What is on the Horizon for Apple - Research Paper Example

? What is on the Horizon for Apple? Full What is on the Horizon for Apple? Introduction Apple has been at the forefront and is leading the post PC revolution. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs pulled the company from near bankruptcy to the most valuable public company (Dilger, 2011). The company revolutionized the music industry with the introduction of iPod in 2001 and introduced digital media distribution with mp3 compressed audio files available in iTunes. Users were given choice to buy single songs instead of buying a complete audio disc. The iPod was different than an already saturated mp3 player market at the time. It offered superior user interface and hence better user experience. The iPod represents a start for the company to lead the revolution. The innovations did not stop and new products that invented completely new categories followed. Apple plans to grow their product lineup as well as improve existing products. Some of the possible future plans are discussed in detail; Mac Macs have been the main product for Apple since long. The company was mainly founded as a computer company. The lineup includes Mac Pro, iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Macs currently run on Intel processors. MacBook Pro and MacBook Air represents major portion of the sales in Macs. Both products are made with unibody enclosures, which add durability and aesthetics. The MacBook Airs are ultra thin laptops running on low power processors and incorporate Solid State Drives (SSD) instead of convention Hard Disc Drives used in MacBook Pros. Apple plans to introduce high resolution Retina Displays in both MacBooks (Chen & Shen, 2011). This will improve real estate available on desktop as well as improve sharpness, in particular for texts. Furthermore, MacBook Pro is rumored to have a design overhaul in 2012 and will adopt design cues from the existing MackBook Air (Kim, 2012). The two lines of models are expected to merge into one product in the future. iPad The iPad represents the leading post-pc device from Apple. Apple invented a completely new category with the introduction of iPad in 2010. The tablet has been an astounding success and is liked for its ease of use and portability. The iPad has capitalized the tablet market till now and Apple has dominated the category. Competitors have introduced Android based tablets of varying size and price to compete against the iPad. It is rumored that Apple is planning to introduce 7.85 inch iPad variant as compared to 9.7 inch current iPad’s screen size (Faust, 2012). The 7 inch screen size was dismissed by late Apple CEO Steve Jobs to be very small and incapable of expressing the software. Though, with the new iPad carrying Retina Display (resolution 2048 x 1536 pixels), there is a possibility that Apple may introduce 7.85 inch variant carrying a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. The major competitor to the iPad would be Windows 8 tablets planned at the end of 2012. The Windows 8 operating system would be a complete operating system working on a tablet device as compared to relatively limited mobile based Apple’s iOS on the iPad. For now, sales of the new iPad are phenomenal and Apple sold record breaking 3 million iPads in first four days of launch (Golson, 2012). iPhone The original iPhone introduced in 2007 revolutionized the mobile phone industry and left competitors struggling to cope up with its advanced features, usability and user experience. Over the years the phone market has become saturated with Android based devices and manufacturers offer various type of phones based on the platform. Apple’s iOS on the other hand has been a stable platform and has standard parameters. Android is running on devices with varying hardware parameters and is, therefore, fragmented. This means that applications are not designed to run on every phone with varying hardware specifications. For the next generation iPhones Apple plans to improve its camera with an aim to replace everyday point and shoot cameras. The next iPhone is rumored to have 4G LTE network along with an 8 megapixel camera and will incorporate a larger screen size of 4 or 4.65 inches as compared to 3.5 inches on the current iPhone 4S (Moscaritolo, 2012). Apple is also expected to expand voice assistant Siri by adding language support for other countries. Apple TV and Rumored iTV Apple is rumored to step into the television market in the future. It gained spotlight when late Apple CEO Steve Jobs in his biography said that he finally cracked the secret to revolutionize television sets (Bonnington, 2011). It is rumored that voice assistant Siri may be incorporated into the product and it will have simplest of user interface for ease of control. The set is expected to run custom iOS version and will be