A Wedbush analyst claims the iPhone 13 could finally bring a 1TB storage option to the Pro models and Apple may have LiDAR scanners across the entire lineup
Apple leaker Jon Prosser has also claimed that Apple would offer 1TB storage options on iPhone’s this year
The thought is that with the new ProRAW option, which are 10 to 12 times larger than HEIF or JPEG files, iPhone photographers are going to want/need more storage. Also, 4K videographers.
With many still looking to get on the 5G bandwagon and 5G deployments going wider it’s also expected that the iPhone 13 will bring another stellar year for Apple.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also continues to update investors with his predictions for iPhone
120Hz ProMotion displays and offer low-power LTPO display technology
Same 4 models and sizes as last years iPhone 12s
A smaller notch
Lightning connectors all around
Kuo had previously hinted that one Pro model may be “portless”
Claims the MagSafe eco-system just isn’t mature enough yet.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon X60 modem
Can aggregate 5G data from both mmWave and sub-6GHz bands simultaneously
Models will be slightly heavier due to larger batteries
Upgrade to the ultra wide-angle lens to add auto-focus and sensor-shift OIS (optical image stabilization).
Yes, the current version is fixed focus
Would enable closer wide-angle shots
Kuo continues to think that LiDAR scanners will still be only available on the iPhone 13 Pro models
Kuo also notes that Apple has plans for update to the iPhone SE, but that now it seems the updates may not be here until the last half of they year or in early 2022
The update would add 5G to Apple’s low cost iPhone option and update it with updated processors
The design is expected to remain unchanged from the current 4.7-inch iPhone SE
Says the user experience could be improved if Apple would adopt the TouchID power button, like they did for iPad, but there currently is no indication on when or if they plan to do that.
On the Pro side for 2022 Kuo thinks Apple may adopt a “punch hole” design for the camera.
Not sure how this works with the other components needed to power FaceID and Kuo doesn’t explain that either.
Jon Prosser stated on a podcast that the rumored upcoming MagSafe battery pack from Apple would come in a “premium” version that will offer bi-lateral charging.
Hints at NFL on Apple TV+ (again)
Really this is something that we’ve heard before, but seems like a long shot
The gist is that “most if not all of (the NFLs) media contracts.” are up for renewal and NFL Sunday Ticket and Thursday Night Football could be up for grabs
DirecTV, is expected to not renew their out-of-market NFL Sunday package and Apple could be on the list to pick it up, if they want it
There’s no indication that they are beyond the speculation that it could be a great way to drive up Apple TV+ subscriptions.
Thursday Night Football could also be in the mix as long as the NFL isn’t looking for an exclusive partner who would be responsible for production.
If it remains non-exclusive it could be ESPN+, Amazon, and Apple sharing the broadcasts
Apple TV+ signs order for ‘Roar'
“Roar”, described as an "anthology series of darkly comic feminist fables."
Will star Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Merritt Wever, and Alison Brie
It’s from the creators of GLOW, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch
The series will be a season eight half-hour episodes that are based on a book of short stories by Cecilia Ahern
Apple TV+ got a nice bump in viewers with the release of it’s Billie Eilish documentary “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”
Deadline reports that Apple saw a 33 percent bump in new viewers to the service.
Most of the new viewers are also in the desirable “young adult” demographic.
We’ll have to wait and see if they stick around, but with the Russo Brothers film “Cherry”, starring Tom Holland, coming out soon they just might.
Apple has also signed a series order for a Korean-language show based on the popular Korean webtoon, "Dr. Brain"
The series will be written and directed by filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon and feature Lee Sun-Kyun who is know for his role in “Parasite”
The show is described as, “an emotional journey that follows a brain scientist who is obsessive about figuring out new technologies to access the consciousness and memories of the brain”
Apple TV+ shows and films are also up for some more awards
In the Annie Awards for animation the movie Wolfwalkers, produced by Cartoon Saloon and Melusine Productions, is up for 10 awards including Best Animated Feature
And the children’s TV series Stillwater earned one nomination for "Best Pre-School" episode
In the Saturn Awards for science fiction Apple received nominations for "For All Mankind," "Servant," and "Amazing Stories"
"For All Mankind" has been nominated for Best Fantasy Television Series
"Servant" is nominated for Best Horror Television Series
"Amazing Stories" has been nominated for Best Television Presentation (Under 10 Episodes)
Ted Lasso walked away with three Critics Choice Awards
Including winning the award for Best Comedy Series
Jason Sudeikis also won for Best Actor in a Comedy Series
And his co-star Hannah Waddingham won for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
All Apple Stores open again in the US
As of March 1, 2020 all 270 Apple stores in the US are “open” in one way or another.
