Zocdoc

This episode of the Maccast is brought to you by Zocdoc. More on them later in the show.

It’s officially ‘Wonderlust’ season

Apple sent out the announcement for the next virtual iPhone event and they’re calling it “Wonderlust”

The image of the logo in the marketing seems to have a titanium like texture and colors in grey and blues that seemingly hint at the new material and colors rumored for this years Pro devices.

The vent is expected to focus on this years new iPhone 15 line-up, a new Series 9 Apple Watch, and likely new Apple Watch Ultra 2.

There will also probably be announcements of new accessories like cases, bands, etc. And there are rumors of updates for AirPods and AirPods Pro getting a new USB-C charging case and possibly also updated AirPods Max also getting USB-C.

The AirPods and AirPods Max updates might not be released until next year.

For updates…

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will probably get most of what we have currently in the iPhone 14 Pro models

A16 Bionic

Dynamic Island

48MP main camera

USB-C

New U2 ultra-wideband chip (better accuracy with FindMy)

New colors including a “light green”

The Pro and really the Pro Max models are expected to have the “bigger” upgrades

New design with thinner bezels and titanium materials

Programmable “Action” button

New A17 Bionic processors using 3nm technology

USB-C / Thunderbolt support with faster charging

Qi2 wireless charging

New U2 ultra-wideband chip (better accuracy with FindMy)

Possibly higher resolution telephoto and wide angle lenses (currently 12MP)

6x optical zoom telephoto on Pro Max, using “periscope” lens technology

Double the storage capacities

New colors in “Grey” (Titanium) and a new blue, replacing the current purple.

Also expected to have a USD $100 higher starting price point (maybe)

Because this years iPhone Pro Max is due to have the bulk of the “newness” there are several analyst reports predicting that that model will be the big seller in 2023

Ming-Chi Kuo thinks Apple is planning on Pro Max shipments being 10-20 percent higher than last years iPhone 14 Pro Max and that the new model will account for 35-40 percent of early iPhone 15 shipments.

Sales driven my the features, especially the new telephoto lens

Likely the model will be in short supply for a while.

Reports of delays in components like camera lenses

Could have limited quantities at launch, which is expected for September 22nd, or even be delayed until October

Interestingly… according to a report from Omdia’s Smartphone Model Market Tracker the current iPhone 14 Pro Max was the overall bestselling smartphone for the period between January-to-June 202 with Apple shipping 26.5 million units

Kuo also noted other production difficulties Apple is facing with the Pro models

New titanium frame adding “high processing difficulty and significant design changes during development.”

Also issues with the with stacked CIS, panels, batteries (expanding when exposed to heat). Though sounds like Apple has been able to address most of these ahead of the launch.

About the price increases on the Pros

Analysts can’t seem to agree, but the majority seem to think a USD $100 increase to base prices across the Pro line.

On the Max, some think the price increase could be up to USD $200

reportedly the periscope lens costs about three to four times more than a traditional high-end lens

Report from TrendForce thinks Apple will still start the Pro model at 128GB of storage and maintain the existing starting price of USD $999.00

According to Mark Gurman the rumored iPhone “Ultra” branding will now not appear this year

Apple will likely reserve that for the iPhone 16 “Ultra” which could get larger with a 6.9-inch display.

Also believed that the “Ultra” could bring Apple’s “spatial video” support for recording videos that can be watched on the upcoming Apple Vision Pro headset.

Gurman also claims that Apple retail stores will over go and “overnight” refresh of displays the night of the 12th

Leads some to believe some of the products announced will be “immediately” available

My guess is maybe cases, bands, and accessories?

Retail employees are also being coached to make sure customers are aware that the switch to USB-C means they will no longer be able to use their older “Lightning” accessories. Specifically their wall charger, since Apple doesn't include one in the box.

There is a USB-C charging cable in the box though.

They will encourage customers to purchase the separate USB-C charger.

Remember that if you have ANY USB-C charger, like the one for your MacBook, you can use that.

Also there are great options available for less money, like ones from [Anker](https://www.anker.com/collections/chargers)

USB-C to bring the Androids?

