More iPhone naming

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Neil Cybart, Above Avalon:

Over the years, iPhone naming has had its ups and downs. There were the awkward names like iPhone 3GS and iPhone XS Max, and then there were strong industry-defining names like iPhone X. Based on the latest rumors, Apple appears to be in the early stages of moving away from an annual iPhone naming cadence altogether.

Interesting read, digs into a pretty complete history of iPhone naming, and follows with possible paths for the coming iPhones. Pairs well with the John Gruber take posted earlier.

I’d like to see Neil take on the entire Apple product line, with thoughts on a global branding strategy.

John Gruber on the branding of next week’s new iPhones

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John Gruber:

Here’s why I think an “11 / 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max” naming scheme makes perfect sense. First, I hate Roman numerals with an irrational passion, so I’m not even going to get into the idea that Apple might have even considered “iPhone XI”. Just no.

And, on the suggested dropping of the 11, leaving iPhone, iPhone Pro, and iPhone Pro Max:

In the abstract, such a naming strategy would be better. It would match Apple’s other product lineups — MacBooks and iPads — where higher priced models are Pro and lower priced ones are not. MacBook Pros and iPad Pros don’t get numbered sequentially by product generation. When new ones come out, they’re just called “MacBook Pro” and “iPad Pro” and Apple uses model years (e.g. “late 2019”) to specify exact models in support documentation — but never in advertising or product packaging.

Read the whole thing. To me, this is one of the most compelling storylines of next week’s event. Where is Apple heading on branding? Will the Mac, iPad, and iPhone branding schemes converge?

And this does raise one more question for me:

What if Apple does ship an iPhone SE update in the Spring? How does that fit into the overall scheme?

iPhone mini?

Reddit: My MacBook Pro screen died, so I used Catalina Sidecar to physically replace it with my iPad

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[VIDEO] Andrew Kroger, Reddit:

It’s done! Following up on a recent post that I made on this sub, my iPad/Macbook hybrid is complete. The method involved defusing the broken LCD screen and backlight from the upper portion of the MacBook’s clamshell, modifying the retina display driver, attaching a magnetic iPad case in-place of the retina display and putting everything back together. In regards to software, I’m using Catalina’s ’Sidecar’ to wirelessly (bluetooth) mirror the once-existent Retina display and ‘keyboard maestro’ to establish the initial connection to the iPad upon booting up.

Check the results, embedded in the main Loop post.

ZipCar rental nightmare: In remote area without cell service, car won’t open, won’t start

Written by

Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic:

Here is the Public Service Announcement part of the story: If you take a vehicle loaned out by Zipcar—a rental service where drivers use RFID cards or a mobile app to open up the car—to an area without cell reception, there’s a chance the car will not work. The doors won’t open, and even if they do, the engine will not start. And because you will be in an area with no cell reception, it might be impossible for you to call for help.

This is a cost of “connected everywhere”. Good story, a bit of a cautionary tale.

Apple customers served on the street after gang robs Perth Apple Stores

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9 News:

Police are on the hunt for a gang of six men wanted over daring smash and grab robberies on Perth’s two Apple stores.

The thieves got away with a $300,000 haul of products, mostly Apple iPhones, prompting a warning for customers buying off the black market.

Follow the link, there’s video of the actual smash-and-grab. Pretty incredible.

Per usual, no value for the stolen gear as-is, only as black-market parts or for sale to folks unaware of the uselessness of stolen iPhones, etc.

Nikkei Asian Review: Apple to launch new low-cost iPhone this Spring

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It’s a rumor, a leak from “sources”, so take it all with a grain of salt. But an updated version of the iPhone SE would be most welcome, in my opinion. People with smaller hands and/or smaller pockets are not being served.

A new iPhone SE? Yes, please. Not to mention a modern iPhone at an entry level price. That’d certainly help Apple expand into low-cost Android phone territory.

Timeline of browser wars

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[VIDEO] Before you dig in to the video embedded in the main Loop post, think about what you expect to see. What browsers have what market share right now?

I think you’ll be surprised. [H/T John Frankel]

Scammer successfully Deepfaked CEO’s voice to fool underling into transferring $243,000

Written by

Gizmodo:

The CEO of an energy firm based in the UK thought he was following his boss’s urgent orders in March when he transferred funds to a third-party. But the request actually came from the AI-assisted voice of a fraudster.

