With exactly one month to go until CES 2026 officially begins, the excitement is building, and the communications and rumors are coming fast and furious. CES remains by far the largest annual technology trade show in North America, with approximately 4,500 exhibitors and over 2.5 million square feet of exhibition space.
Here are ten things that I and others at Mac Edition Radio are looking for at this year's show, in no particular order:
- Robots, robots, robots—and just about everywhere. I'm actually most interested in the refinements, because that's when the buying masses jump on board. Will the latest and greatest cleaning robots be improved enough to get folks who tried early Roombas to try again? How about easier-to-use robot lawn mowers? Of course, there's also the assumed elder care applications.
- Major processor announcements from AMD and (perhaps) Qualcomm. AMD's CEO, Dr. Lisa Su, doesn't give a keynote at CES without something significant to talk about—otherwise it's just a press conference. Qualcomm's X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme processors are coming—we just don't know when. Not to be outdone, Intel will formally launch its Core Ultra 3 Panther Lake processors.
- I'm expecting some clever AI implementations. Hopefully, we're edging past the "look, we have an AI" phase into products that are more than theoretically useful.
- More of the faster and more capable wired connectivity standards. Expect more USB4 2.0 and Thunderbolt 5 hubs and port replicators, which are especially interesting because they can power almost any modern notebook.
- Interesting discussions with exhibitors. Often—no matter what the size of the company—CES brings authentic insight into product and marketing decisions that you don't get online. At least once every time during the decades I've been attending CES, I know that I've learned something that I wouldn't have if I'd been emailing or videoconferencing.
- A continued focus on mobility. All 600,000 square feet of exhibition space in the West Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center will be filled with the Vehicle Tech and Advanced Mobility category, which spills over into the North Hall. A few traditional auto manufacturers will be there—I've noticed Honda and Hyundai listed. You've also got the new wave (Geely), the autonomous (Waymo), and a host of second and third-tier suppliers. Beyond that, there are also boats (Brunswick), heavy equipment (Caterpillar), and dirt bikes (Segway and many others).
- Organizations you don't expect at CES. At CES 2025, I had an extended discussion with Ontario Tech University about their Climatic Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel. In the runup to CES 2026, I've already seen a discussion of factory orchestration for manufacturing—definitely not the cliche of the "typical" CES announcement. Siemens will have a keynote at CES, where they promise to focus on industrial technology.
- Actually getting hands-on with recently introduced devices. Product photos can only show so much—it will be valuable, for example, to see Samsung's Galaxy Z TriFold in person.
- Unexpected startups in Eureka Park. Last year, there were 1,400 companies—a sellout. Under more challenging conditions, how many startups will we see this year?
- We shouldn't forget the comforting constants—things that have been true at CES for decades. Sony will likely have their usual wild press conference, and we can bet on some absolutely gorgeous televisions from LG, Samsung, Sony, and others.
Of course, Mac Edition Radio will be following up with a report on what actually happens at CES 2026.
John Mulhern III, posted December 6, 2025
