WWDC 2013: The hardware Apple didn't announce
Apple's WWDC hardware announcements (MacBook Air, Mac Pro and AirPort) are pretty cool, but there was just as much hardware that didn't make the cut at yesterday's keynote. Here's a short list.
A new iPhone 5S/6 – While we got a preview of iOS 7, no new iPhone hardware followed. This isn't surprising as developers need to get their hands on the new iOS and APIs and get their apps working properly with iOS 7 before a new iPhone is released. Look for a new iPhone in the fall.
New iPads – I was personally hoping for a Retina iPad mini yesterday, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Some attribute it to components, speculating that the Retina panel still isn't thin enough to fit into the iPad mini's smaller bezel, while others speculate that the batteries necessary to power a Retina mini aren't thin enough and/or aren't delivering acceptable run times yet.
New MacBook Pros – While Apple gave us a nice update to the popular MacBook Air (albeit without a Retina panel) it didn't release a bump to the MacBook Pro (nor one with a thinner form factor). This wasn't surprising though, the MacBook Pro was just updated in October 2012 and it already has a Retina display option. When the workhorse MBP gets its eventual bump (likely in the fall or Q1 2014) look for it to inherit the Intel Haswell chip, PCIe SSD, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi that just arrived in the new 'Air.
iWatch – I'm not surprised that Apple didn't announced its rumored watch yesterday. As I wrote in my piece handicapping WWDC the timing isn't right for iWatch. Even though Tim Cook finds wearables "incredibly interesting" and Apple has filed for a trademark on the term "iWatch," the hardware isn't ready for prime time. iWatch is a holiday-quarter product if there ever was one.
The Apple television set seems to be a joke at this point and almost no one was expecting one to arrive at WWDC, so let's just put that one to bad for the time being.
What hardware were you secretly wishing Apple would announce?