Stories of AI fakes fooling real people continue to roll out. And, I suspect, they’ll only become more numerous as the tools for video and audio deep fakes become more prevalent and more sophisticated.

I’m less worried about someone calling, pretending to be someone asking me to transfer funds. I’m more concerned about the scam where someone imitates a family member, either in peril, or just asking for some personal information. In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to fall for something like this.

Camera sales continue to fall off a cliff

Written by

Om Malik:

All four big camera brands — Sony, Fuji, Canon, and Nikon — are reposting rapid declines. And it is not just the point and shoot cameras whose sales are collapsing. We also see sales of higher-end DSLR cameras stall. And — wait for it — even mirrorless cameras, which were supposed to be a panacea for all that ails the camera business, are heading south.

Smartphone cameras are clearly destroying the compact camera market. Check the charts in the linked post. But sale of interchangeable lens cameras seems to have stabilized. As good as my iPhone camera is, there are still optical limits to a camera you can fit in your pocket.

The question is, do people care about the resolution, the sharpness of their photos when zooming in? After all, the photos will mostly be viewed on a small screen.

To me, this is similar to what’s happened to music. We are so used to listening to music on headphones we pull out of our pocket, the idea of building a wall of sound, or fitting a room with expensive, audiophile speakers seems a distant memory.

Personally, I am still a fan of telephoto lenses, and fast focusing gear. Think capturing a bird in flight, or a fast moving scene, like a soccer ball at the moment it crosses the goal line. I’d love to be able to shoot those sorts of scenes with my iPhone, but physics just gets in the way.

Apple Watch sleep tracking revealed

Written by

Guilherme Rambo, 9to5Mac:

9to5Mac has learned from sources inside Apple that the company is working on sleep tracking for the Apple Watch, which won’t require any special hardware to work.

And:

While asleep, the Apple Watch will track the user’s quality of sleep using its multiple sensors and inputs, including the person’s movement, heart rate, and noises.

Noises!

One of the issues with wearing an Apple Watch during sleep is that many users choose to charge their Apple Watch at night. Apple thought about this and developed a feature that will remind users to charge their Watch beforehand so they can get through the night.

When wearing the Watch during bedtime, if the user wakes up and starts their day before their alarm goes off, it will automatically turn off the alarm.

This is all fascinating to me. Makes me wonder what I’d do with that information. Will there be an addition to the Health app to help me get better sleep? To take advantage of this information in some way?

Another question: Will this work with an existing Apple Watch model? If so, how far back will it go?

We’ll find out one week from today.

Making 18K gold AirPods

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This is just riveting. Video embedded in main Loop post. Absolutely fascinating to me.

Getting your medical records through an app? There’s a catch. And a fight.

Written by

New York Times:

Americans may soon be able to get their medical records through smartphone apps as easily as they order takeout food from Seamless or catch a ride from Lyft.

But prominent medical organizations are warning that patient data-sharing with apps could facilitate invasions of privacy — and they are fighting the change.

And:

The American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and other groups said they had recently met with health regulators to push for changes to the rules. Without federal restrictions in place, the groups argued, consumer apps would be free to share or sell sensitive details like a patient’s prescription drug history. And some warned that the spread of such personal medical information could lead to higher insurance rates or job discrimination.

This is no small thing. It’s the reason federally mandated privacy rules are in place. Apple’s privacy commitment is a promise, but not a legal requirement. And if you move beyond Apple and the Health app, your privacy risks rise significantly.

To me, knowing exactly who has access to my shared medical history is at least as important as who has access to my location or email. Centralizing access to a patient’s medical records is certainly valuable, making it easier for all your doctors to gain an accurate view of your history and medicines. But there is the potential for all your highly personal medical details to become public.

Apple announces Apple Watch screen replacement program

Written by

Apple:

Apple has determined that, under very rare circumstances, a crack may form along the rounded edge of the screen in aluminum models of an Apple Watch Series 2 or Series 3. The crack may begin on one side and then may continue around the screen.

Follow the link, check out the images to get a sense of this, and to see if your Apple Watch qualifies.

Relay FM fundraiser for St. Jude and National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Written by

Stephen Hackett, 512 Pixels:

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and once again this year, I am raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which treats patients without charging their families a dime.

