As the memory of the festive season fades and the notion of eating turkey vanishes for at least six months, the Stuff editor yells: “Grannell! Get in here and tell everyone what you want to see from Apple in 2025.”
Flicking the last bit of tinsel from my shoulder, I settle down to write. Rumours continue to swirl, but they’re not everything. So this piece digs into what we can all expect from Apple in 2025, the word on the grapevine, and a personal wish list. If someone can inject this into Tim Cook’s Reminders app, I’d be ever so grateful.
Get new iPhones right
Among the 2024 iPhones, the Plus felt a bit lost. No surprise, then, that Apple in 2025 is rumoured to be binning it for an iPhone Air. Which will be pricier than a Pro Max, despite having one speaker and one camera. Still: it will be thinner! Sigh. I’d hoped Apple had got over that obsession. Things look better for the SE 4 and I’ll be happy to see the rumoured ‘A17 chip stuffed inside an iPhone 14’, even if I’d prefer a smaller iPhone.
Turn the iPad up to 11
Apple’s best-selling iPad is now the only Apple tablet lacking support for Apple Intelligence. Which you might argue is a blessing rather than a curse. Anyway, Apple will shove an A17 inside that device too – and do nothing else. But the entry-level iPad would be a much better tablet for everyone if it got a storage bump (64GB is miserly) and a non-reflective screen. Well, better for everyone apart from Apple’s accounts team.
Give us a cellular MacBook
Rumours are rumbling that Apple is looking into the possibility of perhaps at some point conceivably maybe bolting cellular functionality on to a MacBook. Although the same rumours suggest it won’t happen next year. Or at all. Because, let’s face it, Apple would much sooner you bought an iPhone and use that to pipe 5G goodness your laptop’s way. But, hey, this is my column and I’m saying I’d like to see this product from Apple in 2025. So there.
Don’t bin Apple Watch straps
The original heading for this slot was “Make Apple Watch exciting again”. And then I realised, I don’t care. I’m happy with Apple Watch kind of doddering along with mostly iterative smallish updates. Current rumours are weird, mind, suggesting the worst of all worlds – an Apple Watch Series 11 with ‘minimal’ design changes but that eradicates the existing straps system. Think of the waste! Don’t do it, Apple!
Proper upgrades for the AirPods Pro 3
Rumours suggest there are no plans to update the AirPods Max in a major way. Just as well. People who dutifully ‘upgraded’ last year for new colours and USB-C charging would riot. Or at least tut loudly. Definitely one of those. But the AirPods Pro are due a revamp from Apple in 2025 – and that has to be more meaningful. Although I’m honestly stumped as to how. I love those things as they are.
Don’t forget the Apple TV
Ha – fooled you! Apple already has forgotten the Apple TV. Or has it? Rumours suggest (minor) changes are coming: a faster chip; a lower price. Both of those would be fine by me, as long as Apple makes it so tvOS doesn’t flush the cache of apps you’ve stored documents in (*fume*) and perhaps gets Apple TV moving as a low-cost telly box for gaming. The squandered potential continues to pile up.
Rethink Vision Pro
It’s likely nothing will happen with Vision Pro in 2025. Even a price drop seems beyond Apple, given that it tends to not lower prices on a device until a replacement arrives. But Apple needs to do… something. Encourage more developers. Figure out how to get people playing games on the thing by admitting that physical controllers aren’t evil incarnate. Right now, Vision Pro is mostly a weird immersive TV for too many ‘early adopters’.
Make a smart home dock, not another device
Given that Google instantly gets bored of tablets the second they are released, it was no shock to me that the Google Pixel Tablet went nowhere. But Apple should steal its dock idea, making it so all new iPads can snap to a redesigned HomePod that’s also a charger. It won’t. Instead, we’ll get a separate smart home device, because Apple wants to sell you more things, not have you use fewer gadgets in more ways.
Bring iPad mirroring to Mac
When I first saw Apple demonstrate iPhone mirroring, I scoffed. It’s just a gimmick. What idiot would want their iPhone on their Mac’s screen? This idiot, as it turns out. It’s an excellent feature, allowing a locked iPhone to sit on a charger in StandBy mode, yet still give you immediate access to all your apps. But you can’t do that with an iPad. Yet. I want Apple to rectify this in macOS WhateverTheNewOneWillBeCalled.
Get Face ID on Macs
There are three possible reasons Apple hasn’t put Face ID on Macs. Cost. Technology. Or because it doesn’t want to. Touch ID is a solid alternative, but it feels like last year’s tech when compared to the much simpler and faster Face ID on iPhone and iPad. I’d be marginally happier gawping at my iMac to make a payment than prodding a key. Which would clearly be worth all the extra effort on Apple’s part.
Stop dumbing down iPadOS
Look, we all get it, Apple. You want people to buy an iPad and a Mac. Which is why you dragged your heels for years on proper external display support – and then made a mess of it anyway. And there are other problems: Files is like an infantilised Finder. The new tab bar turns iPad apps back into giant iPhone apps. Enough. Make the iPad the quality computer it was always meant to be.
Get AI right
Wags might argue Apple did anything but get AI right with Apple Intelligence. (It even drew the wrath of the BBC.) But that’s not true, because Apple’s approach was sound. I do hope Apple dials down the hype in 2025 but continues to usher in more meaningful AI features – and avoids the tech industry’s tendency to shoehorn AI in everywhere. The last thing we need is for beautifully designed Apple hardware to primarily become vessels for endless AI slop.
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