Locking in on iPhone 14 design

There are a number of stories this week giving signs to Apple locking in the final design for this years iPhone 14

According to “Taiwan Economic Times” Foxconn has begun trial production of the iPhone 14 Pro

In the report it says that Foxconn will be responsible for production of the Pro model while Apple supplier Luxshare will produce the non-Pro editions

Luxshare has not yet entered trial production

Trail production runs are designed to evaluate the production process to identify any issues in the process and make corrections prior to ramping up to volume production

The possible design changes being rumored

Slightly thicker but with no camera bump

Return to circular volume buttons

Redesigned speaker grills

But the biggest rumored new design element is the move away from the Face ID notch

Currently most believe Apple will move to a punch-hole plus a pill-shaped cutout

In fact this week a supposed leaked image of the new punch-hole / cutout design surfaced on the Chinese platform Weibo

YouTuber Jon Prosser claimed to have “independently been able to verify” the schematics are real and are the design Apple plans to use.

Smaller and improved 5G chips made by TSMC vs. Samsung

Reports say Apple will take advantage of TSMCs new 5nm architecture for the 5G and wireless modems in the iPhone 14s

The chips offer advanced performance, significantly reduced power consumption and have WiFi 6/6e support.

This means better cellular and wifi performance with better battery life. Plus the smaller component size could also leave room for more battery

There are also reports that Apple is looking to diversify their modem suppliers, according to DigiTimes

Negotiating with ASE Technology, which owns Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL)

Looking at 2021 Apple’s iPhone lead the smartphone market in revenue growth

According to new numbers from Counterpoint Research.

They estimate Apple’s iPhone revenue grew as much as 35 percent year over year to $196 billion

Their data also showed that Apple had a 44 percent share of global smartphone revenue

Apple wraps AR/VR headset tests

According to DigiTimes they say Apple has completed key production tests for the first version of their rumored AR/VR headset

The report says they have completed the second-phase engineering validation tests (EVT 2) which is designed to validate that the prototypes are achieving Apple’s design goals and specifications.

The belief is that the device could be ready to enter mass production by August or September of this year.

ET News out of Korea also re-iterated the rumor this week that the headset will feature advanced micro OLED displays

Some of the advantages of micro OLED in a product like a headset are that they have much faster response times, they allow for a much higher pixel density, like up to 3,000 pixels-per-inch, and they offer displays that are much thinner, smaller, and more energy efficient.

They report says the micro OLED displays will be supplied by TSMC

Previous reports have claimed Apple would be sourcing displays from Sony

Finally the report also confirmed the headset finished a latest round of engineering validation testing, but also stated the device will feature an M1 or similar chip

The report falls a part a bit as it also claims the device will run iOS, but that could just be confusion.

Most previous reports claim Apple is developing rOS (or realityOS) for the device.

Forget foldable phones. Foldable laptops

Display Supply Chain Consultants analyst Ross Young said based on they supply chain contacts they are adjusting Apple’s timline for brining to market a foldable display iPhone design out to 2025

At the same time the analyst also said that they are now hearing Apple is exploring the idea of a 20-inch folding laptop design

This would also target a similar timeline of having a product ready around 2025, though they do note it could take longer

The design would allow for a couple of different configurations

One with full sized keyboard and display when folded

Another a full 20-inch display when used with and external keyboard

Important to remember this is all Apple “playing” with future designs at this point.

It make a lot of sense to look years ahead and see what products and designs might be appealing

Another cool design Apple seems to be exploring harkens back to 80s era computers like the Apple and Commodore 64

A new patent from Apple lists a, “Computer in an input device”. Basically a slightly thicker Apple Magic Keyboard with a Mac inside

There would be a single I/O (like Thunderbolt 4) that can drive an external display and carry power and data.

It would be paired wirelessly with a mouse or trackpad and keyboard

This feels so possible in the age of Apple Silicon

Apple and Skydance’s deal

Variety has a report out that says Apple’s deal with Skydance amounts to what Hollywood terms a “put deal”

What that means is Apple has agreed to terms where they are obligated to release Skydance projects

In this case specifically Apple agreed to release two feature film projects with budgets up to $125 million

They also guaranteed a payout of up to $25 million per picture that is designed to cover backend profits Skydance would make if the film were a conventional box office success.

In the deal movies Skydance makes for Apple may or may not appear in theaters

Apple also has a different deal with Skydance Animation and the first project from that collaboration is a film called “Luck” which will be released on August 5th, 2022

Meanwhile Apple also continues to pursue a deal with the NFL and is reportedly trying to get the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket games

Coming from the Sports Business journal Apple and Amazon are said to be the front runners in the bidding

The current bidding is expected to land around $2 billion per year.

Apple had also been trying to get access to the NFLs Thursday Night Football, but that deal remained with Amazon.

