Maccast 2016.08.20 - Show #582
Links
V Opening
V Opening Music
* Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
V Sponsor: Smile
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V News
V Schematic confirm iPhone 7 rumors
* A supposed iPhone 7 assembly schematic leaked to NowhereElse.de
V Shows all the leaked rumors we've already heard
* Same design and shape
* single antenna lines around top and bottom
* No 3.5mm headphone jack
* Larger lens
* Haptic home button
V Mentions that there is no speaker on the left, just mesh for a microphone.
* Holes seem to purely cosmetic, except the one furthest to the right (mic)
* NWE also has mentioned that optical image stabilization might be coming to the new iPhone 7 (non-Plus) camera.
* Rumor that they might support 5-volt, 2-amp rapid charging. Sounds good, but form a sketchy Twitter source.
* Will probably have an Intel LTE modem chipset, instead of Qualcomm though it seems the iPhone still may use a Qualcomm RF transceiver.
* Mac Otakara claims to have confirmed that there will NOT be an iPhone 7 Pro (Really? Shocker! *gasp*).
* Stronger rumors of new storage sizes being 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB. Will 256GB be exclusive to the 7 Plus?
V Intel is touting the USB Type-C Digital Audio specification.
* I don't think Apple will ditch the Lightning connector, but the idea of then standardizing on USB-C across the board is intriguing.
V Leaked AT&T documents seem to indicate the pre-order and launch dates for iPhone 7
* Lists September 9 and September 23 as dates for merchandising resets.
* Assumption is iPhone pre-orders on the 9th followed by a release date on the 23rd.
* That puts an announcement date likely for September 7th.
V Intel can now produce ARM-based chips
* Also, at the Intel Developer Forum Intel announced that they plan to allow third-party semiconductor companies to use their 10-nanometer production lines for manufacturing ARM-based chips for smartphones.
* That means that Apple could potentially use Intel as another supplier for A-series chip fabrication.
* Intel missed the boat on getting in on smartphone chip manufacturing and with PC sales declining this may be a way for them to jump back on board.
* Though noting is official there have been rumors for years of Apple talking with Intel about making chips for the iPhone and iPad.
* A sticking point with the current deal is that the ARM license seems to be limited and might not account for Apple's heavily modified designs which are based on the ARM core.
* Apple and Intel have a great relationship, so I would not find it surprising to hear in the near future that they have been tapped as another supplier for chips.
* I don't think TSMC needs to worry, but if I were Samsung I would not be counting on getting any of Apple's chip business back anytime in the near future.
* Apple already has an agreement in place with TSMC to produce 10-nanometer A11 chips for devices in 2017. So it may be 2018 before we hear of any deal between Apple and Intel.
V Tim Cook's Apple
V As he was transitioning to be CEO at Apple I did a number of episodes where I talked about letting Tim Cook be Tim Cook
* People still try to view him in the shadow of Steve Jobs and that's wrong.
V The primary goal at Apple remains the same
* Make insanely great products that really change the world in some way — enrich people’s lives.
V Done a great job managing growth, keeping margins high, expanding into emerging markets like China and India.
* Also, expanding the role of Apple products, specifically iPads, in enterprise
V More transparency on social and environmental issues, but not products.
* He admits, product secrecy is getting more difficult to maintain.
* Wants to be a CEO who is not disconnected from customers.
V Open about admitting mistakes
* Specific John Browett for Apple retail and the Maps launch
* Also, swift and pretty good about correcting mistakes.
V Relies on teams and others inside and outside the company for advice
* Turns to outside friends and experts for advice in areas where he might not have the expertise.
* Smart enough to also know he may or may not use that advice. It's hearing the opinions that is important.
V Investors can often be short sighted.
* Apple's achievements are often measure in 5 or 10 year periods.
V Cook manages a significantly larger company than Steve did. Four times larger, by revenue, since 2010.
* Takes on criticisms that Apple's “better days are behind us”
* No worries because analysts have said this all before.
* Every year won't be an up year.
V How will Apple grow?
* Services. Grew $4B in revenue in the last 12 months. Expects services business to be the size of a Fortune 100 company next year.
* Enterprise growth for iPad (I'm not so sure on this one, but OK)
* Markets, specifically India (this has been a challenge so far, but if they can crack it it will be big).
V Products
* Won't talk specifics
* Apply Apple's strength at integrating hardware, software and services (consumer experiences) and apply that to markets they are not in yet.
