I’ve been looking at all the products and announcements Apple has made in 2023 and have been thinking for a while about what the overall trend was. What did Apple focus on? What did they not focus on? What is the direction Apple is being steered in? After sitting with these questions, I think I found an answer.

2023 was bookended with announcements to the Mac product line. January brought us the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. These chips powered new MacBook Pros and a new Mac mini. Oddly enough the year ended with M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max in the same MacBook Pros. Even in the middle year we got an updated Mac Studio and Mac Pro with M2 Ultra chip. macOS Sonoma is one of the nicest upgrades the Mac has gotten in a while too. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not revolutionary, but the features and improvements it does bring are very nice and utilize the neural engine inside Apples custom silicon well. The state of the Mac product line overall is very, very good. There’s one or two products or product configurations that I raise an eyebrow at, but nothing stands out as outright bad in the current lineup. I’d entertain the argument that 2023 was the biggest year for the Mac since 2020.

On the other end of the spectrum, the iPad got absolutely nothing in 2023. This is the first year in a very long time (maybe ever) that no new iPad was released. In fairness, the iPad did get a few bones thrown at it. The most noteworthy iPad news from 2023 is that Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro came to iPad (which Final Cut users did not particularly enjoy), and Apple created a new Apple Pencil that supports USB-C to replace neither of the previous Apple Pencil models and rather sit alongside them. So in an already convoluted iPad hardware lineup and a convoluted accessory lineup, Apple just further fuels the fire with this new product. The only way this new Apple Pencil would make sense is if Apple cleaned up the iPad lineup. But they didn’t. And don’t get me started on the state of iPadOS. We are 4 years removed from Apple giving the iPad it’s own dedicated OS that is supposed to combine the best of iOS and macOS and it continues to feel like a grab bag of iOS features from the previous year. iPad sales continue to drop as well due to the high prices of most iPad models, the lack of compelling software, and expensive accessories. By far, this was the worst year ever for iPad.

I’d say the iPhone had a good year overall. Much, much better than last year. iPhone 15 and 15 Plus feel like much more complete products than the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus last year did. And the same goes for the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max as well. The new titanium frame makes these devices much lighter and addresses the fingerprinting complaint people have had for years on the stainless steel models. The A17 Pro chip is also a big improvement over last years A16 chip, especially in the graphics department. Indeed, it feels like Apple is both starting to find a stride with their chip design and a wall with what TSMC is able to manufacture for them. The A17 Pro (and M3 as it uses the same IP) are built on a 3nm design that has yet to be refined. There were multiple complaints at launch of iPhone 15 Pros overheating and there has been some growing concern over what the M3 could mean when it inevitably hits products without a fan like iPad Pro and the MacBook Air.

Apple Watch had a modest year. The Series 9 came out with some nice, if immature, improvements. These all migrated over to the Ultra 2 as well. No changes to the SE this year, but I’m sure we’ll see a new SE in 2024. Despite the modest year in terms of hardware, software was a totally different story. watchOS 10 brought a complete overhaul to the Apple Watches software and it truly does feel new and exciting.

Apples services had a somewhat quite year as well. Apple TV+ continues to grow in popularity despite launching less content in 2023 than 2022. Apple added new storage tiers to iCloud+ as well for the first time in a long while. Apple Fitness+ also got new features like being able to set a workout routine. Apple Podcasts can now let you access third party subscription content by linking it to those apps. Perhaps biggest of all was the launch of Apple Pay Later (Apples take on BNPL) and Apple Card Savings Accounts (a HYSA for Apple Card holders). It wasn’t all good new though. Virtually all of Apples services got some kind of price hike and we did bid farewell to one; the Apple Music Voice Plan.

But by far the biggest announcement of 2023 was Apple Vision Pro. Apples next big product since Apple Watch. And the first since the iPad to not be an iPhone accessory. I did a full breakdown of the announcement here if you want to check it out. While the product won’t launch until 2024, it does to me signal a recommitment to wearable technology. Apple has some of the best wearable technology in the world like Watch and AirPods, and Vision Pro looks to be an ambitious addition to that category.

Overall, when I look at 2023 and consider what direction Apple is going in, I think there are two trends. The first is that Apple isn’t just a technology company, they are a processor company. This isn’t new, Apple has been pushing the limitations of the ARM instruction set and their own custom chip designs for years, but 2023 feels like the year where they are advancing as fast if not faster than foundries can keep up. The second is that Apple is rapidly moving us toward the post-PC era. An era of computing that is defined by powerful processors that are both mobile and isn’t limited by a screen. One that is wearable and yet still personal. Devices like Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro are likely to play a big role in this next era. Apples investments in Vision Pro now and over the past decade with Watch give them a leg up over the competition.

2023 was overall a great year for Apple and I can’t wait to see what 2024 brings!