shownotes_20160918

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
Sponsor: Hover
  Hover
    We've all been there. You have a great idea, starting a new business, or just want to share something online and you decide, "I need a website for this".
    And the fist step after that is getting a great domain name. I've been doing web development for years and after trying just about every service Hover is the one I ended up using.
    I never thought I would say this, but I love my domain company.
    What makes the experience great is a simple searching and buying process
      Hover focuses on helping you find a great domain name first and foremost
      They let you search right up front and help you find a great domain even when your first choice may not be available by offering smart and relevant alternatives
      When you find the name you want they let you buy it. They don't try to upsell you on all kinds of other services and add-ons.
      Plus they include the most important thing you would want, WHOIS privacy, for free. This makes sure that your private address and phone number stays private.
      It won't be exposed to marketers, spammers and hackers. Keeping your personal info private and safe.
    And after you have your great domain they also help with easy set-up using Hover Connect. It supports all the major hosting providers and takes care of all the DNS stuff automatically.
    Great website, great service, and great support after why would you not use Hover?
    Give them a try for your next domain name. Go to hover.com and use the promo code 'MACCAST2' at checkout to save 10% off your first purchase.
News
  iPhone 7 is here
    After preorders both T-Mobile and Sprint announced high pre-order volume
      Apple said they would not announce opening sales numbers so we have to rely on other sources to gage popularity.
      T-Mobile claimed pre-orders almost four times higher than for the iPhone 6
      Sprint said they saw an almost four time increase too, but over the iPhone 6s pre-order numbers.
      I think ultimately that sakes will be higher than they were for the 6s, but under the numbers for the iPhone 6
    For sure the Jet Black models were the most popular or at least sold out first
      Apple confirmed that the first batch of iPhone 7 Plus Jet Black models were all sold out and would not be available in stores on launch day.
      Carriers are noting that they are not getting any Jet Black models and might not be for some time.
      The Plus size also seemed to be more popular for the first time. Slice Intelligence analysis of almost 32,000 pre-order receipt emails showed 55% Plus, 45% regular. That compares to 41 percent of buys opting for a 6s plus last year.
      The same Slice data confirmed the new black colors were most popular, but that 46percent of orders were for Black while 23 percent were for Jet Black. (could just be because the Jet Black sold out and people went Black and a fallback choice).
    Gene Munster set opening weekend iPhone 7 sales numbers at 14.43 million
      That sounds hard to believe and would be a record beating opening weekend numbers of 10 million on iPhone 6 and 13 million on iPhone 6s.
      He also thinks iPhone 6 will be closer in sales numbers to the iPhone 6 than the 6s with 11 percent year over year growth for the iPhone cycle vs. the 9 percent decline year over year Apple saw for the iPhone 6s.
    Don't throw away your headphone adapter
      The new Lightning EarPods and adapter are on the same bit of cardboard
      I saw a tweet from Nimble Bits' David Marsh that he couldn't find the adapter in his box. He missed it and accidentally threw it out. i bet he's not alone.
    iFixit and Chipworks teardowns
      Stronger adhesives, probably for better water proofing
      Larger 2,900 mAh battery in the Plus
      3GB or RAM confirmed.
      New layout and display opens to the side, not the top.
      Taptic engine and bumper in "fake" speaker hole spot.
        Apple says the "fake speaker grille serves as a “barometric vent” needed after all the waterproofing to help the built-in barometer sensor measure altitude accurately.
      LTE is Qualcomm in international units, but AT&T and T-Mobile phones (non-CDMA) models use an new Intel LTE chip.
      Gasket around components like the sim tray and mute switch.
      A10 chip is "incredibly thin" possibly confirming that TSMC’s InFO packaging technique is being used.
      Flash storage sourced from at least Hynix and Toshiba
      They also tore down the new Apple Watch Series 2
        Lots of adhesive and gaskets
        One-third more battery. 273mAh
        ‘zero insertion force’ connectors. Easier repairs if you can get in there.
        Larger Taptic Engine
        More complex antenna assembly, like due to the addition of GPS.
