Apple generates a lot of news, and it can be hard to keep up. If your mind was on other things this week, our roundup of Apple-related headlines will bring you up to date.
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Can’t innovate any more my Glass
Hot-streak pundit Jon Prosser dropped a video this week leaking pretty much all the details about Apple’s upcoming AR glasses. Price, design details, features: there’s an amazing amount of information here.
Prosser had previously publicly disagreed with Ming-Chi Kuo about the product’s release schedule, but the detailed leak video suggests they are closer than first appeared: Prosser is adding that Apple will make a pre-release announcement a year before Apple Glass goes on sale.
If all this wasn’t enough, Prosser then followed up a few days later with the astonishing claim that Apple is also working on a version of Apple Glass that will have round frames as a tribute to Steve Jobs.
As we’ve said elsewhere, that’s verging dangerously close to the realms of Steve Jobs cosplay, and we’re struggling to see Tim Cook giving this the go-ahead. Has Prosser got his wires crossed? Has he been fed misinformation to flush out his sources? Or is he trolling us?
MacBook Pro: The review
This one’s hot off the press. Minutes before the end of the working day yesterday Macworld published its MacBook Pro 13in (2020) review. We tested out a 2.0GHz model with 16GB of RAM, coming in at £1,799/$1,799.
A high price to pay but a great investment was our verdict, as the gap between the starting configurations becomes wider than ever.
iOS update drops – and it’s a big one
We’ve been waiting on this one for a while, but Apple understandably wanted to get the beta testing right. And iOS 13.5 is here (along with iPadOS 13.5).
Why is this one so significant? It supports coronavirus tracking apps. There are updates to FaceTime and Face ID too. Here’s how to update iOS on your iPhone and maybe play a part in tackling COVID-19.
On a slightly less altruistic note, the makers of Unc0ver say the next version of the tool will be able to jailbreak iOS 13.5.
Hard times at Cupertino
This just in: Apple is now merely the fourth-biggest US company in terms of revenue, after Fortune published its updated list. But cheer up, Tim Apple: your company still made $55.3bn profit in 2019, more than any other US company except Berkshire Hathaway.
In other Apple-is-doomed news, it’s getting sued by Ubisoft, on the basis that a game on the App Store (and on Google Play – Google’s in trouble too) is a ‘copy’ of Ubi’s Rainbow Six: Siege.
Over at the Guardian, news from the Apple whistleblower who criticised the company’s collection of data through its Siri ‘grading’ programme. Thomas le Bonniec is not happy with progress since his disclosures last summer: he says the company “keeps ignoring and violating fundamental rights and continues their massive collection of data”. If you’re concerned too, read our guide explaining How to stop Siri listening to you.
(Note also that le Bonniec explicitly mentions that “undoubtedly not just Apple” is at fault here. As with the Ubisoft case above, it’s always Apple’s name that ends up in the headline.)
And for those who fear that Apple is unable to compete with Netflix and Amazon in the video-streaming space, we wrote some thoughts on how to improve Apple TV+, and what the company is already doing.
Bugs and problems
Those who paid top dollar for the 2020 MacBook Air have been getting hot under the collar about overheating problems. The fans are making too much noise, some owners report – the exact wording is “annoyingly loud” – while others believe the processors are being downclocked.
Security researchers, meanwhile, have discovered 10 unpatched flaws in Apple’s MagicPairing Bluetooth tech. They say the bugs could cause AirPods, iPhones and Macs to drop connections or even crash.
The rumour mill
Jon Prosser, who we mentioned earlier because of his Apple Glass pronouncements, has been busy this week. He’s also predicting that Apple will release an iPhone with no ports at all – although not until 2021.
No ports and no headphones either, if Ming-Chi Kuo is correct about this autumn’s release plans. He believes Apple is considering a plan to release the iPhone 12 with no EarPods in the box, no AirPods… not even a dongle so you can use your own 3.5mm earphones. No word from Apple, obviously, but this would be seriously controversial if the headphone port situation was anything to go by.
If you’re into iPhone rumours, you may be pleased to know that we’ve already posted our iPhone SE 3 rumour roundup. Too early, you say? It’s never too early. People are eating this up.
Our colleagues on Tech Advisor, meanwhile, have been asking What new AirPods models will launch this year? The highly successful AirPods brand looks to be taking over all of Apple’s headphones, with the Beats brand gradually getting subsumed: the expected over-ears will be called AirPods Studio, for instance.
And that’s it for this week. Stay Appley!
Via MACWORLD