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SALT LAKE CITY -- Apple has delivered some very popular gadgets and services in 2011. If the rumors circulating the Web turn out to be true, 2012 should be equally trilling. Some rumored releases include an Apple television, an iPad 3, an iPhone 5 and the elimination of the Mac Pro.
Apple televisions
Apple is already in the TV business with the Apple TV set top box, but rumor has it the company plans to make television sets. Apple definitely has the content deals in place for the Apple TV, offering movies and TV shows which are also available in the iTunes Store. Many of the features of the Apple TV are likely to be in a television set.
One of the reasons Apple would want to build televisions is to control the experience. They like to make things simple and easy to use. Putting the Apple experience inside the set would reduce cables and they are unlikely to make a complex remote. This automatic, convenient approach is how Apple designs its products.
One popular rumor is that you would use the Siri voice control technology currently in the iPhone 4S to control the television. This might be similar to the voice control of Kinect for Xbox 360.
iPad 3
Not even I could resist the allure of the iPad 2. Sorry to disappoint you if you just got an iPad for Christmas, but people are saying the iPad 3 will be on the market early next year.
The most expected new feature of the next iPad revision is what Apple calls the Retina display. This is a quadrupling of pixels by doubling the pixel count of the display both horizontally and vertically. This means you can expect iOS and new and updated apps to have more detailed graphics. This change was already done when the iPhone 4 was released.
Other likely updates for the iPad include a speed bump for the CPU and GPU. This would make the iPad faster in general and for graphics-intense apps like 3D games. Another common improvement is an update to the camera. A new camera would mean sharper, clearer photos.
Speaking of 3D, one less-likely, rumored new iPad feature is a 3D ability for the display. This would likely be used to make games 3D among other uses. One other possibility is that 3D mapping will be available through technology Apple is rumored to have acquired from C3 Technologies.
iPhone 5
iPhone 5 was the most popular Apple-related search term on Google in 2011. When Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S in October, some people were disappointed. The announcement was overshadowed by the passing of long-time Apple CEO Steve Jobs the next day.
One possible new feature of the iPhone 5 is near field communication (NFC). This technology allows you to put your phone near a store's credit card payment terminal and authorize a payment without physically touching the terminal.
This technology is available in some credit cards, but not in smart phones. If this system were to be adopted in the United States, it would catch us up with the people of Japan who have been using NFC payments for some time.
For the past four releases, Apple has followed the pattern of making a major redesign followed by a less major update. If this pattern continues, the iPhone 5 should be the big revision that some people expected this year. Some popular rumors for the iPhone 5 include a larger display, a bigger home button and more-rounded edges.
As usual, I would expect a faster processor in any hardware update. The iPhone 4S just got a significantly better camera, so it is reasonable to expect only a minor improvement in the next update.
Mac Pro
Some people speculate that Apple may be deciding whether to revise the Mac Pro or discontinue it. The Mac Pro tower computer has not been updated for over 500 days, which is more than the average.
The Mac Pro is used by creative professionals as well as by software developers. It is likely that more people have used Mac Pros as web servers after Apple discontinued their Xserve rack mountable servers. This possible elimination of the Mac Pro is bolstered by the popularity of the iMac desktop and MacBook.
What to expect
It is hard to know what Apple will do next. It is likely that Jobs made a road map for the future of Apple. If Apple's new CEO Tim Cook follows that road map and continues to embrace the philosophy Jobs fostered at Apple, we are like to see great updates to the Apple's current lineup. Whether Cook has the ability to lead Apple in creating new and unexpected products remains to be seen. I know the sort of people that work at Apple and I expect great things.
Apple authority Patrick Cassell is a blogger living in Utah. Read his views on many things related to Apple at iTechCrossroads.com.
