Apple exploring “every detail” of car manufacturing
Peter Fintl, the director of technology and innovation for Capgemini Engineering Germany told the Wall Street Journal that Apple has been “looking into every detail of car engineering and car manufacturing.”
He also admitted that at this time it’s unclear what Apple’s intentions could be
It could be for making a vehicle, a platform, or a service
The piece notes that because of how Apple feels about wanting to control every aspect of the technology and experience around what they build it seems unlikely that Apple would create a vehicle platform that they’d license to other car makers
The prospect of entering the car market and competing against existing car makers or Tesla also seems plausible, but daunting
The article also mentions Apple branded vehicles that operate as part of a service they provide
As you know this is my favorite theory.
New wireless buds from Beats seem imminent
The most compelling evidence seems to be a “leaked” image from Lebron James on Instagram . In the photo he appears to be wearing the rumored updated Beats Studio Buds earbuds
The iOS 14.6 release candidates had references to the new buds
Then FCC filings were spotted that gave more details
a truly wireless design paired with a smart charging case
Noise Cancellation support and be available in multiple colors (black, white, and red color).
Will have silicone ear tips and fit in the ear with no stems or ear hook.
Will use an Apple (H1?) chip to offer instant pairing and the “Hey, Siri”
So new Beats might be here soon, but what about the AirPods 3 we keep hearing about?
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says they are still coming “this year” and that updated AirPods Pro 2s should come next year.
The AirPods 3 are expected to have shorter stems, and wider, but shorter case, with a design similar to the AirPods Pro. They will not have pro features like active noise cancellation
Gruman says the 2022 Airpods Pro update will bring updated motion sensors and fitness tracking features
The new Pros might also get a “stemless” design.
Right now Apple is supposedly NOT working on the next gen of AirPods Max, but might introduce new color options at some point
There are also reports that Apple is playing with possible new future HomePod designs
Apple has started early development of a HomePod speaker with a built-in screen
They are also working on a product that would combine an Apple TV set-top box with a HomePod speaker and include a camera for video conferencing through a connected TV
Will WWDC bring new hardware?
We are just about a week away from WWDC
Jon Prosser is claiming his sources are hinting that we could see new Macbook Pros announced or released around WWDC
New Apple Silicon based machines in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes
Chip likely called the MX1. At least 10-core with eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores
Two options for GPU, 16 Core or 32 core
Ditching the TouchBar for real function keys
HDMI, MagSafe, and SD car slot and Thunderbolt/USB4 ports (4 I would assume?)
Possibly removing the “MacBook Pro” logo beneath the display
support for up to 64GB RAM.
DigiTimes is reporting that Global Lighting Technologies will begin shipments of mini-LED display components for next-generation MacBook Pro models in the third quarter of 2021
This would not line up well with the rumors from Prosser
It has been rumored that he new MacBook Pros would use miniLED displays
Likely not coming at WWDC, but also rumored to be in the works Prosser recently discussed a possible redesigned M1X Mac mini
In a much thinner and smaller all aluminum enclosure with a “plexiglass” material like top (old school)
Possibly available in colors?
Would replace the higher end “space gray” model
four USB4 / Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A, Ethernet, and HDMI out.
Also use the new “Magnetic” power connector, like the new M1 24-inch iMac
rubber “feet” like the base of the 24-inch iMac and new thermals (vent on bottom)
Same 10-core CPU design as the new MacBook Pro with eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores
16 or 32 GPU cores and memory options up to 64GB
‘The Big Door Prize’ comes to Apple TV+
Apple has placed a 10-episode straight-to-series order for a 30 minute comedy called "The Big Door Prize," according to Deadline
The show tells the story of a community that discovers a "magical, destiny-predicting machine in their grocery store." is based on a novel by M.O Walsh
The series is created by David West Read, who is a writer and executive producer of the Emmy award winning show "Schitt's Creek"
David West Read is serving as showrunner and executive produce alongside Miky Lee and Hyun Park of CJ ENM/Studio Dragon and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bill Bost of Skydance Television.
