Straight from the “How Stupid Can You Be” department is reporting about Chinese company BOE. This supplier for Apple manufactures OLED screens for the iPhone 13. In a massively-dumb move, BOE decided on their own to change the specs of how the displays were made and didn’t tell Apple. Gijong Lee at The Elec has the not-so-shocking consequence of BOE’s stupidity. The company was caught having changed the circuit width of the thin film transistors on the OLED panels it made for iPhone 13 earlier this year, people familiar with the matter said. This was done without Apple’s approval in…
Tag: apple
Apple has made some big announcements about providing the parts, tools, and manuals to repair their products. This has been due to pressure from governments and Right To Repair making progress on bills in the works. But, Apple never said they had to be nice about it. In a lengthy write-up for The Verge, Sean Hollister goes over the insane process Apple puts a person through in order to repair their iPhone. I expected Apple would send me a small box of screwdrivers, spudgers, and pliers; I own a mini iPhone, after all. Instead, I found two giant Pelican cases…
It’s hard to imagine Apple without the iPod. In the Steve Jobs era, the iPod was the device that took them from “doing okay” to becoming a monumental success of a company. Even if you weren’t (or aren’t) an Apple fan, you had or were surrounded by iPods in the early aughts. And now that era is over. On May 10th Apple put out a press release stating what we all knew was coming at some point: the iPod Touch was being fully discontinued. Since its introduction over 20 years ago, iPod has captivated users all over the world who love the…
Apple, who has historically been anti-remote work, has made a lot of headlines in the past months. Their policy has shifted in this COVID reality to one where they will move to a hybrid model. It ramps up with 2-days a week and then to 3-days a week in the office. Many are not happy about it. And how, Apple’s refusal to all fully-remote work has compelled their Director of AI to resign. The story by S. Dent at Engadget has the details. Now, Apple has lost director of machine learning Ian Goodfellow over the policy, according to a tweet…
It seems the dam has broken when it comes to retail and warehouse workers for major companies. Not long after Amazon’s JFK warehouse location and Starbucks’ Buffalo store both successfully unionized, efforts are now underway elsewhere to unionize as well. Apple is the latest company to see its employees band together to work for better pay, protections, and fair working conditions. It’s no surprise, given the tough work their store employees must do in a retail environment that can be unforgiving. Rachel Kraus at Mashable has more on one store’s mission to unionize. Workers at the Apple Store in the…
The Right To Repair movement is gaining steam, but it’s been a longstanding problem to overcome. The idea that if you buy something, you should be able to repair it seems simple. Of course, Apple and many other companies don’t want you to do that. This CBC investigation from 2018 explains exactly why it’s vital to allow someone to be able to fix their stuff. Louis Rossman and the people at iFixIt feature prominently in this investigation. It’s intriguing to watch this and see where things were and where they stand now. As someone who’s cracked open a few MacBooks…
Sunday night’s Oscars were… memorable for a big reason. But I’m not here to talk about THAT. Instead, I want to mention CODA. This movie has been on the radar since it debuted on Apple TV+. And in a first, this film took the award for Best Picture when it was only on a streaming service. Owen Gleiberman over at Variety has more. …just as “CODA’s” Oscar triumph signifies that we’re in a whole new ballgame of an era, where streaming is the paradigmatic new normal (which potentially scrambles the very metaphysic of “movies,” since that word no longer means…
When Apple debuted Face ID for the iPhone, it was a wonderful idea and one wherein they thought the days of Touch ID were numbered. COVID completely derailed the reliability of something that worked so well. Apple, nor anyone for that matter, could’ve predicted constant mask-wearing. Now, finally, with iOS 15.4 Apple has created a system to work around it. Jose Adorno at 9To5Mac has more. Just after you update your iPhone to iOS 15.4, a new prompt screen will appear explaining the new “Use Face ID with a mask” feature. Even though Apple actively gives users this new option,…
With COVID numbers falling across the country from Omicron’s spread, many companies are calling their employees back to the office. Apple has pushed back their return date many times, but this time it may stick. Earlier this month they announced April 11th will begin the transition for employees to return. Kim Lyons at The Verge has more. In the third week of the pilot, Cook writes, employees will come in twice a week, with the full hybrid pilot — where workers will come into the office on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and work “flexibly” on Wednesday and Friday — would…
Tuesday’s Apple Event unloaded a bunch of new products. A revised iPhone SE, an M1 chip in the iPad Air, a new Mac called the Mac Studio, a 27″ Studio Display, and a new green iPhone 13 / 13 Pro color were all brought to the market. However, there was one thing quite evident with Apple this time around: the Mac is back to being expensive. Really expensive. For years the argument against Apple has been their Pro line of computers was really not Pro enough. The price and specs did not cater to that audience. Now with the updates…
