Apple doesn't enter a market until it can do something meaningfully different.
At a moment when the technology industry is asking what comes after the smartphone era, Apple finds itself navigating a leadership transition and an unusually crowded product horizon. John Ternus, inheriting the company from Tim Cook, is steering a roadmap that reaches into foldable screens, touchscreen laptops, AI-powered wearables, and smart home ecosystems — each one a bet on where human attention and daily life are heading. Apple has always arrived late to categories it would later define, and the question now is whether that same patient confidence can hold in a world of chip shortages, geopolitical instability, and an AI assistant that has yet to fully deliver on its promise.
- Apple's most anticipated product in years — a foldable iPhone Ultra priced above two thousand dollars — may not even ship alongside the standard iPhone 18 lineup, creating confusion about the company's premium strategy.
- The entire AI device ecosystem, from smart glasses to a camera-equipped pendant to sensor-laden AirPods, rests on a Siri overhaul that has already triggered a class action lawsuit and the resignation of Apple's AI chief.
- The Vision Pro's quiet abandonment signals that Apple is willing to cut losses on failed bets, but pivoting to display-free smart glasses means competing directly with Meta in a market where adoption is far from guaranteed.
- A touchscreen MacBook Ultra — nearly two decades after Microsoft normalized the concept — finally arrives, but its significance depends on whether Apple's software can justify the form factor rather than simply checking a box.
- Global chip shortages and the geopolitical fallout from ongoing conflict are compressing timelines and raising the real possibility that several of these products never reach consumers at all.
Apple has entered a new chapter. After fourteen years, Tim Cook stepped down as CEO, passing leadership to John Ternus, the hardware engineering executive who had already made his mark by launching the MacBook Neo — Apple's first budget laptop — and beginning to reframe the company's competitive posture against Windows machines. What Ternus builds next is now the central question in consumer technology.
The pipeline is ambitious to the point of being crowded. The foldable iPhone, long anticipated since Samsung demonstrated the form factor could work with the Galaxy Z Fold, will arrive as the iPhone Ultra — a short, wide design closer to the original Google Pixel Fold than Samsung's tall, narrow approach. The wider inner screen may prove better for video and reading, but the real challenge will be software. Samsung and its rivals have spent years making folding phones feel natural. Apple will need to match that fluency, or risk the device being written off as an expensive novelty.
Equally significant is the MacBook Ultra, Apple's first laptop with a touchscreen — a feature Microsoft normalized in 2012. The Ultra will use tandem OLED technology, M6 Pro and M6 Max chips built on TSMC's 2-nanometer process, a Dynamic Island in place of the traditional notch, and a built-in cellular modem. It will be thinner than current MacBook Pros, and the touchscreen alone gives Ternus room to justify a meaningful price increase.
The Vision Pro, despite its technical brilliance, found no audience at thirty-five hundred dollars and has apparently been shelved. In its place, Apple is developing display-free smart glasses for late 2026, built in-house rather than through a licensing partnership. They will handle photos, video, music, calls, and voice commands through an AI-enhanced Siri. The challenge is structural: people who don't need corrective lenses may never adopt them, no matter how seamlessly they integrate with the iPhone.
Apple is also preparing a smart home hub ecosystem — two seven-inch square devices running a custom OS, one wall-mounted and one with a swiveling base reminiscent of the iMac G4, both equipped with Face ID to personalize the display based on who approaches. This product was originally planned for 2025 but has been delayed by the same Siri overhaul that underpins nearly every AI initiative on the roadmap — an overhaul that has already cost Apple its AI chief and drawn legal scrutiny.
Beyond the glasses, Apple is exploring a camera-equipped pendant and AirPods with embedded sensors, though it seems unlikely all three AI wearables will launch. None of these products have been officially confirmed, and in a market shaped by chip shortages and geopolitical instability, the distance between ambition and announcement has rarely felt wider.
Apple has turned a corner. In 2026, Tim Cook stepped away from the CEO role he held for fourteen years, handing the company to John Ternus, the hardware engineering executive who has spent recent years reshaping how the company thinks about its products. Ternus made his debut on the big stage last year when he introduced the MacBook Neo, Apple's first budget laptop, which has already begun to reshape the competitive landscape against Windows machines. As Cook departed, he spoke openly about his regrets. Now the question hanging over the company is what Ternus will build next.
The pipeline is crowded. Some products have been in development for years—the foldable iPhone, for instance, has been anticipated since Samsung proved the form factor could work with the Galaxy Z Fold back in 2019. Others arrived with less warning. A touchscreen MacBook, positioned above the Pro line as the MacBook Ultra, emerged from leaks only recently. Then there are the AI devices: smart glasses without displays, a pendant with cameras and microphones, AirPods embedded with sensors. These last ones carry real risk. They depend entirely on a revamped version of Siri that Apple has struggled to deliver, and the company's AI ambitions have already drawn a class action lawsuit and prompted the resignation of its AI chief, John Giannandrea.
