A couple of images posted at the weekend suggest that GoPro's next 360-degree camera, the Max 2, is coming soon. Possibly very soon.
The 360-degree camera market is getting increasingly crowded with ever more capable models. The new DJI Osmo 360 is widely tipped to launch at the end of the month, and now, in what look like a classic spoiler operation, GoPro has dropped the first images of the new Max 2 on its socials.
GoPro has been making noises for a while now that it's working on something in the 360 arena that "will be worth the wait." It's been a long one though. The original GoPro Max came out in 2019, or roughly in the Cretaceous period given the speed of development in 360-degree cameras of late. GoPro did release a refreshed version in February this year, alongside a decent price drop, but that seems to have been very much a stopgap measure.
In some ways it was almost to remind people that it was still in the market at all. GoPro founder and CEO, Nick Woodman, was the man behind the "worth the wait" quote, and that dates from the launch of the GoPro 12 as far back as September 2023.
Not much about the new camera has leaked - or at least leaked definitively - in the close to two years since. But expected new features include a substantial increase in resolution, improved image stabilisation, a larger battery with increased runtimes, and the presence of currently de rigueur AI tools. We'll know more soon, with mid-July now being the bookies' favourite date for the Max 2 to be officially unveiled.
