Thanks to everyone’s favorite Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo
Support for Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio
A case that can make a sound to help you find your AirPods.
If you’ve ever tried to use Find My with current AirPods you know how hit and miss it can be. When it DOES work though it’s great.
Gary Geaves Apple's vice president of acoustics said in recent interview that Apple’s engineers would "like more bandwidth" than what Bluetooth currently offers
The best data rate achievable today with Bluetooth is around 2Mbps with Enhanced Data Rate (EDR), though in the real world it tends to be more around 1Mbps. Lossless audio needs more than double that data rate.
It’s believed that limited bandwidth is one of the reasons current AirPods don’t support lossless codecs.
It remains to be seen if AirPods Pro 2 will still somehow use Bluetooth for lossless or if the engineering team will integrate some alternative solution.
One option could be for Apple to develop a lossless “CD quality” codec like Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless, but that’s only 16-bit 44.1 kHz and would likely be seen as an unacceptable compromise by most of the audiophile and tech community and not really up to Apple standards.
Previous rumored details on the AirPods Pro 2
No stems with a design similar to the Beats Fit Pros
Health sensors
DigiTimes claims suppliers are beginning to line up shipments and we’re expecting an announcement and launch in the second half of this year.
Big week for AR/VR headset rumors
Display Supply Chain (Ross Young) released a paper with 2022 predictions that discussed Apple’s upcoming headset
Their new revelation was that the headset would have three displays
Two 4K (not 8k) 1.4-inch Micro-OLED display from Sony (for VR) and AMOLED display for low-resolution peripheral vision (likely used in “pass through” AR mode.
Though Ming-Chi Kuo said this week that the headset would feature two "3P pancake lenses,"
These use a folded design that allows light to reflect back and forth between the display and lenses
According to Kuo the design would allow Apple to reduce the headset weight and make it more compact.
The piece also seems to backup that the first version of the headset is aimed at developers and professionals who work in the field of AR/VR as it will have a high price tag (~ USD $3000.00)
The paper also claims the headset will have:
multiple cameras enabling hand tracking
possibly a LiDAR sensor
And that Apple will likely include a powerful mobile CPU and GPU in the headset
And in his newsletter Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that the Metaverse is not something Apple is interested in (at least at the moment)
He said his sources say the “metaverse” is “off limits” internally at Apple
Meaning Apple’s mixed reality headset in not a place you will escape into all day but rather a place to “drop into” to do gaming, communication and content consumption
The AR/VR headset is expected to come out in the second half of 2022, though could be debuted to developers at WWDC
The notch-less iPhone 14 Pro
We continue to get more rumors pointing to at least the Pro model of this years iPhone ditching the notch
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in his newsletter that at least “some” of this years models would have a hole-punch display design
That claim was also backed up this week by Apple Twitter leaker @dylandkt who claims that the iPhone 14 Pro will feature a pill-shaped camera cutout and that the FaceID sensors will be under display
Meanwhile we’re still expecting the update to the iPhone SE
And I guess I missed it, but according to @dylandkt a redesigned version similar to the XR/11 design, but with a smaller screen is now pushed back to 2024 (seems like a long way off to me?)
He says this years model with be the same design as the current SE, but with 5G and a spec bump (i.e. updated processor)
Mark Gurman believes Apple’s first virtual 2022 event will be scheduled for March or April.
It will likely focus on the iPhone SE update, but could also include the new M2 updates for the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro
Maybe also the debut of the 27-inch iMac Pro, though maybe Apple holds that for an event later as they near WWDC and they could also announce the update Apple Silicon Mac Pro?
We’ll see how iPhone sales did when Apple holds their first quarter 2022 earnings call on January 27th, but Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives thinks he has a line on how well Apple did over the holiday period
His numbers look like a good sign for Apple despite supply chain issues and chip shortages
He did note that for December demand outstripped supply by about 12 million units
Still going into the quarter he continued to believe Apple would sell more than 40 million iPhone 13 models, that would be a record.
Those numbers might not be too surprising considering the popularity of iPhones among US teens
A new survey from Piper Sandler claims that 87 percent of teens in the US own an iPhone and that 88 percent plan to make their next phone an iPhone as well.
Teens also said the Apple Watch was their favorite Smartwatch.