Some are offering in-store shopping appointments while others can accept Express pickup of online orders only
Last week Apple added a couple dozen more stores in California, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, and Utah to the growing list offering in-store shopping sessions
Stores will continue to enforce health and safety guidelines that include reduced occupancy and a mask requirement.
And they will continue to monitor and evaluate local conditions, so we could see some stores re-close conditions change.
So, we’re definitely a far cry from being able to just pop down to the Apple Store to do some shopping, but at least this feels like a baby-step to getting back to doing just that.
FindMy opens to third parties
With the third beta of iOS 14.5 Apple has opened up the “Items” tab in the FindMy app.
This allows users to add “Non-Apple” devices to the FindMy App
It’s believed that one of the ways you would do this is with the rumored Apple AirTags but, as those are not a real product yet, the feature currently only works with 3rd party products
Reports mention Beats headphones and Belkin Wireless Earbuds, announced at CES and compatible with Find My app.
It’s not clear how the compatibility works. Apple’s AirTags are expected to use UWB technology to make finding items more accurate.
The feature will give you a push notification if the item is separated from your device
A disturbing message has appeared in the strings of the third beta of macOS 11.3
At least disturbing if you own an M1 Mac and rely on Rosetta
Discovered by Mac Rumors there are two strings in the beta that state:
"Rosetta will be removed upon installing this update."
"Rosetta is no longer available in this region. Applications requiring Rosetta will no longer run."
It’s not clear why these are appearing, what regions might be impacted, or when they might go into effect.
Assumption is there could be some legal issues or challenges surrounding Rosetta in some regions.
Will 2021 be the year of OLED
At least for Apple’s non-iPhone / Apple Watch products?
We’ve been hearing OLED iPad and MacBook Pro rumors for a while, but we have yet to see a product and we may be waiting another year.
At least according to DigiTimes and their assessment of the supply chain
There were signs that Apple might be shooting to have OLED iPad Pro model out in the second half of 2021, but now that seems unclear.
What is expected this year are iPad and MacBook models with Mini-LED-backlit LCD displays.
Mini-LED LCDs do offer a lot of the benefits of OLED with high brightness and high contrast and better energy efficiency without risk of burn-in. So depending on how they perform there’s a possibility we skip OLED and go straight to Mico-LED, another tech Apple is rumored to be looking into.
Just a few odds and ends
Australian government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved the ECG function in Apple Watch
So we might finally see that feature being made available to Apple Watch owners in Australia
Recent data from Counterpoint research says Apple increased their Apple Watch shipment 19 percent year over year in the fourth quarter shipping an estimated 33.9 million units
This is despite an overall decline in smartwatch shipments for the quarter
They also say Apple was able to increase their global smartwatch marketshare dominance from 34 percent to 40 percent.
Supposed leaked image of an updated Apple Pencil for iPad Pro surfaced on twitter by a user called “Mr. White"
The only real noticeable change is a “glossy” vs matte finish. So returning to it’s roots?
Apple has made it easier to transfer your iCloud Photos to Google Photos
Through a new feature on Apple’s privacy website you can now transfer a copy of your photos to Google Photos
The transfer process takes between three and seven days, with Apple verifying that the request was made by you.
You need to have two-factor authentication on for your Apple ID and you must have enough Google Photo storage available for the transfer.
It will only transfer the most recent edited version of a photo (if it’s been edited), they will try to keep photos in their albums when possible, but videos are transferred separately
Currently limited to customers in Australia, Canada, the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States
Apple says the rumored new feature in iOS 14.5 that people are reporting will let you change the “default” music player app to a service other than Apple Music is not that.
In a statement to TechCrunch Apple says there’s no specific setting in iOS where users can configure a “default” music service
They say the feature is Siri intelligence-based. Siri might ask which service or app you want to listen on, but choosing one will not make a permanent change.
It could change over time and you could be asked again.
I like that 9to5 Mac has suggested we simply call it the “nebulous Siri audio feature” instead.
Apple confirmed to MacRumors that the 27-inch iMac Pro has been discontinued
This was after it was noticed on Apple’s Store site that all custom configuration options for the iMac Pro had been removed and Apple added the text “while supplies last” to it’s product page for the “base” configuration.
We are expecting Apple Silicon updates for the iMac line this year, it’ll be interesting to see if an iMac Pro version is part of that update.
Apple AR headset may arrive in 2022
At least according to the latest research note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo
Actually he see Apple’s AR / VR projects releasing in three phases with the first phase happening in 2022
The phases are “Helmet type” (2022), “Glasses Type” (2025), and “contact lens type” (2030)
The “helmet” is more a traditional “VR” type headset with mixed AR/VR experiences
Kuo says the later projects will likely focus solely on AR experiences
Kuo mentions that if Apple can solve some technical problems they hope to have the “helmet” headset at a weight of 100–200 grams, current prototypes are 200–300 grams.
