Apple announced plenty of new products at yesterday’s big event: the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, a newly developed Apple TV, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro and — to go with that behemoth of an iPad — the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard.
The latter, that Smart Keyboard, may have come as a surprise to some, but, to one cartoonist, it was all too predictable.
Joel Watson, creator of Hijinks Ensue and Sharksplode, saw this coming three years ago.
Watson satirised the rise of Apple and the fall of Microsoft, suggesting that Microsoft’s (relative) failures would one day be Apple’s successes.
The comic plays on the rollout of the Microsoft Surface – which, in its first generation incarnation, shipped with a kickstand and a keyboard cover – suggesting that unenthusiastic reviewers and commentators would have a different reaction when Apple unveiled the exact same product at WWDC in 2015.
Almost eerily close to the mark. Less prescient than observant, though.
According to Engadget, Watson said at the time that the comic was inspired by Apple’s development strategy – the company may not always be original, but its products will always be that little bit more evolved, that little bit more refined.
The Smart Keyboard, announced at yesterday’s event in San Francisco, attaches to the iPad simply, clicking into place magnetically with the new Smart Connector, which recognises automatically when a keyboard is attached.
The Smart Keyboard is also a screen cover, replicating previous cover designs by allowing users to wrap it around the back of the iPad Pro and, as triangular hinging is still in-built, use it as a prop.
You have to wonder, what other future Apple products have already been predicted?
Main image via Shutterstock