We continue to see reports that Apple is experimenting with “foldable” phone designs, but chances of actually seeing one anytime soon are small
Basically Apple doesn’t see a market at the moment outside the “fad” and the current technology comes with too many compromises
Current tech has issues with longevity and display quality
The idea of an iPhone with a “plastic” display just kinda feels gross doesn’t it?
Also you give up water and dust resistance, something Apple has worked hard to drastically improve over the years
Right now, if Apple does end up doing a foldable design, most experts think it will be 2023 at the soonest.
Here comes the M2
Apples second generation of the M1 processor could be arriving this year in the form of an updated MacBook Air with the “biggest redesign in the product’s history”
Thin non-tapered design
Come in colors with off-white bezels like the 24-inch iMac
Two Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 ports and MagSafe
Notch with 1080p FaceTime camera, possible support for Center Stage
Mark Gurman thinks the new processor will offer a “marginally faster” processor.
Continue to have an 8-core CPU, like the M1
Offer 9 or 10 core GPU, vs the 7 or 8 core options we have today.
The M2 should likely also come with updates to the Mac mini and the entry-level MacBook Pro
Remember too that we’re still expecting a larger M1Pro and M1 Max iMac and the Apple Silicon updates for the Mac Pro
Gurman mentioned the possibility of a smaller Mac Pro with up to 40 CPU cores and 128 graphics cores
Gurman believes Apple will like have the transition of the full lineup to Apple Silicon completed by this years WWDC.
Meanwhile Intel announced its 12th generation mobile processors and claims their new Core i9 is the "fastest mobile processor ever." and touts that it even bests Apple’s new M1 Max chip.
And while technically “true” on paper there are some caveats, most specifically power and efficiency
The Core i9 has speeds up to 5GHz with 14 cores (with 6 high-performance cores and 8 energy-efficient cores)
The Core i9 uses up to 115 watts where Apple’s M1 Max “maxes” out at 90 watts and runs most of the time around 60 watts
I would expect to achieve top performance you won’t see Intel’s Core i9 maxing out in any design similar to Apple’s think MacBook Pros.
One “win” that Intel did achieve this week was getting Apple Silicon lead and T2 security processor developer Jeff Wilcox to come back
The engineer posted on his LinkedIn "After an amazing eight years I have decided to leave Apple and pursue another opportunity,"
Wilcox will now oversee all Intel System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designs as an “Intel Fellow” and chief technology officer of the Design Engineering Group
An Apple Display that is “half the price”
Sometimes I hate to be right
Mark Gurman thinks that the rumored new display coming from Apple will be about “half the price” of Apple professional Pro Display XDR
Previous rumors have claimed Apple’s next displays would be more “consumer” focused and based on the 24-inch iMac and Pro Display XDR designs.
Considering the Pro Display XDR sells for USD $4.999.99 I’m not sure how “consumer” a USD $2,500 display feels.
I think many of us would hope Apple would offer some form a a new display to bring us back to the days of the $999.00 Apple Thunderbolt display
I read a piece on 9to5 Mac that hit the nail on the head… Apple could very easily take the 4.5K 24-inch iMac display, drop the chin, and sell it for $999.00
Considering a 24-inch iMac starting at USD $1,299.00 that would be a huge profit.
Gurman said he “hopes” Apple would release this new display this year.
Apple close to landing Brad Pitt F1flick
Apple is very likely to close the deal and outbid the other streaming services to pick up a new movie starring Brad Pit about Formula One racing
The film is a Jerry Bruckheimer production and will be directed by Joseph Kosinski, who did “Top Gun: Maverick” according to “Deadline”
In the film Brad Pitt plays a racer who comes out of retirement to mentor a younger driver
Apple also announced that they will be bringing a new true crime limited TV series to Apple TV+ called “Manhunt”
The series will be “Part historical fiction, part conspiracy thriller” and focuses on the search for John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
The series will be directed by Emmy-nominated director Carl Franklin (Mindhunter) and written and produced by Monica Beletsky (Fargo, Friday Night Lights) who has had Emmy, Golden Globe, PGA, and WGA nominations.
It is also based on the best-selling book written by James Swanson and will start Tobias Menzies (The Crown, Game of Thrones)
No release date has been announced.
Deadline has also reported that Apple has landed a new biopic film about legendary actress Audrey Hepburn
They claim the story is being held “under wraps”, but the project will star Oscar nominated actress Rooney Mara as Hepbun. Mara will also produce.
