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With Christmas just a few days away, many companies are winding down operations, already preparing for the start of 2025.
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This year has been full of groundbreaking developments, with key technology advances and changes in the regulatory landscape that stand to impact the sector significantly. Investors and consumers alike are focused on the changes that 2025 will bring as companies gear up to continue taking steps toward cornering booming new tech markets.
Before the new year kicks off, though, we should look back at the past year and recall the tech events that shaped 2024. Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names achieved significant milestones, and others announced advancements that are likely to set them up for growth in the years ahead.
But what were the most important tech stories of 2024? Here are five announcements that are likely to continue shaping the industry in 2025.
The top tech stories of 2024
February 2024 - Apple rolls out the first vision-pro headset.
After first announcing plans for its new mixed reality headset in 2023, Apple (AAPL) unveiled its highly anticipated new device in February 2024. This marked its entry into the fast-growing augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) markets, two fast-growing tech facets. “After two weeks with it, I[] find it to be as intuitive, if not more so, than the iPhone, iPad, or Mac,” a reviewer for TheStreet reported.
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The Apple Vision Pro is often associated with entertainment, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in gaming through the VR platform. However, its spatial computing technology helps it function as a key productivity tool, as it allows anyone to multitask by interacting with multiple apps at the same time.
March 2024 - Nvidia unveils the NVIDIA Blackwell platform
Nvidia (NVDA) has enjoyed a year of significant growth, partially driven by a key announcement made early in 2024. On March 18, the artificial intelligence (AI) leader unveiled its new Blackwell platform.
While commonly associated with Nvidia’s popular AI chips, Blackwell is much more. TheStreet’s Martin Baccardax described it as a ”series of new chips and software products that look likely to tighten its grip on the $1 trillion market for AI technologies.”
Demand for Blackwell’s chips would help Nvidia briefly become the world’s most valuable company in June 2024, pushing its market cap past $3 trillion.
July 2024 - Donald Trump praises crypto at Bitcoin 2024 conference
2024 has also been an excellent year for crypto markets, with Bitcoin prices reaching new highs. The rally began when Donald Trump, once a vocal critic of Bitcoin, appeared at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, praising Bitcoin and highlighting its importance.