✔️ 2022-08-27 11:00:00 – Paris/France.
Social distancing at the height of the pandemic in 2020 was a challenge for Lucy Edwards, a UK-based blind journalist and broadcaster. So she tried out the iPhone's people detection feature, which uses the lidar sensor in the iPhone 12 Pro and 13 Pro to detect the presence of other people nearby and calculate their distance from the user.
"I'm going to have to get used to it, but I'm really thrilled to be able to regain control," Edwards said in a 2020 BBC video documenting his experience.
Lidar, or light detection and ranging, is just one example of how the technology inside the iPhone has evolved over the past 15 years. When the first iPhone was launched on June 29, 2007, it had a 3,5-inch screen that would be considered tiny by today's standards and a single 2-megapixel camera. Now, Apple's most sophisticated phones have triple rear cameras advanced enough to capture footage, sensors that help people like Edwards navigate the world, and powerful chips with billions of transistors. We expect to hear more about what's next for the iPhone at Apple's next event on September 7.
The iPhone has often served as the catalyst for introduced technologies, whether it be the digital assistant Siri, mobile payments or wireless charging, and has helped change the way we live our lives. mobile lives. But in the future, the most important part of the iPhone might be everything around it. That's according to analysts who have observed general trends in the mobile industry and Apple's strategy.
In the short term, we'll likely see incremental improvements like better cameras and bigger screens. But over the next decade, the iPhone could become a hub for smart glasses and other devices. AirPods, Apple Watches and CarPlay-enabled vehicles may just be the start. Core iPhone elements like its display and charging systems should also get a significant boost.
"The next quest of the smartphone is figuring out what it will connect to next,” said Runar Bjørhovde, an analyst at market research firm Canalys. " Because the smartphone hasn't necessarily reached its potential yet, but as a standalone device, I think the smartphone getting closer and closer to the edge. »
Your iPhone at the center of everything
There is a lot of speculation about the sequel after the smartphone. The resounding consensus seems to be smart glasses, with companies like Meta, Snap and Google all working on their own version of high-tech glasses.
Apple is no exception; Bloomberg reports indicate that the iPhone maker could launch a mixed reality headset this year or next that supports augmented and virtual reality technologies. A pair of AR-powered smart glasses could arrive later this decade, according to the report.
So what does this have to do with the iPhone? Maybe everything. Even though Apple's headset should work as a standalone device, the apps and services it runs would likely come from the iPhone.
Think of the Apple Watch. It doesn't need an iPhone nearby to work, but a big part of its appeal involves its ability to sync closely with Apple's phone. Many Apple Watch notifications are also tied to accounts and apps that have been set up on the iPhone.
Whether it's smart headphones, the Apple Watch, AirPods, or HomeKit-enabled devices, analysts expect the phone to stay front and center.
The iPhone will likely remain at the center of the Apple experience, serving as the hub for AirPods, the Apple Watch, and possibly a pair of smart glasses one day.
Scott Stein/CNET
“The phone will be the anchor,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at technology investment firm Loup Ventures and longtime Apple analyst.
But it's not just about connecting to new personal tech gadgets. Apple is gradually transforming the iPhone into a viable wallet replacement, integrating it even more closely with the non-digital aspects of our lives.
Apple has made a lot of progress on this front over the past year, rolling out new features like digital IDs for Apple Wallet and Tap to Pay, which turns iPhone into a contactless payment terminal for wireless merchants. additional material. Apple also just announced Apple Pay Later, which allows Apple Pay users to split a purchase into four equal installments paid over the course of six weeks.
"Clearly there's a lot of momentum in financial services with Apple, and I think we'll see further progress there," said Nick Maynard, head of research at Juniper Research.
Better lidar, more advanced AI for better spatial awareness
Making educated guesses about Apple's general direction for the iPhone is certainly easier than identifying specific changes that might be coming. But analysts have a few ideas based on the seeds Apple has planted in current iPhones.
Lidar will likely continue to be important as the company delves deeper into augmented reality. Apple added lidar to the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020 to improve the performance of AR apps, enable new camera tricks, and facilitate accessibility features like the aforementioned person detection. The technology measures distance by determining the time it takes for light to reflect off an object and bounce back.
Still, the iPhone's current lidar sensors may not be sophisticated enough to deliver on Apple's augmented reality ambitions, Munster said.