In “I definitely didn’t have this on my 2022 BINGO card” news, is this weird acquisition. Fortnite’s maker Epic Games has gone ahead and purchased the music website/service platform Bandcamp. Todd Spangler at Variety has more. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. “Fair and open platforms are critical to the future of the creator economy,” Epic Games, best known as the company behind battle-royale game “Fortnite,” said in announcing the pact. “Epic and Bandcamp share a mission of building the most artist-friendly platform that enables creators to keep the majority of their hard-earned money.” Variety Bandcamp has been a go-to…
If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, like I am, it’s painfully apparent that Apple lacks some core social features. Their “Replay” feature pales in comparison to Spotify’s “Wrapped” year-end review. In addition, there is no way to collaborate on a playlist with friends. A new app, Caset, looks to change that. Billed as a “mixtapes for the new era”, Caset is an app that lets you create playlists with friends. Anyone you share the playlist with can add tracks too. Even better is you can give a tapback-style reaction to tracks, allowing a simple feedback mechanism to exist. Mixtapes represent…
Even if you aren’t familiar with the company Square, you’ve seen it and have used it. Square is a payment system for small and medium businesses. They use iPad-like devices that swivel on a countertop and those small square devices that merchants use to take payments. Ever been to a craft fair, street fair, or other events with vendors? They’re everywhere. Apple, not one to ever overlook an opportunity, announced they’ll offer to accept tap-to-pay payments without any additional hardware. The new capability will empower millions of merchants across the US, from small businesses to large retailers, to use their…
My list of “Wow, that looks interesting” tv shows is growing. The newest one to add is Apple TV+’s Severence starring Adam Scott. Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Sasha Urban over at Variety reveal what the show is about. From writer and creator Dan Erickson, “Severance” follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott), who leads a team at Lumon Industries — where employees have undergone a “severance procedure,” which surgically divides their memories between work and personal lives. Throughout the course of the series, the mysterious and chilling “work-life balance” experiment is called into question as Mark is forced to confront reality. Variety The…
In all the years that Apple’s App Store has been in existence, apparently, they have never allowed a company to hide one’s app from the store. Doing so would make the app available only via a direct link. Why would a developer want to hide an app? Perhaps it’s for a one-off or annual event like Comic-Con. Or the app could be limited in use by employees of a singular company. Regardless of the use cases, Apple has finally implemented this obvious feature according to Amanda Yeo at Mashable. It will also help declutter the App Store, so you don’t…
When Apple introduced Face ID in 2017, they never could’ve predicted the world we live in today. Masks are mandatory in many places due to COVID. Many times when we are out and about, this super-fast way of unlocking an iPhone is rendered useless. Apple tried to fix this once. However, there are still tons of iPhone users who do not own an Apple Watch. Now, the upcoming iOS version 15.4 looks to do even more about this. Oliver Haslam at iMore gives more details. The change was first spotted by YouTuber Brandon Butch and comes with a text that…
UPDATE: According to Mashable, Apple has removed the requirement. No statements have been made. It’s simply gone back to the way it used to be. Since the beginning of Apple’s production of computers, they have focused on education. It was a strategy to get their computers in front of people at a time when a computer seemed unnecessary. The educational market has always been important to Apple. Every year they run back-to-school promotions and they have always offered discounts for students and teachers. However, now you will have to prove you qualify as Apple has done away with the honor…
If there was a big eye-roll moment, it’s Google’s Android team bellyaching about iMessage. Apple’s advantage is obvious because it’s a form of lock-in for their ecosystem. When the iPhone debuted, it supported SMS and nothing more. Then with iOS 5 in 2011, Apple rolled out iMessage. It was a simple and secure messaging platform that was an alternative to SMS. It famously only works between Apple devices. What really set it apart though was it became the default messaging protocol when you first messaged someone. Google has been fighting this fight for a long time. However, due to Android’s…
When Apple rolls out new products or services, the hook is their ecosystem. People can make fun of “it just works” when things don’t work. However, many ways Apple devices and services have an interplay between them is a huge benefit. Airdrop for starters is amazing. Airplay is another no-hassle way to sling content from one device to another. Even AirPods are part of it with a single-pairing that carries to all your other devices. At CES, Google has unveiled their plans to develop their own ecosystem. The company announced several new features that will be available in 2022: Coming…
Sometimes an announcement out of Apple’s Cupertino newsroom comes from left field. Cue a press release that went out this morning informing of a “Self Service Repair” program. Apple today announced Self Service Repair, which will allow customers who are comfortable with completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts and tools. Available first for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, and soon to be followed by Mac computers featuring M1 chips, Self Service Repair will be available early next year in the US and expand to additional countries throughout 2022. Apple Press Release Apple has been, rightly,…
