If you're the type who likes a planned-out, ordered life, this week's reveal of an apparent Apple product road map listing potential device releases through 2027 must have been just what the doctor ordered. Even if you don't plot out your comings and goings based on whatever Tim Cook's planning on announcing at any given point in time, you at least have a better idea of what Apple product is coming when, so you can at least start saving up for whatever succeeds the Apple Vision Pro as the company's next big-ticket product release.
Of course, that assumes the leaked Apple product roadmap is legit, and judging by the source — Samsung Securities, a South Korean financial services firm affiliated with you know who — it comes across as a list of reasonably educated guesses. Financial firms like to know what's coming just like the rest of us, so presumably Samsung Securities put some effort into producing what it's hoping is a fairly accurate forecast.
As you might imagine, having a tentative schedule of Apple's product rollouts can be very useful for a fellow in my line of work if for no other reason than it helps me plan out when not to be vacation. But also, it's fun to talk about upcoming Apple products.
Of course, some products are more fun to talk about than others. With apologies to anyone looking forward to the OLED MacBook apparently coming our way in 2026, here are the five products listed on that Apple road map that pique my interest, counting down in reverse order to the most exciting.
5. Apple's low-end XR headset, 2026
"XR" means mixed realit, so what we're really talking about here is an entry-level version of the Apple Vision Pro aimed at people not ready to throw down $3,499 on a spatial computing headset. Rumors claim Apple's working to cut the cost by $2,000, so you'll only have to spend the equivalent of two iPhone Pro models instead of the current four.
Obviously, I'm interested in finding out just how much an Apple Vision Pro Lite — the Apple Vision Non-Pro? — might cost, but the bigger story to me is what features end up on the cutting room floor, either because Apple is looking to save money or because feedback from Vision Pro early adopters convinces the company to drop something from futre versions.
My colleague Mark Spoonauer has spent a month with the Vision Pro and thinks it's a really good product for passively consuming media, but less of a productivity-boosting device at this early stage. I'll be interested to see if Apple leans into that for the less expensive Apple Vision Pro or if it's stilly promoting the productivity angle by the time to lite edition of the headset is ready.
4. A triple 48MP camera array, 2025
If you've been following iPhone 16 rumors, you know that the iPhone 16 Pro is tipped to get the tetraprism telephoto lens Apple introduced to the iPhone 15 Pro Max last fall, meaning both upcoming Pro models will be capable of a 5x zoom. That's great, Apple, but what have you done for us lately? Well, more lately than later on this fall, but you get my point.
If the product roadmap is any indication, the 2025 iPhones will introduce a rear camera array made up entirely of 48MP sensors. That already described the main cameras on all four iPhone 15 models, but the iPhones also feature 12MP ultrawide lenses while the telephoto cameras on the Pro models are 12MP, too. Presumably those all become 48MP sensors in 2025 (assuming the iPhone 16 Pro doesn't already upgrade the ultrawide camera to 48MP this year).
It's safe to assume that triple 48MP camera forecast only applies to the iPhone 17 Pro models, as Apple tends to bestow the bigger upgrades to its Pro phones first. But given Apple's track record, those features eventually find their way to the regular iPhone. At any rate, expect Apple's grip on the best camera phone crown to continue for years to come.
3. AR glasses. 2027
I confess to being a headset skeptic, which is why the Apple Vision Pro has yet to really wow me. (That, and I'm still waiting to hear what essential purpose Apple's current headset fills.) But I'm much more intrigued by the prospect of mixed reality glasses that overlay information on top of the real world in front of you.
The best VR/AR demos I've ever taken in part have involved AR glasses in which instructions for repair projects appear in front of your eyes even as your hands are tied up making the repair. And anytime I go to a new city, I wish I could see overlays that point out things of interest as I look at what's around me — and not at my phone screen.
AR glasses allow both of those things, and presumably that's what Apple is aiming for with its long-rumored Apple Glasses project. Samsung Securities' road map says we'll see the fruits of those labors in 2027, with glasses that offer 1.4-inch RGD microOLED or microLED displays. I'm far less interested in the specs and more intrigued what these glasses are going to allow me to do. (And considering the cost of the Vision Pro, price is an area of intrigue as well.)
2. iPhone SE 4, 2025
What can I say? I'm a phone guy. And I'm a phone guy who's particularly interested in how Apple can fare in a more competitive midrange market that features formidable devices from Google, Samsung and OnePlus to name just a few.
We've already heard a lot about the iPhone SE 4, of course, and how it's likely to adopt the more modern look of the iPhone 11 when it finally does arrive. I'm already on the record wondering if that's too little, too late, but I'm willing to revise that opinion if the next iPhone happens to add support for a Night mode or maybe even a second camera lens. Even midrange phone owners may want to capture spatial video after all, and you need two rear cameras to do that.
1. Foldable iPhone, 2026
Everyone seems to agree that a foldable iPhone is coming. No one seems to agree on when that exactly will be, though we can apparently put Samsung Securities down in the 2026 column. An entirely different report from earlier this week tabbed early 2027 for the release of the iPhone Flip (or whatever Apple ultimately calls this device). Let's just say the expected launch date is in flux.
One thing I think everyone can agree on, though, is that it will be interesting to see how Apple's still-rumored device fits into the expanding world of foldable phones. It's not necessarily an insurmountable obstacle not to be first (or even second or third) to market — after all, Apple was hardly the first company to ever make a smartphone, and the iPhone ended up working out just fine.
Apple succeeded in that instance by making a smartphone better than anyone else. That may be too tall of an order for 2026, when everyone else will have had two more years to perfect their Galaxy Folds and OnePlus Opens. What I want to see Apple do is introduce a feature that makes foldable phones seem essential — that make us ask why anyone ever waited to pick up a foldable of their own.
That's what stands out to me from the Apple product road map at any rate. If there's another part of the forecasted product releases that strikes your fancy, let us know in the comments.