capable of running applications specifically designed for the set. Furthermore, a patent was released which suggested using iPhone or iPod Touch as a remote device. The user would need to take picture of their television remotes and a virtual copy of the remote will be downloaded to the iPhone or iPod Touch to be used as a television remote (Purcher, 2012). Currently, Apple only offers Apple TV which is a streaming device for iTunes content playback. The device was upgraded recently to play 1080p content from iTunes. Operating Systems Apple develops operating systems for its hardware devices and therefore, the software is optimized to run on its specific hardware. Apple is prepping its new OS X Mountain Lion to be released sometime in the summers. It has taken feature from iOS like messaging and notification (Rubin, 2012). Mac OS X Mountain Lion is designed for the Macs, whereas, iOS is to run on post-pc devices like the iPad and iPhone. The operating system is designed for touch input, but is fairly limited in productivity as compared to full desktop operating systems. The introduction of Windows 8 later this year will pose threat to Apple’s iOS as well as Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Windows 8 is designed as a hybrid between a full desktop and a mobile operating system. Apple’s iOS is updated on yearly cycle, but it cannot match a full desktop featured operating system. Android, on the other hand has also started upgrading with fairly rapid intervals. Apple is expected to unveil its next software features for iOS and release Mac OS X Mountain Lion sometime in summers. iCloud and iTunes Match Apple launched iCloud services in 2011. The service is aimed at syncing devices through cloud service and storage. Backups are made in the cloud and devices can be restored using the cloud service. The service has interlinked features on multiple apple devices. Apple plans to increase the storage service by constructing a data centre. Services like voice assistant Siri uses Apple’s servers to communicate with users. The service is also linked with iTunes Match, which enables users to listen or download their entire music library from the cloud services. The iCloud services are planned to be incorporated in applications for desktops as well as iOS devices to save files into the cloud. Conclusion Apple has started to capitalize its success and expand its outlets internationally. The company has been actively involved in patent lawsuits against competitors for the last two years. It has successfully made its ecosystem of connected devices and offers stable conditions for developers to invest time in application development. The company has led the industry and changed the way we interact with devices. They have made continuous innovation and ensured superior products. Its success can be seen by its ever-growing size and business. There are no signs of slowing down. The momentum it has gained will last for a very long time and its future seems to be very bright. References Bonnington, C. (2011, December 28). Rumor roundup: Apple’s game changing TV set. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/rumor-roundup-apple-television/ Chen, Y., & Shen, S. (2011, December 14). Apple may launch new MacBook Pro with 2880 by 1800 display resolution, say sources. Retrieved from http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20111214PD204.html Dilger, D. (2011, August 10). Apple ends day as most valuable public company on Earth. Retrieved from http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/08/10/apple_ends_day_the_most_valuable_public_company_on_earth.html Faust, A. (2012, March 21). Apple has 163 reasons to release fabled “iPad mini”. Retrieved from http://www.appadvice.com/appnn/2012/03/apple-has-163-reasons-to-release-fabled-ipad-mini Golson, J. (2012, March 19). New iPad sales top 3 million in under 4 days. Retrieved from http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/19/new-ipad-sales-top-3-million-in-under-4-days/ Kim, A. (2012, March 28). Apple ramping up production of 13” and 15” next gen MacBook Pros. Retrieved from http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/29/apple-ramping-up-production-for-13-and-15-next-gen-macbook-pros/ Moscaritolo, A. (2012, March 22). Rumor: New iPhone to have larger 4.65 inch Retina Display. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401982,00.asp Purcher, J. (2012, March 29). Apple’s iCloud will teach Apple’s smart TV remote new tricks. Retrieved from http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2012/03/apples-icloud-will-teach-apples-smart-tv-remote-new-tricks.html Rubin, R. (2012, February 26). Switched on: Mountain Lion brings iOS apps, malware traps. Retrieved from http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/26/switched-on-mountain-lion-brings-ios-apps-malware-traps/ Read More