2020 is a year of great change in Cupertino
Despite all that is going on in the world, Apple is continuing to launch new products. However, there has been something very different about their recent releases, starting with the iPhone 11 series back in September 2019.
To the untrained eye, it might look like Apple is just continuing to roll out evolutionary devices, making minor tweaks and adjustments over what has gone before. But on closer inspection, there is a subtle change happening within Apple’s designs that is going to accelerate their growth and customer base.
With each of the recent releases of iPhone, 16" MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, MacBook Air and iPhone SE, we have seen not only new features, but also significant device improvements.
And it is these subtle, but critical improvements that are the significant factor.
iPhone
The iPhone 11 built on the success of the iPhone X, bring an evolution of the physical design. The CPU and GPU performance got the expected yearly performance boost and some other nice new features were added in.
But the key update was the camera. Both the significant improvement in photo quality and the introduction of an ultra wide-angle lens has put Apple at the top of the pile, that has been dominated in recent years by the Google Pixel.
Apple had always produced good cameras. The video quality was excellent, but the still photos were always just “OK”. With this latest version, the photos are now greatly improved and it is this that consolidates the iPhones position at the top of the pile. The final piece in the jigsaw.
Critical Feature — The Camera
16" MacBook Pro
15" MacBook Pros have always been extremely popular with creative professionals as they have never lacked in power for mobile computing. However, with the last iteration, the feast had been spoiled by issues with the keyboard and thermal performance.
While on the surface it might look like the larger screen and smaller bezels is the killer feature, it is actually the correction of two previous mistakes that are the important improvements.
Apple had been chasing the notion of “thinner and lighter” with the MacBook Pro, and it was this that ultimately led to the poor design choices that hatched the keyboard and performance issues.
With the 16" MacBook Pro, Apple took a step back and made the chassis slightly thicker. This change allowed room for the CPU to stretch its legs, boosting performance and for Apple to have enough room to include the best designed scissor switch keyboard.
Critical Features — Keyboard and CPU performance
iPad Pro
The 2020 updates to the iPad Pro saw and improvement to the cameras (based on the iPhone 11) and the introduction of LIDAR to help with AR and other vision features.
However, it was the subtle changes to iPad OS that brought the biggest change to the iPad series. By introducing enhanced USB-C support and adding mouse/trackpad support, Apple has cleverly bridged the gap between tablets and laptops for many users.
Critical Features — USB-C and Mouse Support
MacBook Air
The MacBook Air has always been a favourite of the ultra-portable user. But in recent years the series has been made lame by keyboard issues and performance. In the recent years, Apple had fitted out the MBA with CPUs that couldn’t do much more than the basics.
With the 2020 refresh, we not only see the keyboard issues fixed, by the introduction of the improved scissor switch keyboard, but more importantly the MBA has got a CPU which actually makes it sing. While it will never be a video editing workhorse like the MacBook Pro, the improvements have now made it the best laptop for the 99%.
Critical Features — Keyboard and performance
iPhone SE
The original iPhone SE was a revolution when it was first released in 2016. The smaller form factor, smooth performance and lower cost was attractive to many people and Apple had a hit on their hands.
With the 2020 edition, Apple has repeated the trick of raiding the scrap yard again and produced the new iPhone SE based on iPhone 8 leftovers.
But the big selling point is that they have just crashed the budget smartphone party in the biggest way possible. They have produced a phone with a 2020 CPU, the A13 Bionic, for $399.
This not only gives users in that price bracket full iPhone performance experience out the box, but also the guarantee of many years of use and support ahead. Something with which no other supplier can compete.
Critical Feature — Flagship iPhone performance at budget cost
Conclusion
Apple has continued to roll out new devices, but these subtle and critical changes have left a single fingerprint across them all.
Apple has gone from having a portfolio of devices suffering from a range of quality issues and features inadequacies, to having a range of products that offer class leading performance in all areas.
These changes are both evolutionary and revolutionary at the same time. They are going to see Apple grow significantly in 2020–21 and beyond.
Thanks for reading