What I want to see from Macs and iPads at Apple's event
October 22 could bring a ton of Apple product updates...but here are the ones I want to see.
- Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Here's what I'd like to see.
A Retina Mini
Before anything else, this. The iPad Mini is perfect sizewise, but the lack of a higher-resolution, higher-dpi display stands out against small tablet competitors like the Nexus 7. Finer resolution matters for reading, something the Mini's perfectly suited for. The Nexus 7's display is smaller, but for reading text I prefer it. A Retina Mini is the top product I'd want to buy.
Make 32GB the base storage capacity for the large iPad
16GB is just getting to be too small for most everyday use. I'd prefer 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB as the three price tiers, especially as flash storage becomes more affordable and the larger iPad becomes a stand-in for a laptop for many people. Yes, this is a wish list: there's already a 128GB iPad, and the odds of adding extra storage to the $499 model don't feel all that good. But I'd like to see it happen.
Touch ID on all iPads
Do we need fingerprint sensors on iPads? Maybe not, but if you use a corporate Exchange-based system like I do that requires a passcode on your device, having a fingerprint touch replace that passcode entry would sure be helpful.
A new Smart Cover keyboard accessory
Microsoft's Surface tablets have one big advantage over tablet competitors: a thin, well-designed keyboard and touch pad Type Cover accessory that makes it surprisingly easy to get work done. The iPad's been graced with tons of good keyboard accessories, but Apple hasn't made its own keyboard attachment since the first iPad. Marrying the Smart Cover with some sort of tactile keyboard seems like a theoretically slam-dunk idea.
Games, games, games (on iOS, with controllers and AirPlay and Apple TV)
We've heard about physical controllers being MFi-certified for iOS 7, and a number of game apps are already updated and ready for connected controller play. So, where are the controllers? Rumored Logitech game pad accessories and others haven't officially materialized, but they're bound to. Seeing how new games use these controllers, and how games could possibly stream via AirPlay and a controller to an Apple TV, bears watching.
A 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro with improved graphics
The size and potential power of the Retina MacBook Pro has always appealed to me, but the 13-inch 2012 version had Intel integrated graphics as opposed to dedicated Nvidia or AMD graphics. Intel's newer Haswell processors have better integrated graphics options and Iris Pro, so maybe those could be a solution.
Fusion drives on the Retina MacBooks
Paying up for a pure SSD drive can still get expensive above 256GB. I'd love a big 1TB drive, and Apple's Fusion drives marrying 128GB SSD storage and a physical hard drive seem like the perfect answer: but, to date, Fusion drives have been desktop-only.
An Apple TV update that finally allows for an App Store
With the likely landslide of other product updates, odds of this happening are basically zero. More baked-in apps have been gradually included on the Apple TV over the last year, which will probably stand in for a formal App Store...at least until next year.
Stay tuned for October 22, and follow us live from San Francisco via the link below.
