’d “never been more optimistic” about Apple’s future.
Some short-term Apple plans
Apple Watch and other wearables
Cook was a little more open about what to expect in the near future. In talking about the Apple Watch, Cook said the company is “pulling the string between wellness and health.” He mentioned the ECG feature in Apple Watch Series 4, but also the exercise tools built into the smartwatch.
More health-related features look very likely going forward in Apple wearables. Cook said there’s a “long, great roadmap of fantastic” products in this category, which includes both Apple Watch and AirPods. An improved version of Apple’s wireless earbuds is expected very soon.
Cheaper MacBook Air
In a bit of good news for laptop fans, Apple’s CEO says the company made lowering the cost of the latest Retina MacBook Air a goal. It currently starts at $1,199, after replacing an earlier model that started at $999.
After one investor complained that he couldn’t transfer movies off his iPad Pro via the USB-C port, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi stepped in to say that new functionality is coming. However, he declined to offer specifics. This could be a hint that this fall’s iOS 13 will include more robust file management capabilities — something users have been asking for.
What’s over the horizon?
Apple’s executive team is hardly going to use a public shareholders meeting to discuss the unannounced products that Cook obliquely referenced. Still, there have been enough leaks that we already know what some of them will be, at least in broad terms.
One of Cook’s “seeds” being germinated is a video-streaming service to compete with Netflix and Hulu. Apple has been paying to produce TV shows and movies for months, but has so far kept quiet about its plans. That could change later this month, when Apple reportedly will hold a big media event.
A more longterm Apple project is a self-driving car by the company’s Project Titan team. While development hit a speed bump recently, the company still employs thousands of people working on autonomous vehicle technology. A shipping product is likely still years away, though.
Apple also allegedly has a secret team developing a set of augmented reality glasses. These AR glasses would take advantage of the ARKit development tools that Apple baked into recent iOS versions. When this seed will burst into flower remains unknown.
Via: Bloomberg
