shownotes_20161112

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
News
  New MacBook Pro seems to be a hit
    At least when it comes to order numbers and sales According to some reports
    Data from Slice (which monitors online order receipts) seems to show that the new MacBook Pro has already generated revenue equal to 82 percent of ALL of the revenue generated by the 12-inch Macbook since it was launched.
    They also say, according to their data, the new MacBook Pro has generated more revenue than any other laptop this year.
    All this in the first few weeks of sales
    Phil Schiller claimed recently that the new MacBook Pro has had more orders than any other pro model ever
    Apple has also reportedly told parts suppliers to expect strong shipments through the end of 2016 according to Digitimes
      Originally Apple had been conservative on orders according to the report, but that changed after the October announcement
      The report claims Apple has had to add a second supplier for the OLED Touchbar as the original supplier was having trouble meeting demand.
      Some analysts are now thinking Apple could ship up to 15 million units by the end of the year and they expect orders to remain strong into 2017
    Now that reviewers and others are getting a closer look the negative initial reactions seem to be calming down
      Is it pricey, yes. Overpriced? Maybe depending on your perspective.
      Is it capped at 16GB of RAM, yes. Does it matter? Again, maybe, but probably not as much as you think.
      Is the Touchbar incredibly cool. Hell yes. Does it increase productivity and workflow? Maybe. Show a lot of promise.
    So what's changing hearts and minds? The whole, as cliché as it sounds, is greater than the sum of it's parts. Or more accurately is better because of the sum of it's great parts.
    Incredibly fast SSDs (top in the industry) and fast RAM means paging happens incredibly fast, so even when taxed the SSD becomes almost an extension of the memory. At least if you believe Robin Harris at ZDNet.
    The logic is certainly sound. Robin also points out the the software, macOS, is also doing memory compression which lessens the burden on the memory system.
    Other pro video editors seem to also be chiming in and saying that for many daily tasks the differences once you go over 16GB of RAM are not as great as many think.
      Phil Schiller pointed a link to a Huffington post piece by a pro Final Cut Pro editor
      He found he could edit 5K video in FCP X and it was "buttery smooth"
      He also said it was outperforming superior spec'd Windows machines
      He also commented on the fast SSDs and the combination of hardware and software being a plus for Apple
    Another reviewer on YouTube found that exporting H.264 1080p video was considerably faster on the MacBook Pro vs. an HP Spectre x360 1:30 seconds vs. almost 9:00 minutes for encoding the same source video file.
    Yes, some users will use ands need more physical RAM, but those may be more edge cases than the norm, but still why some are questioning the "Pro" label. Seems unfair since no one did when the old Pro had just 16GB, but it is over a year later.
  Sketchy 'Jet White' iPhone rumors
    They have occasionally had correct iPhone rumors, but I'm having a hard time believe it this one from Mac Otakara
    They say Apple plans to do a high gloss white version on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus they are calling "Jet White"
    Even they admit the source might be "unreliable".
    They did correctly predict the "Jet Black" though.
    And what about next years iPhone, the 8? 10 (for 10th Anniversary)?
      Lots of speculation is flying and we've talks about a lot of it.
      OLED, all glass design, curved.
      Now we're hearing bigger, but maybe not bigger.
      This from Barclays Research analysts who say the new phones will come in 5-inch and 5.8-inch sizes.
      But the devices would be "borderless" so presumably retain, or at least be close to, their existing sizes/form factors.
      Still rumors that the OLED screens might be only on the larger phone.
      I would have dismissed a 5.8-inch model but remember Ming-Chi Kuo also mentioned this earlier this year.
      Some have said that Apple could achieve a larger screen, but keep a smaller case by removing the physical home button entirely (this year then went non-mechanical), but the Barclay's report it will not.
    And bezel-free seems to be the future
      Barclay's also believes that Apple will introduce three new iPad models early next year.