“Specifically, what needs to happen is that real-world mapping needs to be more accurate,” said Munster, whose company conducts research on topics including augmented reality, self-driving vehicles and reality. Virtual. "And until that happens, AR isn't really going to happen. »
The people detection feature of the iPhone uses lidar.
James Martin/CNET
Lidar enhances the iPhone's depth-sensing capabilities, but it's still up to the phone's processor to make sense of all that data. Apple has leaned into artificial intelligence — one of Silicon Valley's favorite buzzwords of recent years — to give the iPhone and other products more context about users and their surroundings.
Again, you can turn to the Apple Watch to see this approach in action. Apple's smartwatch uses artificial intelligence and data gathered from its sensors for tasks such as tracking your sleep and observing when you wash your hands.
Hanish Bhatia, principal analyst for Counterpoint Research, provided a hypothetical example of how AI improvements might one day manifest in upcoming iPhones. He envisions a future in which the smartphone Apple will be able to observe a person's habits to understand whether the main user of the phone or a family member can use the device.
“The way you use your phone, at what angle your smartphone is tilted… Do you press with particular pressure, or do you just tap with your fingernails or something like that? he says as an example. “All of these types of behaviors are very unique to a user. »
Bhatia's example is speculative and does not reflect Apple's actual plans. But with advances in AI and technologies like lidar and ultra-wideband giving the iPhone greater spatial awareness, it's easy to imagine a scenario like this.
Displays and charging technology could undergo a big change
Perhaps one of the biggest questions about Apple's future smartphone plans is whether the company will ever create a foldable iPhone. Samsung, Apple's biggest rival in the mobile space, has already launched several generations of phones with flexible designs. Motorola, Huawei and Microsoft have all followed suit, and Google is said to be working on a foldable Pixel. Foldable smartphone shipments are said to have increased by 264,3% in 2021 compared to 2020, according to The International Data Corporation.
But experts like Munster and Maynard are skeptical whether Apple will take a similar approach. Although the tech giant has filed patents for mobile devices with flexible screens, those filings don't always reflect Apple's plans. Sales of foldable phones have increased, but shipments remain low compared to regular smartphones. (Research firm IDC estimates that 7,1 million foldable phones were shipped in 2021, compared to 362,4 million phones shipped in the fourth quarter of last year alone). And then there's the question of whether foldable devices bring anything truly new or meaningful to the gaming experience. smartphone.
Creating a true bendable glass display also presents challenges, says Munster. Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip has a glass display, but that glass is also combined with "a special material" to "achieve consistent hardness," CNET reported in 2020.
"The missing piece from my perspective is how [Apple] would actually do it," Munster said.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 3 can fold in half.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The iPhone charging experience is probably also due for an upgrade. Between USB-C, Lightning and MagSafe, it's no exaggeration to say that Apple's charging options are complicated. Maynard thinks pressure from the European Union and US senators could mean a switch to USB-C could be in the iPhone's future.
But more dramatic changes could also be on the way. Rumors of a completely portless iPhone have been swirling for years, and Maynard doesn't think that's entirely out of the question.
"I suspect that if any vendor were to release a completely portless system, it would probably be Apple," Maynard said, citing Apple's decision to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone in 2016.
Wireless charging has also been a focal point for Apple in recent years, further supporting the case for a portless iPhone. There are Apple's relatively new MagSafe chargers, and many CarPlay-enabled vehicles also support wireless connections. Apple has also patented wireless charging systems that would be built directly into MacBooks, allowing Apple laptops to charge iPhones, Apple Watches and iPads. The iPad Pro Smart Connector also provides a quick and easy way to connect accessories to Apple's tablet without a port.
“The number of systems that actually have to have 100% cable is going down,” Maynard said.
Apple's MagSafe battery connects wirelessly to the back of an iPhone.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Otherwise, analysts expect to see routine camera upgrades in the near term. Munster says there's room for improvement in the iPhone's front camera, while Bhatia expects Apple to continue to use screen size and camera quality to distinguish the regular iPhones from its iPhones Pro.
It's impossible to know what's next for the iPhone without Apple's input. But the experts seem certain of one thing: Apple is preparing the future of the iPhone today. Current iPhone features, such as Apple's lidar-powered accessibility tools intended to help the likes of Edwards, could provide a clue as to what lies ahead.
"Everything we can see they've done over the past few years is a good hint of what's to come," Bjørhovde said. “Because I think a lot of what they're doing is preparing for the systems they want to put the iPhone into in the years to come. »
SOURCE: Reviews News
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