shownotes_20180731

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
Sponsor: Smile
  TextExpander for Teams
    TextExpander multiplies your team's productivity making up-to-date, shared knowledge available instantly.
    Using TextExpander, all of your team's common responses are:
      Accessible – and searchable – through simple abbreviations and keyboard shortcuts
      Written and edited by your best writers
      Available on multiple platforms: macOS, iOS, Windows, and web
      Updated immediately, everywhere, when modified
    So you can set up teams for you various departments to share snippets
      Unify things like your sales or support teams communications
      Save time on repetitive IT support emails, like common troubleshooting questions or setup and configuration instructions.
    If you're on a team, TextExpander will change your life, leaving more time for what you do best.
    For larger teams, TextExpander supports Single Sign On (SSO) and grouping accounts to make on-boarding a breeze.
    Visit textexpander.com/podcast to learn more about TextExpander.
News
  Apple's Q3 2018 results
    Quarterly revenue of $53.3 billion, an increase of 17 percent from the year-ago quarter.
    Setting a record for Apple's best June quarter ever.
    Apple cited strong iPhone sales, service growth, and wearables as keys to the success for the quarter.
    In fact iPhone sales were up slightly from the same quarter a year ago. From 41 million to 41.3 million units this year.
    Services continues to be the big area of revenue growth, up 31 percent. It generated $9.55 billion up from $9.2 billion and continues to be Apple's second largest revenue generator behind iPhone.
    Apple doesn't break out Apple Watch sales, it's part of "other"
      Other Products revenue rose 37 percent, up to $3.7B from $2.7B a year ago
      They told the Financial Time wearables revenue is up 60 percent year-over-year.
      Doing some math with that data FT thinks yearly wearables revenue now exceeds $10 billion
      For the 2nd quarter Canalys believes the LTE Apple Watch 3 helped Apple increase sales 30 percent selling an estimated 3.5 million units and increasing their market share from 43 percent to 34 percent
    iPad sales were also up just a hair from 11.4 million units to 11.5 million
    Mac sales were the downer on the day. Apple sold just 3.7 million units vs 4.3 million last year. Not surprising given the lack of new Mac models. The new MacBook Pro updates came to late in the quarter to really make any impact.
    Other items of note:
      One billion Apple Pay transactions in fiscal year, triple year-over year.
        Juniper Research recently estimated Apple Pay accounts for about half of mobile wallets in use, 225 million users out of a total of 450 million users on all platforms
      AirPods sold as fast as Apple could make them
      50 million Apple Music listeners across paid subscriptions and free trials.
        Revenues on Apple Music grew over 50 percent over the quarter
  Triple iPhone Update imminent
    As we get closer to the fall more of the details about this years iPhone lineup solidify
    Apple leaker Benjamin Geskin posted images of "dummy" units to his Twitter
      Seemingly confirm the three sizes and models.
      OLED 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch. 6.1-inch "lower cost" LCD model.
      6.5-inch dummy shows a two-lens camera, not three.
      6.1-inch is believed to have an aluminum frame instead of steel, may lose 3D Touch, will have a single lens camera, and could come in colors. Price around $700-800 USD (other reports claim starting around $600).
        Since the 5.8-inch iPhone X is expected to be $899, that price seems a bit high. The "Plus" model is expected to start at $999 USD
    There could be a delay in the ship date of the 6.1-inch LCD model
      Katy Huberty from Morgan Stanley mentioned her sources cite issues with production of a new backlight system that is the key to the reduced bezel design.
        A "Full Active" screen from Japan Display
      Ming-Chi Kuo has also recently talked about similar rumors of a delay for the LCD model
    LG is expected to supply about 20 million displays for the 6.1-inch LCD model, but have run into issues in their OLED production so Samsung is expected to supply the bulk of the OLED panels for the 5.8 and 6.5-inch models.
    Evidence of possible dual-SIM support for the 6.5-inch model found in iOS 12 beta 5
      A component of the system responsible for the generation of diagnostic reports includes new references to “second SIM status” and a “second SIM tray status”.
      Also, another component references a “dual sim device”.
    iOS 12 and the Xcode simulator also seem to suggest the iPhone X Plus will operate in landscape mode. Makes sense.