The foldable iPhone is the crown jewel. It will arrive as the iPhone Ultra, positioned at the premium end of the lineup, though oddly it may not ship as part of the iPhone 18 family. Apple has a track record of entering markets late—the iPod was not the first MP3 player, and the iPhone came years after BlackBerry and Palm had already established themselves. But when Apple arrives, it tends to reshape the category. The foldable will be short and wide, more like the original Google Pixel Fold than the tall, narrow design Samsung favors. This means the inner screen will be wider, potentially better for watching video or reading. The price will likely exceed two thousand dollars. What will matter most is software. Samsung and others have built features specifically designed to make folding phones feel natural. Apple will need to do the same, or risk the device being dismissed as a luxury gimmick.
The MacBook Ultra represents something almost as significant: Apple's first laptop with a touchscreen. This seems overdue. Microsoft built Windows 8 around touchscreen support in 2012. Apple has had capacitive touchscreens since the original iPhone. Yet it took nearly two decades for the company to add one to a Mac. The Ultra will reportedly use an OLED panel—the same tandem OLED technology found in the iPad Pro. Under the hood will be the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, built on TSMC's 2-nanometer process. The design will be thinner than current MacBook Pros. It will have a Dynamic Island, the same pill-shaped notch that appears on iPhones, replacing the traditional notch. And it will include a cellular modem, either Apple's custom C1X or a successor. The touchscreen alone gives Ternus justification for a significant price increase.
Apple's attempt at spatial computing, the Vision Pro, failed. The headset was technically impressive—reviewers called it one of the best computers you could strap to your face—but at just under thirty-five hundred dollars with no killer applications, it never found an audience. Even an updated M5 version could not save it. In late April, Apple appears to have abandoned the project. But the company is not leaving the face-worn market. Instead, it is building smart glasses without a display, similar to the Meta Ray-Bans. These will launch in late 2026 and ship in 2027. They will capture photos and video, play music, handle calls, and respond to voice commands through the new AI-enhanced Siri. Unlike Meta's partnership with Essilor Luxottica, Apple plans to build the glasses in-house. The bet is that tight integration with the iPhone and a competitive price will make them as ubiquitous as AirPods or the Apple Watch. But there is a built-in limit: people who do not need glasses to see clearly may never adopt them, no matter how clever the technology.
Apple is also preparing a new smart home hub ecosystem. Two devices, both with a seven-inch square tablet design, will run a custom operating system built specifically for home control. One will mount on a wall. The other will sit on a table with an adjustable hemispheric base—reminiscent of the iMac G4—that can swivel to face users and includes a speaker for music. Both will have Face ID hardware, allowing the display to change based on who approaches. This product was originally planned for 2025 but has been delayed. The reason: Apple's struggles to finish the Siri overhaul that these devices depend on.
Beyond these, Apple is exploring three more AI-powered wearables, all display-free. A pendant with cameras and microphones, styled after the Humane AI Pin, though tethered to the iPhone rather than standalone. A pair of AirPods with embedded cameras, an idea Razer has experimented with but never shipped. And the smart glasses themselves, which also have cameras and microphones. It seems unlikely all three will launch. But if Apple wants to weave AI deeper into daily life, offering consumers a choice of form factors might be the smarter play.
None of these products have been officially announced. The global market remains volatile—chip shortages driven by AI demand, an energy crisis from the American-Israeli war with Iran. Delays and cancellations are more likely than ever. The real test will come when Ternus and his team decide which of these ambitious ideas actually make it to market, and which ones remain in the realm of what might have been.
Citas Notables
Apple has a track record of entering markets late but reshaping the category when it arrives— Industry analysis in the report
The Vision Pro was technically impressive but at $3,500 with no killer applications, it never found an audience— Assessment of Apple's spatial computing failure
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does it matter that Ternus is now running Apple instead of Cook?
Cook was a supply chain genius who optimized what Apple already did. Ternus is a hardware engineer. He thinks about form and function differently. The MacBook Neo—a budget laptop—that's not something Cook would have greenlit. It signals that Ternus is willing to compete in categories Apple used to ignore.
The foldable iPhone sounds inevitable. Why did it take so long?
Apple doesn't enter a market until it believes it can do something meaningfully different. Samsung proved foldables work in 2019. Apple spent six years studying how to make one that justifies its price. The wide, short design they're planning is genuinely different from what Samsung does. But at over two thousand dollars, it has to feel like more than a novelty.
What's the real story with the AI products?
Apple is in trouble with AI. The Siri overhaul has stalled. Their AI chief left. They're being sued. So now they're betting that putting cameras and microphones on glasses, pendants, and earbuds will somehow unlock new applications. It's a Hail Mary. They're hoping the form factor matters more than the underlying intelligence.
Do you think all three of those wearables will actually ship?
No. The pendant is the weakest—Humane already proved nobody wants a standalone AI pin. The glasses make sense as an iPhone accessory. The AirPods with cameras feel gimmicky. I'd guess Apple launches the glasses and quietly kills the other two.
What about the smart home hub?
That's the most interesting product nobody's talking about. A tablet that knows who's looking at it, that can swivel to face you, that runs custom software for your home. If the Siri overhaul actually works, this could be genuinely useful. But that's a big if.
Is Ternus in over his head?
Not yet. But he's inheriting a company where the AI strategy is broken, the Vision Pro failed, and half these products depend on fixing something Apple has already struggled with for years. He's got the hardware chops. The question is whether he can also lead the software and AI side.