Technology is always growing and changing, and as it does, new hardware leads the way. From the first personal computers to the first iPhones, new hardware has consistently heralded new times in how we live our lives. And 2024 could see multiple such innovations enter the market.
Here are three of the biggest hardware stories we’re expecting to see in 2024.
Apple Vision Pro
It’s difficult to predict what the exact impact of Apple Vision Pro will be. Virtual reality and augmented reality, both of which will be features of the Apple Vision Pro, have long been called the next big things in technology. But despite those repeated predictions, no company has yet been able to push either VR or AR onto the masses in a way that would represent true market transformation.
Of course, Apple isn’t just another company. It’s one of the biggest businesses in the world, and it has attained that status by entering and dominating hardware markets. Whether it was the iPod in music-playing or the iPhone in smart phones, Apple has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to enter a hardware market and become the dominant player in that market.
VR and AR are different, however. While music-playing devices and smart phones were already becoming popular when Apple made its entries in those spaces, VR and AR are still largely unproven, at least on the scale Apple surely wants to succeed with its Vision Pro device and other similar pieces of hardware it may produce in the future.
So can Apple do what other companies have failed to achieve? Analysts are keen to find out in 2024.
Nintendo Switch 2
Every time Japanese video game company Nintendo releases a new piece of primary gaming hardware, it’s a major event. Not every release is successful; the GameCube and Wii U stand as examples of that. But devices such as the SNES and Nintendo Wii have come to define the video game industry, and Nintendo’s most recent release, the Switch, was also very successful.
A follow-up has long been rumored, though these rumors have been vague as to what the hardware would actually look like and when it might release. More recently, signs have pointed to a later Switch 2 release date.
Whenever the Switch 2 does release, there’s no doubting that it’s going to have a major impact. Nintendo needs its hardware releases to be successful in order to remain competitive with the technology giants it competes with in the space, such as Sony and Microsoft. A misstep could prove very costly to the company and could push it further towards third-party game publishing, something competitor Microsoft is rumored to be considering already.
Foldable tablets
Rather than one device from one manufacturer, here we will look at a broader hardware trend that is coming into focus in 2024: foldable tablets.
Foldable smartphones have already entered the market, and while they haven’t taken it over by any means, they have proven to have carried some market weight.
Tablets are the next frontier on foldable hardware. Given that tablets are naturally larger than smartphones, it makes perfect sense that foldable technology would be coming for tablets. But how much of a game-changer will it be? Will it make tablets that much more attractive to paying customers? That’s a question we’ll be looking to answer over the course of 2024.
