iOS 15 is kind of boring. It brings some welcome new features, but nothing that will change the way you use your iPhone forever.
Some people might find the lack of earth-shaking new features dull. But the bottom line is, when it comes to something as integral to our daily lives as the way you interact with your iPhone, “boring” is shorthand for “good.”
YouTube will reportedly soon allow all iPhone users to watch video from its application in a small window while another app is open. This feature has come and gone several times since Picture in Picture support debuted in iOS 14. Now it’s apparently coming back to stay.
As governments around the world scrutinize Apple’s App Store policies, the U.S. Congress is pondering legislation that could stop the company from preinstalling default apps on iPhones.
Apple critics suggest that such a move would level the playing field and give smaller developers a chance to compete. But would it actually benefit consumers, the purported goal of such antitrust legislation?
I’m not sure it would. In fact, it might simply make owning an iPhone a lot less enjoyable.
The 12.9-inch version of the 2021 iPad Pro is such a hot item that Apple can’t keep it in stock, but that didn’t stop Amazon from having a sale. Buyers can pick up this tablet with 256GB of storage for the same price the 128GB configuration ordinarily sells for.
These days, the M1-processor Macs are calling to a lot of people, and Redditor KhanathanJr is no exception. He’s a first-time MacBook fan wielding a formidable 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro packing an 8-core Intel i9 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a reasonably good graphics card, but … you know.
It may not retain its commanding position in the setup for much longer.
Intel will experience a big decline in market share in 2022 as Apple further shifts away from Intel processors to Apple Silicon, Digitimes reports. It suggests that Intel will lose close to half its Apple orders this year. This is en route to Apple ditching all its Intel orders in the near future.
Looking for a fun brain-teaser this weekend? Look no further than Letter Rooms, a letter-jumblingly fun word game created by award-winning developer Klemens Strasser, maker of Subwords, Asymmetric and Elementary Minute.
The new $1.99 anagram-based game boasts more than 200 puzzles, broken down into a dozen topics — including animals, sports, pop culture, and more. What better way to dust off your mind after lockdown?
Frenzic: Overtime, an arcade-style puzzle game, is the latest addition to Apple Arcade. Match the colorful pieces and shapes before the clock runs out.
And that’s not all. Game Dev Story+, an updated version of the App Store classic, debuted on Apple’s gaming service on Friday as well.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is already looking beyond the A15 chip that will come with this year’s iPhone 13. According to a Friday report, the world’s biggest chip fab is “fast advancing” its 4-nanometer and 3-nanometer processes ready for mass manufacturing.
Digitimes reports that TSMC’s 4-nanometer process will move into risk production in the third quarter of 2021. Risk production is a smaller production run of new hardware to sort out any problems. If there are none, TSMC can then progress to volume production. The same report also claims that TSMC’s 3nm production process will commence volume production in the second half of 2022.
As part of the podcasting arms race between tech giant, Spotify has acquired Podz, an AI podcast discovery service for an undisclosed amount of money. Podz generates (or generated) short audio clips that populated a Instagram Stories-style timeline users could flip through to find podcasts they were likely to enjoy listening to.
The Twelve South SurfacePad is a folio leather wallet case for iPhone 12. It’s designed to hold ID and credit cards and protect the handset’s screen. And it does so without interfering with MagSafe wireless charging.
Apple TV+ gave a first look at a hotly anticipated comedy starring the brilliant Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd. A trailer for The Shrink Next Door premiered on Thursday, and the streaming service revealed that the limited series will debut November 12.
Watch the trailer now for an early glimpse:
Apple dropped the cost of AppleCare+ breakage insurance plans for MacBooks with the M1 processor by up to $50.
These plans offer deeply-discounted repairs on two accidents for every twelve months of coverage.
Apple has awarded $5 million in “Innovation Grants” to four historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. Alabama A&M University, Howard University, Morgan State University, and Prairie View A&M University will all receive funds from Apple as part of its $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative.