It will have Sony's Micro-OLED displays offering a "see-through AR experience," and will also be capable of offering VR experiences.
It will be portable and independent with it’s own processors, sensors, and battery
It’s expected to be a premium products priced around $1,000 USD
For the glasses Kuo thinks they are not even at the prototype phase yet but says Apple want to deliver them their custom “optical see-through AR experience”
They “may have” independent computing power and storage space
With the contact lenses Kuo says the goal wold be a focus on bringing “invisible computing” to the experience.
Lenses would likely rely on another device, like an iPhone, for computing power and storage.
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
More Mail Shortcuts
A couple shows back I shared some tips on using keyboard shortcuts in Apple’s Mail app
Listener Daniel offered some great feedback along with some additional tips.
The one handy tips I shared was that you can use the Command+number keys to quickly access items in your Favorites.
I mentioned 1-6, but you can actually have 1-9
And you can add folders to your favorites, really any mailbox or folder
Just right click in the sidebar and choose “Add to favorites”
Once an item is in your Favorites you can also quickly move emails to that mailbox/folder by typing Ctrl + Cmd + num key
This can make a really quick way to organize messages
Or create a “follow-up” folder to quickly stash items you can’t get to right away, but need to follow-up on.
Great tips!
Daniel also has asked for our help… he noticed that if you select an email and then go under the “Messages” menu there is a grayed out item called “Move to Predicted Mailbox" with the shortcut Ctrl+Cmd+M
It always seems to be grayed out.
Has anyone made this work? Is there a trick?
One of the reasons I use [Spark](https://sparkmailapp.com) as my Mail client is that it will “suggest” folder under it’s move command based on how you’ve moved messages in the past.
I can only assume this is intended to be a similar feature.
The ‘CarPlay’ paradox
Last episode we were once again talking about the rumor of future iPhones that might no longer have a physical connector.
In fact we discussed it in this episode too.
Every time I mention this I get a bunch of queries and responses like this one
Play comment
This is a very big dilemma for Apple and for sure one that they would need to have a solution for.
It make you wonder how many head units might be wireless CarPlay capable, but simply software restricted?
If that’s not the case then I would imagine Apple would need to develop some sore of wireless adapter or dongle that would plug into the cars USB to allow a wireless CarPlay connection.
Generally this should be pretty safe to do, but I would always make sure you have a full backup of your Mac or email before you do.
To rebuild a mailbox you just
Open the Mail app
Select the mailbox you want to rebuild from the sidebar
Go under the ‘Mailbox’ menu and choose ‘Rebuild’
Be aware when you rebuild an IMAP or Exchange account the attachments are deleted locally and re-downloded.
Also note that the mailbox will appear empty until the rebuild has completed, so don’t worry.
‘Forest for the Trees’ troubleshooting
This is something that often comes up when I’m working on a problem or trying to troubleshoot something.
And it’s not just on the Mac. It can also be on any kind of problem you might be trying to solve.
It manifested itself in an email question I got from Daniel who was trying to help his father with an iPhone issue
His Dad got a new iPhone mini a couple months ago and was having an issue with call volumes
The phone would work fine when paired with a Bluetooth headset or on speakerphone, but when he would hold it to his ear he would have trouble hearing the conversation.
It didn’t matter even if the earpiece volume was at maximum.
Like many of us would do Daniel did some research and found others online having similar issues
The only real resolutions were to mess with accessibility settings or physically trying to clean the phone ear piece
I tried to help out and asked him to confirm that his Dad was adjusting the volume while on a call as the phone will maintain different volumes.
Daniel asked his Dad to make sure there wasn’t any dirt or lint inside the speaker. That’s when his Dad said, no there can’t be because there’s a screen protector on it.
It was his Dad’s first iPhone with a notch and he hadn’t realized the protector needed to go on a certain way. He had inadvertently blocked the speaker hole.
An honest mistake.
Point is, with technology we sometimes immediately assume the issue is some complex technical problem.
There’s also the “coincidence” bias. I just updated the OS, so it HAS to be a bug.
Sometime it can help to step back a bit, take a breath, and view the forrest. Are we missing a simple and obvious solution.
I kicked out the power cable
The cable came loose or broke.
My daughter has my old bluetooth keyboard and set a book on it after it reconnected back to my Mac which is in the next room
Thing of the Moment: TouchSwitcher
This one comes via the Maccast Patreon Slack and “ladude”
I’m not a huge TouchBar user so I’m always interested in things that might get me there.
