I have signed an NDA with GoPro that prevents me from revealing any “insider” details about upcoming hardware or software releases. However since I like to keep my readers informed, I can reveal information based upon “White Paper” sources and information made public (accidental or not) by GoPro staff and leadership.
***END OF DISCLAIMER***
The signs from GoPro regarding their upcoming “possible” design changes are coming fast and furious now. GoPro have been pushing the sales of all camera accessories for quite some time now. What’s interesting though is that traditionally GoPro did not allow you to combine offers, however this time around not only are they slashing prices, but they are allowing subscribers to use an additional 10% discount on top of their usual subscriber discount.
What’s even more interesting is that these sale prices aren’t just confined to a few select accessories, they also include the Hero 9/10 Media Mod, the Hero 9/10 Max Lens Mod and even the Enduro Batteries. As I’ve said before, this all points to GoPro trying to reduce inventory of these items as fast as possible and this all points to one things. The GoPro Hero 11 having a much different form factor that makes it incompatible with any previous accessories. Since no one would be happy if the Hero 11 got any bigger, it can only go smaller while changing it’s form slightly (so from a square shape to a rectangular shape)
Possible Hero 11 design.
However if you’re thinking that the GoPro Hero 11 will be released in September, you may be a bit disappointed. With such a major redesign of the camera, this is going to require additional hardware testing and software compatibility and all of this takes time. Don’t forget, with the introduction of the GP2 processor (going from 32bit to 64bit architecture) GoPro most likely don’t want to port 32bit software to run on such a processor. This would not only be a wasted opportunity to take advantage of newer hardware, but it would also under use such a powerful new processor.
So what does that mean for us, the end user? Well it brings up a couple points which may not make some people happy.
1: The camera likely won’t be released in September. Nick Woodman himself said during the earnings call that their “flagship camera” wouldn’t be released until the 4th quarter. So this puts the time frame in October for a release. GoPro will want the release day sales spike and another spike in December as people purchase this items for “Christmas”. Any later than October and people may just put off purchasing the camera and figure on waiting until “Christmas” to purchase in the hopes that there will also be a “Christmas” sale/discount.
2: A delayed release is never a good sign. Traditionally GoPro cameras have been released in September, the Hero 9 was an exception as it was being designed, built, produced and tested during the the Covid shutdowns when people were still trying to figure out how to effectively work from home. So not only was this camera delayed until October, when it was released, it also had a myriad of issues. GPS was non functional, the rear screen was terrible and laggy, the camera had constant disconnection issues from the app (and still does), there was a yellowish tinge to all footage even in the flat color profile (and that still is an issue) and there was the audio cackling/popping issue when recording (that’s never been fixed). In short, the Hero 9 was a bit of a disaster. So the Hero 11 having a major redesign and a delayed release…… not exactly building my confidence here.
3: Then there’s the “Odd number” curse. GoPro shake things up with every odd number camera. They make design changes, hardware changes, and try to “improve” things…. and that usually comes back to bite the consumer where it hurts.
The Hero 3 could record in 4K! (but only at an unusable 15 frames a second).
The Hero 4 fixed that.
The Hero 5 introduced stabilization but used older hardware so it wasn’t great.
The Hero 6 had better stabilization and introduced the GP1 chip. It even took great low light photo’s. So it fixed the Hero 5 issues.
The Hero 7 introduced “Hypersmooth” but used an overclocked GP1 chip had issues with the stability buffer resulting in Jittery footage, like frames were stuck in the buffer and re sequenced incorrectly.
The Hero 8 fixed that issue with Hypersmooth 2.0 (but introduced a brand new issue with a non replaceable front lens.
The Hero 9 had GPS issues, Audio issues, image issues and connectivity issues
The Hero 10 fixed all of the above and gave a slight resolution boost (and introduced the GP2 processor)
So now comes the Hero 11… what issues will it have? And are you better off waiting for the Hero 12 as it will really be a working Hero 11?
The truth is, some of us are going to purchase the Hero 11 sight unseen. Not only do we want the latest tech from GoPro, but we want an improved camera with new features and something that makes us glad we purchased the camera (we also want to review the camera for your benefit too). What we’re likely to get is a redesigned camera with a few extra features that makes the purchase seem worthwhile, but as the year goes on, we wish that GoPro had done just something a little….. more.
I don’t expect to be blown away by the GoPro Hero 11, I don’t expect it to change the world in terms of technical achievement or features. However, that doesn’t stop me from “hoping” that it does.
It’s that time of year (August) where you’re probably seeing countless articles or YouTube video’s where people are claiming to have inside knowledge or leaks about the next GoPro model (spoiler alert, they don’t, they are just parroting the usual nonsense). To save you time, I’ll summarize what all of these videos contain!
A: The new models are traditionally released in September.
