shownotes_20210502

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
News
  Apple’s record Q2
    Seems like most quarters lately have been “records”, bit the past quarter for Apple was once again amazing
    Apple reported $89.6 billion in revenue and profit of $23.6 billion, that’s a 54 percent year over year increase
    They had records for Mac and Services revenue
      iPhone revenue was up 65 percent at $47.94B
      Mac revenue up 70 percent at 9.1B
      iPad revenue up 79 percent at 7.81B
      Wearables, Home, and Accessories up 24 percent at 7.84B
      Services up 26 percent, 16.9B
    Other highlights
      has 660 million paid subscriptions across its services, up 40 million from the last quarter
      50 percent of iPad and Mac sales were to new customers to those devices. 75% of Apple Watch purchases were from first-time users last quarter
      Did warn that chip shortages are likely to affect Mac and iPad supplies in the third quarter
  Apple reiterates iPads are not Macs
    With the M1 now in both products people are more convinced than ever the products are on a collision course.
    And will never be
      Famous last words we’ve heard before
    Still Apple VP of marketing Greg Joswiak and hardware chief John Ternus, in a recent interview with The Independent, explained that they products are not in conflict nor are then intended to merge
      “We're quite proud of the fact that we work really, really hard to create the best products in their respective category.”
    They claim the best Apple Silicon has always been reserved for the iPad Pro and now, simply, the M1 is the best Apple silicon.
    Apple did clarify that the old 12.9-inch Magic Keyboard will technically “work” with the new M1 12.9-inch iPad Pro
      It might not quite fit precisely, especially when closed because the mini-LED backlighting has added thickness to the new model
  Up next for iPhone
    Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says in 2022 we can’t expect an iPhone with a 48-megapixel camera
      Supposedly for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max
      He’s also suggested that the iPhone would offer 8K video recording
    He also suggests that Apple’s mixed reality headset will come in the second quarter of 2022
      Though recent DigiTimes reports claim that Apple did not enter their second phase of development testing on schedule
      They were reportedly supposed to start working in improving weight and battery life.
        Apple supposedly targeting a 300 gram weight, which is well below current competing headsets
        Apple is reportedly working on several types of headsets, so it’s not clear which headset is delayed.
  AirDrop can expose your PII
    Tech researchers at a university in German have revealed that AirDrop can expose your personal information including your phone number and email address
    It has to do with the default “Contacts only setting” and the method used to verify that you are in another users Contacts
    Basically the hashing that is used when AirDrop broadcasts your info can too easily be reversed.
    The handshake happens anytime you open the share sheet on Mac or iOS
    The hashes can easily be cracked with current techniques
      it takes milliseconds to look up a phone number hash in a precomputed database containing results for all possible phone numbers in the world
      Emails can be cracked using the billions of email addresses that have appeared in database breaches over the past 20 years
    They had notified Apple of the flaw in May of 2019, but the flaw still exists.
    MacOS 11.3 update contains some big 0-day security fixes
      There was an exploit that could suppress three security features in macOS that would prevent malware on your Mac
        File Quarantine requires explicit user confirmation before a file downloaded from the Internet can execute.
        Gatekeeper blocks the installation of apps unless they’re signed by a developer known to Apple.
        Mandatory App Notarization permits apps to be installed only after Apple has scanned them for malware.
      There is also updated security patches for Catalina and Mojave
  Apple announces 1971 music documentary
    Coming to Apple TV+ on May 21st
    '1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything,' will focus on what Apple says, “will explore the musicians and soundtracks that shaped the culture and politics of 1971”
    The film from Universal Music Group's Mercury Studios and On The Corner Films will look at icons including The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, The Who, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed and more
    Three AppleTV+ series are up for British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards
      Little America, Tiny World, and Earth at Night in Color
  Apple’s next silicon close to production
    According to Nikkei the “M2” (or M1X) should be entering production now.
    Which they say means the processors will be ready to start shipping as early as July
    If the timeline is correct that means we might expect to see the next generation of MacBook Pros and iMacs with Apple Silicon in the second half of the year.
    Bloomberg has already reported that Apple could be looking to push the number of cores in the M1 to up to 20-32 cores for it’s “pro” systems
      Possibly with 12 or more CPU cores and 16 or more GPU cores
      Also at least double the RAM to 16GB and 32GB
    We’re also expecting more ports in the updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with the return of MagSafe, SD card slots, and HDMI ports
  Hint’s of Find My Siri Remotes
    9to5Mac has discovered if you ask Siri to “Find my remote” or “Find My Siri Remote” the response if that no Siri Remotes are linked to your iCloud Account
    This makes it seem like that should be possible, which it currently isn’t
      Other queries for non-FindMy items result in a ‌"That type of device can't be set up in the ‌Find My‌ app” message
    Might be an indication that Apple’s new Siri Remote may have “FindMy” capabilities, or at least that Apple may have considered it at one point
    The specs do not mention it having Apple’s U1 chip.
    If the feature was there you would think that Apple would have highlighted it at their last event when they announced AirTags and the new remote.
    It’s also worth noting that the new remote lacks the accelerometers and gyroscopes of the current Siri remote
      Means it won’t work as a gaming controller for some games
      You’ll need an Apple TV compatible game controller. Luckily that could be an XBox or PlayStation controller.
