The biggest technology trends in 2025

Technology and innovation don’t just appear out of thin air. Even with the advent of artificial intelligence, which some might think will bring incredible, generative shortcuts, companies still have significant development cycles and build on internal signals as well as many others coming from the market and competition. Perhaps the biggest difference between technology cycles then and now is transparency; companies are developing products and services right before our eyes with open and public betas that allow us to be a part of the process.

So you probably don't need to be clairvoyant to know what's coming in the new year. If you've been paying even a little attention this year, most of what follows will probably elicit, "Oh, I knew it" or "That's what I thought."

The “explosion” of artificial intelligence

Pretty obvious, right? Regardless, we could see significant changes in the field of artificial intelligence in 2025. We expect more AI to be practically everywhere and, more importantly, people will have a better understanding of how the technology works for them as consumers or business users. In other words, we will wonder less about why this technology actually exists.

The reality is that consumers will not realize the full potential of AI until they understand exactly how to use it and what value it brings. In 2025, we expect it to become clearer how to use AI to achieve the desired results.

AI agents

2025 will be the year when AI agents make a major breakthrough. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, AI agents can analyze the environment and other interactions on your behalf and perform very specifically defined tasks. The Tech Radar website even predicts that the development of AI agents will be the biggest thing in the field of artificial intelligence in 2025."In the last three years, we have laid the foundation for an agent-driven world. Next year will see major leaps forward in this area, with AI agents becoming a part of all AI applications," they wrote at Tech Radar.

So it's about development and actual use in practice. The question is how many consumer applications will contain built-in AI agents and whether consumers will actually use them. If nothing else, we expect a broad boom in AI agents in the enterprise in the coming year.

Wearable AI, goodbye

We've seen a number of stand-alone AI-powered devices hit the market this year. Their collective failure proves that AI is a powerful addition to larger applications and products, but not effective as a standalone device.

ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and the rest work much better when they're built into our favorite mobile devices rather than having to be carried around separately. Wearable AI devices like Rabbit RS, Friends, and Plauds probably won't survive 2025, but their AI core will likely live on in the form of apps on our iPhones and Androids.

Chip War

The convergence of mobile and desktop chips will reach its peak in 2025, as the biggest players compete for the top spot in performance, energy efficiency, AI, and battery life. Intel is facing a period of uncertainty, and Nvidia could enter the desktop processor market. Still, Apple will continue to set the standard. Its 2020 M1 chip set a high bar that other companies with laptop (and to a lesser extent, desktop) chips have only begun to approach since then.

Qualcomm offered the best alternative to Apple's chip in 2024 with its X Elite line, but it's not yet clear whether systems using these chips have become a hit. What is clear is that Intel, Qualcomm, and Apple are finally giving laptop users what they want: performance and efficiency.

2025 will bring a major leap in battery life for Windows and macOS laptops, extending to nearly 30 hours. Each new chip will support increasingly larger local generative models. This marks a new era for mobile computing, but we can be sure that Apple will remain a leader in this field in 2025.

Windows is slowly losing

Microsoft's heavy focus on Copilot could lead us to wonder if 2025 will be the year the Redmond tech giant puts Windows on the back burner. It's possible that Microsoft will focus almost entirely on developing Copilot as the Windows platform continues its transformation into a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. Along the way, major upgrades become less important than compelling features like Copilot and Edge.

The Tech Radar website didn't show much enthusiasm at this point.[Microsoft] will continue to integrate AI into Windows, but Copilot will be their biggest focus for the next two years."

That’s right – in 2025 and 2026, unless something completely unexpected happens, the main marketing budgets will be dedicated to Copilot. For consumers, Copilot will be ubiquitous, although we’re not sure if they’ll embrace it with enthusiasm. Windows users are already expressing frustration with Copilot’s sudden presence in the taskbar and on new laptop keyboards. Microsoft needs to clearly communicate the benefits of Copilot to consumers, but it seems they haven’t been able to convincingly do so yet. 2025 is Microsoft’s opportunity.