B: A wish list of what people want in the next release (as unrealistic as it may be)
C: Doubling the specs of the previous models (something lazy people do every year… in which case the Hero 10 would have the ability to record in 256K resolution…..).
So this is where I make my own predictions about the next upcoming model… only my predictions are slightly different. Why? Well mine are not only based upon years of experience in a large multinational electronics company regarding design, development, implantation and deployment of next gen models, they are also based on “research”, statements made by GoPro themselves (white paper sources only) and their previous release strategies.
So why should you pay attention to this one? Well if you’ve watched my video from last year when I was making my Hero 10 predictions, you’ll see what I actually got right regarding the specs, design and capabilities. I even predicted the GoPro Volta!
So I’m breaking this down into 3 categories.
What’s likely to be coming,
what’s borderline… it may or may not happen…
&
what’s NOT going to happen…
So rather than keep you wondering, here’s what my predictions are for the next model GoPro (and an explanation as to my reason for thinking this…).
What’s coming!
1: A redesigned camera!
It may not be a radical redesign, in fact it’s likely it’s going to keep the basic look of the GoPro. Users probably won’t be happy if the camera was any heavier, however reducing the footprint of the camera may not do much for heat dissipation either. So I expect the size to be roughly the same as well as button placement etc. However, I expect the battery and USB ports and covers to have a complete overhaul!
WHY: The mic drain cover. People have been breaking this since it was introduced in the Hero 9. Some pop it open thinking it’s a removable cover, some people have even used it as a place to secure their lanyard to the camera. Since this is a non-removable or even a replaceable part, GoPro probably have had a lot of returns from people after breaking this small cover. So that’s something that GoPro will want to prevent to save costs and time. So why the redesigned battery and USB ports? Well, that one is obvious…
2: The Media Mod 2.0
GoPro will probably want to include a few better features, however the media mod has had two significant problems since it was introduced. Poor quality microphones and a design that was too much work to install and remove. If you wanted to change battery or access the SD card directly, you pretty much had to disassemble the whole camera. With a redesign of the media mod to make it more of a “quick release” system, that would be a big win for GoPro and users. So this would likely require a redesign of the USB port and battery cover to make it compatible with a quick release system
WHY: If you have been paying attention to GoPro’s website and emails, they have been pushing the discounted sales of GoPro Hero 9 and 10 accessories. Everything from the Max Lens Mod, batteries, Media mod to the 3 way. With steep discounts on many of these items, there is only one real reason to want to reduce inventory like this. That’s simply because the next camera will not be compatible with these items and sales of these items will drop once the new system is introduced. So time for inventory reduction as the new design is coming along.
3: New resolutions and frame rates…
This is a bit of a no brainer, it happens with every model, however this may be implemented in a brand new way. As pre usual, it’s not going to be a huge jump in resolution, but it may depend on the sales of certain mods to enable these resolutions.
WHY: The Max Lens mod was a good seller for GoPro and offered 360 stabilized horizontal lock. However, the downside was that it only worked in 2.7K. I can honestly see the Max Lens Mod 2.0 being released to allow the same capability but in a 4K resolution. This may also pave the way for a 6K widescreen mod. This is something that the Insta360 One RS has offered and it just looks fantastic. GoPro will want to compete in this area rather than lose customers to the competition. Finally slow motion, yes, we will get faster frame rates in certain resolutions, but as we all know, higher frame rates usually means the camera runs at a higher temperature. GoPro don’t want any more “overheating” videos on the internet. So this “mega slow mo” or “super slow mo” might actually be a “burst” setting, only allowing you to shoot for 30 seconds maximum.
What’s borderline
1: Nameable presets.
People have been asking for this for years, ever since the preset mode was introduced. It’s a big want but it’s unlikely that it’s going to happen anytime soon.
WHY: This one is complicated, but it’s basically to do with the architecture of the GoPro firmware code. GoPro haven’t had a successful history of firmware releases. In fact the “boot loop” caused by an older firmware release (see video here) was a bit of a disaster. So trying to design a firmware that allows users to start entering countless settings under all sorts of different names may be just too hard for GoPro to introduce just yet. It’s also something they’ll keep in their back pocket in order to push sales of the next model if the market starts dropping.
2: Larger sensor
The problem with the GoPro’s currently is that in low light, they just aren’t great. Combine that with Hypersmooth and your footage is downright unusable in low light. To use a GoPro in low light you pretty much have to turn off hypersmooth and use a gimbal. Something not great for a camera that prides itself for having gimble like performance. So a larger sensor may not happen
WHY: A larger sensor would help solve that low light problem, but with a larger sensor, the focus (close up) suffers. The one inch sensor mod for the Insta360 One works well in low light, but means it can’t be used for vlogging due to the focal length changing. One possible solution to this is that GoPro could use a larger sensor in their camera, but a specific “Vlogging” lens mod would have be used in order to focus and crop the user. Since a lot of GoPro’s are used for vlogging or close up action, it means that this “mod” would have to be the default for the new GoPro model and that would be a hard sell especially with the price bracket that GoPro likes to sell in $400 to $550 range.
