Apple

Three distinct video reviews of Apple’s AirPods Max

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[VIDEO] I’ve watched a number of AirPods Max reviews, picked a few that clicked for me. I appreciate that, for the most part, these revel in the things the AirPods Max do well, and point out the issues (like weight, or the case design) that are worth knowing before you buy in. The videos are embedded in the main Loop post.

I’ll start with MKBHD and his turn-of-phrase “Luxury Listening”. I think this phrase does a solid job capturing the essence of the AirPods Max experience. If fit and finish don’t matter to you, you’re not going to see the value in the AirPods Max. These are true luxury goods.

Next up is Dave Lee and his down-to-Earth, pragmatic analysis. Very personal, not necessarily scientific, but very well explained.

And last but not least is Flossy Carter (expletives, if you care about such things). This review is, to me, the most entertaining of the lot. Flossy made me want to buy them almost from the very start of the video. You’ve been warned.

Enjoy!

“What you get with the AirPods Max is just clearer, more refined sound and basically no distortion at higher volumes”

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David Carnoy, CNET:

Are they worth $549? Ultimately, that’s going to be up to you to determine. All I can do is describe my experience using them and let you know that they’re excellent (though not perfect) headphones, with top-notch sound, rock-solid wireless connectivity and noise canceling that’s arguably a touch better than what you find on competing models at the high end.

This is a great read. Anecdotal, but very up front about what’s fact and what’s opinion.

A few details:

This review is based on several days with the headphones. I’m still evaluating battery life and wired audio performance (among other things), which may or may not alter the final rating.

And:

The first thing you notice when you open the box is that their build quality is like nothing that’s out there in the $300 to $400 range. OK, there’s some stuff that’s close: The Bowers and Wilkins PX7 (down to $340 from its list price of $400) is sturdily built with an eye-catching design. I also like Sennheiser’s Momentum 3 for its build quality (down to $280 from its list price of $400). Master & Dynamic’s MW65, currently on sale for $400 (it lists for $500), is also unique-looking and made of premium materials. All those models feature strong sound quality but fall a little short on noise-canceling performance.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 get a lot of love for their noise cancellation and sound, and they are much cheaper (under $300). But the build quality is night and day different, the Sony’s made of mostly plastic and the AirPods Max made of high grade metals and soft fabrics and meshes. I’ll post a few videos a bit later this morning that will drive this point home.

Side-by-side, the Sony WH-1000XM4 are workmanlike in terms of build and the AirPods Max are luxury goods.

For heavy headphones they’re surprisingly comfortable, but I don’t expect that they’ll be super comfy for everyone, particularly those with neck problems. Personally, I thought It’d be nice if they were 20% lighter, but the way the headband is designed, with its mesh canopy, it takes a good amount of pressure off the top of your head.

The weight is a thing, so think about this before you buy. But if the weight is an issue for you, Apple does make it very easy to return any of their products, the AirPods Max included.

Their almost gel-like memory-foam earpads also stand out. They adhere magnetically to cover Apple’s 40mm custom drivers and have a fabric covering, which makes them more breathable than your typical leather or faux leather earpads like those found on the Sony WH-1000XM4. As a result, your ears steam up less in warmer environments.

Luxury goods.

The AirPods Max do sound impressive, like high-end headphones, with tight bass, natural mids, crisp highs and a wide soundstage for a closed-back headphone.

And:

Apple’s intention with the AirPods Max is to serve up a “high-end” audio experience or at least an approximation of one. The problem, of course, is serious audiophiles tend not to bother with wireless Bluetooth headphones or noise-canceling headphones. Bluetooth streaming has gotten better and better over the years and noise canceling doesn’t impact the sound nearly as much as it once did. But to get the most accurate, pure sound, which is what high-end headphones are all ultimately about, wired headphones coupled with a properly amplified source that plays lossless audio is going to get you to the real promised land.

I’m looking forward to reviews that take the time to use these wired with lossless audio. Those reviews are surely coming.