There is no release date set for the new series.
iFixit tears down the new stuff
24-inch iMac
Differences in cooling between the “base” 7-core model and the 8-core model
The base iMac has a single cooling fan and a heat sink
The 8-core has two fans and a heat pipe along with heat sinks
Display is attached with mild adhesive but you do have to cut through that to get to the internals
We knew this but the majority of the components are in the “chin”
The NAND flash storage is split with 128GB modules on the front and back of the board
“Flip up” USB-C boards that can disconnect
Massive metal chambers behind the display to provide air spaces for the speaker system
CMOS batteries are actually two half-height CR2016 powered in sequence and separate from the main board.
Likely that a CR2032 was too thick to fit on the main board
You have to access the stand hinge hardware from the inside
If you want a VESA mount you probably want to order it that way
TouchID sensor, like with the iPhone and iPad, is cryptographically matched to the hardware it was attached to from the factory
Repairability 2 out of 10
Reports that despite leaving Apple in 2019 that Jonny Ive worked on the redesigned 24-inch iPad
Reported by Wired
Though the timeline is unclear and Apple simply confirmed that he “had worked on it.”
He has his own design firm called LoveForm and Apple is reportedly a client
Apple TV 4K + Siri Remote
Entire case is transparent to IR light
Popping off the bottom cover, held in by clips, there is a removable and modular fan with no cable, just metal contacts
The logic board comes out easily after removing 3 antenna cables and a couple of screws
New A12 bionic chip
Also has a large heat sink covering the power supply
The Siri Remove was a bit trickier
Removing the pentalobe screws on the bottom removes the cover, but you can’t get at anything
Have to remove the buttons which reveal more screws
Main board slides out the top
Battery has mild glue. The lightning port is soldered to the battery
Repairability 8 out of 10.
iPad Pro 12.9-inch details
Not from teardowns, but still new info
Current iPadOS limits all third-party apps to a maximum of ~5 GB RAM each. So even though the new M1s can have up to 16GB the OS stifles that access
These per app limits are not new, but they are a bigger deal now that we have systems with a lot more RAM
Latest on the iPhone 13
TSMC has already begun production of the A15 chips for this years iPhone lineup according to DigiTimes
Still uses a 5nm process
It’s expected that this years iPhones should release in September as they have in the past. Returning to an earlier “fall” release cycle.
There is still an expectation that Apple will use an LTPO in the higher end iPhone 13 models finally bring an up to 120Hz refresh rate and ProMotion to the iPhone
It might also allow Apple to offer an “always on” display like we have on Apple Watch
Samsung has reportedly already begun production on the panels
LG Display has also supposedly started production on the OLED panels for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini
The overall design is expected to remain the same as the iPhone 12 designs with small tweaks. The main one being a smaller notch and movement of the earpiece speaker to the top edge of the display
The rear camera modules will get improvements with the latest rumor from DigiTimes claiming that sensor-shift optical image stabilization will be available on all the iPhone 13 models this year. Last year it was limited to the iPhone 12 Pro Max
Image sensor component suppliers have been told to raise capacity by 30-40% to meet demand
Could possibly get a 1TB storage option and might be available in more colors this year
iOS 15
Very little is known going into WWDC
Expect minor tweaks
Some of the more substantial rumors
Accessibility features like background sounds, eye tracking for iPadOS, SignTime
Set notifications by status like awake, working, sleeping, etc
Oliver Haslam at iMore has said the Lock Screen could be more "complication-based."
Possibly a new “food tracking” feature added to Health
Halide developer Sebastiaan de With noticed that the camera in the new iPads seems to be able to take better macro photos than the one in the iPhone 12
That’s because while the sensors are largely the same the lens design is different allowing it to focus on things that are much closer to the sensor.
This is also true of the cameras in the previous generation iPads because they have the same camera system
the LiDAR sensor-assisted autofocus feature can make it hard to get the correct focus, so to get the best results it’s recommended you use an app that allows you to manually focus.
Apple continues to lead smartwatch market
The last report from Counterpoint research claims Apple took a 33.5 percent share of the global smartwatch market in the first quarter of 2021.
That was up 3 percent on a 50 percent year over year increase in the demand for the new Series 6 models.
Overall the Global smartwatch market grew 35% in Q1 2021
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
Scrolling the new Siri Remote
I’m brining this up because I got confused about it myself
One of the really cool new features is being able to use the touch “ring” to jog scroll your video content
I was using it and suddenly the video was just going back and forth, not jogging forward
Rewind or fast forward using the video thumbnails on the playback timeline to find a scene:
Press the Play / Pause button, or press the center of the clickpad to pause the video.
