Don't expect Apple Pencil support on the new iPhone, and don't be surprised if 3D Touch gets axed next year, at least according to the latest analyst predictions of upcoming hardware changes. The 2018 iPhone range is widely expected to debut in September, complete with notched-displays across the range, but exactly which features will be borrowed from elsewhere in Apple's line-up is unclear.
The Apple Car rumor has reignited, with analyst predictions that the Cupertino company will look to four wheels and complex technology for its next iPhone-scale success. Speculation that Apple is considering wading into transportation has been a regular topic of discussion in recent years, as investors and fans alike try to guess what the $1 trillion company might do next.
There's an easy way for the Google Assistant to overshadow Amazon's Alexa, one analyst has suggested: simply give every home in America a free Google Home Mini. The coast-to-coast giveaway might cost Google a pretty penny to achieve, or so the idea goes, but it could more than make up for it with search profits.
Google Home has overtaken Amazon's Echo in smart speaker shipments for the first time, it's claimed, with the Google Assistant edging out Alexa in sales. Although there have been several contenders in the smart speaker wars, two rival platforms currently lead the market.
Elon Musk has admitted it was "foolish" to ignore analyst questions on Tesla's financial results call this week, though insists he had good reason to shut down the "boneheaded" comments. The outspoken CEO managed to overshadow Tesla's financial results this week, when he berated analysts for asking uninteresting questions during the Q&A session.
The pessimism around Apple HomePod continues to mount, with suggestions that the smart speaker could only sell a small fraction of the total amount predicted for 2018. The Siri-powered speaker launched earlier this year to no shortage of fanfare from Apple, promising the slickest way to consume Apple Music as well as smart home and iPhone integration.
Elon Musk's big April Fools' Day joke was that Tesla was going bankrupt, but the chief exec may be struggling to find the funny side today amid stock price slumps and criticism from numerous angles. The automaker is under the magnifying glass again this week over just how many of its more affordable Model 3 electric sedans it managed to pump off the production line as Q1 2018 came to a close.
Apple is aiming to pivot its AirPods success into a set of Apple-branded over-the-ear headphones, reports suggest, effectively competing with its own Beats range. The AirPods, Apple's Bluetooth earphones which do away with wires between the two earpieces completely, have been a stand-out win for the Cupertino firm, and are still in high demand even a year after they first went on sale.
Samsung will keep its pole position in the global smartphone market in 2018, but faces a shrink in sales while Apple picks up pace, according to new phone stats. The South Korean company is expected to produce around 300 million handsets in 2018, a number that may sound huge but is actually down 5-percent compared to 2017. Meanwhile, there's an unexpected resurgence predicted for an old player in the industry.
The Android versus iOS war may often be phrased in terms of Pixel vs iPhone, but new sales stats for Google's Pixel suggest there's a long way to go before Apple needs to be worried. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL launched last year to no shortage of enthusiasm from Android fans, replacing handsets that had been equally lauded by vocal users.
Apple's ongoing spat with Qualcomm will have a big impact on the modem-maker's fortunes this year, with suggestions that every 2018 iPhone will jump ship to use Intel hardware instead. It's the latest installment of a long-lasting legal and contractual argument between the Cupertino company and what has been one of the most significant chipset providers for its smartphones. That battle culminated in a huge $1.2bn fine leveled at Qualcomm by the European Commission in January.
Apple may not have the resources to add wireless charging to the iPhone SE 2, with analysts casting doubts on reports of the smallest iPhone getting a big upgrade in 2018. Released in early 2016, the iPhone SE was Apple's compromise for critics of big-screen smartphones. It proved to be surprisingly successful.