Treatments invented by St. Jude have helped push the overall cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80%. My 10-year-old son is a survivor of brain cancer, thanks to the hard work of the men and women at St. Jude. Josiah is in 4th grade this year, and leads a joyous life. He loves music, playing with babies and spending time on our big tree swing. He is a true blessing to everyone who gets to meet him, and cancer cannot keep him down.

Families never receive a bill from St. Jude. For anything. Travel, food, all covered. A worthy cause.

Here’s a link to the Relay FM fundraising page.

Apple Korea posts amazing sequence of colorful AirPods cases

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[VIDEO] Apple’s South Korean site posted a sequence of colorful AirPod case pictures, along with a video (embedded in the main Loop post) showing off those cases.

I tweeted a couple of screen shots of the images (not from the video). New cases appeared each time I refreshed the page. Interesting designs. Fascinating that some of them have hooks to hang the case from a chain.

Did Apple make these prototypes? Are these Etsy-like 3rd party crafts? No matter, I love ’em all. Whimsy!

Every iPhone ranked — Best to worst!

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[VIDEO] Rene Ritchie combines a look at every single iPhone over the years with a bracket challenge (video embedded in main Loop post).

Personally, I enjoy a good retrospective, and found myself rooting for certain models. Interesting idea, well executed. How do you have enough time in the day to do all this stuff, Rene?

Google lays out iOS malware exploits found in the wild, but already patched by Apple back in February

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As you make your way around the blogosphere this morning, you’re sure to see a number of articles highlighting mysterious or indiscriminate iPhone attacks, quietly hacking iPhones for years.

There’s a nugget of truth there, but as always, best to go straight to the horse’s mouth, this blog post from Google’s Project Zero.

Earlier this year Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) discovered a small collection of hacked websites. The hacked sites were being used in indiscriminate watering hole attacks against their visitors, using iPhone 0-day.

There was no target discrimination; simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, install a monitoring implant.

And:

TAG was able to collect five separate, complete and unique iPhone exploit chains, covering almost every version from iOS 10 through to the latest version of iOS 12. This indicated a group making a sustained effort to hack the users of iPhones in certain communities over a period of at least two years.

Most importantly:

We reported these issues to Apple with a 7-day deadline on 1 Feb 2019, which resulted in the out-of-band release of iOS 12.1.4 on 7 Feb 2019. We also shared the complete details with Apple, which were disclosed publicly on 7 Feb 2019.

So, the way I read this, Google uncovered the threat, reported it to Apple back in February, and Apple issued a patch pretty much immediately.

This is a news story, fair enough, but it’s about a problem that’s been long solved. Keep that grain of salt deeply in mind.

Nike’s new shoes support Siri Shortcuts and Apple Watch, letting you adjust fit with your voice

Written by

Mitchel Broussard, MacRumors:

Similar to the Nike Adapt BB shoes from earlier this year, the new Huarache shoe includes a FitAdapt lacing system. Run from a midfoot motor, the system is controlled by the connected Nike app and tightens or loosens the shoe based on user control.

A midfoot motor. In my wildest dreams, I never saw that phrase coming.

But I get it. Loosen or tighten your boots, depending on the activity, and do so with your voice.

Not for everyone, but for athletes, people passionate about athletic activity, or people who make their livings in some form of athletic endeavor, I can see real value here.

MacStories does deep dig into iOS 13 Health app

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Much as he did with his excellent Apple Maps deep dive, Ryan Christoffel offers a deep dive into Health on iOS 13.

It’s remarkable how far Apple’s Health efforts have come, how much they’ve grown, how much the interface and design has improved.

Terrific work, lots of pictures to bring home the points, show how remarkably iOS 13’s version of Health has blossomed.

Take a look.

Woz comments clarify some important Apple history

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A few months ago, BBC Radio ran a program on the 1970s, with a specific episode dedicated to the founding of Apple.

From the episode writeup:

Author and broadcaster Michael S. Malone tells the story of the Apple II personal computer, an invention which helped to revolutionise the way we work and play. “The stunning Apple II, with its new rainbow logo, put the scores of other, cruder personal computers in the shade, ” he says. “They looked like the past. The Apple II looked like the future, the only future, for personal computing.”