3: New mounting system.
GoPro have had their specific mounting fingers for quite some time now. This is something that can be a bit of a pain and sometimes needing to tighten your GoPro mounts have led to broken thumbscrews or stripped thumbscrews themselves. So although it’s a bit out of date and the new media mod will require a quick release system I suspect the mounting fingers will remain in place.
WHY: There are numerous knock off selfie sticks, mounts, and tripods that all have the traditional ¾ thread on them. All GoPro accessories use the GoPro mounting fingers and GoPro have quite a large inventory. The mounting fingers pretty much guarantee the sales of these items are they are just bettter quality that the knock offs and are specifically designed for GoPro’s. It’s also the design GoPro are famous for, so I honestly can’t see GoPro getting rid of this.
What’s NOT going to happen…
1: Bluetooth audio recording
Not a chance in my opinion. This likely has to do with patents and who owns them, and if GoPro could have done it, they would have done it already. Even insta only works with Apple airpods. So can’t see this one coming.
WHY: Although Bluetooth audio has been getting better, frankly it’s just not good enough for high quality audio recording. GoPro want quality video and audio associated with their camera’s, not badly compressed Bluetooth audio. This one is just too long to get into in depth or in detail, but no, just not happening.
2: 8K video
This one comes up every single year and honestly, it’s just not going to happen. There’s really just no point as this would cripple users.
WHY: The majority of people out there are still using 1080P televisions, sure 4K sets are cheaper now, but they are not the dominant format yet. 8K has barely made a dent in the market. So no point. Then there’s the computing power hurdles for older phones, older PC’s and even with the GoPro itself. 8K is just not feasible (and its pretty bad math too, 5.3K is nearly double the resolution of 4K, not 8K). so put 8K out of your head for now. Maybe when H.266 encoding comes up we’ll talk…
3: Edge to edge display, removable display, wireless charging…..
Nope, nope and nope!
WHY: The reason GoPro’s don’t have an edge-to-edge display is due to the fact they have a nice rubber bumper around them to absorb impacts when they fall or get dropped. If they were to remove this, GoPro damage would be significantly increased. Even if you put thicker toughened glass in there, it’s not going to happen. With safety glass, the best place to attempt to break it is the corner as it doesn’t flex as much there. The same would be true of the GoPro.
No removable display as although this rumor has done around for a couple of years now, a removable/remote display would be easily lost, it would need contacts on the back of the GoPro and it wouldn’t be waterproof to to the depths that GoPro is well known for.
Wireless charging is unlikely to happen as you would have to either increase the weight and size of the GoPro or reduce the size and capacity of the batteries. Just not something users would be happen with at all.
So there you have it, the 3 things that are likely to happen, the 3 maybe’s and the 3 (oh ok, 5) things that aren’t going to happen. So finally, when can we expect to see the GoPro Hero 11? Well… maybe not as soon as you think. Traditionally GoPro’s have been released in September every year but according to a statement made by Nick Woodman, their next flagship camera may not release until the 4th quarter of the year. That would put it in October at the earliest. Since this is a redesigned model camera, I can see that being likely as there are many kinks to be worked out. So October at the latest providing there are no production issues, after all, GoPro will want release date sales, then the slump, then the Christmas rush (rather than release in November and people will just think “I’ll wait until Christmas to buy”).
Finally, can we expect a MAX 2 this year? It………. may…… happen…… it may not. The GoPro Max is due an update due to it’s age. People have even released predictions of a GoPro Max 2 being released due to a recent patent filing………… however the patent wasn’t really about the design of the GoPro Max or even anything specific to the model, it was more about how the GoPro app would be able to recognie certain scenes in a 360 video and be used to automatically create a video. So the patent (which was the finalization of an old patent BTW) was more about scene recognition in a 360 sphere. We do know that GoPro will be releasing at least 1 more camera this year, people want it to be a new Session… so what’s the one thing that competitors are doing that GoPro haven’t done yet? What could this model camera actually be?
A dedicated GoPro Webcam! Think about it. The GoPro Webcam app (which basically makes a GoPro emulate a webcam) hasn’t been the most reliable of apps. It has compatibility problems with a lot of webcam apps and is very limited in what it can do. However, when it does work the image quality can be quite good (especially in low light).. but not adjustable. Something that people still want and seem to be buying (and this is why we’re seeing so many high-end models being released) is a decent webcam. GoPro’s can be used, but there are user complaints about overheating, onboard mics not working, battery not charging while it’s in use…. GoPro might take a bold step in getting rid of these issues by simply releasing a GoPro Webcam! One that uses an actual webcam driver as opposed to emulating a webcam over a network connection.
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