The film is written by Michael Mitnick who is an executive producer on the HBO series Vinyl and will be directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino
Oprah Winfrey will bringing a documentary about the late actor Sidney Poitier to Apple TV+
The legendary actor died just this week at the age of 94 but Oprah’s project with Apple has been in production for over a year with family participating in the project.
Winfrey executive producing and the project is directed by Reggie Hudlin who is known for films "House Party" and "The Black Godfather”.
“The Economist” in a report on the growth of Apple’s Media Services caused a little stir with a single sentence
“There is talk of an audiobooks service later this year.”
That’s it, not details, no sources, so accept it for what it’s worth.
Still an Apple Books+ service sound amazing, right? Something to compete withKindle Unlimited and Audible
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
In car Wi-Fi question
Play question from Mark
This feels like more of an issue with the Nexar device than with CarPlay.
And I don’t have CarPlay of any kind so the community will have to correct me if I’m getting this wrong, but I believe CarPlay actually connects to the cars “Wi-Fi” network, so in theory if the Nexar could do the same it would be on the same wi-fi as your iPhone and then be able to work.
I have a few devices that you have to connect them to the devices wifi for setup, but they have a setting to allow you to connect the device to a wi-fi network.
Also curious why the dashcam would need a constant full time wifi connection to your iPhone? Could it record to local storage and then you just connect to it’s wi-fi to pull video down wirelessly? Does it need to stream to your phone?
Cleaning up your passwords
Ryan wrote in with some questions about password management and clean up.
I think this is a great topic for the beginning of the year.
Ryan like a lot of us, myself included, has a long history of creating accounts and passwords and we all may not have been as judicious or secure in this process (especially in the past)
Ryan uses Apple’s Keychain and Safari to store his passwords (and I assume iCloud Keychain to keep them in sync?)
In the current version of Safari you can get a “audit” of your existing passwords
Open Safari
Open Preferences and click on the “Passwords” tab. Authenticate to your Mac account
Next to passwords that have possible issues you’ll see a “caution” icon
Click the password to get details
Things like reused passwords, easily guessed passwords, or services that have been compromised will show up.
It’s worth noting that “compromised” is just a check of a service that had a breach and typically your email is part of that breach (if you already updated your password on that service you are likely covered)
Ryan wants to know a few things:
Is a matter of working through each login one at a time and allowing Keychain/Safari to create a new complicated password?
Is the goal to have each and every password be complicated and unique and rely on the password management tool to remember it?
Ryan says he uses a Windows computer at work and all those passwords are stored in Chrome?
Do you have any advice for updating those at the same time?
You can go into Chrome and export the passwords as a CSV (not unencrypted, so be careful with this file)
Then that can be imported into Safari
Open Safari
Open Preferences and click on the “Passwords” tab. Authenticate to your Mac account
Click the “…” icon at the bottom of the sidebar and choose “Import passwords” and select the file.
Is there a way to export all of my logins in Keychain into a universal password management tool that I can use on both computers?
Yes. My preferred app is [1Password](https://1password.com). It supports Mac, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux
You can import from Keychain, Safari, and Chrome
There are also other 3rd party apps like LastPass, BitWarden, Dashlane, Keeper
Spam in your Calendar?
Got an email from John who found what is a different kind of spam
We’re used to it in our email, but this was appearing in his Calendar app. 45 in one day.
We ran into this issue back in 2016 and discussed it. Then it was spammers sending calendar invitations and people accidentally clicking them
This time around it seems to be hacked websites or apps tricking you into clicking a link and “subscribing” to a calendar.
The sneaky part about this is once you’re subscribed they will spam your calendar with events (and links to their spam) and you cannot delete the events because it’s not your calendar.
Luckily there is an easy fix for this… just unsubscribe from the calendar and it will delete all the events.
On iOS
Open the Calendar app
Tap on one of the spam calendar events
Tap “Unsubscribe from this Calendar” and then tap Unsubscribe again to confirm
On Mac OS
Open the Calendar app
In the left column look for the Spam Calendar
Control+Click the calendar (Right+Click) and from the menu choose Unsubscribe
Confirm you want to unsubscribe
You can also select the calendar in the list and go under the Edit menu and choose Delete
Thing of the Moment: TP-Link AV1300 Powerline WiFi Extender