The Apple Car’s brain

Apple’s rumored car my be getting it’s self driving smarts via a Korean company according to a report from The Elec

They say Apple has teamed up with Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) company

They would be helping Apple develop the AI chip that would integrate neural processing, CPU, GPU, memory, camera interface, and other functions to control the self driving capabilities of the Apple Car

Apple’s car is likely still years away from achieving reality but there’s a debate on just how far off that might be

In the Elec piece they seem to imply that Foxconn’s all-electric vehicle plants in the US could be used by Apple. Those plants are expected to be operational by 2023

Most agree that would be way too soon for an Apple Car. General consensus is Apple is eyeing a 2024-2025 launch window though it could end up taking longer.

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Dual Downstream Dock

Talked a little bit last time about some of my troubles with dual displays and using a dock with my MacBook Pro

I have some great DVI adapters from Monoprice, but my Anker 13-in-one dock only has a single downstream Thunderbolt 4 port

My monitors are not Thunderbolt, so I can use downstream port daisy chaining

The issue is that using the dock for one display and then having to connect the second directly into the Mac means I can’t get down to what I’d prefer which is a single cable docking solution for my Macs

Now I could use the HDMI port on the Anker Dock, but I haven’t had great luck personally with HDMI

So I’ve been considering going all in on Thunderbolt displays and have been looking to the community for recommendations

In the meantime I did some digging and looks like [CalDigit](https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/) has a new version of their TS3 Thunderbolt dock called the TS4

It has 18 ports, but most importantly TWO downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports

It also has… Gigabit Ethernet, 5 USB-A ports, 3 USB-C ports, SD and mico SD card slots, Headphone jack, audio in and opt, and Display Port

The only bad news is it’s sold out until early-March and it’s a bit pricey at USD $359.95

Not auto-joining WiFi

Here’s a tricky one that came up on Twitter recently with my friend Dave

He noted more and more lately that his devices will just join “known” WiFi networks and that can be annoying and potentially dangerous

Now he understands this is a feature, but what is puzzling to him and to me a well is that there is seemingly no easy way to get the behavior to stop. At least at a “global” level.

So the way this feature works is that your iOS devices or Macs remember the WiFi networks you connect to successfully. Then the next time you are around that network they will automatically reconnect.

This is convenient and great when it’s your own WiFi, but what about more “public” wifi hotspots?

This is where it gets potentially bad because many “public” hotspots have the same SSID (name)

For example “Starbucks” or “ATT” or “Airport WiFi”

If you go into Settings > WiFi on your device and look at the “Ask to Join” networks options you have three settings:

“Off” - Known networks are joined automatically. If no know networks are found you have to manually select the network

Notify - Known networks are joined automatically. If no know networks are found you will be notified of available networks

Ask - Known networks are joined automatically. If no know networks are found you will be asked before joining a new network

Notice all of these options automatically join know networks

Now on the Mac you can go into System Preferences > Network > WiFi and click on Advanced to review the list of “Preferred” (Know networks) and remove them or turn off the “auto-join” option for any network

On iOS it’s not as easy

There you have o be on or near the network

Go to Settings > WiFi and then click the “i” icon next to the network name

The you can choose to “Forget this Network” or uncheck the “Auto-Join” option for that network.

Now finally on iOS there is a “nuclear” option

Go to Settings > General

Scroll down and tap on “Reset"

Then tap “Reset Network Settings”

The issue here is it will take you back to “zero” and you’ll need to reconnect (and renter the password) for ANY network you were previously connected to. This includes your hoe network.

Are you using Handoff?

If not, why not?

This is probably one of my favorite features with newer Macs and iOS devices

You need to do a few things first to make sure you’re set-up for Handoff

Each device is signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID.

Each device has Bluetooth turned on.

Each device has Wi-Fi turned on.

Each device has Handoff turned on.

To turn on Handoff

On Mac

System Preferences, then click General. Select “Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices.

On iOS

Go to Settings > General > Handoff, then turn on Handoff

One of my favorite features is “Universal Clipboard”. You can copy something on your Mac and paste on a nearby iPhone or iPad (or vice versa). This is super handy

You also have app handoff. So if you’re in a App like Mail or Safari on your iOS device you’ll see it’s icon on the right of the Dock on your Mac. Click on that can the app will launch on your Mac right at the same spot it was on the iOS device.

Continuity Camera lets you drop a photo from your iPhone or iPad right into a document

Works with:

Finder

Keynote 8.2 or later

Mail

Messages

Notes

Numbers 5.2 or later

Pages 7.2 or later

TextEdit

Open a supported app and right+click where you want to insert a photo

Choose Import or Insert from iPhone or iPad > Take Photo

The camera app will launch on your device and then you can take a photo and it will insert that right into your document

You can also scan documents in the same way, just choose “Scan Documents” instead of “Take Photo”

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