  Apple Music HiFi
    Rumors coming from music industry sources that Apple is getting ready to launch a new “HiFi’ tier for Apple Music
    And that the announcement will happen in the “coming week” along with an announcement for new updated 3rd generation AirPods
    9to5Mac did find mentions in of “Dolby Atmos,” “Dolby Audio,” and “Lossless” in the first iOS 14.6 beta release
    The reports says the new tier will have the same $9.99 USD price as the current individual tier?
      Does that mean the base tier price will be lowered?
      Other reports have claimed new AirPods would not be here until the Fall
    The new AirPods are expected to have shorter stems and a case design similar to AirPods Pro, but lack high end features like noise cancellation and silicone tips.
    Nikkei Asia reported that Apple was planning to cut AirPod production from 25 to 30 percent this year because of competition and slowing sales
      Doesn’t seem to jive
      Wonder if they are just looking at current production ramping down before Apple ramps up for the “new” AirPods
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
  Trying out AirTag
    Got my order in late and that meant the 4-pack I wanted with custom engraving won’t be here until almost June
    I did order one for pickup to try out
    Share first impressions
      Durability, looks likely they are going to easily scratch
    Additional technical details
      No more than 16 AirTags can be paired with a single Apple ID.
      Speaker magnet is in the back plastic, so seems like the whole plastic shell acts as the speaker
    I am getting a lot of feedback and seems like some are confused about the use case for AirTag
    A big part of that is probably on Apple.
    They are to help you track and locate lost items
    They are NOT for tracking people or recovering stolen items
      As many have pointed out… thieves will likely just ditch the AirTag or remove the battery.
        There are 3rd party cases that have “hex” screws which would make it just slightly more difficult to disable
      If an tracker you don’t have paired is with you it will notify you when you get home or to a place you frequently visit
        Won’t work for Android users
      AirTags can also easily be reset with a physical reset procedure involving removing and replacing the battery 6 times.
        But pairing Lock in iCloud stops others from re-pairing and using a lost AirTag as their own.
        An AirTag away from its paired iPhone for three days will emit a sound.
    Apple has said they are not for tracking people and has put protections in place in an attempt to prevent that
      They are not perfect because they rely on the person not being near the device that the AirTag is registered with for several days.
  Download your iTunes Purchased content
    Make sure you have local copies
    Related to what we’ve been discussing about “ownership” of purchased content
    Apple is facing lawsuits from two users who are upset that Apple’s media can be removed from the service at anytime or that, in terminating a users access to their iCloud account can disable their access to purchased content.
    In defense of one lawsuit Apple claimed that, “no reasonable consumer would believe” that content purchased through iTunes would be available on the platform indefinitely
      The judge disagreed and is allowing that lawsuit to continue.
    Point is, if you’re not keeping local copies of your purchased content you CAN lose access to it for a multitude of reasons.
      In the Music and TV apps you want to go to your library and make sure to click the “download” button for all purchased content
      Also, make sure you back it up and archive it.
    What’s never been clear to me is that, even if you have a local copy, if the studio no longer licenses that to Apple will you still be able to authorize and play it? Seems like yes?
  Merging Photo Libraries
    Normally I would recommend using [Power Photos](https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/), but the situation that Louis emailed me about is different
    He has two libraries, a “master” and an “antique” (new library) that both have meticulous metadata, including Faces data, already applied.
      Power Photos can’t copy faces or projects data
    The only way to merge Faces data, is to use iCloud Photo Library
      Obviously it also means you need to have enough available iCloud storage to hold all the libraries you want to merge
    Needless to say before trying any of this… have multiple full backups of all your photos
    There is a great [OWC blog Post](https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/40866-rocket-yard-guide-combine-multiple-photos-libraries-into-a-single-library/) that lays this all out
    Basically…
      You need to first make sure your main library is all uploaded and sync’d to iCloud Photos
        It needs to be the “System” library so check that the Use as System Photo Library is dimmed in the “General” tab of the preferences
        You’ll want to also have the Download Originals to this Mac is selected
        And make sure you’ve checked the iCloud Photo Library box.
        Wait for everything to be sync’d
      Once the “main” library is sync’d you need to quit Photos and relaunch it with the “option” key held down
      Select the second library and open it.
      Now repeat the steps to main IT the system library, download the originals the Mac, and use iCloud Photo Library
      Wait for all of these to sync to iCloud (can take days or weeks)
      Once it’s done the libraries should be merged in iCloud. You could verify this through the web interface.
      Finally go back to the main library (holding down option on launch) and reset it back up as the main “system” library for iCloud and wait for the merged library to update on your Mac.
  Moving Apple Podcast Library
    Play comment from Danny
    Yup, Apple doesn’t let you control or move the podcast Library anymore
      Podcasts are stored in a cache folder in ~/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts
      WTF?!!!
    I do not know of ANY current solution for this issue, but maybe our community does.
    The bet recommendation I have is to maybe use a different podcast app.
    I know that [Downcast](https://www.downcastapp.com) lets you set the location of your media downloads folder
    I guess you could also use a tool like [Hazel](https://www.noodlesoft.com) to watch that podcast folder for audio and video files and copy them to a folder where you could take them and add them to the TV app and the Music app
      You’d then have to probably update the metadata and organize them
      Your videos, for example, would wind up in the “Home Movies” section.
    You could then still use Home Sharing with your Macs, iOS devices, and Apple TV
      Go to System Preferences > Sharing
      Turn on Media Sharing
      Check the Home Sharing box.
        Enter your Apple ID on all your devices
      In Settings > TV or Music on your iOS device make sure Home Sharing is on and your using the same Apple ID
      Now in the apps you should see a Home Sharing section when you’re accessing the Library
Closing
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