What you get with the AirPods Max is just clearer, more refined sound and basically no distortion at higher volumes — note that while they play loud, they don’t play incredibly loud. I’m not ready to say that the sound quite measures up to what you get from a pair of very high-end wired headphones, say something with a planar magnetic driver (one of Hifiman’s cans, for instance, the best of which are open back and leak sound). But it’s certainly a level up in terms of clarity from the Sony and Bose.

If the high price hasn’t turned you away, as I said before, you can order a pair to audition. If they don’t live up to the price, return them.

Behind the Scenes: Apple TV+’s Earth at Night

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[VIDEO] Imagine trying to capture already difficult nature scenes at night, in almost pitch darkness. So many problems to solve to get it right, to truly capture the majesty of the moment.

This behind the scenes video (embedded in the main Loop post) gives you a taste of what these crews went through to capture these stunning scenes.

Facebook: “We’re standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere”

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The Verge:

Facebook is publicly criticizing Apple’s upcoming iOS privacy changes in full-page newspaper ads today. “We’re standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere,” reads the headline on an ad inside the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal today. Bloomberg News reports that the ads are related to Apple’s iOS 14 privacy changes that will make it more difficult for companies like Facebook to target users with ads.

Anyone buying this stance from Facebook? That Facebook is standing up for small business owners and not actually (and only) concerned about an existential threat to their ad revenue stream?

Developers will need to ask iOS 14 users for permission to gather data and track them across mobile apps and websites on an iPhone and iPad soon. Apple had planned to implement these changes with the initial iOS 14 release in September, but delayed enforcing them until early next year. These changes will impact Facebook’s ad business, and in particular its ad network for developers and businesses, as end users are more likely to opt out of tracking prompts.

Transparency is a good business model. If you have a problem with people knowing that you are using their data and giving them the option to opt out, there’s something wrong with your business model.

Apple’s Fitness+ is the latest shot in Silicon Valley’s at-home workout wars—Will it dethrone Peloton?

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Emily Abbate, GQ:

After nine months of pandemic life, I’ve tried what feels like every streaming workout and app there is, and I’ve gotten picky. But as you would expect from the company, Fitness+ is an incredibly slick app, where users can choose workouts from nine different categories: HIIT, yoga, core, strength, treadmill, cycling, rowing, dance, and “mindful cooldown.” The studio used for filming is gorgeous, and the quality of the videos is top notch.

And:

Whether you’re using the app at the gym on an iPhone or in your living room with an Apple TV, you’ll get cues and vibrations on your wrist that synch up with the workout, and the watch will beam biometric stats like heart rate and calories burned to the screen.

This last bit is a critical feature of Fitness+, that tight integration between Apple Watch and Fitness+. And you can add Apple TV to that mix as well. If you are brand new to Fitness+, you can register yourself by just holding your Apple Watch near your Apple TV and your Apple TV will add you to its list of Fitness+ users. All this interaction works really well, seamlessly.

One morning, as I went to go scroll through the service to see what class I should take on later that day, I hit an “unavailable” screen just because my watch was turned off on the charger. (Apple says subscribers will get a workaround for this in case they—for example—head off on a business trip and forget their watch behind.)

The Apple Watch is a critical part of this infrastructure.

As to the instructors:

The surest sign that Apple is taking direct aim at Peloton’s business, though, is the lineup of 21 trainers you can take on-demand classes with. It’s a compelling and diverse bunch, many whom you might recognize from Instagram or other fitness platforms. Anyone who’s spent time with a Peloton knows that service is not really about the bike, or hitting your numbers—what keeps you coming back about developing a relationship with your favorite trainers. Apple clearly hopes they can replicate that parasocial magic. It’s obviously early, but they have some work to do before that happens. There will presumably be room for each trainer to develop their own personalities and show a little more vulnerability as the platform matures, but right now it’s a little upbeat motivation—it can feel a little robotic.

Agreed. Early days still. It takes time to build those relationships and for instructors to develop their on-screen personalities. Peloton has this down to a science.