A SellCell survey of 1,000 iPhone users and 1,000 Android users in the US

44 percent of existing Android owners surveyed said they would be tempted to buy an iPhone 15 if Apple adopts a USB-C port for the device

66percent of the surveyed Android users said they would not be buying an iPhone 15, and 34 percent said they would potentially upgrade to the iPhone 15.

Some of the Apple Watch Series 9 stainless steel models may use a new 3D printed manufacturing process for the cases according to Mark Gurman.

“The print is made with a powdered substance, which afterward goes through a process called sintering. That uses heat and pressure to squeeze the material into what feels like traditional steel. The exact design and cutouts are then milled like in the previous process.”

He also says Apple Watch Series 9 models will have a new version of Apple’s heart rate sensor that will be faster and more accurate

And add the new U2 ultra-wideband chip

iPhone 15 ‘leather’ cases may use new material

There’s a somewhat iffy rumor that Apple will replace it’s leather cases with the release of the iPhone 15 with cases with new materials

According to the report it could be a “patchwork” of two materials that are designed to be more eco-friendly.

Additional leaks claim the cases will use a woven-style design with materials made from a leather alternative

Reports are that the supply-chain references the new cases as a “MagSafe environmental protection cloth leather case.”

The colors in leaked images are not supposed to be representative of what Apple plans to release. The materials to me look like almost an imitation suede on the back and inside (or microfiber) and a more leather like material on the sides where the aluminum buttons are.

Apple putting a “lock” on processors

DigiTimes is reporting that Apple has secured all of TSMC’s manufacturing supply of 3-nanometer process chips for 2023.

It seems that Intel had lacked the in-house capabilities for 3nm manufacturing and had planned to use some of TSMC’s capacity for production of it’s upcoming Arrow Lake processors, but they stalled on their development plans and won’t move forward until next year.

This opened up the opportunity for Apple to get all the capacity, though overall TSMC will produce fewer 3nm chips in 2023 without the additional orders from Intel.

Apple also re-upped on their long-term licensing deal with ARM that now “extends beyond 2040.”

Arm technology is the key to Apple’s custom designed processors, so seems like plans are for that continue for a long time.

Of the new products expected in the near future

We are expecting a Mac event in October

Mark Gurman has speculated that Apple could possibly unveil M3 versions of the 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and 24-inch iMac.

Ming-Chi Kuo has recently said that looking at the supply chain it doesn’t seem like Apple will ship new MacBooks with M3s this year.

I assume they could still announce the products this year and start shipping early next year?

Gurman also thinks Apple could debut a new iPad Air model this year. I would assume with an M2?

2024 is expected to bring new iPad Pros, likely with M3s? Or maybe offer the 24-inch M3 iMac this year and new MacBooks early next year.

The new models are expected in the “mid to second half of 2024”.

Mark Gurman elaborated a bit more on the new Magic Keyboard case redesign that’s expected

Says the top-case could use aluminum bringing the design much closer to that of MacBooks.

Exterior shell would reportedly be that same as the existing material

I wonder about weight.

Another leak from Korea says the updated iPad Pro model could double the base storage levels which means a max of 4TB

It’s also expected the 2024 model could see the move to OLED displays at the same sizes.

What I’ll call a “suspicious” rumor from DigitTimes

Apple is possibly developing a new “low-cost” MacBook to compete with Google Chromebooks

Cheaper materials and components aimed at the education market.

The future of Vision Pro

Reports from “The Information” that Sony has “shown reservation” about expanding micro-OLED panel production to meet Apple’s expanding headset production

That presumably has Apple looking at additional suppliers like BOE Technology and SeeYa Technology for future headsets.

The piece also notes that adding additional suppliers and capacity could be a path toward lowering the price point on future versions of the headset or maybe to a lower priced model with less features.

Apple responded to comments made by Mark Gurman that he was hearing some of the Vision Pro developer labs Apple is running to let devs test their upcoming apps on real Apple Vision Pro hardware have been “under filled”

The implication is that maybe developer interest in the Vision Pro, at least early on, is soft.

Apple responded indirectly in a Digital Trends interview saying that, “devs are even more excited for the product than the company expected. The company has seen “extremely high, three-digit customer satisfaction for the labs that we’ve run so far,””

They also commented that the number of downloads of the Vision Pro software development kit (SDK) had “exceeded our expectations.”