Follow the headline to listen to the episode. Then check out the comments included in the main Loop post. These came directly from Woz (and are published here, with Woz’s permission) and clarify some of the points made in the linked BBC Radio episode.

Microsoft adds Dark Mode to Office, makes a video to show it off

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[VIDEO] Follow the headline link for an article posted by Microsoft on the process of designing and implementing Dark Mode for Office 365. Glad to see it, interesting post.

But whether you read the post or not, take a minute to watch Microsoft’s Dark Mode video, embedded in the main Loop post. Eerily beautiful, looks like it was all practical effects, old school.

Feds ordered Google location dragnet to solve Wisconsin bank robbery

Written by

Russell Brandom, The Verge:

On October 13th, 2018, two men walked into a Great Midwest Bank in a suburban strip mall outside Milwaukee. They were the first two customers when the bank opened, barely recognizable behind sunglasses and heavy beards — but it soon became clear what they were after. One man jumped onto the teller counter and pulled out a handgun, throwing down a garbage bag for the tellers to fill with money. They left the bank at 9:09AM, just seven minutes after they entered, carrying the bag full of cash, three drawers from the vault and teller station, and the keys to the bank vault itself.

In the months since, police and federal agents have struggled to track down the bank robbers. Local media sent out pictures from the bank’s security cameras, but it produced no leads. Finally, police hit on a more aggressive strategy: ask Google to track down the bank robbers’ phones.

Great read. And not just in a “true crime” way. There’s a major privacy issue at stake, all laid out in the article.

I came away wondering if future data analysis will show a trend of criminals avoiding Android, right alongside civil liberties proponents.

Siri privacy and grading FAQ

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To go along with their press release on Improving Siri’s privacy protections, Apple also posted a knowledge base article with questions and answers on Siri Privacy and grading.

The whole thing was interesting to me, but this bit stuck out:

Is Siri always listening? What do you do to prevent Siri listening when I haven’t said, “Hey Siri”?

No. Siri is designed to activate and send audio to Apple only after you trigger your device by saying “Hey Siri,” use the raise to speak feature on Apple Watch, or physically trigger Siri using the designated buttons on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, AirPods, and HomePod.

To recognize “Hey Siri” we process audio solely on device through multiple stages of analysis to determine if the audio matched the “Hey Siri” pattern. Only when the device recognizes the “Hey Siri” pattern is your audio sent to the server. On the server we do additional mitigation to analyze the full request to confirm it is intended for Siri.

Occasionally we have what’s called a “false trigger,” where Siri activates when you did not intend it to. We work hard to minimize false triggers and have updated the review process to limit graders’ exposure to them. When we resume grading, our team will work to delete any recording which is determined to trigger Siri inadvertently.

The key point, to me, is that the device is always listening for “Hey Siri”, but audio is only passed along to the server when that specific trigger is found, when you’ve specifically made a request.

I’m agree with Jim’s take. I’m good with opting in to help improve Siri.

iOS 13 beta is now forked

Written by

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Apple today released a surprise iOS 13.1 beta, which is unprecedented as the company has never before released a point update for an unreleased software update.

This is a notable move by Apple. To clarify, developers now have access to both an iOS 13 beta series, as well as a first beta for iOS 13.1. Two beta threads to follow.

Hard to know the true rationale behind this forking beta, but given how close we are to the supposed September 10th Apple iPhone event, this feels like a move to push some features off to 13.1 so iOS 13 itself can reach golden master status in time for the new iPhones to ship.

Is this the emergence of a new beta strategy for Apple, a sign of what to expect with future OS releases, or just a one time thing?

UPDATE: I received a surprising number of comments from people pointing out that this is not really a fork, in the software development sense of the word. I yield to my betters, but I’m still kinda happy with the double entendre.

5G explained

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[VIDEO] Marques Brownlee took a road trip to his nearest 5G city to experience true 5G (as opposed to the fake 5G that is 5GE) for himself. The video is embedded in the main Loop post.

I love this whole video, but two things stand out. Around 3:55 in, you get a look at Verizon’s 5G hardware, perched on top of a telephone pole. Good to know what these things look like, if you are scouting for a great signal.

And about 5:27 in, you get a sense of the drop-off when you move away from that 5G cell hardware. 5G is an inconsistent experience, though even poor 5G is way faster than the fastest LTE.