        A second mic most likely to support Siri and better noise cancellation. Other reports had already noticed the extra mic hole on the Apple Watch case.
        Apple Watch Series 2 now all have a ceramic back with silver rings around the heart rate sensors.
    Some iPhone 7 Pluses seem to be whining
      Or at least making a noise that should like hissing and whirring. Not something you'd expect from a solid state device.
      It was reported on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ismh) by Stephen Hackett, of the blog [512 Pixels](https://512pixels.net/)
      And confirmed by others including Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch
      It seems to happen when the iPhone is under extreme load.
      At this point it's a mystery, but sounds like Apple will try to replace any units exhibiting the issue.
      Theories abound including RF noise, a new cooling system (not likely), or maybe "coil whine" (which seems most likely).
        Coil whine can happen in a lot of technology today, but especially in video cards.
        It can happen when a component is working really hard and begins to vibrate, emitting a high-pitched noise in the process.
      The bad news is that if it is coil whine there might not be much Apple can do to fix it.
      So far most reports seem to be limited to the iPhone 7 Plus.
      You can test by running a GPU intensive benchmark suite and listening to the back of the iPhone.
    YouTubers have surfaced in droves to torture test the new iPhones
      Water tests top the list and the iPhone is surviving well
        Submerged in water, soda, and hot tea and survived. Taken for a dip in the ocean and survived.
        Taken to depth
      It's also doing well in drop tests. Surviving facedown drops on to concrete of over 6ft in many cases
      Also, not bending.
      The channel, JerryRigEverything, put every glass surface through a Mohs mineral hardness pick test. The scale for sapphire glass should be a 9, but the number 6 pick scratched every surface including the iPhone lens cover which the Apple specs claim is Sapphire glass.
    The new solid state home button will not work without skin contact, but then again neither would the TouchID sensor.
      It does work with some capacitive gloves.
      you do have the new raise to wake feature so I'm not sure how big a deal this will be.
    While not a fan personally I was a bit surprised Apple did not add a wireless charging option to the iPhone 7
      More evidence surfaced that Apple could be working with Energous on wireless charging tech
      Energous is developing a system called WattUp which will reportedly offer wireless charging to devices from up to 15 ft away.
      Earlier this year they made a statement that they were working with “one of the top five consumer electronics companies” and some speculated that meant Apple.
      Now there was a 2014 FCC filing spotted that stated the company expected their products and/or reference designs to, "undergo UL/CE as well as FCC Part 15, FCC Part 18, SAR, California Energy Star and Apple compliance testing."
      The company issued a statement saying, "The SEC filing statement from 2014 blankets any future anticipated testing and is not indicative of specific partners."
    Will the Mac or iPads lose the headphone jack next?
      Apple seems to have sent out a survey asking Mac owners what por ts they use most including the headphone jack.
      “Do you ever use the headphone port on your MacBook Pro with Retina display?”
      For me the answer is "everyday".
      They also seem to be probing about the SD card slot, “How do you upload photos from your digital camera or phone to your MacBook Pro with Retina Display?”
      I think on a Mac it's too soon, especially for the "Pro" which is used by audio and video pros. I also think the SD card slot should stay.
  Inside Apple's latest custom chip technologies
    The A10 Fusion
      "Fusion" is in reference the two different core pairs in the architecture.
        There are two-high power cores for performance
        And two "high-efficiency" cores to extend battery life
      Apple says the A10 has 3.3 billion transistors. Apple never gave a count for the A9, but the A8 had 2 billion. So A10 has more than 50 more transistors than the A8.
      Since the A9 and A10 both use a 16nm FinFET process, we would assume the A10 die to be larger than the A9, but the iFixit teardown seems to show they are about the same size.
      The Samsung version uses a 14nm FinFET process, so it's possible Apple was able to optimize placement and sizing to have a single design for either process.
      Benchmarks seem to indicate a 2.33 GHz core speed, or a 25 percent faster clock speed over the 1.85 GHz processor in the A9.
        Apple claims the A10 is up to 40 percent faster so we can assume there are other architecture tweaks beyond the clock speed enhancements.
