Apple betting big on Vision Pro in 2024 with iPhone 16 Pro featuring 48 MP wide angle and ultra-wide sensors playing second fiddle

It's only been a few months since Apple launched the iPhone 15 and Apple Watch lineups this year, but rumors about the upcoming iPhone 16 have already started making the rounds. Known Apple insider Mark Gurman from Bloomberg has now shed some light on Apple's likely strategy for 2024.

Long-term strategy for the Vision Pro

Gurman notes that the Apple Vision Pro will be the one getting media spotlight in 2024. The company apparently plans to train its retail store staff in January and initial sales will likely be on a prior appointment basis.

The Apple Vision Pro's exorbitant $3,499 pricing will not probably see it flying off shelves anytime soon, at least not until Apple launches a more accessible version. However, Apple does see this as a category that will eventually gain traction as the technology matures.

Iterative iPhone 16 upgrade with 48 MP wide and ultra-wide for the iPhone 16 Pro

Since the past few generations, the iPhone has been more or less been just an incremental upgrade each year with no radical innovations to speak of. Perhaps, the most important of them all are the current iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro series that finally ditch the Lightning port and mark the shift to USB-C.

If you're sitting it out on the iPhone 15 series anticipating major changes with the iPhone 16, prepare to be disappointed as Apple is expected to once again offer just an iterative upgrade next year. According to Gurman, the Action button will percolate to the base iPhone 16 models while the Pros stand to get a new dedicated video button.

As reported earlier, the iPhone 16's camera module will likely be made amenable for spatial video. @Tech_Reve on X notes that the iPhone 16 Pro lineup will see 48 MP upgrades to both the main wide-angle and ultra-wide sensors, with the wide angle now moving to a 1.22 µm stacked design.

The iPhone 17 Pro will shift to a full 48 MP array including the telephoto lens, with the main camera using a 1/1.4-inch sensor with a 1.4 µm pixel size. The iPhone 17 lineup could also be the first to finally offer a 120 Hz LTPO display across the entire product stack and under-display Face ID in the Pro models.

New non-Pro AirPods, AirPods Max with hearing aid functionality

Apple's current $169 AirPods 3rd gen borrow some features from the $249 AirPods Pro 2nd gen such as personalized head tracking and added gesture controls, but customers feel they aren't compelling enough over the $129 2nd gen AirPods.

However, Gurman feels that Apple may offer two new improved 4th gen base AirPods with USB-C and redesigned cases, with the upper variant even offering active noise cancelation. 

Apple is also reportedly working on hearing aid functionality to AirPods via a software update.

The AirPods Max is also slated to add USB-C and new colors while the AirPods Pro will be seeing an update only in 2025 with purported body temperature and health tracking features.

Buy the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) on Amazon