Gurman: What to expect from Apple in 2024 (other than new iPhones)

In his latest Power On newsletter at Bloomberg, Mark Gurman shares what he’s expecting from Apple in 2024. While the company will naturally launch the iPhone 16 lineup in the fall, Mark highlights that the company’s wearables will “take center stage.” Here are all the details.

Mark says that 2024 is going to “be about moving beyond the iPhone” for Apple. Notably, it’s been over 15 years that iPhone has remained the company’s main focus, so it’s a big change.

Vision Pro is set to launch in early 2024 – a whole new product category for Apple. Alongside the headset, Apple is expected to deliver a significant refresh with AirPods 4 and updated AirPods Max, and Mark says Apple Watch will be overhauled with “compelling health features.”

Mark highlights that while Wall Street is not expecting Vision Pro and the rest of the wearables products to offer a “big resurgence” for Apple’s fiscal year, this will be an important period as the company will have a totally new product and “technologies to promote.”

Vision Pro launch date

Last week, Mark shared that Apple is prepping for the Vision Pro launch by planning to train retail employees and that he’d expect the product to arrive “…before March — barring any unforeseen snags.”

In today’s newsletter, Mark says that with Apple ramping up Vision Pro experiences for media recently along with the internal testing and the retail training set for “mid-January,” he’s counting on a launch sometime between late January and February.

“Long story short: I absolutely expect a release between the end of January and sometime in February. This isn’t a repeat of the ‘early 2015’ Apple Watch that arrived at the end of April.”

Mark says that Apple still isn’t set on how to pitch the “key selling points for the headset, but does seem to believe it could become a big part of its financial story within a few years.”

Also, some inside Apple see Vision Pro as similar to Apple Watch where the first several generations weren’t dialed in, but “By the time the fourth model rolled around, the hardware was up to par and sales began humming.”

Major new Apple Watch health features

Mark says the current Apple Watch models aren’t that enticing for holiday shoppers with “a lack of compelling features” and no major changes from last year.

However, he says future health features coming to Apple’s wearables in 2024 “should have real marketing power.”

He expects both blood pressure measurements and sleep apnea detection to be game changers that will “sell a lot of devices.”

Meanwhile, at least one Apple Watch model is expected to get a “new look.”

AirPods 4

For the 2024 AirPods, Mark sees the new launches as having the ability to fix some trouble Apple has seen with AirPods 3. The middle-of-the-line model has not been a hit like previous AirPods and Mark thinks “That’s left consumers confused about which AirPods to buy, and Apple loses revenue each time they opt for the cheaper model.”

As he shared back in October, Mark highlights that AirPods 4 coming with two distinct models based on noise cancellation and Find My integration will help clear up confusion.

Another important launch coming in 2024 could be a hearing aid feature that works with AirPods. That could open the possibility for Apple to “upend a multibillion-dollar industry.”

And AirPods Max are finally set for an update in late 2024 that will include the switch to USB-C. He also says Apple is waiting until 2025 for the next generation of AirPods Pro.

What are you most excited to see from Apple in 2024? Share your thoughts in the comments!