"There is one more thing." When the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs used to say those words onstage at Apple launch events, you knew something special was about to happen.
After Jobs' death in 2011, Tim Cook took over hosting duties and provided his fair share of "One More Thing" moments, including the Apple Watch in 2014, Apple Music in 2015, and the iPhone X in 2017.
But ever since that iPhone X moment five years ago, we've been patiently waiting for another industry-defining "One More Thing" from the Cupertino-based brand. Could the Apple March Event provide the next one? Maybe, but it's unlikely to be the "thing" I really want.
Sunglasses
My colleague Lance Ulanoff has already delved into the "Peek Performance" invite and video teaser to break down what's in store for us at the Apple March event, and it's been rumored for a while now.
We may be about to get our long-awaited first look at Apple Glasses, a set of augmented reality (AR) specs that could see Apple build significantly on what Google Glass gave us several years ago.
It's a reasonable assumption, as Apple has gotten big with stage demos of augmented reality in recent years, particularly with the iPhone and iPad, but I'm still struggling to see how and where the technology will appeal to the general public. , apart from as an occasional device (like Snapchat filters) or as a niche tool, for example, to measure the depth of snowfall so you can brag to your friends and colleagues abroad.
There are certainly more practical use cases for business and industry, but those don't excite me - and augmented reality as a whole still doesn't excite me on a raw, "holy cow, es genial". Así que me cuesta emocionarme con las gafas de Apple de las que ha hablado Durante mucho tiempo.
It's time for Apple to show its hand in the world of electric vehicles.
What Apple really needs to do is shake up an established industry. Put it in their head, make people sit up and think "how is that possible?" And I think you can do that in a completely different space. It's time for Apple to show its hand in the world of electric vehicles (EVs).
drive home
Apple never likes to rush into a new area of technology; he'd rather look around and see what others are doing in a space, then rock out with his own perfectly ingenious solution that, more often than not, wins the hearts of millions.
Rumors of an Apple car have been circulating almost as long as rumors of Apple Glasses, and an electric vehicle from the company has the potential to blow the bloody doors of any moment before "One More Thing."
Tesla has been making EVs for 10 years, and every major automaker in the world is working on electrification, with many aiming to go all-electric with new vehicles in the next 10 to 15 years.
With automotive technology taking longer to develop than cell phones or PCs, 2022 would be a good time for Apple to get the iron on.
Electric vehicles present automakers with an almost blank slate. They are no longer confined by the conventions dictated by internal combustion engines, allowing them to reinvent the entire idea of the car, from design to increasingly prominent technology.
The latest electric vehicles arrive hyper-connected, with 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and the latest Bluetooth standards to ensure they're always online. They can talk to our homes, our phones, other vehicles, and in the near future, they may even be able to communicate with the infrastructure around them, like traffic lights and weather stations.
There's a clear overlap between these features and Apple's strengths, and that's before we've even considered infotainment. The number of screens in electric cars and the size of those screens are growing rapidly, with touch screens, voice assistants and artificial intelligence determining the best route, roads, driving modes and more for drivers.
There are obvious in-car integration benefits for Apple, such as iPad and iPhone holders that allow front and rear seat occupants to enjoy content while also being able to connect to a vehicle-provided Wi-Fi hotspot. .
Why stop there?
But why stop there? We have iOS, we have watchOS, we have iPadOS and even tvOS; now is the time for Apple to provide us with carOS. A solid foundation for this has already been laid with Apple Carplay, but there is much more that Apple could bring to the table.
As for what the supposed Apple Car looks like or could offer, that's still anyone's guess. It will almost certainly be an electric vehicle, but there are a number of leaks suggesting it could also be a fully autonomous vehicle, after Apple bought a self-driving vehicle startup and hired a "radar test engineer".
Meanwhile, several automotive-related patents filed by Apple have been spotted, including one that would cause a car window to change its opacity and another that suggests passengers could use a VR headset to view the outside world. This is all a bit weird.
The arrival of an Apple Car would be exciting, relevant, and timely, and would be the perfect convergence of Apple's existing great technology with a market that is about to be dramatically transformed.
If Apple's car is the company's "One More Thing" this year, it will be the biggest Apple has announced in years.