[VIDEO] Yesterday, we posted a video walkthrough of Apple Marina Bay Sands.
This one (video embedded in main Loop post) is a bit different, with a traditional clapping Apple welcome, and some beautiful shots of the giant louvered blinds at work.
Can’t help but think how proud Steve would be of the latest and greatest Apple Stores. Bucket list.
William Gallagher, AppleInsider:
You can already get your lost iPhone or iPad to play a sound through Find My, but Apple is researching how the devices can signal and relay locations to each other without audible beeps or tones.
And:
Even though the bleeping that Find My makes AirPods do is surprisingly loud, there’s only so loud it can possibly be from such a small device. Apple has plans for how this same system can be improved by cutting you out of the equation.
And:
“Locating wireless devices” is a new US Patent that describes how devices can use sound outside the range of human hearing.
Part of the issue with Find My is the granularity of the search. As is, it certainly can tell you if your device is in your house but, beyond that, it’s not that useful to pinpoint your iPhone amongst the clutter.
Sound works great to locate your iPhone, but as William points out, there’s only so loud your AirPods can get, especially if they’re buried behind a couch cushion, or under a couch.
An inaudible signal between devices might make this search much easier, using directional signals known as beamforming.
Here’s a link to add it to your calendar.
UPDATE: For extra fun, open the page on your iPhone, then tap that event graphic, you’ll see an AR show that switches between the Apple logo and the Apple event date. Love details like this!
To test this yourself, go to Apple’s Apple Watch page and try to buy a Series 5 watch. I could not find a configuration they’d sell me.
Seems likely we’ll learn more later this morning.
Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac:
Apple began collecting data using modified vans, but now field operators drive a white Subaru Impreza, which is internally known as “Ulysses.” These vehicles are part of Apple’s 3D Vision team, which is responsible for combining multiple data with computer vision and machine learning technologies to provide 3D images on Apple Maps.
And:
The other type of car is a self-driving Lexus used for Apple’s autonomous vehicle efforts, which has the code name “Tyche.”
This whole writeup is fascinating.
Interesting that this was all shared on Twitter. This done with permission?
[VIDEO] Full screen. Gorgeous. Video embedded in main Loop post.
Follow the headline link and check out those photos, especially that last one.
Apple’s newest Apple Store opens Thursday. This one is special.
[VIDEO] This is just a great story. It starts with the video embedded in the main Loop post, then takes off from there. For the whole sequence, including all of Dave Grohl’s response videos, follow the headline link.
I love every bit of this.
Side note: That first Dave Grohl video is on Facebook and is what prompted this tweet, a showcase of how Apple/Catalina/Safari is protecting me from Facebook ad tracking.
A nice little collection. If you know every one of these, you’re likely the support person for everyone else in your fam, so pass these along.
Side note: Know of a definitive collection of macOS and/or iOS tips? I mean, a really nicely organized, searchable collection. If so, please ping me. This post just made me hungry for something exhaustive.
[VIDEO] Worth your time. Some fascinating insights, especially if you think about the evolution in remote work we’re seeing right now. Video embedded in main Loop post.
[VIDEO] This is just one of 18 Emmy nods, true, and a minor one at that, but worth a look, especially if you’ve never watched The Morning Show. Video embedded in main Loop post.
That song is Nemesis by Benjamin Clementine. Catchy. Very Apple.
The Emmy Awards are on September 20th, less than two weeks away. 18 nods, and Apple TV+ has been in business about 10 months. Not bad for a newbie.
[VIDEO] Some things shouldn’t be shared. iPhone helps keep it that way.
This ad nails that concept. Right to the heart of the value of privacy.
Tagline is: Privacy. That’s iPhone.
With that privacy Apple logo padlock animation at the end that’s become part of Apple’s privacy brand.
Video embedded in main Loop post.
Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac:
It was suggested earlier this week that we might see an Apple Silicon 12-inch MacBook before the end of the year, as one of Apple’s first ARM-powered Macs.
If the report is true, I’ve already talked myself into buying one.
I’m in the same boat as Ben. Read his whole post but, for me, the focus is:
If the 15-20 hour battery-life claim is true, this is a machine I would absolutely use as a supplement to my MBP. Especially as, with an A-series processor, that claimed battery life might be accurate. In general, I find MacBooks deliver around 50-60% of their claimed life in real usage, while my iPad meets or even exceeds the claimed life.
There are two Apple devices I own with all-day battery life: My iPhone 11 Pro (barely) and my Apple Watch. At the end of the day (say, 15 hours of use), my iPhone is typically in the red (< 20%) but my Apple Watch is typically good for a second day (about 75% left).
