2025 is underway, but we’re already rolling out the accolades and won’t be going easy on the under achievers. Let’s see who’s in the firing line for the first week of the year.
The tech world took the opportunity to take a deep breath before the big CES 2025 tech show, which begins next week. We’ll be on the slow floor and there’s likely to be a more stacked line-up of winners and losers next week.
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We got a preview of some potentially headline-making announcements from LG and Samsung. LG introduced a large 45-inch bendable 5K monitor. It allows users to manually alter the curvature of the display, which sounds very cool. Let’s see how it works in practice. Samsung is also debuting some new OLED gaming monitors. The key announcement is a 27-inch 4K OLED model with a 240Hz refresh rate.
Elsewhere, Apple is offering everyone a free weekend of Apple TV+ for all users this weekend so if you’re not a subscriber, it’s a great way to catch up on great shows like Slow Horses, Silo and Severance. The latter has a long-awaited second season coming out this month.
Sticking with Apple, there was a tenuous rumour the iPhone SE range might be dead, with the fourth-generation model arriving under the iPhone 16E name. And, back to Samsung, there was a suggestion the company may finally make a more affordable foldable, with the Galaxy Z Flip FE rocking the same awesome screen as the 2024 Galaxy Z Flip 6.
On the wearables front, the OnePlus Watch 3 might make some good breakthroughs on the health front with an ECG and a unique 60-second health check.
However, the big winners and losers of the week are yet to be revealed. Read on to discover who’s on the nice and naughty list for the first time in 2025.
Winner: USB-C
In a move that’s been years in the making, USB-C charging technology is now the only standard permitted on new mobile devices sold in the EU. That pretty much ensures the same is true of the UK.
To start 2025, the EU enacted its 2022 mandate to standardise charging for mobile devices, which will save thousands of tonnes a year in e-waste, will save consumers hundreds of millions in replacement chargers, and ensure interoperability for iPhone and Android users.
The decision pushed Apple towards ditching its Lightning standard when the iPhone 14 range came out in 2022 and has been gradually been moving its over products over for the last 4-5 years.
The move in Europe means we’re unlikely to see device owners come up with annoying proprietary solutions, and it ensures there’ll be lots of collaboration between tech’s biggest hitters when it comes to deciding upon the next standard.
And we, as Brits, will benefit from all of that because no manufacturer is going to make a bespoke charging solution for our little island is it?
Loser: Apple CarPlay 2
When Apple revealed plans for a next-generation CarPlay in 2022, it gave us a peak at a full panel of instruments right along the car’s dashboard, as well as an advanced centre console.
With Apple backing away from launching a car of its own, it seemed the vision for deeper integration with the car’s systems was destined to make it to our favourite auto manufacturers. It would mean the car’s climate control, speedometer, rev counter, fuels, gears, lights, wipers and more would all fall under the new CarPlay, rather than being managed by a separate system on the car.
CarPlay 2 was supposed to debut on 2024 Aston Martin and Porsche models, and it looked absolutely magnificent. However the calendar year 2024 has come and gone and there’s no sign of the new-generation of Apple CarPlay and Apple hasn’t commented. We’ve got no word of it coming from other manufacturers either.
So where is it? If the next-gen CarPlay has been delayed, that’s fair enough. Just let us know about it. It’s also possible that Apple has cancelled it completely. If so, just let us know about it.
It might be WWDC 2025 before we get definitive word on what’s happening here, making it three years since the reinvention of CarPlay was announced.