Beyond music, the cueing across the classes is just excellent. You can expect smart, well-timed recommendations for exactly how to move your body—bracing your core to safely execute a movement or relaxing your shoulders in chair pose. These guys know their shit. They have obviously also taken pains to make things extremely accessible. Whether you’re tackling a 30-minute run or a 10-minute yoga session, there’s always one person off to the side scaling the workout, modifying the moves for different skill levels.

This is a huge benefit. Peloton handles this by grading all of their workouts. So I can filter Peloton workouts to only show me those at my level. Apple is trying a more universal approach here, making every workout for every fitness level. A tricky thing to make work.

One thing I’d like to see Fitness+ add is a stretching category. Peloton has that category and I find it very helpful, but as warmup for specific exercise types (running or lifting, say) or as a cooldown after a specific exercise type (post running and lifting stretches can be very different for me).

Another issue is an apparent incompatibility with AirPlay. If I’m traveling and I have access to a TV that supports AirPlay, I’d love to be able to beam my fitness workout to the TV without an Apple TV connected. If this is true, will this change over time? Is this Apple ensuring tight control over the experience? Or purely early days experience.

As is, Fitness+ has a pretty great rollout experience.

iJustine putting Apple Fitness+ through its paces

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[VIDEO] Interested in seeing Fitness+ in action? In the video embedded in the main Loop post, iJustine does a great job talking through the Fitness+ setup and interface, then works through a few sessions to give a sense of what the experience is like.

As she makes her way along, Justine highlights Fitness+ features, like the accommodation for hearing disabilities, the burn bar, or the fact that every video features three different instructors, each working out at a different difficulty level.

Apple’s Siri can now make animal sounds like a duck quacking or a lion roaring

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Kif Leswing, CNBC:

Apple’s Siri assistant can now quack like a duck if you ask it nicely.

To try it out, users have to update to iOS 14.3, the newest version of the iPhone operating system, and say, “Hey Siri, what does a duck sound like?” In response, Siri will play the natural call of a ruddy duck.

On Monday, Siri started to play short audio clips in response to questions about what something sounds like. Sounds now built into the system include animals, instruments, and vehicles, and Apple says there are hundreds of options. On an iPhone or iPad, Siri also brings up a picture of the animal and a link to more information from Wikipedia.

As of this writing, I’ve not been able to reproduce this behavior and, searching Twitter/web, have not encountered other mentions of folks getting this to work. I asked Kif about this and he said:

It should be rolled out to everyone in the US and most other countries today.

So keep checking.

Apple Fitness+: The next era of fitness is here, and everyone’s invited

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This is Apple’s official Fitness+ press release. There is a lot of detail, worth making your way through if you are interested in the service.

A few things that stand out:

Customers who have purchased an Apple Watch Series 3 or later from Best Buy since September 15, 2020, will get an additional three months of Fitness+ for a total of six months free. Best Buy customers who already owned an Apple Watch Series 3 or later before September 15, 2020, and are My Best Buy members will get an additional month of Fitness+ for a total of two months free.

And:

As part of its overall membership offering, both digitally and at its athletic resorts nationwide, premier health and wellness brand Life Time will be the first health and fitness club company in the US to offer Apple Fitness+.

And:

Starting January 1, 2021, UnitedHealthcare will offer five additional months of Fitness+ at no additional cost for UnitedHealthcare Motion enrollees with Apple Watch, to help empower eligible program participants on their path to a healthier lifestyle. Following the extended trial, UnitedHealthcare Motion enrollees may be able to apply program incentives to cover the Fitness+ monthly subscription cost.

It’ll be interesting to see if other healthcare providers will jump on the Fitness+ bandwagon, a bit of preventative maintenance that might lower long term healthcare costs.

Apple TV+ announces The Snoopy Show

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Apple:

“The Snoopy Show” is a new animated series for kids and families that stars the internationally beloved beagle and his feathered best friend Woodstock as they tackle all-new adventures. Snoopy may seem like just a happy-dancin’, bone-lovin’, doghouse-sittin’ pup, but he’s much more than that. He’s Joe Cool: hippest kid in school. He’s surfer king and famed arm wrestler Masked Marvel. He’s a World War I flying ace who battles the Red Baron. All of his bold, beloved personas are on full display in this brand-new animated comedy.