A preview thumbnail appears above the playback timeline at the bottom of the screen
Swipe left or right to go back or forward in time.
For more precise control, place your finger on the outer edge of the clickpad ring until a ring icon appears on the screen and circle your finger counterclockwise or clockwise around the clickpad ring.
The key is to wait for the icon. If you just circle your finger before that icon is on screen the clickpad ring thinks you’re swiping back and forth, so it’ll scroll back and forth
Play or pause: press the center of the clickpad or press the Play / Pause button
Rewind or fast forward 10 seconds: press left or right on the clickpad ring
Fast Forward / Rewind:
press and hold the clickpad ring
Press left or right repeatedly to switch between reverse or fast forward (2x, 3x, 4x) option
Press the center of the clickpad or press the Play / Pause button to resume playback.
Change Siri Remote Clickpad Functionality
1. Launch the Settings app on your Apple TV.
2. Select Remotes and Devices.
3. Select ClickPad.
4. Select Click and Touch to allow both clicking and touch surface tracking, or Click Only to turn off touch surface tracking.
Change Siri Remote Tracking Sensitivity
1. Launch the Settings app on your Apple TV.
2. Select Remotes and Devices.
3. Select Touch Surface Tracking.
4. Select Fast to make smaller thumb movements move farther on the Apple TV screen, or Slow to reduce tracking sensitivity.
“Blooming” on iPad Pro Liquid Retina XDR
There are reports that in some specific situations that the new 12.9-inch iPad’s Liquid Retina XDR display with mini LED technology is displaying an undesirable amount of “blooming”
Basically bright images, like white elements, against a black background have a “halo” of light. Not going from full contrast black to white like it would on an OLED display
The reason is the 2,500 dimming zones. If a zone is lit up and an adjacent zone is not, there may be an artifact toward the part of the screen that becomes brighter than its neighboring zone
How big an issue is this for Apple’s new iPad?
Seems like it is only in very specific situations
Only really noticeable in a completely dark environment and more noticeable when viewing “off axis”
Also the brightness level may have an impact on the effect
Limited to HDR content with isolated bright shapes on a black background
Reports also say the images online tend to make it look worse than it is in person.
Seems like in “normal” day to day use this should not really be an issue and the contrast improvements over traditional backlighting seem like a nice middle ground between traditional LED and OLED
There are already rumors that Apple is still considering using OLED displays in at least some iPads models starting in 2022
The “siloing” of the podcast
There are a lot of changes happening in the world of podcasts.
While a lot of the developments are exciting
Bringing more main stream audiences and more attention
More options for monetization
A lot of developments are concerning.
“Exclusive” programs that are only on a single service
Subscriptions that only work on a single platform
Paywalled content
Many have asked me about the future of the Maccast
The thing I love about this show is the community
Fragmenting or segmenting the audience is not, in my opinion, in the spirt of podcasting
Podcasts were created to allow freedom
Freedom of what to listen to
Freedom on where, how, and when you choose to listen
Open standards for delivering content
Open licensing, did you know Maccast is licensed under creative commons? Or that all the show-notes are available in OPML format?
We already have great tools for monetization that work well and allow this show to be “free” and available to all
Advertising support from advertisers that I choose
And for those who find value in the content and choose to offer direct support, [Patreon](https://pateron.com/maccast)
You can’t build a community through fragmentation and segregation
So the Maccast will always be free (and probably ad supported).
Chapters in the updated Podcast app
A couple of people, including Mark, have asked what happened to the chapters in the latest updates to the podcast app
They are still there.
When the show is playing… open the sheet
Then swipe up. The chapters are under the “play” controls.
Placing folders in Finder toolbar
This has been a feature in macOS for years.
If you have a folder that you want quick access to you can place it in the Finder toolbar
It used to be all you had to do was drag a folder up there, but after upgrading to Big Sur Richard noticed it was no longer working.
I tried and had the same results. At first it seemed like the feature had been removed.
Really you just need to know a trick.
Hold down the Option+Command keys when you drag the item to the Finder toolbar.