AR glasses finally on consumer shelves

2025 is likely to be a watershed year for AR glasses, as they could hit the consumer market (likely in the second half of the year), and the competition for dominance will be fierce. After Tech Radar tested Meta Orion and Snap’s AR Spectacles, we believe the race in the AR market is accelerating faster than most expected. Meta is currently in the lead, but Snap has access to the same silicon and could catch up. The race will be tight, but we believe we will finally see at least one pair of AR glasses that will convince tech buyers to nod to wearable AR technology.

Apple could play a big role, but it first has to deal with the fate of its Vision Pro glasses. It seems like they can't survive without a more affordable version. Rumor has it that Apple is already working on it, but if it doesn't deliver, 2025 could be the year Apple starts to slowly phase out the Vision Pro (it won't be discontinued just yet, at least not anytime soon).

A major shift in social media

Bluesky will take the lead in 2025, competing with Threads for the title of “hottest” platform (although this does not necessarily mean the largest), while X will continue to hold the crown in terms of active users. However, those looking for a more positive tone and content on social networks will start to leave the platform. In general, it is noticeable that the charm of social networks has faded somewhat. Most platforms are introducing stricter controls, either due to government requirements or to avoid future regulation and change the way people communicate on networks.

Regarding the future of TikTok and a possible ban on its use in the US, it seems that TikTok could easily survive the beginning of the year, but a more serious decision around January 19 is becoming increasingly likely. Either way, Americans will use TikTok until someone stops them.

Tech Radar writers are largely in agreement about the future of social media: “We see X losing even more users in 2025, while Bluesky and Threads gain significant momentum. [X owner and Tesla CEO Elon] Musk will be too busy with other projects, causing X to continue to lose users and momentum.”

In 2025, Musk will be co-leading some kind of massive US government project that will try to extract a lot of money and personnel from the bureaucracy. That will certainly be a big enough disruption.

Electric vehicles

Electric and self-driving cars will face hurdles in 2025 as the industry adapts, while pioneer Tesla faces the consequences of failing to deliver an electric vehicle for under $30,000. Tesla also introduced one of the least reliable electric vehicles ever, the Cybertruck. Electric trucks and other cars are failing to meet the expectations of major automakers, while the new US administration will steer the market back toward a future with internal combustion engines.

Interest in foldable phones is growing

Foldable phones from Google, Samsung, Huawei, Oppo and others currently only account for 1.5% of the smartphone market. That may change next year.

A section of TechRadar writers predict that foldable phones will slowly grow to 3% of the market by 2025, but Apple will completely shake up the market when it announces a foldable iPhone. The device won't be available until 2026, but it will spark a new wave of interest in the category and wake up competitors.

On the other hand, we have writers who disagree with this idea and are not the most optimistic about Apple even making a foldable phone.

The article on the subject pointed out that the tablet market has the most room for innovation, so it wouldn't be surprising if Apple focused its foldable device research on tablets. It's hard to say for sure that Apple will never make a foldable device, but there are no clear signs that it will.

Tightening customs duties does not bring anything good

I expect tariffs to destabilize the tech industry. Companies will likely rush to find exemptions (the White House gates will become a merry-go-round as companies go to meet with President Trump), and consumer electronics prices will rise preemptively in early 2025. We should also prepare for shortages in key product categories as trade wars begin and supply chains become severely constrained. The free flow of, say, silicon, between other countries and the US could be reduced to a minimum.

This is a major aspect of how the tech industry will develop over the next year. If Trump imposes tariffs, all tech companies that make products in China will be hit. The purpose of the tariffs is to bring more manufacturing back to the U.S. That train left 15 years ago and will never return. Instead, new manufacturing will go to India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, and other regions where labor is cheaper. Companies like Apple have been trying to disperse manufacturing out of China for years, but little of that manufacturing has returned to the U.S. If the Trump administration focuses on tariffs against China (and some against Mexico and Canada), it will only accelerate the process as companies look for ways to reduce their exposure to China. Ultimately, American workers and consumers will not benefit in 2025. What 2026 will bring is even harder to predict.

Oh, and lots of robots

The humanoid robot revolution is upon us, and 2025 could see a real explosion in their capabilities and variants. So far, it seems we are not yet at the point where we can use our own robot right at home.