      Re-fresher 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch models, but also a new bezel-free 10.9-inch model.
      So again the same physical size as the current 9.7-inch but with a larger screen.
      Once again this is not the first time we've heard about a 10+ inch iPad design.
      So why still have a 9.7? That would reportedly remain as a "entry-level" model
      Other likely updates would be bringing the TrueTone display technology and 12-megapixel iSight camera to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, also all models with quad microphones and they will all have a 3.5-mm headphone jack.
  NBCUniversal will sell Apple News ads
    A recode support says that Apple will stop selling the ads themselves beginning in January
    Publishers will still be able to sell their own ads inside their own content and keep 100 percent of the revenue
    Any remaining ad inventory will be sold by NBCUniversal and of those ads publishers still keep their 70 percent cut.
    NBCUniversal said they will create a dedicated sale stream just for the Apple News app.
  Apple cracks down on 'fake' apps
    Apple has recently removed hundreds of fake shopping apps from the App Store
    It appears that ne'er-do-wells are placing fake shopping apps with misleading icons and names trying to trick shoppers.
    Counterfeit apps have been seen for retail chains like Dollar Tree and Foot Locker, big department stores like Dillard’s and Nordstrom, online product bazaars like Zappos.com and Polyvore, and luxury-goods makers like Jimmy Choo, Christian Dior and Salvatore Ferragamo.
    Apple is finding and removing the apps quickly, but the perpetrators seems to just be creating new apps and new developer account to try and slip things past Apple's curators.
    Just make sure you're paying close attention to the developer, the name of the app, icon, design and other indicators before you use a shopping app.
  Apple makes it easier to get tvOS apps
    Since Apple launched tvOS apps it's been tricky for developers to get you to them
    At first you just had browsing the App Store on Apple TV
    Then they added categories, followed by the ability to link to web previews, but no purchase links
    Back in September there was an automatic download option added to tvOS that worked if the TV app had a companion iOS app.
    Now it seems Apple has finally added tvOS apps to their iTunes Link Maker tool
    Developers can build a link that will directly link to a tvOS only App on the App Store so you can now buy directly on an iOS device or in iTunes even if the app is a tvOS only app.
  When will we get AirPods
    Since Apple quietly announced AirPods would not be shipping on time we've all been wondering.
    Apple's site was changed to simply state, "Coming Soon".
    As we discussed last week, supply chain checks seems to show they might not ship this year at all.
    That would be a blow for the holiday selling season.
    Then this week we get a rumor from an employee at an Apple reseller, Conrad, who told a customer (who heard from his uncle, who heard from a guy who he thinks knows the cousin of Phil Schiller, that he said…) Ok, you get the idea.
    In actuality, supposedly this Conrad guy told the customer that they would be getting AirPods in-stock by November 18-19th.
    A little more reliable source, Barclay's, thinks Apple will have a January launch for the AirPods
      How could have Tim Cook been SOOO wrong?
      Barclay's sees the AirPods entering production in December meaning Apple will miss the lucrative Holiday launch window
      My guess is that it will not matter.
      Demand will be high and supply really low. Estimates are that Apple will have between 10 million to 15 million ready in January.
      It's like the Apple Pencil all over again.2
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    Devices can then get the best connection because they can go to the nearest Eero
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
  Sync apps back from iTunes
    Last week we talked about App thinning and why after doing an update and restore from iTunes will often cause your apps top re-download from the App Store.
    On theory we had about a possible workaround was making sure that your apps were all downloaded and on your Mac in iTunes prior to backing up, erasing, and restoring your device.
    I did not have time to test the theory, but this week Mark did.
    And for him after making sure all the apps were updated and stored locally when he recovered the iOS device the apps did sync back from iTunes.
    Great news.
    You may also be able to force individual app to reinstall from the local copy by connecting to iTunes
      Select the device and click on the Apps tab
      Click "Install" next to the app.