For just a brief, shining moment, I envisioned this as a talk show, a la Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

Still gonna check it out though. Coming Feb 5.

Cardio fitness notifications are available today on Apple Watch

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Apple:

With iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2, Apple Watch users can view their cardio fitness level in the Health app on iPhone, and receive a notification on Apple Watch if it falls within the low range. Breakthrough technology released in watchOS 7 allows Apple Watch to easily measure low cardio fitness, and today cardio fitness notifications empower users to be more active for dramatic long-term health benefits.

Cardiorespiratory fitness, as measured by VO2 max, is the maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during exercise, and it can be increased through physical activity. Apple Watch already estimates average and higher levels of VO2 max during vigorous outdoor walks, runs, or hikes, which many runners and other athletes monitor to improve performance.

Now, with watchOS 7, Apple Watch uses multiple sensors, including the optical heart sensor, GPS, and the accelerometer, to estimate lower levels, too. This is significant because direct measurement of VO2 max typically requires a rigorous clinical test with specialized equipment that is not readily accessible to most people. watchOS 7 also allows Apple Watch to take cardio fitness measurements as users walk throughout the day, whether or not they are tracking a workout. With this innovation, Apple Watch is better able to measure VO2 max for users with low cardio fitness, who may not complete high-intensity workouts.

This announcement coincides with today’s launch of Apple Fitness+.

This 6-year-old racked up $16K in iPad in-App game purchases

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Doree Lewak, New York Post:

Six-year-old George Johnson secretly racked up more than $16,000 in Apple app store charges for his favorite video game, Sonic Forces — leaving his mom in shock.

And:

While working from home during the pandemic, Wilton., Conn., real estate broker Jessica Johnson, 41, didn’t realize the younger of her two sons had gone on a shopping spree on her iPad. Over the month of July, George bought add-on boosters — starting with $1.99 red rings and moving up to $99.99 gold rings — that allowed him to access new characters and more speed, spending hundreds of bucks at a time.

And:

“[Apple] said, ‘Tough.’ They told me that, because I didn’t call within 60 days of the charges, that they can’t do anything,” said Jessica. “The reason I didn’t call within 60 days is because Chase told me it was likely fraud — that PayPal and Apple.com are top fraud charges.”

Jessica got no sympathy from a customer service agent, even after confessing that she wouldn’t be able to pay her family’s mortgage. “They’re like, ‘There’s a setting, you should have known,’ ” she recalled.

All this assumes this is true and not a hoax.

That said, there is a setting. She should have known. If true, it is absolutely ridiculous that she is being forced to pay for this. It’s not like the money went to some sort of consumable good, or that someone’s labor was consumed. Seems like the game maker should step forward and make good on this, forgive the charge.

There’s definitely something wrong when a six-year-old can rack up $16,000 in charges playing a game. Something is broken here.

Apple TV was making a show about Gawker. Then Tim Cook found out.

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First things first, the headline is a bit sensationalized, the content more interesting than newsworthy.

Read on…

Ben Smith, New York Times:

Mr. Cook, according to two people briefed on the email, was surprised to learn that his company was making a show about Gawker, which had humiliated the company at various times and famously outed him, back in 2008, as gay. He expressed a distinctly negative view toward Gawker, the people said. Apple proceeded to kill the project.

And:

But now, from beyond the grave, Gawker is revealing another reality in this era of media consolidation: that the chief executive of one of the biggest companies in the world, who testifies before Congress and negotiates with China, also decides what television shows get made. A spokesman for Apple, Tom Neumayr, declined to comment on the show’s demise.

And:

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president for internet software and services, who has been at the company since 1989, has told partners that “the two things we will never do are hard-core nudity and China,” one creative figure who has worked with Apple told me. (BuzzFeed News first reported last year that Mr. Cue had instructed creators to “avoid portraying China in a poor light.”)