      Apple's ability to custom design a chip that balances both performance cores and efficient ones allows them to do this kind of magic.
      Balancing performance, controlling the thermal profile and energy consumption and basically getting more raw performance with lower clock speeds and less memory.
      On the GPU side Apple mention they are still using a six-cluster design, which is what was also used in the A9
        There must be tweaks though because Apple says the A10's GPU is up to 50 percent faster and uses just two-thirds the power.
        In the A9 Apple reported used an Imagination Technologies 7XT series of GPU and there has not been any significant improvements to that design.
        So just how Apple is getting more performance and better power consumption is unclear.
        One thought is possibly is an unannounced Imagination Technologies GPU or a custom Apple design.
      Incredible engineering that's paying off in benchmarks.
      The A10 is smoking the competition and posting iPad Pro and Macbook Air like Geekbench numbers.
        The single-core score of 3,450 is almost double the second ranked Samsung’s Galaxy S7. The multi-core score of 5,630 just edges out the 5,213 score of the Galaxy S7.
        The comparisons to "Macbook Air" in raw benchmarks I think are a bit overstated, but still impressive. There are other factors such as platform, architecture, and OS that play into the overall performance.
    The S2, Apple Watch chip.
      Here there is speculation that Apple took what is believed to be a Cortex-A7 CPU design used for the S1 and doubled the cores.
      That would account for the S2's dual core architecture and up 50 percent boost in performance.
      Some think the "high-efficiency" cores in the A10 might be a variation of a stock dual core Cortex-A53 and that Apple may be using the same part of that design for the S2.
    The W1 is impressive
      It's adds a hardware and software layer around Bluetooth. Doesn't replace it, but makes it better.
      Fixes a lot of the pain points. Reliability, battery life, and maybe range?
      Reports from the event are that pairing is vastly improved, painless, and nearly instantaneous
      Battery life also seems vastly improved
        Beats Solo 2's had 12 hours, the new W1 enabled Solo 3s claim up to 40 hours and Apple claims that is ‘driven by the efficiency of the Apple W1 chip.’
      For the reliability and range its a little less clear, but there is some evidence that something is going on here.
        The Solo 3s are Class 1 Bluetooth, which claims 300 feet or 100 meters of range, but some are reporting up to 400 - 500 feet in their informal testing.
        Some think Apple might be using parts of the future Bluetooth 5 standard. The iPhone 7 only claims to be 4.2
      The W1 chip can work with older devices to bring the pairing and power-saving magic. Of course requires the appropriate software support. So I assume older iOS devices running iOS 10 might get the benefits, but don't count on seeing W1 support on Android.
      Hopefully Apple will license the chip to other headphone makers at some point. With Beats though it might not be in Apple's best interest.
  Apple's interest in AR
    Tim Cook did an interview with Good Morning America and talks bout AR and VR
      He said augmented reality would be the, "larger of the two".
      AR allows users to be "present" in the technology.
      Said that he sees VR has interest and applications in education and gaming.
    After the GMA interview Business Insider noted two more recent Apple hires in the AR/VR fields from LinkedIn
      Zeyu Li, who worked at Magic Leap as a principal computer vision engineer was hired as a "Senior Computer Vision Algorithm Engineer."
      Yury Petrov, a former research scientist at Oculus, joined Apple as a "research scientist".
    EP Global Communications
      Working on an AR contact lens project.
      Said to meet with Apple for using the iPhone as a platform integrating with their lenses
      Still very early stage, but they have demonstrated the viability of integrating electronic circuitry into a silicone hydrogel contact lens.
      Also have patents on cool stuff like a method of connecting a pair of contact lenses with a host device using wireless technology and a "Smart Storage Case" that acts as a liquid charging dock for future lenses.
      Investigating methods of harvesting energy generated by the blink of an eye
    it's well know Apple has been making investments in AR/Vr technologies
      They have hired major players in the field and been acquiring companies
      Most are thought to be making their way to Apple's Titan car project
      Doesn't mean Apple's interest is limited to cars.