On Wednesday Apple released version 15.1 of Safari. This is momentous because it finally puts the tab disaster officially in the past. Since WWDC back in June, people have been adamant that Apple does not need to mess with Safari’s tabs. But Apple did, stuck with the design, and even shipped it out as full release-worthy software. The revolt didn’t stop. With this update, the Tabs section in Safari’s Preferences now offers a “Separate” option. This is the classic style we all know and is the most usable. I’m happy, everyone else using Safari should be happy, and Apple will…
One of the silliest accessories Apple ever released were the iPod Socks. For $29 you could get a set of six socks for your iPod. It was weird but a fun accessory. I bought and still own my set (minus my green one which went missing) that came out in 2004. In today’s modern time, NativeUnion has gone ahead and released “beanies” for your AirPods. Our latest product is a tribute to one of the creations that’ve inspired our teams and the 10th anniversary of the visionary Steve Jobs’ passing. But more so, it’s just a fun way for us…
Well, I stand corrected. Days after lamenting the fact that MagSafe accessories for the iPhone are a mess, Anker went ahead and dropped no less than SIX MagSafe products in a family called MagGo. Anker gives each item an arbitrary number (Anker 613 or Anker 610) instead of a name. This makes it difficult to refer to them individually. The gist of the rollout are three desktop chargers, one MagSafe battery pack with a built in kickstand, a Magsafe ring (ala PopSocket) and a car mount. The 623 and 637 desktop chargers seem nice, but nothing to write home about.…
Last year with the iPhone 12, Apple announced MagSafe. The idea was simple: the back of an iPhone is now magnetic and you could attach accessories easily. Need to change accessories? Swapping one would take only a few seconds. Apple rolled out a charging puck and a wallet. As someone who purchased an iPhone 12, I was excited to see what other companies would release in the coming months. Disappointment was abound when the reviews for Belkin’s Car Vent Mount Pro started rolling in. At a $40 price point I was not about to drop down the cash for something…
After September’s annual Apple event for the iPhone and iPad, the focus turned to October and what usually is a Mac update event. Apple was true to form with the announcement for their “Unleashed” event. The rumors up to this point were bumped up a MacBook Pro that would finally see the 16″ model get its M1 conversion. Sure enough, Apple delivered some massive updates to their hardware lineup. Apple unveiled the M1 Pro and M1 Max CPUs. With this update Apple has taken one of the best reviewed chips and kicked it up a hundred notches. We knew a…
I don’t even know where to start. First I was skeptical. Then I was hopeful. I was warned. I let my MacBook Pro update anyway. And now I have to live with it: Safari 15. For those unaware, Apple unveiled an entire overhaul to Safari back in June during their developers conference. I talked about how drastic this was on the iPhone because with each beta update, Apple seemed to walk back the changes. When iOS 15 launched a few weeks ago, the only real changes to Safari were these three: the address bar was at the bottom, you could…
You’ve heard about it. Maybe you’ve watched it. But one fact is clear: you cannot escape seeing some acknowledgement about Ted Lasso. The show that has finally given Apple a bonafide hit for its Apple TV+ service is everywhere. It received 20 Emmy nominations and took home seven of those. What is it about a goofy guy coaching soccer, knowing nothing about the sport, we find so appealing? I think part of why this show sticks the landing is the state of the world. We’re still dealing with COVID and all the ripples affecting our lives. Just how Tiger King…
Rolled into all of Monday’s iOS updates was this unannounced Apple Card security feature: rolling CVN (3-digit) codes for Apple Card. When enabled, Advanced Fraud Protection will cause the three digit security code used for making purchases online to change every so often, which protects you if your card details are compromised by an online merchant. Apple says that the feature will not impact recurring purchases and subscriptions. MacRumors CVN codes are those 3-digit numbers on the back of your card. It’s a fraud-deterrent in place to avoid charges without access to the physical card. That has not stopped fraudulent…
Each year, hidden in the deluge of new iOS features, is one that becomes the breakout star. Last year was the ability to customize your home screen with widgets. Along for that ride was an app called Widgetsmith that rocketed to “Instagram Must-Have” status due to how well it let people customize their iPhones. iOS 15 was released yesterday for everyone. This year, I believe the breakout feature for iOS 15 is Live Text. The idea is simple. You point your camera at something with text in it and an icon appears. When you tap it a temporary photo is…
Another September is upon us and that means another Apple event where they inevitably say “This is the best iPhone yet” and “Today we’re making the iPhone even better.” Today Apple announced: iPhone 13 (Mini, normal, Pro, and Pro Max), iPad normal and Mini, then Watch Series 7. Ryan Jones, the developer of the awesome Flighty app, put it succinctly. Normal person summary of iPhone 13 Pro:1.5-2.5 hours more battery lifesuper fluid animationslight bluemacro photosPortrait Mode for videosmaller notchbetter cameras https://twitter.com/rjonesy/status/1437846287743848462 I know we’ve reached the point where iPhone updates are incremental. There is really not a tectonic shift year-over-year…