Though I did find the entire bstory interesting, none of the emerging detail is particularly surprising. What would be surprising is if Amazon, Disney, Netflix, or Apple promoted, or even allowed a show that would clearly harm their other business interests.

The 12 Days of Apple Stores

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This is day 2 of the 12 Days of Apple Stores, brought to life by the prolific coverer of all things Apple Store, Michael Steeber.

Each day, Michael explores an unusual or favorite Apple Store, with background and links of interest. Nicely done.

MKBHD: Hands on with the AirPods Max

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[VIDEO] This video from Marques Brownlee (embedded in the main Loop post) runs the gamut from unboxing to showing off the fit and finish to comments on the overall experience trying on the AirPods Max headphones. This is a fantastic review, though I’m still waiting for more technical, audiophile reviews to help me truly understand the value proposition here.

On AirPods Max foldability and Bluetooth sound quality

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There’s a lot to love about the AirPods Max. But two things that I struggle with are the lack of foldability and whether or not the audio quality lives up to the price.

On foldability: As a frequent traveler (this year aside), I value headphones you can fit in your pocket (the AirPods Pro are my constant companion) and, in the case of over ear headphones, those that can fold up into a relatively compact case, minimizing space in my suitcase or backpack.

Though the ear cups do swivel ninety degrees to reduce the height of the footprint, the headband does not fold over. Not a dealbreaker, but I am used to headphones that fold up, either into a ball, nesting the ear cups inside the band, or like the AirPods Max, turn ninety degrees, but then roll up inside the handle. As far as I can tell, the way the AirPods Max come in the box is as small a footprint as they get.

Next issue is the audio quality. Here are a few questions that I am digging into. I am not an audiophile, but if I was thinking about spending $549, these are things I’d want to wrap my head around:

  • Will AirPods Max do a better job isolating me from background noise than AirPods Pro?

Surely the answer here is yes, though I will wait for the technical reviews to come in to be certain. And I’ll be looking at both noise reduction (subtracting the sound picked up by the microphones from the sound coming through the wire/Bluetooth) and leakage (sound that escapes the ear cups and might be picked up by my podcasting mic).

  • Assuming AirPods Max use the AAC Bluetooth codec, are the AirPods Max as good as the highest end Bluetooth competing headphones?

I’m assuming that I’ll be listening to Apple Music on these headphones as my primary music experience. And my understanding is that AAC is the standard codec used by iPhone/Apple Music. So the max data transfer rate/cap is that of AAC, assuming I am listening via Bluetooth (I’m assuming wired listening offers me higher quality options, but I rarely plug in, I’m a Bluetooth listener).

There are a lot of articles on Bluetooth and codecs, but I found the headline linked article (H/T Saurabh Garg) particularly easy to follow. On AAC:

AAC is the audio standard for lossy digital audio compression. It also happens to be the license-free standard for YouTube, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and is preferred by Apple. If you have an Android phone, you won’t really benefit from AAC as its performance is unreliable: it’s a power-hungry codec that Android remains unprepared to handle efficiently. iPhone users do benefit from its higher-resolution playback though. It has a transfer rate cap of 250kbps, creating a file similar to that of a mid-quality MP3.

On that last phrase, “mid-quality MP3”: Will I notice the difference here, given how accustomed I am to listening to my AirPods Pro and my HomePod? Could I buy better Bluetooth headphones, of any stripe, to get better sound connecting to my iPhone?

I’ve been told that AAC is actually superior to MP3 (disagreeing with the article) and that, from an audiophile standpoint, AAC is very good. Also, Apple Music uses 256kbps. The combo of Bluetooth and AAC introduces that 250kbps cap. A very small difference, likely not noticeable.

And that “power-hungry codec” comment: Does not apply to an Apple device connecting to Apple headphones. They do the decoding in hardware, very power-efficient.

Again, I’m no audiophile. I’m eagerly waiting for reviews to come in, to get a sense of just how much Bluetooth listening bang I’d be getting for my bucks.