      You may have to "remove" it first (note this will remove the apps data).
  Getting photos back in the "Camera Roll"
    Last week Gary was looking for some ideas to get photos back at the top of the photos library for when he accessed them from third party apps
    We suggested some ideas but after hearing our suggestions Donna had these thoughts
    iOS Screenshots will typically be at the resolution of the iPhone screen, so yes they will be 1334 x 750 on an iPhone 7 for example.
    To access the 'Duplicate' option
      Select the photo in Photos and then tap the 'Share' icon
      Swipe along the Action icons to find the 'Duplicate' icon
    Interestingly some other handy Photo actions are "hidden" in the Share icon including the 'Hide' option
      Use this to hide item sin your Library without having to remove or delete them.
      You can tap the 'More…' button to add additional actions and re-order them
  Health Data and multiple devices
    I only have a single repository for my Health app data, my iPhone and I never really thought about this.
    Allen sent in an email he had from Apple support because he uses both an iPod 6th gen and an iPhone and hoped that the Health data would sync for say his step counts.
    It doesn't, but you can control how Health manages data from multiple sources
    Here's an [Apple Support Article](https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht204351) that explains how.
    Instead of aggregating and syncing the same data points from different devices Health uses a priority to determine what to store.
    The priority also goes for things like fitness bands
    The default way the Health app prioritized data is
      1. Health data that you input manually.
      2. Data from your iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple Watch.
      3. Data from other third-party apps and Bluetooth devices.
    But that's only by default. As you add new devices and app apps the system takes a last in first out approach. So if you add a new step tracking app it's data will be prioritized (when you use it) above other items like your Phone or Apple Watch
    If you want to view your data sources
      1. Open Health and tap Health Data.
      2. Tap a category, like Activity. You can also swipe down to reveal the search bar, then enter what you're looking for.
      3. Tap a data type, like Steps.
      4. Tap Data Sources & Access.
    If you want to see all the a devices or apps that are contributing data you can tap the 'Sources' tab.
      Then drill into an app or device and see the data or activity categories it's contributing to.
    To reorganize the data priority:
      1. Open the Health app and tap Health Data.
      2. Tap a category, like Activity.
      3. Tap a data type, like Steps.
      4. Tap Data Sources & Access and tap Edit.
      5. Touch and hold list icon next to a data source and move it up or down in the list.
    The item at the top of the list will always have top priority, just know that if you add a new device or app it will then be on top and you'll have to come back and re-order them.
  What's is Documents & Data?
    Why does make what's actually store on our iOS devices such a mystery?
    Take a look at your device when it's connected in iTunes and you'll see.
      Audio, Video, Photos, Apps are all straight forward.
      Then you have "Other" which on one really gets and we've discussed
      But what about "Documents & Data"? I have 10.56 GBs of it on my iPhone
    Don't get me even started on why iTunes shows me 51.37 GB of Free space yet when I go into Settings > General > Storage & iCloud Usage available says 52.21 (why does iTunes think I have 1.1 GB more than the iPhone thinks?).
    So presumably 'Documents & Data' would be stuff stored by individual apps.
    OK, but if you check Settings > General > Storage & iCloud Usage > Manage Storage and tap on the app (first screen shows the app + it's storage) and start adding up app amounts it likely won't add up to match.
    So the assumption then becomes, well maybe the "extra" is caches? Lot of apps use caches.
    But unlike my Mac when I can use a utility to clear those iOS doesn't have that.
    In some cases the apps themselves will offer that.
      Safari has Settings > Safari > Clear History & Website Data
      Also 3rd party apps
      Reeder for example lets you purge it's cache files from inside the app.
        Purge images, but not other cache
        I went from 135.7MB to 135.3
    It'd be nice if there was a better way to visualize and manage this data.
    Specifically it's be nice to have a universal way to clear all cache files, especially when you need to quickly free up some space for an app install or an upgrade.
Closing
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