    All this said I wouldn't look for any VR or AR consumer products from Apple any time soon
      Motion sickness, resolution, field of view, tracking latency and other early issues make the technology not year viable for widespread consumer applications
      Some see Apple not moving in the space as a sign of them falling behind, but we know better.
      Apple has done this before. Letting others bring "not ready for primetime" technologies to market first.
      All the while working in secret and watching the market for opportunities.
      They then launch a fully realized and integrated solution that has broad consumer applications and appeal.
    Plus the current iPhone already offers a small, albeit limited, set of AR and VR applications via 3rd parties.
      The success of something like Pokemon GO shows some of the potential.
  Apple car engineers at Magna
    Recent reports have been saying that Apple might be shifting from making an electric car to building an autonomous car platform under the leadership of Bob Mansfield
    Still this week there are report that Apple still has "about a dozen" engineers working on a car with contract manufacturer Magna at Apple facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif according to Bloomberg
    The report didn't provide specifics so it's not for sure these engineers are building a full car, but it seems likely they could be.
    One thought is that Apple will focus on the system first and then building a vehicle around it later.
    I still belive they want to build an autonomous on-demand car subscription service and that they will start with an autonomous on-demand car service in China via their investment in Didi Chung.
  What's next for Apple Services?
    The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has hired Former Time Warner Cable executive Peter Stern
      Stern was one of the executives at Warner who was involved in talks with Apple about a potential deal for a joint television service that would be offered on the Apple TV.
      The Wall Street Journal also reports that Stern is a vocal proponent for eliminating proprietary cable boxes provided by cable companies believing that content providers should "be more open" to offering TV channels as apps across a wide range of devices.
      Stern will serve as a vice president, reporting directly to Eddy Cue and could possibly have been hired to help negotiate deals with media companies for a future television service.
    In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Apple Music head Jimmy Iovine said Apple has no interest in acquiring ANY streaming services.
      A few months back there were rumors that Apple may be in talks to buy the Jay Z-owned streaming service Tidal.
      Iovine did not directly deny that talks may or may not have happened just that now Apple is not looking to make any acquisitions.
Feedback, commentary, opinions
  AirPods and other feedback
    As predicted Spigen now has an AirPods strap. Sure we'll see more.
    Robert mentions that maybe the "killer" app for AirPods is HomeKit and Siri. I think for sure they are a step toward a "voice first" interface. With the beam forming mics and option for single ear operation. Good for home office users too.
    In response to my tips about Apple Customer service, Lynda mentioned asking to speak with Apple Customer Relations if you are unhappy with the support you received. Maybe try them before sending an email to Tim's office
  Saving multiple iOS backups in iTunes
    On the last episode I mention that when you do your backups via iTunes of iOS devices that it typically stores one backup that is then overwritten each time you do a subsequent backup for that same device. I also mention using iMazing to archive and create multiple iOS backups of the same device.
    I had one listener mention that this was incorrect and that manually running a backup will indeed create a separate backup. I tested it locally and it did seems to work the first time, but creating a second manual backup of the same device overwrote my prior manual backup. So maybe it's one automated and one manual?
    Still, John wrote in with a tip on how to get iTunes to always save any backup you want to keep.
      iTunes > Preferences > Devices
      Right click on the backup you wish to save and choose "Archive"
      You can save as many as you want. When you no longer need it right click and choose 'Delete'
  My first days with the new iPhone
    I purchased a black 128GB iPhone 7, not the Plus.
    Transferring old phones to other users
      One thing that happens in my family is phones being handed down.
      Some things to prep. If you're adding a new line go to the carrier store in advance and set up the number and get a SIM for the phone you'll be handing down. You might also need a new SIM if the one being replaced by the hand me down is older than an iPhone 5 9nano-SIM)
      If you paired an Apple Watch with your iPhone, unpair your Apple Watch.
      Connect the phone to iTunes, select the device, go to Summary and click 'Back Up Now'. Also check the 'Encrypt iPhone backup' if you want to save password and Health data. If you just want to use your iCloud backup you could skip the local backup, but I don't trust iCloud that much.
      Tap Settings > iCloud. Scroll down and tap Sign Out. In iOS 7 or earlier, tap Delete Account.
