By Jim Lundy
(Aragon Research) – At yesterday’s Aragon Research Community meeting, the Aragon analysts and I discussed what Apple is doing with its current products and what might be in store for the future. One of the major topics of interest was what Apple is doing with AI—or what it’s not doing.
And with WWDC17 coming up, we also discussed the possible new features and technologies for the Apple Speakers, 10.5 inch iPad Pro, and iPhone 8. But the main thought on my mind during our discussion was what powers it all, and that’s the Apple Operating Systems—iOS 11 and MacOS. That’s why I’m putting forth three predictions of what to expect in iOS 11, which is going to be the powerhouse behind Apple’s new products that will arrive over the next five months.
iOS 11: What’s Next?
At Google I/O, Google focused on app building and security for Android. Now that WWDC is around the corner (starting on Monday June 5th and ending on Friday June 9th, 2017), the question is: what’s Apple going to focus on, and what’s in store for iOS 11? It’s clear that some people feel that Apple isn’t innovating as much as it used to, or maybe it’s just doing it at a slower pace. Either way, iOS 11 needs to improve on a very solid iOS 10 to serve as the foundation for the new products that Apple will deliver later this year.
Prediction 1: Better Siri, Powered by AI
While Apple is behind in AI, it has been playing catch up over the last nine months by purchasing two AI firms. In August 2016, Apple bought Seattle based Turi for $200 Million, and last month, it bought Menlo Park based Lattice for $200 Million. For a successful launch of the Apple Speaker, Siri needs major improvements to compete more broadly with Google. Apple should also consider porting Siri to Android, but it probably won’t.
Apple cannot miss this opportunity to improve Siri—our take is that this is a must do.
(I will note that Siri on the Apple TV is pretty solid.)
Prediction 2: New File System for iPads and iPhones
Apple wants the iPad to be your primary work device; however, for a long time it was a single-app-at-a-time device, which doesn’t work so well for knowledge workers. Now, you can have more than one window open at a time, which is a big improvement. The next move for Apple will be to improve the file system and make it more visible to users. In fact, in iOS 10.3, Apple did update the core File System. We expect iOS 11 to be able to show that off.
Prediction 3: Universal Drag and Drop
While copy and paste is pretty universal in iOS, implementing Drag and Drop is essential. This may seem like it’s not that big of a deal at first glance, but it quickly becomes an obstacle to productivity while using an iPad for work all day long. It’s a feature that iOS definitely needs.
We think Apple will announce Drag and Drop during WWDC17. Along with File Management, this will make iOS exponentially closer toward becoming a full Tablet OS.
Bottom Line
There are lots of other announcements, to be sure, coming at WWDC17, the least of which will be updated MacBooks and MacBook Pros. We will be monitoring the event and will be live on Twitter, sharing our insights at @aragonresearch1. Developing…