V R&D, "…we have ramped up R&D because we are heavily investing in the future — both in current product lines and things that aren’t visible as well, including in services".
* Cook announced this week that Apple would build a new R&D center in China
* Mentions that, "AI will make this product (smartphone) even more essential to you."
V Speculate on the future product markets and I think I see:
* AI, what does a screenless "voice-first" intuitive UI look like with Apple's skill sets applied? Could be amazing
V VR or AR, this many are playing with, but I don't think anyone has nailed a consumer experience outside of games. What could Apple bring to market? I tend to think it will be more AR the VR.
* Gene Munster thinks Apple will open up the iPhone for third-parties to make authorized VR headsets by 2018. He also thought Apple would make an HDTV, so…
* Other rumors suggest Apple assembling a large team of virtual and augmented reality experts for a top secret virtual-reality headset project.
V I still strongly believe that Apple is building a car service, and not a consumer car product.
* Their investment in China
* Acquisition talks with services like Lyft
* Their mapping efforts
* Now Uber is moving into the space with active trials in Philadelphia.
V New iPad size and lower price?
* Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Apple is planning a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro and a "low-cost" 9.7-inch iPad in 2017
* He also says next year's iPads will be followed by possible "revolutionary" changes to the iPad's design in 2018 through the use of a flexible AMOLED display.
V He doesn't think even the new size and lower price in 2017 will help stem declining sales
* Still see's a year over year sales decline of between 10 to 20 percent for iPad in 2017.
V His rationale for a 10.5-inch model is that it would have some appeal to commercial and education markets.
* 9to5 Mac makes the theory that Apple could maintain the size of the 9.7" with an edge-to-edge display. The diagonal increase being just 0.8 inches. Still a tight squeeze if even possible.
* He thinks Apple will use the older A9x in the low-priced 9.7-inch iPad Pro to keep costs down.
* Apple has seen recent demand increases for iPad Pro's in businesses and government markets.
* He thinks 2018 could be better for iPad sales if Apple does bring "radical" form factor changes.
* Makes no mention of any updates for iPad mini or iPad Pro designs.
* With a 5.5-inch iPhone and low-budget 9.7-inch iPad would there be room for an iPad mini?
V Macbook Pro update missing latest Intels?
* Intel recently showed off their 7th Generation Core, Kaby Lake processors at the Intel Developer Forum
* They follow the Broadwell and Skylake designs all using their 14-nanometer process.
* The new designs support for Thunderbolt 3, native USB 3.1, and DisplayPort 1.2 and it's built in GPU is said to keep up with 4K video and high-end modern games like Overwatch.
* Plus Intel says Kaby Lake processors are already shipping to manufacturing partners.
* Sounds perfect for a new Macbook Pro, right? Not so fast.
* Intel usually rolls out low-power 4.5W Y-series chips and 15W U-series chips first. So think tablets, convertibles, and netbook.
* The chips Apple would typically use for iMacs and Macbook Pro won't ship until near the end of the year or early 2017.
* That means the rumored Macbook Pro update, expected this Fall, will probably come with the older "Skylake" chips.
* Does it matter?
V There are now whispers of a possible Mac Pro update this fall
* The rumors are based on rampant speculation that Apple might have a Final Cut Pro upgrade coming in October around the time of the Final Cut Pro X Creative Summit.
* That combined with hints found in Mac OS X El Capitan? (macOS Sierra?) of a new Mac Pro have some people salivating.
* The Pro has not been updated since 2013, so it's long overdue.
V Also sketchy rumors of an iMac "Pro" update in October
* I say sketchy because they claim Apple will use an Intel Kaby Lake or AMD’s Zen processor (Not ready and not likely respectively)
* The also say Apple would use an AMD Polaris Graphics chipset, more likely
* There should be Mac updates soon, but when, where, and what. I really have no clue.
V Apple Music new deals and lyrics
V Apple, via Instagram, announced a new deal it has with Cash Money Records and its co-founder rapper Birdman
* Details were not given, but the assumption is that in exchange for whatever they're paying Apple will be getting more artist exclusives and possible co-produced content.
* The is the first exclusivity deal Apple has done with a full record label.
* Cash Money Records represents well-known artists including Drake, Young Money, Lil Wayne, and Nicki Minaj
* They have also put out eleven number 1 albums in the United States
* Drake, as an artist, has already had several deals and exclusives with Apple Music including appearing at WWDC when Apple Music was announced. Apple also produced his music video for "Energy" using its in-house production team.
