THE CORE OF INNOVATION: APPLE'S VISIONARY LEAP INTO THE FUTURE

This is the 21st century, the domain of technology, where digital reality defines the very limits of the possible. Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022 is coming soon and with it, a new Apple revolution. With the iPhone, computer, watch, glasses and car, Apple has always and will continue to reinvent digital life. The next re-invention lies ahead. From the organisation of the system to the body itself, Apple is about to transform digital life yet again. What will AI mean for APPLE’s product ecosystem? For example, when the computer is able to create written words and images, will it be able to create music, too? And what about the body itself?

A SYMPHONY OF AI AND USER EXPERIENCE

ELEVATING SIRI: A GLANCE INTO AI-ENHANCED INTERACTIONS

Apple’s revelations at its WWDC conference – which included plans to give Siri AI-infused powers to control apps more intuitively – signal a step forward in the evolution of its virtual assistant by tapping AI to help refine its user experience, and then improve on it. Apple’s push to embed AI more meaningfully in its ecosystem, and its understanding that revenue growth is dimming, point to the need to keep its devices as the ‘smartest’ on the market.

REDEFINING ACCESSIBILITY: THE SETTINGS AND SYSTEM APPS OVERHAUL

Over at his Bloomberg Power On Newsletter, Mark Gurman leaked plans for a ‘cleaner’ UI for Settings on iOS and macOS, which will apparently be an overhaul of the interface that will make everything easier to find and search-friendly. Resizing buttons for easier touch with all digits on all screens.

THE CONTROL CENTER REVOLUTION: A NEW BEAT IN USER INTERACTION

The company’s fidelity to innovation is also evident in Control Center, where anticipated upgrades include a music widget and better remote control of smart home appliances. In these small but practical aspects, the iPhone X points the way to how the phone of the future might change our daily life. Instead of keeping smartphones as compact hands-on tools for multimedia consumption, they are going to become increasingly mutable and integrated with the smart home and a more automated everyday life.

A FRESH TAKE ON COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES AND MAIL

Lurking somewhere within all the updates is a change to two of Apple’s core communications apps – Messages and Mail. Details are scant, but Apple is likely to reinvent these most important digital communications. It will help to bring about a change in the way people approach the digital world that is delightfully Apple-like.

BEYOND THE SURFACE: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE USER

These usability enhancements are far more than just ‘skin-deep’ redesigns: they spell out a world view that is far more natural and intelligent than the present one. In shifting the emphasis to user experience, Apple is trying to not just improve the functionality of its software but to change the nature of engagement with our devices. This is the company’s mission, and if we can imagine it, who’s to say that we may not see it one day?

THE APPLE PHILOSOPHY: A DEEPER INSIGHT

From the very beginning, Apple’s story has always been to move the product forward, and the company has consistently pushed at the edges of what is possible as a result of its appetite for innovation. At its heart, Apple’s philosophy is to create devices that are used to augment life and make it simpler, not overly complicated. This manifests itself in the attention to detail within the hardware and software, and the constant striving to refine what it does. Explosions in the procurement of several hundred thousand devices are expected this summer with an Apple WWDC that is promising life-changing smart devices.

EXPLORING THE ESSENCE OF APPLE

Fundamentally, rather than being a tech company, Apple is a laboratory for innovation, a pioneer of dramatic change for the digital age, redefining what technology is meant to do for you at every product announcement and software update. Hopefully, the proposed revisions to Siri, the Settings and System apps, the Control Center, Messages, and Mail will be the next of these milestones, building an ecosystem not just for the technologically elite, but a beautiful, intuitive system for the masses.

By designing a computer that refuses to be dominated by AI, Apple is not merely reflecting a technological trend. It is setting it. Just as Microsoft is getting out of search to stay focused on search, Apple is getting into some AI in a way that reinforces Steve Jobs’s new vision of a world where technology enhances personal growth. That’s why he bypassed Apple’s usual designer, Jonathan Ive, and recruited Hartmut Esslinger, a former design director from Apple, to give it a ‘soul’.

We’ll have to wait for the full picture to emerge next week at WWDC. But whether it has a name or not, it’s abundantly clear that Apple will soon transform how we all use our devices. The question isn’t so much what those devices can do, but what they can do for us. Apple is figuring out how to make technology good.

Apple’s vision of a future of digital enhancements comes to the fore here. It’s a vision of technology as transformative, technology as elevating, technology as celebratory. From the digital replacement of flesh and blood to the technology that could define us all as haptic individuals, the future of innovation (as far as Apple is concerned) is bright, and it looks a lot like Apple.