Per usual, if I’ve got anything wrong here, please do ping me.

Is that game playable on an M1 Mac?

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Crowdsourced site gathering info on games running on M1 Macs. Is the game playable? If so, what environment (Rosetta 2? Crossover emulation? Native?), frame rate, resolution?

Follow the headline link and search for a game, or simply scroll down and see what games do what. A great resource.

$6,000+ Custom iPhone 12 Pro with fragment of Steve Jobs’ original turtleneck embedded in Apple logo

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Warring thoughts here. On one side, there’s the collector, owning a snippet of Steve Jobs, a bit of history. Sports cards have been doing this for a long time, offering cards, with a bit of a players’ uniform, a sliver of bat, an original signature, all designed to pump up the rarity, increase the card’s value.

But on the other side, there’s the complete lack of a resale market, and the certainty of the phone losing its value as a phone over time.

Want to save a bit of money? Consider the Steve Jobs New Balance sneakers with the Think Different laces, at about 1/5 the price.

Powered by Apple Watch, Fitness+ builds a virtual home gym

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WSJ. Magazine:

“It does feel like people might think we built Fitness+ because of Covid,” Jay Blahnik, Apple’s senior director of fitness technologies, tells me via a video call from the company’s fitness studio in Los Angeles. “But we’ve been working on it for a very, very long time.”

And:

With the launch of Fitness+, however, Apple aims to create a new ecosystem for the watch: a subscription-based, on-demand virtual-fitness studio, with an initial 21-person team of trainers (recruited after an intensive search, in which Apple says “no gym was too gritty for us to go into”), covering 10 disciplines—from high-intensity interval training to dance workouts to rowing to “mindful cooldowns”—offering a fresh slate of workouts, of varying lengths, every week (all set to the beat of Apple Music).

And:

“We have a carousel called ‘Try Something New.’ So if you tend to do more linear workouts, like running or cycling, you would be suggested things like HIIT [high-intensity interval training] or yoga, that would move your body in different directions.”

And:

What Apple is pursuing, suggests Benedict Evans, a former partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a longtime tech-industry analyst, is a “broader bundling strategy”; the new AppleOne, for example, includes Fitness+ along with services like iCloud and Arcade. The company, he says, is “trying to create more perceived value without adding marginal cost.” And, importantly, it adds value to the watch itself, which Evans suggests, “hasn’t worked really well as a developer platform”—in other words, “most of the stuff you do with it comes with it.” Fitness+ is a logical evolution of the watch that could increase its relevance for many users.

Lots more in the article itself. I linked to the Apple News version of the article, but here’s a link to the version on the WSJ site.

I am very interested in how Fitness+ interacts with Apple Watch. There seems to be the promise of a new set of interface mechanisms, highlighting progress in a different way than the current simple tally of minutes and calories burned. Looking forward to Monday’s launch.

Getting Apple AirPods Max in time for Christmas

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As of this morning, all five Apple AirPods Max colors are shipping delayed until March 3rd, 2021 at the earliest. That’s 10 weeks out.

But, if you hurry, you can still get them in a week if you are willing to settle for Space Gray or Silver. Follow the headline link to Best Buy. I suspect they won’t last long. The other three colors are already sold out.

Those same two colors seem available at Target as well, with the possibility of an appearance by Pink as we get closer to ship date.

Finally, B&H Photo has the Silver AirPods Max available for pre-order.

Happy hunting.

Craig Federighi shares Apple’s Four Privacy Principles in conference keynote

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[VIDEO] Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi today spoke at the virtual European Data Protection & Privacy Conference, where he highlighted Apple’s approach to privacy and commitment to keeping customer data safe.

Watch the video (embedded in the main Loop post) for yourself. Craig’s intro starts at 49 minutes in.

Exposing the Apple Mini M1

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If you like teardowns, this is an interesting one. Lot’s of detail on the take-apart, ultimately landing here:

By leaving the flip chip SoC in place and using IR imaging through the die’s backside to acquire a die image, the product remains functional. Now, it is time to see what can be learned from monitoring the M1 while it’s put through its paces on the lab bench

Looking forward to part two of this process.