* The content already seems to be confirmed because there has already been released a trailer for a documentary about Cash Money
* Apple sees exclusives and original content as a key driving factor in the growth of Apple Music and so far it seems to be working.
* In a little over a year they have over 15 million paying subscribers and a very strong growth rate.
V In the latest iOS 10 betas Apple has added lyrics to the Music app
* They are also posting job listings for a Lyrics Curation Manager to lead a team of ‘Lyrics Curators.
* Suggesting that Apple won't simply rely on databases, bots or AI for lyrics data.
* Human curation is one of the features that Apple uses as a selling point for Apple Music.
V Twitter secured the rights to stream 11 NFL Thursday night games and might be looking to create an Apple TV app.
* Oddly Twitter might be the thing that brings sports to Apple TV cord cutters
* They have also reached agreements with the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Pac-12 Networks and Wimbledon.
* And are said to be working on deals with Major League Soccer and the Professional Golfers Association.
V Apple took the Store out of Apple Store
* This one is quick.
* They are now just Apple, at least the flagships?
* Why, we don't know, but speculation is that most high-end retail shops don't put Store after their names.
* So now Apple + Location like Apple Fifth Avenue or Apple Union Square
V Apple also announced new retail staff job titles: "Pro," "Creative Pro," and "Technical Expert"
* "Pro" is a sales position above Expert, and reserved for the people the most familiar with Apple products.
* "Creative Pros" have similar level of knowledge, but applied to learning.
* "Technical Experts" sit in the middle between "Technical Specialists" and "Geniuses". Basically taking on lower level support and repair tasks that would not require a "Genius".
V Feedback, commentary, opinions
V Follow-ups from last show
V Got a confirmation that if you choose to use optimized storage features in macOS Sierra that it will count against your available iCloud storage
* So be prepared to pay for more storage if that's a feature you plan to use.
* ChronoSync can also create a bootable cloned backup, so if you have that you might not need another solution.
V On a lost or stolen device Bill asked, "is it more important to try to track it down or should I issue the "self destruct" command to wipe the iPhone?"
* I think if you have Find My iPhone enabled and are using a really secure passcode already then placing it in lost mode to try and recover it would be good.
V Bill does bring up security concerns of trying to track down and recover it your self.
* Don't go into a situation where you feel it's not safe.
* Try to get police help, but if that can't work and it's not safe cut your losses and wipe it.
V Daniel points out that Apple offers both Two factor authentication and two step verification and they are technically not the same
* It's not 100% clear what the differences are other than Apple claims 2FA is newer and more streamlined.
V Two-step Verification came first and if you have it on you have to completely disable it before you can switch to 2FA.
* Check in Settings > iCloud > Password & Security. It will say Two-step Verification or Two-Step Authentication ON.
V What a fracking PITA!
* Any app specific passwords will have to be completely re-done.
V Also be aware that some devices won't support the newer 2-Factor Authentication
* iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 9
* Mac with OS X El Capitan and iTunes 12.3
* Apple Watch with watchOS 2
* Windows PC with iCloud for Windows v5 and iTunes 12.3.3
V Backups in a non-Mac World
* Derek brought up a valid point about backups for people who don't own or use a Mac.
* What do they do?
* We'll for sure use iCloud backup. What about redundancy?
* Could also work with apps that use cloud based storage, like Dropbox, One Drive, Box, etc.
* Flickr app will sync all photos to the cloud.
V There are some wi-fi connected storage options, but they would be tedious.
* One help here may be [Documents]( https://readdle.com/products/documents) by Readdle
* An issue I'd like to see Apple address maybe with a future Time Capsule upgrade.
V More on archiving movies
* So I covered how to move iMovie projects and events recently and that brought up some other questions from you.
V Justin was wondering about all the old iMovie projects that were already archived from old versions
* Will they work in newer versions?
* They should be able to be brought in and converted
* That said I don't seem to have much luck with this.
* Sometimes you can go into the "package" files and extract raw footage.
V Mostly I have always made sure to archive the raw digitized or imported videos outside of iMovie.
* I will always have the original captures and can recreate the projects from scratch. Not ideal, but sort of my "backup"
* Reality is too that once I've completed an iMovie Project I have NEVER personally gone back to re-edit.