      Go back to Settings and tap General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. If you turned on Find My iPhone, you might need to enter your Apple ID and password.
      If asked for your device passcode or Restrictions passcode, enter it. Then tap Erase [device].
      Wait for it to show the 'Welcome' screen and then your ready to pass on your old device.
      When you connect your new iPhone 7 choose to restore from your backup, local or iCloud.
    Restore issues:
      While all your data is brought back your apps, photos, music, and media files are NOT.
      Most, if not all of this, needs to be re-downloaded from Apple. (Bad idea Apple).
      If you lose your App organization just try running the restore again and it should fix it.
      I've also noticed need to restore in-app purchases and resign-in to accounts like Netflix and HBOGo, etc.
    The outer box had the "peel off" wrapper with the tab instead of shrink wrap.
    Color is amazing, I love it. Paired it with a leather saddle brown Apple case and I love the look.
      Antenna lines blend really well and are almost invisible.
      Love the metal buttons on the leather case
    Hate the new Home Button
      I'm getting more used to the feel, but still feels like you're clicking the whole bottom of the phone.
      Nice that you can choose the feel in settings. I'm on level 2.
    Speakers sound good.
      Can tell that there is stereo separation
      They can go pretty loud with little distortion
      Still just mobile phone speakers so not a lot of depth.
    Display is definitely brighter and more vibrant. Also more contrast.
    Photos are good, but I had a hard time seeing the difference
      There is more clarity and detail and the colors seem more accurate
      Low light is OK, but still has a some muddiness and grain, just not as pronounced
    New EarPods are good
      A listener said the shape is a little different. They felt Ok in my ears. Sounded good too, not great, but good.
      The adapter worked well too. Cable seems really thin and I worry about breakage. Replacements are USD $9 bucks.
  iOS 10 features you may have missed
    Music
      Optimize Music Storage
        If you subscribe to Apple Music you can now control how much space is used up for local downloaded tracks.
        Once you hit the limit iOS will remove older downloaded tracks that you have not listened to to make room for the new stuff
        Go to Settings > Music > Optimize Storage
        Choose the amount you want allocated.
        In Settings > Music you can also see how much storage is being used by Music downloads.
      Lyrics in Music
        Now in the Music app if you slide up on the player sheet you'll see the Lyrics
        Tap Show to view the song lyrics.
      Add photos to your playlists
        Go to the playlist Library > Playlists and select it.
        Then tap the Edit button.
        You should then see a camera icon over the album art. Tap it and choose an image from Photos or take one with the camera.
        Tap Done.
    Control the Flashlight intensity
      Swipe up for Control Center.
      Tap the Flashlight icon
      Force press on the icon to bring up the intensity options. High, medium, or low.
      Need an iPhone that supports 3D Touch.
    Train Siri and correct her mistakes
      After dictating a message in Siri tap the message result before sending it.
      Siri will over a list of alternative translations.
      You can also tap on blue underlines to fix individual worlds.
    Markup your Photos
      In Photos, tap edit.
      Then tap the "…" (more) button.
      Then tap 'Markup'
      You can now draw and annotate on your photos.
      Tap done.
      In the past you could do this in Mail, but now it's in Photos too.
    Hide built-in apps
      Now you can git rid of Apple's built-in apps (sort of)
      Tap and hold and tap the "x"
      They will be hidden from view, but not removed
      Calendar, Compass, Contacts, FaceTime, Find My Friends, Home, iBooks, iCloud Drive, iTunes Store, Mail, Maps, Music, News, Notes, Podcasts, Reminders, Stocks, Tips, Videos, Voice Memos, Watch, and Weather.
    Announce who's calling
      Settings > Phone
      Announce Calls
      Options for Always, Headphones & Car, Headphones only, or Never.
    Turn off System Haptics
      If you have an iPhone 7 many system functions now have haptic feedback scrolling date select dials, rubber banding, etc.
      You can control it in Settings > Sounds & Haptics. Set the System Haptics option to "Off".
      The setting does not change "vibration" settings or feedback.
