This week’s Apple news and headlines, including iPhone 17 Pro leaks, MacBook Pro release date, iPad Mini review, iOS 18.1 details, Apple’s AI delays, AirPods hearing health, happy iPod birthday, and more Let’s look back.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of some of the many discussions surrounding Apple over the past seven days. Also check out Forbes’ weekly digest of Android news.
Apple CEO Tim Cook holds up the new iPhone Pro during an Apple event (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty) … [+]
Dynamic design changes for iPhone 17 Pro
Apple is planning to reduce the physical size of the front-facing sensor trya. This reduces the absolute need for dynamic islands. It’s still part of the OS, but it covers less and can be more…well…dynamic. . And it all comes down to new lens technology.
“While traditional iPhone cameras have a curved lens that redirects light toward the image sensor, metalens is a thin, microscopic pattern etched into the lens that allows the light to be focused more precisely. It’s a flat lens. [Jeff Pu’s] In this month’s research note, Pu did not provide specific details about how Apple plans to use metalenses in its Face ID system, and how the changes would narrow the dynamic island. It doesn’t even explain. ”
(McRumors).
Mac is coming
Apple Senior Vice President Geg Joswiak didn’t say the key phrase (“MacBook Pro launches on Monday”), but in his latest tweet he walked to the bar without saying “MacBook Pro launches on Monday.” I went. I hope you all come back here on Monday to find out what that means.
“Check your calendar! We have a week of exciting announcements starting Monday morning. Stay tuned.”
(Greg Jozwiak, née X Twitter, via The Verge).
iPad Mini review
The seemingly early launch of the iPad Mini in a press release last week means we’ll get our first reviews this week (ahead of Wednesday’s retail launch). As David Pierce explains in his review, this is an interesting combination of specs.
“It’s a hodgepodge of new and not-so-new parts, with no new specs or features to really differentiate it. How Apple Intelligence changes everything, and you absolutely As far as I can tell, aside from a lot of grandiose promises about what it does, it requires a device that runs Apple Intelligence.
(The Verge).
Confirm iOS 18.1 launch
Apple has confirmed that iOS 18.1 will be released on Monday, October 28th. This is the first notable update to the latest version of the iPhone operating system, and it covers two important areas. The first is to (hopefully) address various critical bugs introduced in iOS 18 that affect many iPhone 16 and 16 Pro users. Second, the long-delayed debut of Apple Intelligence…at least the first few for those of you who speak American English:
“The first features of Apple’s Personal Intelligence System are coming soon. More features are coming in the coming months, but the first features include writing tools that help you improve what you write. You can proofread and rewrite text on your iPhone, and these tools are available across your iPhone, including in Mail, Notes, Pages, and some third-party apps.
(Forbes).
Will AI delays become a footnote?
Apple is making a concerted effort to communicate its top leadership to the mainstream press and spread the message that it’s “best, not first” when it comes to its technology. This is a statement that Apple and its community have leaned heavily on in the past, with Android competition defining the space while the iPhone doesn’t have wireless charging. Tim Cook and Craig Federighi offered interviews with The Wall Street Journal to explain their defense. Cook is like this.
“At that point, it wasn’t the first or the best. It had fancy ‘Hello, Apple Intelligence’ ads in stores, but the iPhone’s most exciting new feature was the promise of more updates coming next year. It will be published and will not be available for another month. But that didn’t seem to matter to customers or Mr. Cook. “I don’t think it will become a footnote after a long time,” he says.
(Wall Street Journal).
Health and Hearing for Almost Everyone
One of the surprising additions to the AirPods software revealed in September was the ability to use your audio device as a hearing aid and provide other health-related features. These require iOS 18.1 on the host device. This is expected to be released within the next week for many, but not all, users.
Not all features will be available at launch. This is a real case to check local listings for details. ”:
“The new hearing health features are only compatible with the 2nd generation AirPods Pro. However, there are other requirements between the two lines. According to a footnote on Apple’s website, the new hearing health features are only compatible with the 2nd generation AirPods Pro. However, the audiometry and hearing aid features will be available in more than 100 countries and territories, including the United States, Germany, and Japan. ”
(9to5Mac).
And finally…
As the Beatles would say, it was 23 years ago today that Apple Inc (famously not Apple Corp) released the iPod. William Gallagher looks back at the history of the iPod and how it defined Apple’s future.
“You don’t have your iPod anymore. It’s probably in a drawer somewhere, on another light switch, but this treasure of our time is still there when you remove the hard drive from its place.” Almost went nowhere except for a few hard-hitters who were “flash media”.
“When Apple announced the end of the last version of the iPod, the headline was meant to celebrate the device, but instead felt like a denial of it: ‘Music Lives on.’ was the overall headline. In its May 2022 announcement, Apple first acknowledged the death of the iPod and then spent a lot of time talking about Apple’s AirPods. ”
(Apple Insider).
Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any future coverage. You can read last week’s Apple Loop here. You can also read this week’s issue of Android Circuit, Loop’s sister column, on Forbes.