* I keep the final export in iTunes and all those are backed up and archived using my regular processes.
V It does bring up the recurring topic of "bit-rot".
* You need to make plans for what happens when legacy content is no longer retrievable
* There can be many reasons. Hardware changes, software no longer available.
V I use an MVF (Minimum viable format) strategy:
* Always have a version that is in a format that is as open and universal as you can think of at the time.
* MP3, AIFF, WAV, MOV, M4V, TXT
* Don't expect proprietary formats or application formats to be available.
* Hardware is even tricker. VHS, MiniDV cassettes, CDs, DVDs, etc. Floppy, Zip.
* Media doesn't last forever, players last even shorter, and connectors even shorter still
V Questions on Media Storage
* Sebastian had a number of questions related to storage and archiving of data and I realized that I mention archives and have not gone into too many specifics
V iTunes
V How do I archive purchased video content that I do not want to store on my laptop?
* I have all my iTunes Media stored on an external drive.
* That drive is sync'd to Drobo and stored in my Crash Plan backups.
* I use Apple Music an iCloud Music Library, so music is all available via streaming or download.
* Purchased movies and TV from iTunes are re-downloadable.
V Many people don't know that if you set iTunes Media up on an external and then are not connected it will automatically default back to the internal location.
* After you back it up, copy your entire iTunes Media folder to the new location or drive.
* Make sure to turn on 'Keep iTunes Media folder organized' and 'Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to Library'
* iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > iTunes Media Folder location. Set location to the new location
* File > Library > Organize Library…, check 'Consolidate Files', click OK.
* So you can duplicate some content on your internal drive, but the Library file will still show missing local content. You can get around that by creating a second "internal" Library file and switching to that (hold down the option key when you launch iTunes).
V Will it be easy to access it from my Apple TV at a later time?
* If it's Apple Purchased content yes. You can stream it.
* For stuff that is saved, but not in your iTunes Library then you'd have to put it back in iTunes.
* OR, set up an old Mac as an iTunes Media server and move your entire library to that.
V Is there some migration to be done on the DRMed videos when a new version of iTunes comes out?
* No.
V Photos
V What is the best strategy here?
* I don't know the "best" strategy. I personally have all my photos in one library on my Mac (71GB).
* One method is to export files to folders and archive them (this would be a MVF).
* You can also break up the Photo Library into smaller libraries.
V When I export pictures/videos as unmodified originals to a NAS will the time stamp be preserved? What about albums?
* I believe that the original date from the photo (it's file created date) is maintained. Don;t know about albums.
V What is the best way to move pics from one library to another?
* You could just export the images you want to move to a folder, create a new Library (hold option key when launching Photos), and then drag in the photos. Issue is you lose album data, metadata, etc.
* I prefer to use [PowerPhotos]( https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/) - USD $29.95
V What happens when a new version of Photos comes out and I have to migrate the library? I guess I will have to make sure I do not forget migrating.
* Yes. Bit rot prevention.
* Even more so is remember to migrate your old iPhoto Libraries to Photos.
V iMovie
* Already covered more or less, but Sebastian also asked the migration question.
V Finally, In general, what do you keep on your Mac and what have you archived off. Do you have a strategy here?
* I generally keep the things I want immediate access to and archive off the stuff I don't
* Sounds overly simple, but makes sense to me.
* For example, I keep the last 4 Maccast episode projects, I don't keep around old client projects if I haven't worked with them for over a year, I keep all my iTunes Media and Photos around.
* It's really personal thing.
V Thing of the moment: Reigns
* A really fun really casual game where you take on the role of a succession of Kings
* The way you play you're approached by various subject asking you to make decisions.
* Swipe left for one answer or right for the other.
* How you decide each question will have an impact on one or more of four aspects of your kingdom: The church, The people, The Army, and your Treasury
* The goal is to keep all four in balance and stay in power for as long as possible.
* Sounds simple, but it gets incredibly complex as each decision will also impact what future requests and decisions you need to make.
* Also, as you progress and you meet more subjects and do more things additional "cards" and scenarios get added to the game.
* There are also some "mini" game like elements where you will fight battles or navigate the dungeon or take on games of chance.
* There are also lists of challenges you try to meet to unlock more game features.
* The whole thing is a lot of fun and you can play quick little sessions or play longer.
* Best of all the game is just $2.99 and that's it. No in app purchase.
V Closing
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