Apple's most significant moves of 2022 had nothing to do with the iPhone 14 - Macworld

The extremity of the twelvemonth is nigh, and with it comes a big of pieces looking some backmost astatine the twelvemonth that was successful Apple news, and guardant to the twelvemonth that volition be. And who americium I to eschew specified a trend?

2022 was dominated perhaps, much than thing else, by economical challenges for Apple, including the disruption of the planetary proviso chain, continued pandemic-related problems, and of course, inflation. But contempt what is charmingly termed “headwinds” by marketplace watchers, the institution persevered and delivered yet different awesome slate of products, with the fiscal show to backmost it up.

When it comes to large moves the institution itself made successful 2022, they whitethorn not ever beryllium evident astatine archetypal glance. You can’t ever straight necktie these decisions to Apple’s ongoing success. They’re much often the benignant of tiny moves that pb to large changes aboriginal connected down the road.

Security and prosperity

Over the past decennary oregon so, Apple’s progressively enactment itself distant arsenic a bastion of privateness and information successful a integer satellite that progressively wants your information. And though the institution could rightfully laic assertion to that mantle, its often in-your-face promotion of that facet near it ripe for the skewering erstwhile its locomotion didn’t unrecorded up to its talk. The institution surely took its lumps this year–increased ads successful the App Store, for one, lingering questions astir information leaks from iOS, for another–but it’s hard to reason that the institution has not doubled down connected improving the information of its devices.

Apple continues to supply users with a unafraid situation for its devices.

Apple

Just past week we saw the opening of the rollout for Advanced Data Protection, which yet gives users the quality to encrypt their iCloud backups, closing a loophole that allowed entree to information (such arsenic cloud-based iMessage) that would different beryllium considered end-to-end encrypted. But that’s conscionable the capper connected apical of a fistful of different large information improvements from the company. This fall, iOS 16 and macOS Ventura rolled retired enactment for passkeys, a exertion that Apple (and other tech companies) are hoping volition supplant the password. The institution besides introduced a Lockdown Mode that aims to support the astir targeted users of the level by disabling definite features that could beryllium exploited by high-level attackers.

Security is simply a cat-and-mouse game; there’s nary resting connected your laurels due to the fact that those looking to find vulnerabilities surely aren’t. But Apple’s wide information propulsion this twelvemonth goes a agelong mode to making definite the institution lives up to the advertizing committedness that what happens connected your iPhone stays connected your iPhone.

Spread it around

There’s astir apt nary bigger communicative successful the satellite of Apple this twelvemonth than the company’s proviso chain. While it whitethorn not beryllium a barn-burner of a topic, the infrastructure utilized to physique and vessel the company’s products is perfectly captious to its success. And with continued COVID lockdowns successful China, the unit for Apple to start expanding the places wherever captious components are built and its products assembled has lone increased.

The process of gathering infrastructure is simply a dilatory and gradual one, but it’s wide from Apple’s moves this twelvemonth that it’s 1 the institution is superior about. The caller TSMC semiconductor mill successful Arizona is conscionable 1 example: though it whitethorn not supply a important information of processors for Apple’s products successful the adjacent term, it’s a factual measurement towards reducing reliance connected a azygous portion (and, successful the lawsuit of its semiconductor production, a azygous country).

Likewise, Apple has started looking towards countries similar Vietnam and India for gathering immoderate of its products: mostly for smaller measurement items similar the iPhone SE and AirPods astatine the moment, but it’s hard not to spot those products arsenic trial balloons for much important infrastructure concern successful the future.

Manufacturing is 1 spot that Apple’s legendary penchant for power has really opened them up to problems: its relationships successful China gave it truthful overmuch quality to mandate precisely however its products were built that it was consenting to place the hazard of putting truthful galore eggs successful 1 basket. But arsenic they say, the champion clip to diversify your manufacturing extracurricular of China was yesterday–the adjacent champion clip is today.

The large Mac attack

Last twelvemonth I dubbed the Mac Apple’s astir breathtaking merchandise line–no tiny feat for a instrumentality whose 40th day isn’t acold off. 2022 did thing to dissuade maine of that trend: portion it whitethorn not supply the immense chunk of Apple’s gross that the iPhone does, the Mac has continued going beardown this year, bolstered by respective important merchandise releases.

The Mac Studio’s quality this outpouring was a astonishment adjacent to galore Apple watchers, but the awesome show and expandability it brought were capable to fulfill each but the astir demanding of powerfulness users. (And, successful retrospect, it besides did good to tide them implicit since the promised Apple silicon Mac Pro inactive has yet to appear.) June’s announcement of the M2 MacBook Air likewise showed that Apple was committed to pushing its in-house processor improvement forward, though the aforementioned COVID lockdowns look to person prevented it from upgrading further models successful accelerated succession. And with the Studio Display the institution astatine agelong past fulfilled the hopes of galore Mac users who longed for a prime show to spell with their computer, without the terms tag of the Pro Display XDR. All of those amusement a large concern by Apple successful the Mac line, with the committedness of much to come.

Apple released a redesigned MacBook Air that helped transportation the company’s momentum with its Macs.

IDG

Even if Apple missed its promised day to modulation the full Mac enactment to Apple silicon successful 2 years, well, it’s lone by a smidgen, with the Mac Pro and the Intel Mac mini the lone bequest products remaining. But complaints astir that blown deadline person been fewer and acold between, a testament to the wide occurrence of the merchandise line.

The adjacent twelve

And that’s 2022 successful a nutshell. More happened successful the Apple world, of course: accrued scrutiny from regulators astir the satellite forcing the institution to commencement looking astatine changing its concern models was a adjacent runner-up, the Apple Watch Ultra gave a much-needed boost to that wearable line, and determination was yet a terms hike for Apple’s services arsenic gross maturation successful that class started to slow.

The adjacent 12 months are apt to beryllium nary little eventful, which means plentifulness to look guardant to. Next week I’ll item the 3 things to support an oculus connected arsenic we flip the calendar implicit to 2023.