    Qualcomm CFO George Davis told investors Apple will use a competitor's chips in its 2018 iPhones.
      He did mention they would continue to provide modems for Apple legacy devices.
      The statement means Apple will likely use all Intel modems in this years line-up.
      Despite earlier rumors that Intel would provide 70 percent of the models with Qualcomm covering the balance.
      A company called MediaTek has also been mentioned as a possible new LTE modem supplier for Apple.
      Apple and Qualcomm have been trading lawsuits for years.
    Reports iPad Pros will lose headphone jack
      Coming from Macotakara
      It's believed Apple wants to reduce the bezels and the physical size of the devices while maintaining the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch display sizes.
      No headphone jack and they will not include an adapter like they did with the iPhone
      They are expected to have a no home button, a notch, TrueDepth cameras, and FaceID
      Unfortunately this latest report claims no support for FaceID in landscape?!!
      They also claim Apple moving the Smart Connector to the short side near the Lightning connector.
        A CAD image leak from OnLeaks seemingly corroborates this rumor
  Siri performs well in AI testing
    Loop Ventures ran a smartphone AI digital assistant test asking Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, and Cortana 800 questions each.
    The testing covered questions across five key areas
      Local (example: "Where is the nearest coffee shop?")
      Commerce ("Can you order me more paper towels?")
      Navigations ("How do I get to uptown on the bus?")
      Information ("Who do the Twins play tonight?")
      Command ("Remind me to call Steve at 2pm today").
    The assistants were then evaluated for two metrics.
      "Did it understand what was being asked?"
      "Did it deliver a correct response?"
    It's key to note this was a digital assistant test on smartphones and not a "smart speaker" test.
    Siri actually did very well coming in just behind Google Assistant, but ahead of Alexa and Cortana
      Siri understood 99 percent of the queries and answered 78.5 percent of them correctly.
      She also improved greatly from similar test ran back in April of 2017 where Siri only answered 66 percent correctly.
    Google Assistant did beat out Siri in every category except "Command". Handling tasks for controlling your phone, smart home, music, etc. Here she scored 90 percent vs. Goggle's 78 percent
    The researchers were impressed with Siri's ability to be slightly more helpful and versatile (responding to more flexible language)
    They also mentioned being "impressed with the speed at which the technology is advancing" for most of the assistants.
  MacBook Pro T2 chip shutdowns
    There are early reports that some owners of new 2018 MacBook Pros are already running into trouble with their new machines
    A small number of users, and also some iMac Pro users, are seeing kernel panics on their new machines
    The common thread seems to be the panics are in the "Bridge OS". The OS that drive the new T2 security chip found in these models.
    The T2 has it's own embedded OS and it handles things like secure boot, encrypted storage, live “Hey Siri” commands
    Apple is reportedly aware of the issue and looking into a fix.
    In the meantime there seems to be a variety of possible workarounds being suggested to avoid the issues
      Don’t daisy-chain devices
      Don’t use a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter
      Turn off Power Nap
      Turn off Secure Boot
      Don’t unlock the device with Apple Watch
      Remove third-party kernel extensions
      Turn off every power management option
    Apple's suggestion is to:
      Wipe and reload MacOS from scratch (this reportedly fixes most systems suggesting some sort of software conflict)
      Disable FileVault
      Disable Power Nap, which has worked for iMac Pro owners.
    Hopefully this is something Apple can fix in software. Seems like it is.
  Apple possibly working on 'Time Bandits' series
    I can't tell you how happy this news makes me.
    I love Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" movie and now there are reports Apple is working on a deal to adapt the film content into a series for their new video service
    Time Bandits is a comedy adventure about a band of dwarves who have stolen a "time map" and are on the run from their former boss, the Supreme Being. They are traveling through time stealing valuables. In the film they meet up with an imaginative 11-year-old boy, Kevin, who gets sucked into their adventures.
    the new TV series based on the movie will be a co-production between Anonymous Content, Paramount Television, and Media Rights Capital.
    Gilliam will serve as an executive producer, but won't be writing.
