10 Things Apple Will Do in 2013

The whole world is watching as Apple

closes the year with diminished gains,

and troubled investors who are abandoning the stock. Apple has lost more than 22 percent of its value over the last three months alone.

Regardless of these and

that are impacting the firm, Apple is still one of the most profitable companies in the world. How will Apple retain these profits? What, if anything, will the company do in 2013?

Apple is reportedly testing a concept for a

. The Wall Street Journal is behind the

, which is rather significant. That publication had previously reported on a series of tests that Apple conducted for a smaller iPad. Less than one year later, Apple announced and released the highly anticipated iPad Mini.

This one is a no-brainer. What you might not have expected, however, is that Apple would retain its current form factor when it revises the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in 2013. According to

, the design will remain the same.

It may not come out in March as some rumors suggest, but you can bet that Apple is developing a next-gen iPad Mini. If there is any single feature the company can use to ensure that at least

consumers upgrade, it is by far the

. (That or a better battery, but the Retina Display seems more likely.)

Now that the iPad Mini has been released, Apple is free to make a much harder push into the school system. Instead of charging $499 for an iPad 4 or $399 for an iPad 2, Apple can now offer schools an iPad for $329. This, along with discounts for schools and/or institutions that buy in bulk, could give Apple the strength to move ahead.

While Apple received a lot of praise for developing a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, the company left

when it released the 13-inch model. Expect Apple to remedy this with a superior machine in 2013.

Now that the Maps app is dead in the water (and could be for quite some time), Apple needs to dive back into its catalogue of successful programs. While Final Cut Pro was once successful, Apple decommissioned the software with a

that eliminated several key features and abolished the software's beloved user interface. Rather than fix Final Cut Pro (a program that only appealed to professional and aspiring filmmakers -- a market that Apple

), the Mac maker will instead turn to Siri. Contrary to Siri's critics, the voice-controlled assistant helped Apple achieve

for Apple. This is why Siri was featured in every commercial for the iPhone 4S. Now that Siri (which is still in "beta") has been out of the public eye for a while, it is only natural that Apple will want to use it to sell the next version of the iPhone -- if not other, unannounced products.

New

suggested that Apple would bring apps to its set-top box before Christmas. That did not turn out to be the case. However, the rumors were based on a beta version of the Apple TV's next software update. This indicates that the apps could still be coming.

Intel

created the Ultrabook trademark and accompanying processors to compete with the MacBook Air. It also built a series of smartphone processors to compete against the iPhone. When it came time to develop a smart watch, however, Intel turned to Apple for help. At least, that is what a

claims.

Not even a

could prevent the Mac Pro from going extinct, so don't expect to see a new one in 2013. The bad news does not stop there, unfortunately. Apple fans should not expect to see a Retina Display the next time Apple upgrades the iMac. As with 4K TVs, large Retina Displays are

.

If the iPad Mini has taught Apple anything, it is that consumers love it when their favorite devices get smaller. This goes against the

in smartphone design, which is aimed at making mobile devices as large as possible. Nonetheless, Apple's strategy is working

. Apple cannot release the rumored iPhone 6 or iPhone 5S in the winter or spring without cannibalizing sales of the current iPhone 5. In doing so, the company would also anger those who already upgraded. This could inspire consumers to wait several months or years before buying new iDevices because they fear that another, superior upgrade is right around the corner. Thus, the only thing Apple can do is release another type of iPhone -- one that will not hurt sales of the iPhone 5. This is where the iPhone Mini could be effective. The user-made

are fairly impressive. Instead of reducing the screen size (which Apple may not be able to do successfully), the body has been trimmed, giving users a device that is almost entirely made up of the display.