4 Major Things to Expect from Apple in 2011

Here is an overview of some of the new major products that Apple will launch this year. Four products I’m particularly interested in.

Mac App Store

On January 6, 2011 Apple released their new Mac App Store. Apple was already famous for their successful App Store on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and now brings this to the Mac. On the day of the release the Mac App Store contained over a 1000 apps, including the new iLife ’11 products.

iPad 2

On March 11, 2011 the iPad 2 will be released in the US, so told Steve Jobs us in his latest keynote on March 2, 2011. Outside the US, the iPad 2 will be released on March 25, 2011.

The iPad 2 will bring us:

• 2 cameras, 1 on the front and 1 HD camera on the back
• A5 processor, making it 9x faster that the iPad 1
• 33% thinner
• 15% lighter
• HMDI output (using an adapter)

Also Apple has developed a so-called iPad Smart Cover, which is a specially designed cover that clicks on magnetically, sleeps and wakes your iPad and even cleans the display. By folding it, it can be used a keyboard stand or portret stand.

And lastly but not least, it comes in white, for those who prefer that.

iOS 4.3

Together with the new iPad Apple will release there new version of their mobile operation system iOS 4.3. Some of its new features:

• AirPlay enhancements
• Better Safari Performance with JavaScript being twice as fast as before
• Personal Hotspot for iPhone 4 which alows you to share your 3G connection to other Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB-capable devices, like your laptop.

iPhone 5

Based on previous release cycles of the iPhone, we can expect Apple to release the iPhone 5 around late June or early July. Some analists are not so sure and are expecting the iPhone around September.

There are currently only rumors and speculations about the features of the new iPhone, as Apple hasn’t released any info yet. The rumors include:

• The iPhone 5 will be a complete new version, not a 4S version like we had the 3S version
• Others say that the iPhone 5 is only an evolutionary version, instead of a revolutionary (like 3GS to 4, instead of 3G to 3GS)
• There might be a cheaper version of the iPhone available, the iPhone 5 Nano
• It would include a NFC-chip that enables the use of the iPhone as a digital wallet, allowing you to do an actual payment

Mac OSX Lion

Summer 2011, Apple’s new version of Mac OS X, called Lion, will be released. Apple states: “The power of Mac OS X. The magic of the iPad”, so we can expect some iOS features coming to Mac OS X, including:

• Launchpad — the homescreen for you Mac
• Full-screen apps — like we use them on the iPad or iPhone
• Gestures and animations

Some other important new features are:

• Mission Control — a bird’s-eye view of all running apps
• Resume — remember window locations, even after quit or reboot
• Lion Server integrated — no more separate server edition of OS X

Personally I am really looking forward for the new iPad and iPhone. What are you looking forward to from Apple this year?