New look for next iPhone?

A new rumor from a previously accurate Twitter leaker, @ShrimpApplePro

Says Apple will give the next iPhone, iPhone 15 more rounded back edges then the current squared off iPhone 14 designs

Think more like the bottom profile of the 14 or 16-inch M2 MacBook Pros or the iPhone 5C

Also claims Apple will use titanium for the chassis, though the design will still use back glass, so not a return to a metal backed design.

We know from other rumors and patent filings that Apple has always been interested in titanium as a possible material option for various devices (think Apple Watch or Apple Card, or the Ti Macbook Pro, if you’ve been around as long as I have)

While the strength and scratch resistance makes it appealing, it’s also what makes using it in products challenging

It’s hard to etch so giving it a “glossy” finish is difficult though Apple has supposedly developed processes for doing just that. They also have experimented with think oxide surface coatings that can help keep fingerprints off their beautiful devices

Best Buy CEO mentioned on a media call this week that they’re seeing inventory pressure on the “higher end” iPhone models

Apple is already backordered past the Christmas deadline for delivery on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max

The issues at Foxconn’s factory in China are not helping.

There have been riots and fights over missed bonus payments and recent COVID lockdown policies.

Apple is working with Foxconn to resolve the bonus payment issues and Foxconn already made a statement that the missed payments were a “technical error” and they will be honoring them.

Still Reuters reported that approximately 20,000 employees have left already the plant which could result in up to a 30 percent loss in production capacity

Apple has a list of the “order by” dates for all products in their [Holiday Gift Guide](https://www.apple.com/shop/gifts/holiday-shipping) on their site. Most products you have until Dec 21st, but there are some like AirTags or AirPods 3rd gen you’ll need to order sooner.

More support to the rumor from last week that the iPhone 15 models could have solid state buttons for the side and volume buttons

In a shareholder letter Apple supplier Cirrus Logic said they expect to bring new high-performance mixed-signal chips to market in a smartphone for “a strategic customer”

Cirrus’ HPMS components are used for the Taptic Engine in iPhones

Their CEO also said in a call that the new component would be coming to market to the "back half of next year,"

In the original rumor from Ming-Chi Kuo about the buttons he said that Apple would use two additional Taptic Engines to provide haptic feedback

Apple still wants ‘Sunday Ticket’

Apple is still trying hard to get a deal done with the NFL for their “Sunday Ticket” service

A new report from “The Athletic” says one of the sticking points is Apple wants “rights to the unknown”

i.e. not just the streaming rights, but rights to broadcast or distribute on technology or delivery systems that have not been invented yet. (AR/VR maybe?)

Apple did acquire a company called “NextVR” which was focused on virtual reality with sports and entertainment

There is also a big haggle over price where the NFL reportedly wants $3.5 billion per year which is almost double what current partner DirectTV has been paying.

Apple also would likely want international streaming rights, which doesn’t seem to be on the table. And no exclusivity for local market games due to existing cable deals and blackouts.

You need to question if the deal is worth it. As the piece points out… Apple would need roughly 8.75 million subscribers to the NFL Sunday Ticket package (which is $400 per season) to cover the cost of the license. DirectTV supposedly has about 1M SundayTicket subscribers.

The NFL had allegedly wanted to close the Sunday Ticket deal this fall, but a report from the New York Times says it will likely wait until next year.

The piece notes that Google is also currently a strong possibility for the service.

The saying still holds true… don’t believe what you read in the tabloids (even British ones)

The “Daily Star” claimed that Apple (and Tim Cook) were considering paying $6.9 billion for the Premier League football team, Manchester United.

The current owners put the team up for sale at USD $9.9B, but said they’d entertain the highest bidder.

The report claimed Apple was interested in the opportunities owning a Premier League football team might offer. They also said Cook could fund a new stadium for the club.

The whole story seemed like a rip-off from the playbook of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney who purchased the UK football club Wrexham A.F.C. in 2021 (watch Welcome to Wrexham on Hulu)

Don’t worry, this is not some Apple Ted Lasso fever dream gone wrong. MacRumors did some real checking and “according to a source familiar with the matter” Apple is not buying a football club.

Apple is looking to secure the film rights for a new book on Sam Bankman-Fried and his crypto company FTX according to “Deadline”

As you might know recently FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and there have been allegations of fraud and mishandled customer funds.

The new book is from Michael Lewis who was embedded with Bankman-Fried for the past six months. Lewis is the author of other books that were successfully turned into feature films like Moneyball, The Blind Side, and The Big Short.

