Apple has had quite a busy year till now, from the very beginning of the year. The tech giant debuted Mac Studio and iPhone SE 3 in March, followed by the iPhone 14 series in September, and then came the new iPad 10th generation and the updated Apple TV in October. With no new announcement expected anytime soon, suffice it to say Apple is done with launches for this year. Throughout the year, Apple updated a handful of products except for a few that are yet to receive hardware upgrades despite multiple rumours surrounding them since the start of the year.
Here are five Apple products that haven’t been updated in well over years.
AirPods Max
The AirPods Max are a great piece of hardware. Perhaps the finest headphones Apple has released so far. At Rs 60,000, they are the most expensive pair of headphones from Apple. While a section of users liked the AirPods Max, others complained the sound quality didn’t align with the price. The mixed response to the AirPods Max makes us wonder if Apple is even considering a sequel to the over-ear headphones. Back in May 2021, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that Apple was not working on the second-generation AirPods Max. So the status of the AirPods Max 2 is not clear. If Apple launches the AirPods Max 2 next year, Cupertino needs to make some changes to the design but also focus on improving sound as well as add support for Lossless audio. Pricing is another area that should be addressed whenever the second-generation cans hit retail shelves.
The colorful iMac M1 is aimed at average consumers. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/Indian Express)
iMac M1
Introduced in April 2021, the iMac M1 is almost two years old. The redesigned iMac M1 debuted with a 24-inch display with slimmer bezels, an M1 processor, bold, fun colours and a six-speaker system. Since the iMac was redesigned from the ground up two years ago, we expect Apple to update the all-in-one computer with either M2 or an unannounced M3 chip. According to Gurman, Apple may not announce a new iMac until late 2023. There haven’t been any concrete rumours about Apple planning to launch the updated iMac but do know that the current M1 iMac model is a fantastic AIO with a performance good enough for basic computing tasks.
Apple released its new high-end, high-throughput Mac Pro in 2019. The desktop computer, which runs an Intel chip, is still available for sale starting at $5999. (Image credit: Apple)
Mac Pro
When Apple teased a new Mac Pro during its “Peek Performance” event earlier this year, many thought the launch would happen this year. A few months have passed since then and there is no word from Apple on the updated Mac Pro. The existing Mac Pro was last updated in 2019 and although Cupertino did launch a professional-grade Mac Studio earlier this year, it’s no substitute for the Mac Pro. Rumours have that Apple could be working on a smaller Mac Pro that will reportedly ship with the “M2 Ultra” and “M2 Extreme” chips. The current Mac Pro is one of the last Intel Macs that you can still buy. Apple is also expected to introduce a “Pro” version of Studio Display with a mini-LED panel and support for ProMotion.
Intel Mac mini
With the low-end Mac mini last updated with Apple’s custom M1 chip in 2020, the high-end Intel-powered model has not been updated since 2018. The question is what is the future of the high-end Mac mini in Apple’s Mac lineup? At Rs 64,900, the base Mac mini is the most affordable Mac on the market, good enough for average users. A step-up model has to be radically different from the entry-level Mac mini. Rumours suggest Apple has been working on a supercharged version of the Mac mini with a thinner design and a “plexiglass-like top.” The device might be powered by Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. Given the new design and powerful internals inside, we expect the high-end Mac mini to cost more than the current entry-level model.
Apple discontinued the HomePod in 2021 without announcing any direct replacement. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
HomePod
It’s been more than a year since Apple discontinued the original HomePod. Although the premium smart speaker wasn’t as successful as Apple had initially hoped for, Cupertino is already working on a sequel reportedly coming in 2023. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims the new HomePod will look and sound similar to the original model. Gurman expects the HomePod 2 to feature an updated chip, which will help make Siri faster to respond to users’ queries. Not much is known about the second-generation HomePod beyond the chipset for now but Apple hasn’t abandoned its plans to exit the premium smart speaker market and that’s a good sign.