[H/T Om Malik]

Apple’s online store starts listing exercise gear ahead of Fitness+ launch

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Tim Hardwick, MacRumors:

Apple’s online store has started listing select exercise gear on its online store for the first time. Apple has kicked off its exercise equipment offering with yoga accessories, including a Manduka eKOlite Yoga Mat ($77.95), a Manduka 6 mm Performance Yoga Mat ($119.95), and a Cork Yoga Block ($19.95).

Getting ready for Monday’s launch of Fitness+.

Apple’s new AirPods Max: Beauty at a price

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Apple:

Apple today announced AirPods Max, innovative wireless headphones that bring the magic of AirPods to an over-ear design with high-fidelity sound. AirPods Max combine a custom acoustic design, H1 chips, and advanced software to power computational audio for a breakthrough listening experience with Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio. AirPods Max come in five gorgeous colors, including space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and pink, and are available to order starting today, with availability beginning Tuesday, December 15.

There is so much to unpack here.

First things first, these are some gorgeous headphones. They’ve got Active Noise Cancellation, as you’d expect, and they seem to me to fit into that high end category of headphones that are over ear, great for sound isolation, and designed to be an incredibly comfortable fit, perfect for the studio, perfect for a long airplane ride.

20 hours of battery life. Cordless, but able to plug in if the need arises (there’s a Lightning port, on device, for both audio and charging).

There are five different colors. As Rene Ritchie pointed out, the AirPods Max bands are the iPhone 12 colors, while the casings are the iPad Air colors. Brilliant observation.

Fair or not, I am assuming the audio quality of the AirPods Max will compare favorably to high end Bose, or even B&O headphones. Jury out on this last point, waiting for audiophile reviews to see where they land.

If you’ve not seen them, watch the two product videos embedded in the main Loop post. They do a nice job showing off the product elegance. Don’t miss the magnetic ear cup attachment. Presumably, if one gets lost or damaged, easy enough to replace (replacement AirPods Max ear cushions coming soon, priced at $69). And (as other headphones have done before them), don’t miss the woven “L” and “R” in each ear cup. So if one does need replacement, you’ll need to get the right flavor/color.

Note that you can engrave your AirPods Max. Right on the shoulder. Cap letters and emoji.

OK, so that brings us to price. At $549, these are high end product. There’s a lot of value here and, if the audio lives up to the billing, I’d imagine these will sell quite well. And, at that price, I’d imagine they’ll be envy inducing. And like Apple’s original wired EarPods, and AirPods, they will be easy to spot marketing for Apple’s brand.

I would love a pair for Christmas. Just saying, in case my family is reading.

MKBHD: Apple removing stuff from the iPhone — Solve + Justify

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[VIDEO] Marques Brownlee walks through major iPhone removals over the years, including the home button and the 3.5mm headphone jack. This leads up to a discussion of the potential removal of the lightning port.

To add depth to the discussion, Marques brings on Mark Gurman. Don’t miss the snarky comment about MacBook Pro webcams. Great video, embedded in the main Loop post.

Oh Samsung

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Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac:

Right after the Apple event in October, Samsung mocked the company for not including the power adapter in the iPhone 12 box and also removing it from the older models. Now, as some rumors have predicted, the Galaxy S21’s documentation suggests that it will also not come with a charger included in the box.

It’s uncanny how quickly this happened.

Samsung went from big ads with pics of a charging brick and the tagline, “Included with your Galaxy” to removing the brick from the box. So quickly, that I can’t help but think they knew they were removing the brick while they were designing the “we’ve still got a brick” ad campaign.

Yeesh.

Google: Apple Music is now available on the new Nest Audio

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Google Blog:

Starting today, Apple Music is rolling out to Google Assistant-enabled devices like Nest Audio, Nest Hub Max, Nest Mini, and more. Apple Music subscribers can search and play songs (more than 70 million!), albums and playlists—all ad-free—just by using their voice.

