What’s Next for Apple
Larger displays, Face ID everywhere, and doubling down on AR — the latest reports sketch out Apple’s ambitious blueprint
Apple released iPhone X merely two weeks ago to surging demand and already the rumor mill has again started churning about the next iteration of the iPhone X and beyond. Here we take a look at all the industry buzz surrounding Apple’s next step and lay out all the possible brand implications.
Displays Keep Getting Larger
According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, known for being perhaps the most accurate Apple seer in the world, the Cupertino company is planning to launch a trio of new iPhone models next year, including 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch models with OLED displays, as well as one with a 6.1-inch, bezel-less LCD display. Kuo expects all three models to be equipped with a full-screen notched design like the iPhone X, and adds that the 6.1-inch model will have a lower-resolution LCD display and target the mid-range markets with a lower price.
For comparison, the current iPhone with the largest screen size is the iPhone X with a 5.8-inch True Tone display. Among major Android competitors, Google Pixel 2 XL has a 6-inch OLED display, Samsung Galaxy S8+ comes in at 6.2-inch, and Samsung Note 8 tops all with a 6.3-inch display. This means next year’s iPhone trio will likely have a de facto “phablet-sized” screen, with the biggest 6.5-inch model topping all Android competitor. Thanks to the new bezel-less design, however, Apple might be able to accommodate the bigger screen for iPhone without drastically increasing the actual dimensions of the device.
For brands, the ever-increasing mobile screen sizes with higher resolutions means that all your brand assets on your mobile site and ad creative needs to be upgraded to high-definition quality to ensure you’re delivering a top-tier customer experience. Bigger displays also give brands more space to play with when designing their own apps, but a clean-cut, user-friendly design is always in fashion, regardless of the screen size.
Face ID Everywhere
A major wow factor of the iPhone X, besides the super adorable animojis, is the Face ID feature, replacing Touch ID’s fingerprint scanning with facial recognition for authenticaion. In a new 9to5Mac poll, the majority of respondents believe that Face ID is a positive upgrade from Touch ID.
Tapping into the same TrueDepth Camera that made animojis possible, Face ID represents a major evolution in the design of iPhones, as it allows for the elimination of the home button, and offers hand-free, frictionless mobile authentication. Notably, because it requires no action from the user other than gazing at the device, Face ID can authenticate a user more often without adding friction, meaning it can and will be used to secure more and more content on our devices. Already, reports say Facebook has begun exploring facial recognition as an authentication method for login.
Given its revolutionary nature, it makes perfect sense that Apple will soon be integrating Face ID into other devices it sells. The company has already reportedly started on the 2018 iPad redesign to fit in the depth-sensing front-camera system to enable Face ID for tablet users. The same would likely be the case for the next generation of HomePod, Apple’s smart speaker powered by Siri. One would likely assume that adding it to the Mac lineup, both desktop and laptops, would only be a matter of time.
It is worth noting that according to its developer agreement, Apple will only share the visual face mapping data with third-party developers for developing face-based AR features. While developers can use FaceID to authenticate users within their apps, verification is handled by the system, obscuring the mathematical representation of the user’s face. Apple also stipulated that this data can never be used for advertising or marketing purposes.
For brands, the adoption of Face ID mean that identity authentication on mobile is becoming easier than ever. As Apple raises the bar for both the ease and security of authentication, brands will need to update their sign-in and other secure processes to stay ahead of customer expectations. For example, MLB recently announced the Oakland Athletics is tapping iOS 11’s NFC feature for contactless stadium entry, thus making it a little easier for iPhone users to get into the games.
Doubling Down On AR
Apple has shown its bullish ambition on augmented reality, with CEO Tim Cook stating in a recent earnings call that “augmented reality is going to change the way we use technology forever.” Last week, reports broke that the company is aiming to release an AR headset in 2020. According to Bloomberg sources, the device will make use of a new operating system dubbed rOS and will run on a proprietary chip and engineers are currently using HTC Vive devices for testing purposes. Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta Computer even hinted at Apple aiming to release an AR headset no later than 2019.
Update 11/21/2017: Apple has acquired augmented reality headset startup Vrvana for $30M, further fueling the speculation.
Although the report quickly got shot down by Cook, who remarked in an interview that currently “the technology itself doesn’t exist” to make AR glasses “in a quality way,” it is not a baseless assumption to say that Apple is working a standalone AR headset. In fact, based on the way they’ve been eagerly jumping into the software side of mobile AR with the launch of ARKit and the upgraded cameras on the new iPhones, it would make perfect sense for Apple, which at its core is a hardware company, to work on creating a standalone AR product. Its high standard for design and quality may hold it back from releasing it early, but as Apple has demonstrated time and time again, it doesn’t care about being the first, just the best. And that is what won them the high-end of the smartphone, tablet, and smartwatch markets, and will be even more important if wearable AR glasses are ever to become mainstream.
Even if the iGlasses may still be a couple years off, Apple is certainly accelerating the development of mobile AR. This week, Bloomberg reports that Apple is developing a rear 3D sensor system for the 2019 iPhones. But unlike the TrueDepth camera system on iPhone X, the feature will use laser measurements to build a 3D image of an environment, similar to how Google’s Project Tango maps its surroundings. For Apple, its aggressive push into augmented reality (and wearables) suggests the company will leverage its hardware advantage to get to the future before its rivals, establishing its capability to compete in hardware in the post-mobile era in the process.
For brands, Apple’s bullish move into augmented reality will only accelerate the adoption of mobile AR, making it more urgent to incorporate AR into your mobile strategy. eMarketer estimates by 2019, 55 million U.S. consumers will be using AR by 2019, and the market momentum will drive the annual downloads of mobile AR apps to 1.2 billion worldwide by that year. AR can transform passively consumed branded content into actively engaging brand experiences, and more brands should be exploring Apple’s ARKit, as well as Google’s ARCore and Facebook’s AR Studio, to develop mobile AR features that integrate and contextualize your brand into people’s everyday reality.
Home Entertainment Strategy Taking Shape
With iPhone X on the market, Apple has one last major release left for this year — HomePod. (Update 11/17/2017: Apple has announced it has delayed the release of the HomePod until early 2018.) The Siri-powered smart speaker was scheduled to be released in December, but Apple still hasn’t announced a specific release date. When Apple first revealed the HomePod at WWDC in June, it positioned it as a Sonos competitor in the high-end speaker market with the boost of a virtual assistant integration. But since then, Sonos has released new devices with built-in Alexa, which supports tons more third-party skills than Siri, making the HomePod’s positioning less distinct. Considering that Apple didn’t even include the HomePod in its holiday gift shopping guide, it remains to be seen whether Apple can keep its words and release it within the year.
In addition, Apple is making a strong push to capture the family audience with family-friendly original content, judging by the two scripted series the company has ordered. it’s unknown when these shows will launch or how they will be made available, but along with the upcoming HomePod, it seems clear that Apple’s gearing up its home entertainment offerings.