    3rd gen Apple TV no longer supports HomeKit automation
      It can still do HomeKit remote access, but will not let you set up automated events and triggers.
      Could use an "always on" iPad running iOS 10
      HomeKit on iOS 10 also requires you to have two-factor authentication for the iCloud account used to manage HomeKit.
    WatchOS 3
      On Apple Watch Series 2 there is a "Wake Screen on Crown Up" feature. Twist the digital crown up and the watch display will fade up. Letting you view the display without the need to raise your wrist.
        The brightness level will also stay the same if you raise your wrist while in this mode.
        You can enable or disable the feature in the Apple Watch app under General > Wake Screen
  iMessage tips and tricks
    Digital Touch
      Draw, tap color to select colors
      tap the camera icon to record video or take a photo.
        You can draw or use digital touch gestures on top of your photos.
        Could not find a way to load a picture from the camera roll into digital touch
        Tap to send "touch"
        Tap and hold to shoot fireball
        Two finger tap for a kiss
        Two finger hold for heartbeats
        Two finger hold and pinch apart for a broken heart
        I hate that digital touch gestures auto send because they are hard to do and easy to get wrong.
    Bubble and Screen effects
      Start typing your message and you should see a blue arrow in the message box.
      Force press or tap and hold the blue arrow to bring up the Bubble and Screen effects panel
      Select your effect
        Bubbles: Slam, Loud, Gentle, or Invisible Ink
        Screen: Balloons, confetti, lasers, fireworks,shooting star
      Tap the blue arrow to send or "x" to cancel.
      If you're not seeing the effects make sure "Reduce motion" is not on in Settings > General > Accessibility
      Users with devices not running iOS 10 or non-iOs devices see a "sent with [effect]" message
    Tapback responses
      Tap and hold on a message bubble to add a reaction. Love, like, dislike, laugh, exclaim, and question
      Tap and hold on a tapback to see what reactions it has and who the last person to react was (in panel at the top)
      If there are many people reacting tap on the image to reveal everyone who gave that reaction.
    Stickers
      Get them from the iMessage Store
        Tap the App Store icon in iMessage (might need to tap the expand arrow)
        Tap the "apps" icon in the lower left and tap "+" to go to the store.
        Find the app or sticker pack you want and but or tap "get".
        It will download, but might not be activated.
        Repeat the steps to get to the store and tap the 'Manage' tab.
        Activate any new packs or apps you want to use
      To get to a sticker pack or an app
        Tap the app store icon
        The last app or sticker pack you used should come up
        Swipe to switch or tap the app launcher (iMessage springboard?)
      Placing a sticker
        Tap the sticker to place it into it's own message or tap and pull on it to "peel" it. Peeled stickers you can drag onto any existing messages in your chat window.
        After peeling a sticker add a second finger and "pinch to zoom" to control it's size before you place it.
        Remove a sticker by placing a finger on it and holding on it until the "reaction" options come up. (btw, this will temporarily hide it too in case you need to see text under a sticker). Now at the bottom tap 'Sticker Details'. Swipe across the sticker (right to left) and you'll get a 'Delete' option.
      Users with non-iOS 10 devices see the stickers as separate text message images
    Low quality mode
      You can save space and bandwidth by enabling low-quality mode
      Settings > Messages
      Scroll to bottom and turn on 'Low Quality Image Mode'
      This seems to limit images to around 100K
    Details
      Tap on Details "i" button for a message thread and get a bunch of new stuff
      Per contact Read Receipts
      See media sorted between images and attachments
      At the top see all participants in a conversation
    Emoji
      3 times bigger emoji if only 1-3 emoji in the message
      Type out a message and "emojify" it.
        After typing the message and before sending switch to the Emoji keyboard
        Words that might match emoji will appear in orange
        Tap the orange word to replace it with the matching emoji
        If there are multiple possible it will pop-up a selection list to choose from.
Closing
  Podcast Marketplace
    Thanks to my sponsors
      Smile
      Gazelle
        Gazelle. The fast and simple way to sell your used gadgets! Find out what your used iPhone, iPad and other Apple products are worth at Gazelle.com.
  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