The money, given over three years, will be used to help prep students for future careers in both hardware technology and silicon chip design. In other words, while there’s no guarantee of this, Apple could be helping provide the training that will up-skill future Cupertino employees. If that pays off, it’s a great investment on Apple’s part, as well as being a positive social contribution.
LG Electronics threw in the towel on manufacturing smartphones earlier this year. Now, according to a new report, it’s considering stocking Apple products in its 400 LG Best Shops stores in South Korea.
The companies supposedly are negotiating for an Apple store-within-a-store setup that will sell iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. This sounds similar to when Apple set up mini-stores inside CompUSA outlets around the United States in the late 1990s. As with the CompUSA mini-stores, the new LG outlets might be staffed by Apple employees.
Facebook is gearing up to launch its own podcast platform later this month. Facebook’s podcasts feature will launch June 22, an attempt by the social media giant to muscle in on the incredibly popular and fast-growing podcast market.
Facebook confirmed the news in an email to podcast page owners, seen by The Verge. Users will be able to listen to podcasts directly on Facebook, as well as via a new podcasts tab that has yet to launch. Facebook is also working on a feature that will let listeners create clips from their top shows.
The online Apple Store might not be the best place to buy the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Place an order for 2021’s hottest tablet on Apple.com on Wednesday and you could wait a month or more to have it shipped to you. But other stores have the device in stock now.
Why wait?
Apple’s CEO told the audience at France’s VivaTech conference that a critical part of the European Union’s proposed Digital Markets Act isn’t in the best interests of iPhone users. The proposal would require Apple to allow users to sideload applications, something CEO Tim Cook and the company are adamantly opposed to.
Add season two of Truth Be Told to the list of Apple TV+ summer 2021 offerings. Octavia Spencer returns as the star of the crime drama series, and Kate Hudson joins for the new season.
Apple dropped a teaser trailer Wednesday to whet fans’ appetites. Watch it now.
Redditor carrotcakeblack wins more than a few style points for his “mostly monochrome! Also some keyboards” setup, as he calls it in his post’s title.
But he leaves out one of the factors visitors like most about his well-photographed MacBook Pro-based outfit. Namely, the way he hangs so much of his gear on a pegboard off to one side in such a visually appealing way.
Smart sensors in future AirPods possess “all kinds of potential” for health tracking, according to Apple VP of Technology Kevin Lynch.
While he surely knows the company’s goals in this area, Lynch doesn’t spill the beans in a new interview with TechCrunch. However, the Apple exec hints (or, rather, doesn’t exactly deny) that the health-tracking technology already found in iPhones and Apple Watch could arrive in next-gen AirPods.
Beats co-founders Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and Jimmy Iovine, both of whom previously held high profile roles at Apple, are working to transform a public high school to welcome pupils who feel “disconnected from, [or] unmotivated by, the typical school experience.”
The public high school will supposedly mirror the format of the USC’s Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation, which they donated $70 million to start in 2013. The USC academy has since expanded due to its popularity. Some graduates have even gone on to work at Apple.
Apple has successfully fixed a problem that was stopping some Apple Card users from using Apple Pay with the Apple-branded credit cards in stores. On its System Status page, Apple noted that “Some users were affected,” although it does not provide details of the problem — or the fix that the company employed.
The issue was marked as revolved at 6.41 am ET/3.41 am PT on Wednesday, June 16. This was two days after Apple first noted it had a problem. No other problems were highlighted on the Systems Status page, which showed green lights across the board.
Apple reportedly considered launching its own subscription-based primary care medical clinics with Apple-employed doctors, says the Wall Street Journal. The plan — part of Apple’s push into health and wellness — was supposedly conceived in 2016. However, it’s not clear whether it is still on the cards today.
Apple has confirmed that its Apple Music Lossless and Spatial Audio features will be coming to India. The features debuted elsewhere for users in May at no added cost.
Apple’s Support Twitter page notes that “We appreciate your interest. Dolby Atmos on Apple Music will be coming to India soon. Keep an eye out here.” Meanwhile, the Apple Music page for India also makes mention of the feature. No official launch date has yet been announced.