December at Apple: No hardware, but lots of soft goods?
2024 is quickly coming to an end. However, Apple still has a number of innovations on the agenda for December. An overview.
Apple logo with Christmas spirit: Still a lot to do in December.
(Image: Generiert mit Midjourney durch Mac & i)
What's next in the remaining Apple year? After the company presented new iPhones (16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max) and new Apple Watch models (Series 10) in September, an iPad mini 7 in October and three new Macs(iMac M4, MacBook Pro M4 and Mac mini M4) in November, the question arises as to whether there will be any new hardware from the company in December. Or will it just be software? A look into the crystal ball.
What is still missing in terms of hardware updates
Apple has managed to update important products this fall. For example, three out of six Mac series are now up to date with the latest M4 SoC. In the past, new Apple computers have been released in December. However, the rumor mill is currently keeping a lid on this. Apple is said to be planning to bring the Mac Studio and Mac Pro workstations to M4 – then with M4 Max and M4 Ultra (Mac Studio) as well as M4 Ultra (Mac Pro) –. However, this is more likely to happen by mid-2025. The conceivable date is either May or June for the WWDC 2025 developer conference, but at worst it could take even longer.
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The MacBook Air M4 is likely to be released earlier, but also not in December: speculation here is for spring – around March or April –. Apple has already recently updated Mac accessory products that are likely to be released in December. Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad and Magic Keyboard are finally no longer equipped with Lightning, but with USB-C. There were no other technical changes. Apple took a similar approach back in September with the AirPods Max, which are now also equipped with USB-C, but have no other new features. Apple has only just revised the standard versions of the AirPods earbuds, and new AirPods Pro models will probably not be available until 2025. Innovations for the iPads are also not expected until spring –, for example in the form of a new standard model or an iPad Air with new chip equipment.
But fresh software is coming
But what will come in December? Lots of fresh Apple software. iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS 15.2 will be released, probably at the beginning of the month. Among other things, they will bring –, but not initially for EU users – the new Apple image generators for Apple Intelligence, further AI functions such as Visual Intelligence, improved camera control for iPhone 16 and many smaller innovations, such as "Where is?".
Vision Pro users can look forward to visionOS 2.2, which finally delivers the widescreen and panorama mode for the virtual Mac desktop in the glasses that was announced back in the summer. There is also hope for CarPlay 2.0, which has been postponed several times, as Apple has announced that the first cars with the extended vehicle integration will be released in 2024.
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