Sponsor: JAMF Now
  JAMF Now
    This episode is brought to you by Jamf Now. Jamf Now makes it easy to set up, manage and protect your Apple devices.
    It’s easy to keep track of your own Mac, iPad or iPhone, but what about the other Apple devices at work? As a business grows, so does its digital inventory, making it exponentially harder to manage everyone’s Apple devices. This is especially true if employees are remote.
    With Jamf Now, you can check your digital inventory, distribute Wi-Fi and email settings, deploy apps, protect company data, and even lock or wipe a device as needed – from anywhere. Jamf Now manages devices so you can focus on your business instead. No IT experience needed!
    If you run any kind of operation where your dealing with multiple devices a multi-device management solution is a must so you really should take a moment to check out Jamf Now
    They make it super easy to get started because you can manage up to three devices for free.
    Jamf Now is specifically designed for teams and small business and they make it easy to get going.
    Maccast listeners: start securing your business today setting up your first 3 devices for free – forever! Add more for just two dollars a month, per device. Create your free account today at jamf.com/maccast. That’s J-A-M-F dot com slash M - A - C - C - A - S - T
Feedback, commentary, opinions
  Apple has forced developers to subscriptions
    In our on-going discussions Joe wrote me to bring up something we didn't discuss yet really.
    Subscriptions are a result of Apple forcing developers hands by not allowing options for paid upgrades on the App stores.
      The theory is now subscriptions are the only way left for developers to reasonably get a sustainable recurring revenue from upgrading their apps.
      Others have tried the "new paid version" thing, but marking that is really hard and confuses and angers customers.
    Joe is a small developer and has a $0.99 app in the AppStore that was first release 9 years ago
      Without a paid upgrade option it seems as if Apple is asking to developers offer updates for free for forever
      He tried an in-app purchase for some additional content, but that didn't generate sustainable revenue.
      He eventually settled on making the App "free", but with a $2/yr. in-app purchase for new "yearly" data. (so like a subscription)
    The main replay I had for Joe was, yes. This has been the complaint about the "app store" for years and guess what? Apple isn't going to change it.
    Not what many developers want to hear, but that's the reality.
    THIS is the eco-system we have now if you want to develop apps and if you want to buy Apps.
    Developers need to accept this, and many are, and work with the current market rules set up by Apple (like them or not).
    You "found a way" within the rules that seems to be working now. I totally get that it was difficult and you wish you had more options.
    We as customers also have to make the same decisions based on our needs and the value we place on the app.
    I'm just saying I'm done raging against the system and vilifying developers who chose this model or that one.
    The equation is the same whatever the model. Paid upgrade, free with in-app-purchases, or subscriptions. Does the app provide a value to you for worth the price you have to pay?
      Yes, buy it and enjoy.
      No, move on and find the app that does.
      Really simple.
  Startup Security Utility booting new MacBook Pro
    Play comment from John
    The feature John is mentioning is only on any new Mac that has the T2 security chip (iMac Pro and 2018 MacBook Pro)
    The thing that controls the setting is called the [Startup Security Utility](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208198)
    Really has two main settings
      Secure Boot and External Boot
    Apple has an [About Secure Boot](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208330) page on their support site
      Designed to make sure that your Mac always starts up from a legitimate, trusted Mac operating system or Microsoft Windows operating system.
    External Boot disabled booting from external sources
    To open Startup Security Utility:
      1. Turn on your Mac, then press and hold Command (⌘)-R immediately after you see the Apple logo. Your Mac starts up from macOS Recovery.
      2. When you see the macOS Utilities window, choose Utilities > Startup Security Utility from the menu bar.
      3. When you're asked to authenticate, click Enter macOS Password, then choose an administrator account and enter its password.
    Change the "External Boot" setting to "Allow booting from external media".
  Cross-platform encrypted disk images
    This is something we've covered on the Maccast in the past
      Using Disk Utility to create an encrypted HFS+ disk image within another drive as a storage container for sensitive information
      I do this for my [Paperless]() data library (tax records, account information, etc) and for storage of other sensitive documents.
      In addition I've enabled FileVault 2 in my main drive and Time Machine drives. Don't encrypt other external storage volumes, such as cloned backups or NAS drives.