“The Information”s Wayne Ma has new report on possible new features for Siri an Shortcuts coming to iOS 18

The new features are said to leverage Apple’s continuing work on conversational AI and will allow users to use Siri to perform automations and complex tasks, like turning the last five photos taken into a GIF with a voice command.

The report talks about the 16-person conversational AI team called Foundational Models and claims the team is spending millions per day on AI computing

Zocdoc

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I really appreciate that all their doctors have verified reviews from real patients, not bots. It helps me narrow in on someone who’s going to possibly be a good fit for me.

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Go to Zocdoc dot com slash MACCAST and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Then find and book

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On iPhone 15 upgrades

I talked about the fact that for me this might be the first year I don’t update my iPhone

Many of you wrote in and seems like many of us are in the same boat when it comes to this years upgrades.

Josh has an iPhone 13 Pro he’s happy with, but is considering upgrading to a 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max

Wonders if there’s enough there to upgrade

Mentions that he’s very interested in the camera features but feels recent updates have been minor and wonders if the telephoto on the Max is worth it.

I feel like for camera folks it will be a very significant upgrade. I just wish it wasn’t exclusive to the Max. I’d probably update if it was on the Pro.

Eric also plans to upgrade to an iPhone 15 Pro. He’s looking for macro photography, battery life, and USB-C.

Eric also would be upgrading from an iPhone XS so this will be a HUGE upgrade for him.

He’s previously used add-on lenses to get macro support, so having that built in will be really nice.

Make sure to run your updates

Apple released the macOS 13.5.2, iOS 16.6.1, iPadOS 16.6.1, and watchOS 9.6.2 updates

You’ll want to get these as they have some critical security updates

The biggest being a patch for a zero-click vulnerability called “BLASTPASS” which is being actively exploited by NSO Group's Pegasus spyware.

It allows for someone to send a maliciously crafted PassKit (Wallet) image to a target via iMessage, infecting their device without the need for the target to click on anything.

Luckily Pegasus spyware is most often used to target government officials, reporters, and other “high profile” targets, but regardless you’ll want the patch.

Apple device battery replacements

Stephen had some interesting and potentially frustrating information to share regarding getting new batteries for our Apple devices.

In his case it’s a Series 7 Apple Watch, but this info really impacts any device with an internal battery.

He’s found himself needing to put his watch on the charger twice a day, morning and evening to keep things running.

this was despite adjusting settings to turn off more power hungry features like the hand washing timer, always on display, and making notification adjustments

He says some days even getting through 12 hours is tough.

Because of it he’d thought he’d like to have Apple install a new battery so off to the Apple store.

He knew the out of warranty cost would have to be paid, £85, but was willing to do it.

In the battery settings his watch was reporting battery health at 83% and this is where the “interesting” part comes in.

Apple told him that before they could replace the battery they had to run diagnostics and if the battery did not show a failure they could not replace it for any reason.

Looking through Apple’s support site they do mention that batteries are considered for replacement when the battery holds less than 80 percent of its original capacity.

Apple claims to do this for environmental reasons.

I’m not sure what additional troubleshooting you’ve done Stephen, but I too have a Series 7 and I can typically go 24 to 36h on a charge. So something for sure seems off.

I know that sometimes doing a backup and a full erase and restore can help.

Still… frustrating that Apple won’t replace a battery even if you’re willing to pay for it.

Replacing Drobo

So Drobo has essentially been dead as a company in one shape or form for a while, yet for me it’s still an essential part of my backup system.

With macOS Sonoma on the horizon I think it’s time to explore a replacement, though it’s a task I don’t relish

I did do some checking and I believe the Drobo Dashboard might still work on macOS Sonoma, but there is definitely no support from Drobo now.

I think my two options would be a Synology NAS solution or maybe using an old Mac mini and a more traditional RAID solution like one from OWC.

I’m not sure why, but I’m leaning toward the [OWC Thunderbay 4](https://www.owc.com/solutions/thunderbay-4-thunderbolt-3) line with SoftRAID and using my old mini.

I could run Plex on the Mac and it would work similar to my existing Drobo set-up with [ChronoSync](https://www.econtechnologies.com/chronosync/overview.html) still driving the bulk of the backup over my network.

The other option would be a Synology [DS923+](https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/DS923%2B) or [DS423+](https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/DS423%2B)

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