The 14 Products That Apple Should Make

At WWDC 2018 this week, Apple announced some pretty sweet updates coming to iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS this fall. No hardware products were announced, however, which was a little bit of a letdown considering that many journalists — including ourselves — were hoping for otherwise. In light of the fact that we’ll have to wait a little longer, we’ve taken the opportunity to draft up a list of products we’d like Apple to make. Some of the below products are probably pipe dreams, admittedly — Apple is well known amongst for the products it doesn’t make — but that hasn’t stopped us. Here’s what we’re hoping for.

Further Reading: A Look at the Way Apple AirPods Are Packaged | The Best Apple Desk Setups for Every Person | Apple HomePod — Here’s What You Need to Know

Apple MacBook Pro, Fully Loaded with No Touch Bar

It’s well documented that in order to get the best MacBook Pro — we’re talking maxed out processing power, graphics, RAM, storage and Thunderbolt 3 ports — you need to buy a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar. And a 15-inch MacBook Pro at that. Not everybody needs a Touch Bar or a huge laptop that they can’t in their backpack. Give us the option to get a maxed out 13-inch MacBook Pro, sans Touch Bar, and we’ll be all over that.

Mac Mini Pro

The Mac mini hasn’t been majorly revamped in several years, and there are rumors swirling around that 2018 may finally be its year. Siri integration? A significantly more powerful processor and graphics card? We’ll take those, but what we really want is a Mac mini in space gray, so that it matches are wireless mouse, keyboard and monitor.

Apple-Branded Over-Ear Headphones

By far the biggest investment that Apple has made has been its acquisition of Beats for $3 billion in 2014. That’s the main reason why a lot of Beats’ over-ear and in-ear headphones have W1 chipsets, just like AirPods, for quick-pairing with all iOS devices. However, what the success of AirPods (and HomePod, to a lesser degree) has shown us is that Apple is also an audio company in it of itself. And we can’t wait to see what’s next. And what Apple’s sound signature can really express itself in a pair of over-ear headphones. And of course, we want them in space gray.

Apple USB-C AC Wall Adaptor, Multi-Ports

Apple, please make a USB-C power adapter for a MacBook Pro — either 29-watt, 61-watt or 87-watt — that comes with multiple USB-C ports. That’d be super helpful.

Apple Watch w/ Rotating Circular Bezel

A recent patent revealed that Apple could be working on a new Apple Watch with a circular smartface design — and I’d be all for it. The coolest feature of Samsung’s hefty Gear S3 smartwatch is its rotating circular bezel, so I’d love for Apple to bring that over. Yes, the squarish watch face of all Apple Watches thus far are great, but I’m sure that some people who love an Apple Watch that could fool some into thinking it was Swiss-made.

Backlit Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse

It’s taken a while for Apple to come out with better iterations of its Magic Keyboard, but the company is slowly getting there. In the past year, it’s released a wireless keyboard with a number pad and, more recently, a space gray model of just that. For the next generation, we love a backlit Magic Keyboard and Mouse combo. The pros and gamers (if they game on Mac) would love it.

iPod Nano, Water-Resistant, Sub $100

Apple has struggled to make true entry-level products that are really afforable for seamingly forever. For runners, who don’t own an Apple Watch or want to bring their iPhone on a run (too bulky, precious), I’d love for Apple to bring back the iPod Nano, which they discontinued last year, make it water resistant and able to download tracks from Apple Music or Spotify. Simple and inexpensive, yet useful to many.

MacBook Air with Retina Display

The MacBook Air is the only computer that Apple sells that doesn’t come with a Retina display and it seems like the right time to change that. A 13-inch MacBook Air with this higher-resolution display would quickly become the entry-level laptop for many a Apple shopper. It would also probably allow Apple to consolidate its MacBook and MacBook Air product lines.

An Apple External Monitor, Period.

It seems likely that Apple will once again make its own external monitors, after having decided to discontinue its Thunderbolt Displays in 2016. The company has since been recommending (and selling) LG’s UltraFine 4K and 5K monitors, but with the new Mac Pro (release date still unknown) it’s expected that Apple will launch a standalone monitor to go alongside it. We just hope it makes its own 4K and 5K monitors and that they come with all the ports of an iMac — not just the USB-C ports on the current LG monitors.

A New, Waterproof iPod nano

Apple killed off the iPod nano last summer and I’m still not over it. It was a great device for runners because it was tiny and didn’t come with all the distractions of an iPhone. You could also download Spotify playlists and listen to them offline. (As a Spotify subscriber, there are so few gadgets, other than smartphones, that allow you to do this.) Just make them waterproof like the current crop of iPhones, price them at less than $150 and I bet they’ll go flying off the shelf.

Apple OEM Battery Case for iPhone X

There aren’t that many battery cases for iPhone X in general, and those that are around are made by manufactures you shouldn’t trust. Mophie, on the other hand, who is one of favorite manufacturers of smartphone battery cases, doesn’t sell one for iPhone X (yet). We think Apple should expediate things and just come out with their own. Do us all a favor.

A Smaller, Portable HomePod

We know that the HomePod is still fresh in peoples’ minds, but we’re already looking at what the next-generation models could bring. It makes sense that Apple would go smaller and target the much cheaper Amazon Echo and Google Home crowd. It’d be great if Apple could go a bit further and make a portable HomePod, too, with a built-in battery and could also charge wirelessly, say on the AirPower charging mat (when that finally gets announced). This way you would talk to Siri and play music same way you currently do on your iPhone, just on a significantly better speaker.

Bring Apple Watch Apps to MacOS

Apple is starting to bring iOS apps to the Mac with macOS Mojave, which gives hope that the company will eventually carry over watchOS apps to Mac as well. Right now, the Apple Watch is exclusively linked to your iPhone; you need an iPhone to set up your Apple Watch and Apple’s Health app is only available on iPhone. If you could access the Health app, for example, on your laptop or desktop, it would open up the “Apple Watch experience” and make Apple’s ecosystem fell more complete.

Apple Pencil Compatibility on iPhone Plus

Samsung’s Galaxy Note line is beloved by many, even though it’s a niche smartphone line. Still, the fact is that many people with a big screen smartphone will want a stylus for note taking and drawing. So why not, Apple? Bring over Apple Pencil support to the next-gen iPhone Plus smartphones.

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