Deadline says Apple may have beat out others like Amazon and Netflix and is “close to a deal” which is estimated to be in the “mid seven-figure range.”

Apple has limited run “back catalog” films on Apple TV+ now

You might have noticed

These seem to be tie ins with actors and directors featured in some of Apple TV+ original films and shows

There were classic Sidney Poitier films when his doc hit Apple TV+ and the “Hunger Games” films when the Jennifer Lawrence film “Causeway” hit Apple TV

Now we have Ryan Reynolds and Will Farrell movies like Semi-Pro, Old School, and Van Wilder because of “Spirited” (not great BTW)

Why AirPods Pro 2 not lossless

One hope of many for AirPods Pro 2 was that Apple might add support for Apple Music Lossless audio

There were rumors that Apple had been exploring their own wireless connectivity standard and codec to make it work.

We now know that didn’t happen, but we also know something else… Apple is generally happy with Bluetooth and the existing codecs

At least according to an engineer on Apple’s acoustic team. Esge Andersen gave an interview to “What HiFi” who asked if Apple felt restricted by Bluetooth technology and the current codec standards

Andersen stayed true to Apple’s “don’t give away secrets” policy (so no comment on if they’re working on something new), but did say he feels the current tech satisfies what Apple is looking for in terms of pushing audio quality balanced with wireless reliability.

He said Apple can still push the quality of the audio without needing a new codec.

There is little doubt that AirPods Pro 2 audio quality is excellent. In fact… this week we heard about a study that says in some instances they can be almost as good as high quality hearing aids

The Wall Street Journal reported on a study in the journal iScience that showed Apple’s AirPods Pro helped adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss hear speech nearly as well as two prescription hearing aids.

It does point out that Apple’s AirPods lack any FDA standards for hearing aids, but they still can help if you have trouble hearing in some situations.

The study noted, “In a sound and clarity test used to evaluate the performance of some hearing assistants, the AirPods Pro met established standards in four out of five categories, while the AirPods 2 met standards for two.”

A big area where AirPods fell short vs more expensive dedicated hearing aids was in battery life. Also for some hearing features (like active listening) the AirPods need an iPhone.

A cheaper Apple Pencil

A leak and rumor out of “Weibo” from an unproven source, so take with a LARGE grain of salt

Still interesting

The claim is Apple had a new version of an Apple Pencil codenamed “Marker” that was due to release with the iPhone 14’s

It was not pressure sensitive and did not have a battery. It used tech similar to Samsung’s S-pen stylus where the stylus was powered through the screen.

The interesting thing about this design is it would have seemed perfect paired with the new entry level iPad (which needs a dongle to power the 1st Gen Pencil) and also the pencil would hav worked with the iPhone.

It gets weirder because the report claims Apple mad 1 million of the devices so it’s really unclear why, if true, they would have scrapped the device.

Rocket Money

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Upside

Inflation has us all thinking about different ways to cut back... we moved so we could better afford things in life and reduce a lot of high cost bill. We’re also trying to not eat out as much and spending more family time at home.

Whether it’s driving less, dining out less or buying less from the grocery store, we can all agree there’s nothing fun about less.

That’s why I started using Upside. Upside is an incredible app for anyone who buys gas, groceries, or dines out. With Upside I don’t have to cut back, because I get cash back on every purchase.

I’m using it for my gas and grocery purchases and earning more cash back then I’d get from my cards program.

The cash back is a nice way to now have as many cutbacks. I don’t have to feel guilty about grabbing a coffee in the morning or that occasional dinner out.

I also love that I can transfer my earning right into my bank account, or better yet into an Apple Gift Card that I can use for my Apple purchases.

To get started, download the free Upside app. Use my promo code maccast and get $5 or more cash back on your first purchase of $10 or more.

Next, claim an offer for whatever you’re buying on Upside. “Check In” at the business, pay as-usual with a credit or debit card and get paid!

In comparison to credit card rewards or loyalty programs, you can earn 3 times more cash back with Upside.

Upside users are earning more than a million dollars every week. That’s probably why they have a 4.8 star rating on the App Store.

Download the FREE Upside App and use promo code maccast to get $5 or more cash back on your first purchase of $10 or more.

That’s $5 or more cash back on your first purchase of $10 or more, using promo code, maccast.

Some macOS tips

I ran across a few great tips from our friends at [Apple Insider](https://appleinsider.com/) this week

First… I know the new System Settings in macOS Ventura is not everyones favorite,

It’s clunky, not resizable, and hard to find things which is where this first tip comes in.

A settings many are familiar with is the “login items” which launch when you log in and are associated with your user account

These used to be accessed in the Users & Groups preferences under your account. No more.