    Alex wanted to know about encryption in Apple's new APFS file format and also if it might be better to use a common format like ExFat, so one could also use a Windows machine to read data.
    Encryption in APFS vs. HFS+
      Encryption is not built into HFS+. Apple uses it's CoreStorage technology to create a wrapper.
        It encrypts volume data at the block level.
        When you "unlock" a volume from CoreStorage a new logical device is created which contains the entire unencrypted HFS+ file system, including unallocated space as one contiguous chunk of blocks.
        If you make an image of the logical device you grab all the block of the encrypted HFS+ volume in decrypted form.
      APFS was created with encryption in mind. They call it a "first-class" citizen. I doesn't additional layers like CoreStorage
        Turning on File Vault 2 doesn't move everything into a container. It just enables the encryption that is built in at the file system level.
        It's more secure because it doesn't have that whole unencrypted block of your entire filesystem.
      Both systems encrypt with XTS-AES-128 ciphers, but APFS volumes use randomly generated secondary encryption keys, so should be better able to withstand cryptographic attacks.
    So probably a good idea to use FileVault 2 on your APFS formatted volumes if you want to better protect your data.
    But what about if you're wanting to use external volumes, like USB sticks, cross platform?
      APFS won't help with that since it's an Apple exclusive filesystem
      [VeraCrypt](https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html)
      You insert the USB stick and launch the app
      Click the Create Volume button
      Choose "Create an encrypted file container". Click Next.
      Choose "Standard VeraCrypt volume". Click Next.
      Select the location for the container (in the USB stick, formatted as exFAT or FAT) and name the file (container). Click next
      Choose the encryption (AES) and the Hash Algorithm (SHA-512). Click Next.
      Choose the volume size (I could only pick whole numbers). Click Next.
      Choose and confirm your password. Click Next.
      Choose your Filesystem Format (FAT). Click Next.
      Choose that you want cross-platform support. Click next.
      Move mouse around the Window to "randomness" to increase the cryptographic strength. Click Format.
      It can take a while to encrypt depending on the volume size.
    To use VerCrypt containers/images you need the app to "mount" them.
      Select the File from VeraCrypt app and click 'Mount'. Enter the password.
      Once mounted they appear as standard volumes in the Finder
      As mention earlier thee are containers like the CoreStorage, so while mounted it's an unencrypted image.
      "Eject" in the Finder to unmount.
      You will need access to the admin account username and password to use VeraCrypt on Mac or Windows.
    There are also some hardware based solutions on the market
      USB flash drives and disks.
  Using USB Restricted Mode
    As part of the iOS 11.4.1 update Apple enabled USB Restricted Mode
    When enabled, the way it works is once your iOS device has been locked, without being unlocked, for an hour it will disable the Lightning port for any data connectivity. It makes it only available for charging.
      You need to unlock the device to enable data connectivity over the Lightning cable.
      Added layer of security, as some recent cracking tools rely on that data connection to do their tricks.
    If you updated to iSO 11.4.1 then USB Restricted mode is enabled by default.
    You'll find the toggle for the feature in Settings > FaceID & Passcode. Scroll to the bottom to find the "USB Accessories" toggle.
    Just like the feature toggle says it does disable USB accessory access. So if you have those and your iPhone has been locked for more then an hour you'll have to unlock your device to use those accessories.
      This could include some USB charging accessories.
    The feature is also immediately engaged if you use the Emergency SOS feature (only use in emergencies)
      Press and hold the side button and volume buttons (will also make an Emergency call)
      Rapidly press the side button 5 times (again makes and Emergency call)
      This also immediately disables FaceID/TouchID
Closing
  Podcast Marketplace
    Thanks to my sponsors
      Smile
  Supporters
    Bandwidth for the Maccast provided by CacheFly at cachefly.com
    Advertising is handled by Backbeat Media at backbeatmedia.com
  Keep emails coming. Audio comments.
    maccast@gmail.com
    281-622-4269 or 281-Mac-I-Am-9
      PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
    MacCast Forum
    Follow me on Twitter
    Checkout the page on Facebook