To play music from Apple Music, first link your Apple Music account in the Google Home app. You can also select Apple Music as your default music streaming service. Then, all you have to do is say, “Hey Google, play New Music Daily playlist,” or “Hey Google, play Rap Life playlist.”

Interesting break in the ecosystem on both sides. Google has opened the door to Apple Music being the main music service, and Apple has allowed Google to be the music hardware provider and Siri replacement.

Available now in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Japan.

Apple Fitness+ to launch this Monday

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Apple:

Apple today announced Fitness+, the first fitness experience built around Apple Watch, is launching Monday, December 14. Apple Fitness+ brings studio-style workouts to iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, intelligently incorporating workout metrics from Apple Watch for a first-of-its-kind personalized and immersive experience users can complete wherever and whenever is convenient for them. Apple Fitness+ will launch with 10 of the most popular workout types, including High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Strength, Yoga, Dance, Core, Cycling, Treadmill (for running and walking), Rowing, and Mindful Cooldown, led by a phenomenal team of trainers whose approach is welcoming to all. The workouts are fueled by inspiring music from today’s top artists designed to keep users motivated from start to finish.

And:

Apple Fitness+ dynamically integrates personal metrics from Apple Watch to inspire users, animating them on the screen during key moments in the workout, providing an engaging and immersive experience to help users stay motivated.

The tight Apple Watch integration is one of the key features that will distinguish Apple Fitness+ from competitors, like Peloton.

For example, when the trainer says to check heart rate, the heart rate metrics are spotlighted; during tough intervals, a countdown timer starts to help users get through to the last second; and when they close their Activity rings, a celebration happens right on the workout screen.

I’m definitely going to incorporate Fitness+ into my workout regimen, looking forward to seeing how well Apple Watch works here, what interface elements have changed.

My favorite bit:

For those who enjoy a little competition, HIIT, Treadmill, Cycling, and Rowing workouts have an optional Burn Bar that shows, in real time, how a user’s effort stacks up against anyone who has previously completed the same workout.

Apple Music also plays a strong role here:

Music is a central part of the Apple Fitness+ experience, and the trainer team weaves music throughout the design of every workout. Users can choose from nine different styles, including Latest Hits, Chill Vibes, Upbeat Anthems, Pure Dance, Throwback Hits, Everything Rock, Latin Grooves, Hip Hop/R&B, and Top Country, and see the full workout playlist before they start. They can also filter by music to find the right workout to fit their current mood. An Apple Music subscription is not required to enjoy the music in Fitness+, but for those who have one, favorite songs or an entire playlist from Fitness+ workouts can be downloaded to their Apple Music library to listen anytime.

Looking forward to taking Fitness+ for a spin. Monday.

Bloomberg: Apple preps next Mac chips with aim to outclass top-end PCs

Written by

Bloomberg:

Chip engineers at the Cupertino, California-based technology giant are working on several successors to the M1 custom chip, Apple’s first Mac main processor that debuted in November. If they live up to expectations, they will significantly outpace the performance of the latest machines running Intel chips, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the plans aren’t yet public.

And:

Intel’s shares slid 1.7% in early trading in New York Monday after the news.

My gut is to be skeptical that Apple can build a chip that can take on a PC with a discrete GPU. But the M1 has definitely under promised and over delivered, crushing all my expectations.

And:

Apple engineers are also developing more ambitious graphics processors. Today’s M1 processors are offered with a custom Apple graphics engine that comes in either 7- or 8-core variations. For its future high-end laptops and mid-range desktops, Apple is testing 16-core and 32-core graphics parts.

Skeptical, but also skeptical of my skepticism. Could we see future mid-priced Macs that beat high-end gaming PCs with high-end GPU cards? With the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, the CPU performance (especially showing off in single core benchmarks) is astounding, the GPU performance still less than a home built PC with a moderately high end GPU.

High hopes for the Mac’s future. Looking forward to the next Mac reveal.