Now they are in “General” > “Login Items”

But something I also found in here… “Allow in the Background” items

These are apps that have the ability to run tasks in the background when the app is not open.

Good to review from time to time to make sure you’re aware of everything in there.

I found some things I had uninstalled and a few I simply forgot about.

Just be careful in disabling items in here as doing so could break intended functionality of an app. For example Carbon Copy Cloner

Second… focus on the Finder when in any app.

There is a keyboard + click modifier that will hide all open apps and windows except the Finder

I was not aware of this.

Inside the current app hold the Command + Option keys and click on the desktop in the background.

You will have to command+tab to reopen app windows or reselect the app from the dock to bring it back (i.e. no reverse version of this keyboard + click modifier)

Also remember if you have a trackpad there are “Expose” 4-finger swipe gestures that can be handy (if enabled in System Settings >Trackpad)

3 finger + thumb pinch out to expose desktop. Pinch in to bring back windows

4 finger swipe up to show all open windows

4 finger swipe down to show all open windows for the current app

Disable emergency auto-call

Sean just got a new Apple Watch Ultra, but was having an issue where his weightlifting glove were setting off the Emergency SOS feature and asked about a way to turn it off during workouts.

He was also getting the action button to trigger accidentally.

If you don’t want Emergency SOS to trigger an automatic call you can turn off Automatic Dialing.

Open the settings app on your watch

Tap SOS

Tap Hold Side Button, then turn off Hold Side Button

Or open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Emergency SOS, then turn off Hold Side Button to Dial.

Even with the automatic dialing off you can still trigger the SOS by holding down the side button, but then you have to swipe the SOS Emergency call option to trigger the call.

For temporarily disabling the Action button

From the Watch app on the iPhone you can change the Action button settings to “none” after starting the workout. Then just change it back when you’re done.

Busted HomePod?

So I received a great tip from Andy who lives in Singapore

Andy has three HomePods even though they are not available there yet. He’s picked them up over in the UK.

The trouble is that one of them broke and because they are not available there there is no repair services available

Luckily he heard Marco mention, on an ATP podcast episode, [Nic Splatts](https://track44.moe/HomePods/) who runs a HomePod repair service out of Bellevue, WA

Nic also posts how to videos on HomePod repair in case you want to DIY that stuff yourself

You’d of course have to weigh shipping costs and repair costs vs just picking up a new HomePod, but considering the original ones are no longer available…

Andy also said I should watch the Apple TV+ film Swan Song to get a glimpse at why he believes in AR being a transformative technology of the future.

From the film he says he can see AR as a real possibility for day to day practical use. Especially as a replacement for not only the iPhone but also computers in general.

He says it’s not as convinced about VR, but thinks Apple could be the company to bring AR to the masses

Community Gift Ideas

From Greg [Andar](https://andar.com/) leather cases

iPhone, iPad, laptop, Apple Watch bands, AirPods, and more.

Greg says they are beautiful and feel great in the hand

Bob likes and recommends [Foodshiner](https://foodshiner.app/en/)

An app that helps you track your foods and it’s expiration dates to help eliminate food waste.

You enter your grocery purchases along with expiration dates and the app will notify you before you food goes bad

Offers barcode scanning

Also functions as a shopping list since you know what you have, how many, and when it might expire

Free (tipware)

Thing of the moment: Energizer Wi-Fi Outdoor Plug

[Energizer Wi-Fi Outdoor Plug](https://energizerconnect.com/product/smart-wi-fi-outdoor-plug-second-generation-custom-schedules-works-with-alexa-siri-google/)

I got the first gen for about USD $10 bucks. There is a gen 2 version that may cost a little more.

They are NOT HomeKit comaptible but work with Google and Alexa. I don’t use either so I can use the App or it does work with Siri Shortcuts (if you know where to look)

Gives you two power outlets you can control together or separately.

You can set-up groups and scenes. You can schedule, etc.

The actual product is licensed by Jem Connected IOT.

Yes it’s cheap China crap and likely will steal your info (I used a throw away email and blocked all location and notification features) Did have to connect to my wi-fi, so… eh (might need to run some network monitoring on it)

But they work as advertised and are inexpensive.

The app they recommend is “Energizer Connect” that all worked, but did not have any Siri Shortcut support.

I found the “Energizer Smart” app, which seems like basically the same app, with a better UI and more recently updated. It’s is from a possibly different company, “Supreme Imports Limited” (UK vs US?)

This App had the ability to add scenes to Siri Shortcuts. So now I can control the switches with my voice on iPhone, Apple Watch, and my Home Pods

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