4 Apple products and technologies running out of time

What is dead can never die, as the Iron would do Game of thrones are fond of saying. This week, Apple resurrected the MacBook Air and Mac mini during its event, proving that death is sometimes only a temporary state, at least as far as technology products are concerned.

But, just like this week's Apple event, it's also suggested to win; Some Apple products and technologies are in limbo after the week's ads, which means their writing may be on the wall.

Of course, not all of these products and technologies will die immediately – some may stay a long time, and some will not stay dead. (As Air and mini have shown, sometimes they hibernate.) But Apple is used to being brutal when it comes to cutting the dead weight of its range, even when it comes to killing things which she once considered cherished.

Touch bar none

The MacBook Air does not have a touch bar, but it Is have a Touch ID sensor. This is an interesting initiative, since Touch ID has been widely praised as the most popular and popular element of the touch bar on the MacBook Pro line.

Although the touch bar does not disappear immediately, I honestly think it was an evolutionary cul-de-sac for the company's laptops. Apple was keen to incorporate touch technology into its Mac line and was not doing so by incorporating a touch screen that would bring the line closer to the competition with the iPad. But the touch bar always seemed to be a deliberate half-measure, a gadget looking for a use case. This was hampered by the absence of any tactility, a particular challenge on Mac, where the user typically interacts with a control surface while looking at a separate screen.

Apple

Touch ID, on the other hand, is a technology that actually solves a number of problems (authentication, payment, third-party application connections) while remaining unobtrusive. I'll bet if you asked most MacBook Pro owners if they were exchanging their computer for a model with just Touch ID, they jump on the occasion. This certainly does not bode well for the future of the Touch Bar.

This is an ex-MacBook

Alas, poor MacBook. You have never really found your place. Many observers Apple (yours really) thought that the MacBook was the second coming of the MacBook Air: an expensive but thin and light machine that would eventually come out of its hull too expensive and too weak to become the mainstay of the range of computers Mac laptops.

Apple

But with the MacBook Air recently refreshed and offering many features that are missing –two Thunderbolt 3 ports compared to the MacBook's only USB-C port, Touch ID, a FaceTime 720p camera compared to the MacBook's 480p model – it's hard to imagine why no matter who would bother to increase the $ 100 premium for the 12-inch MacBook, unless we take into consideration the reduction in size and excessive weight.

Where does this leave the MacBook? Either he needs a big refresh and a new framing for his place in the training, or it's time to tell him a heart-rending goodbye. My money is on this one.

Lightning, hit?

It may seem ridiculous, since Lightning has long been a standard for Apple's iOS devices, but the move from iPad Pro to USB-C has certainly made me wonder if Apple's proprietary port was endangered.

Now, again, this is probably not imminent: many Apple devices use Lightning, including the $ 329 iPad, the Magic Trackpad, the Magic Keyboard, the Magic Mouse and the first-generation Apple pencil, for name a few. Oh, yes, and a small device called the iPhone. Frankly, there are still more iPhones in the world than any Apple device powered by USB-C. However, USB-C has several advantages over Lightning, such as the ability to manage powerful screens, like the new iPad Pro, and to serve as a charging accessory for your other devices. In the future, who knows? This could even allow other features, such as connecting mbad storage devices. (We can hope, at least.)

Michael DeAgonia / IDG

Still, Lightning's biggest advantage is that it's a huge adoption – there's an impressive array of Lightning-compatible devices and cables, and users will not want to leave. In addition, it is physically smaller than the USB-C, which could be important, given the interest of Apple for compact devices. Finally, its exclusive nature gives Apple full control, which it always appreciates and that allows it to earn money by conceding its parties who want to build compatible products.

But at the same time, it is clear that USB-C is the future. It is unlikely that the iPhone stays on the Lightning connector forever. And even though we all get used to the port, let's not forget that it was only six years ago that we moved at the Lightning connector, after surviving the riots that took place when Apple abandoned its 30-pin dock connector, then aged 11. But the 30-pin connector only worked for four years on the iPhone; the Lightning port will be blocked for at least seven hours, baduming that Apple will delete it as early as next year. It would be a good performance and give Apple the opportunity to argue that technology is not left behind. (For which it will probably take a little … courage.)

AirPower failure

Apple

Of course, some suggest that Apple ignores the USB-C on the iPad and adopts a fully port-free design. Perhaps, but in this case, it would be up to the company to have a complete ecosystem ready to support it, and one of the key missing elements is the AirPower Shipping Mat in 2018. With this week's event without any sign of the device, it is possible that it is completely scuttled. Again, there is still 2019.