REMEMBERING A GREAT YEAR FOR APPLE: JANUARY – JUNE 2018

JANUARY - JUNE 2018

12 MONTHS OF TRIUMPH FOR THE CUPERTINO GIANT

With just several short laps of the clock-face to go in 2018, we can finally draw a little breath and reflect on the last 12 months of incredible innovation in consumer tech by Apple. We’ve had new products, revolutionary upgrades and another year of record-breaking sales and mindblowing ideas coming to life.

It’s impossible to cram in-depth coverage of all of these developments into one article, of course, so we’ve instead put together a two-part piece containing this year’s highlights in highimpact Apple tech and notable news.

JANUARY – FEBRUARY

It really doesn’t seem long since last year’s holiday season, does it? As always seems to be the case as one year passes into the next, the end of 2017 and the start of 2018 was a relatively quiet time for Apple, although we could understand why even the Cupertino giant needed a break!

Three quick-fire iOS updates were launched during the January to February period, the most notable being iOS 11.2.5, which allowed Siri to read news articles. If you haven’t experienced this useful feature yet, here’s how you can set up your device to use it.

Another new feature in iOS 11.2.5 was support for Apple’s first major launch of the year, the HomePod. Apple’s ‘new sound of home’ is a breakthrough in music technology, and actually adapts to its location with an innovative spatial awareness feature, which delivers high-fidelity audio wherever it happens to be playing. With

Siri on board, its launch created an entirely new way for consumers to interact with music at home, while genuinely feeling the benefit of a richer bass sound than other products on the market.

However, despite being more technologically advanced than rival devices, the HomePod didn’t get off to the best start in life, and we reported in April that it had failed to meet initial sales expectations. However, with the HomePod quickly being updated to speak French, German and Canadian French and English, Apple quickly got to work on making it a more appealing product. In March, Her director Spike Jonze directed this thoughtprovoking music video, starring English songwriter FKA Twigs and a multilingual home entertainment system – yes, you’ve guessed it, the HomePod!

Also in the first two months of 2018, Apple introduced a compelling update to the Health app that featured, for the first time, the ability for customers to see their medical records on their mobile device. Traditionally, customers have been required to log into different healthcare providers’ websites and view their information in various locations. With the likes of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Cedar-Sinai and Penn Medicine already on board, this was the first of several groundbreaking steps that Apple took in healthcare during 2018. Intriguingly, ‘Self-Care’ went on to become the App Trend of 2018.

MARCH-APRIL

From healthcare to education – at the learningfocused ‘Let’s Take a Field Trip’ event in Chicago, Apple revealed its sixth-generation iPad to

crowds of teaching and learning professionals. It was the first standard iPad to be compatible with the Apple Pencil, although the biggest pull for educators was the low $299 price tag compared to $329 for everyone else, and a comprehensive package of classroommanagement and curricular apps.

The ‘Everyone Can Create’ curriculum included Schoolwork, one of the most powerful personalized education apps ever created. Allowing teachers to work collaboratively with students, this package followed the success of the Everyone Can Code initiative, which, also during the course of 2018, was expanded to serve deaf, blind and visually impaired students.

With the price of the new iPad certainly also enticing for everyday consumers, it featured immersive Augmented Reality (AR) tech in every aspect of its design. This allowed users to experience the thriving generation of AR apps launched during 2018 – including iPad App of the Year Froggipedia – and with many more people now having affordable access to the technology, this could be a trend to look out for next year.

Also in March, rumors began to circulate about the upcoming launch of a Special Edition ‘PRODUCT(RED)’ iPhone X. The following month, Apple slightly surprised us with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition series. With a portion of all proceeds going directly to Global Fund HIV/AIDS grants, Apple continued to deliver money to a

good cause it has supported for more than 10 years. The stunning red finishes of the limited 8 series also gave us a taste of things to come later in the year, with the launch of the iPhone XR (more to come on that later).

In a similarly sustainable vein, Apple confirmed during April that its global facilities were now powered entirely by 100 percent clean energy production. Ahead of Earth Day, on April 22, the company also announced that it would make a donation to Conservation International, for every device received at Apple stores and through apple.com as part of the GiveBack initiative.

MAY – JUNE

Unsurprisingly, Apple began the month in similar fashion, with the announcement that it had revolutionized a 130-year method of producing aluminum. “Apple is committed to advancing technologies that are good for the planet and help protect it for generations to come,” said CEO Tim Cook in an official press release. With the potential to completely alter manufacturing globally, this news was followed by the rumor that Apple was set to become the first $1 trillion company, ever.

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway had bought 75 million shares of Apple in the first quarter of the year, with the company owning 5% of Apple stock by the time the news was announced. With the subsequent rise in Apple stock, it was predicted that the company would hit the trillion-dollar mark before the end of the year – and, of course, it did.

By the end of May, many of us had become excited by a rumor that Apple was in the process of developing AR glasses, after advertising for a 3D UI engineer. Hopefully, it’s a case of ‘to be continued’ with this, and we’ll see speculation turn into reality.

In June, Apple previewed the rest of its exciting year to come at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Jose. We got a preview of what iOS 12 would feature, addressing smartphone addiction with new screen-time functions built-in as standard. We also got a look at the ‘battle royale’ of FaceTime, with up to 32 people at once being able to engage in video conferencing, and we saw the dark, rich screens of macOS Mojave for the first time.

Apple Watch users also learned what to expect in watchOS 5, with the Walkie-Talkie function letting users speak to other Apple Watch owners over wrist-to-wrist 4G or WiFi, and a range of new exercise functions for the same self-care enthusiasts that Apple had indulged earlier in the year. With the Apple Watch now able to tell when it thought users had begun exercising by reacting to an increased heart rate, it would now also be able to update them on their running form, including telling them how they were faring against their best and regular speeds. The announcement of the new operating system gave Apple aficionados a sign that a new watch was possibly on the way...

We continue to remember a great year for Apple with our review of July onwards next week, so stay (i)Tuned for that!