2022: Technology Trends To Watch

This year was a good one for technology. We saw advances in both accessibility and performance driven by the changing shape of our post-pandemic world. The most obvious and journalistically observed of these advances encompasses tech which focussed on making the transition to working from home, either permanently or semi-permanently, more enjoyable and productive. But we also saw things like Apple’s new in-house silicon evolving, new devices from Amazon, Meta and Google for staying connected with loved ones and Samsung’s Galaxy-Z Flip folding-screen smartphone. What trends should we expect in 2022 however? Will we all be spending next Christmas in the metaverse?

It’s notoriously tricky to try and predict what might emerge in the field of technology. There are however some safe bets which, without too many exceptions, reliably deliver every year. We’ll almost certainly see new offerings across both Apple and Samsung’s line of portable devices. A new MacBook Air is rumored, as well as updates across the iPad range. For those in the Android camp, we’ll absolutely see new phones and tablets from Samsung, LG and Motorola. These are all set to be evolutions of current products rather than totally revolutionary devices, but that’s to be expected at this point in time. Speaking personally, I’m hopeful we see a replacement for the current iMac 27”, as Apple is yet to offer anything larger than their 24” with the new Apple’s-own processors inside.

Security will be another avenue which sees significant progress in 2022. The cost of cybercrime in 2021 is set to hit six trillion dollars by the end of the year. That’s double that of just as recent as 2015. AI and blockchain both allow developers to get smarter when it comes to authentication and encryption, the former for detecting patterns and containing outbreaks, while the latter allowing the leverage which a distributed ledger provides. Without centralized password stores, an attacker has a much more difficult time obtaining user credentials in any number, while distributed multi factor authentication makes it useless for them to even try.

Sustainability in technology is huge news at the moment. On whichever side of the climate change argument you find yourself, companies are being driven by new legislation to clean up their act when it comes to the environmental impact of the things they sell. One great outcome of this however is right to repair, which (in a nutshell) says that companies must make repairing and maintaining your current device easier. Fewer broken phones resulting in the need to buy a replacement is a great thing for everyone. An increase in the use of recycled materials should eventually result in falling costs, which means greater accessibility for things like laptops for schools and entry level smart devices.

While newer and shinier versions of our current tech will undoubtedly feature, one technology to watch which is still finding its feet is augmented reality, VR and the metaverse. Facebook’s rebranding is a pretty good sign that big things are to come from this next-generation iteration of the internet, although perhaps not as soon as next year. What we will see however is fresh hardware to pave the road toward the beginnings of how that might look. Gamers have been consumers of VR for years, it will be interesting to see how other uses of the technology unfold for 2022.

The thing to remember is none of these new advancements should be looked at as anything other than exciting. Next year will not be the one where we’re picking out chips to install in our brains and, honestly, if it turns out I’m wrong: I’m looking forward to choosing a different accent for my internal monologue.

Richard Noble is the founder of Want For Tech, an IT company based in Glasgow.