My Mac? I’m lucky if I get 4 hours out of it. It lives plugged in. So a MacBook with all day battery life? That’d be enough to change my habits. I’d carry it around with me. Especially if it was less than a kilogram.
Sign me up.
[VIDEO] This is one of my all-time favorite Apple anecdotes. It’s a long listen (video embedded in main Loop post, the audio is the important part), but so worth your time. I’d suggest saving the link, then pop in your AirPods and listen to the whole thing (it’s a bit less than an hour) the next time you exercise or cook or do chores. And you’ve got a weekend coming up.
My favorite part is the bit about the badges. You’ll know it when you get there. Enjoy!
Reuters:
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday said Apple Inc must pay more than 12,000 retail workers in California for time they spent going through security screenings at the end of their shifts.
A unanimous three-judge panel reversed a judge who had tossed the case and ordered him to enter summary judgment for the plaintiffs, after the California Supreme Court in response to certified questions in the case said in February that time spent undergoing security checks is compensable under state law.
I’ve always felt that retail workers who had to wait in line to be able to leave their job (to be screened for theft, for example) should be paid for the time they wait in line. This the end of the road for this case?
[VIDEO] This looks great (video embedded in main Loop post). Surprised it’s a series and not a movie. I can definitely see the short term plot playout, wondering what the long story will be. Cat and mouse all the way?
No matter, I’m in. Starts September 25th.
Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:
Apple has released a new version of the Apple Support app today with useful new integration with the Wallet app. With today’s update, users can now add a pass from the Apple Support app to the Apple Wallet for “easy check-in” at Genius Bar locations.
Wondering if the Apple Support app is uniformly known about, if it’s widely used. The Apple Wallet integration is an interesting twist. One less interaction with a person, one less line to stand in, a bit easier for social distancing.
[VIDEO] Long Way Up follows Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman as they attempt to make their way from the bottom of South America, by electric motorcycles, all the way up the coast, through South and Central America, up through Mexico and, eventually, landing in Los Angeles.
Watch the trailer, embedded in the main Loop post. This looks interesting.
Long Way Up drops on September 18th.
Apple:
The iOS app economy has created nearly 300,000 new jobs since April 2019, helping to provide opportunities for Americans of all ages even as COVID-19 continues to create immense challenges and uncertainty for communities across the country.
And:
The App Store ecosystem now supports more than 2.1 million US jobs across all 50 states — an increase of 15 percent since last year — as part of the 2.7 million jobs Apple supports across the country.
Follow the headline link for a map showing the densest US job growth, by state. For example, Texas added 36,000 new jobs in the past year.
Here’s a link to the original Reddit post if you want to read the comments. Follow the headline link for the image itself, be sure to tap to embiggen.
Follow the headline link for the MarketWatch version of this story. What’s interesting is the financial side of inheriting 7,000 shares of Apple stock. It’s now worth north of $3 million.
What would you do with that money? Sell it, pay the taxes, buy a house? A car? Pay off loans? Give it to charity? Start a foundation? Or just let it ride?
If you are feeling brave, here’s a link to the original Reddit post. It’s not for the faint of heart (be warned, it’s offensive), and will likely trigger all kinds of things, including your BS meter. But if that’s your thing, dive in, read the comments. All very interesting.
IGN:
IGN asked Scott, director of critically acclaimed films like Alien, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down, if he has seen the Epic remake of his famous Apple “1984” commercial.
Ridley Scott:
“I sure have and I wrote to them because on the one hand I can be fully complimented by the fact they copied [my commercial] shot for shot,” Scott says. “But pity the message is so ordinary when they could have been talking about democracy or more powerful things… And they didn’t use it.”
Scott added, “I think the animation was terrific, the idea was terrific, the message was ‘ehh’.”
Almost made that last bit the headline. Just not enough context, though. But a great take.
Lily Hay Newmman, Wired:
College student Peter Dantini discovered the notarized version of Shlayer while navigating to the homepage of the popular open source Mac development tool Homebrew. Dantini accidentally typed something slightly different than brew.sh, the correct URL. The page he landed on redirected a number of times to a fake Adobe Flash update page. Curious about what malware he might find, Dantini downloaded it on purpose. To his surprise, macOS popped up its standard warning about programs downloaded from the internet, but didn’t block him from running the program. When Dantini confirmed that it was notarized, he sent the information on to longtime macOS security researcher Patrick Wardle.
And:
The campaign is distributing the ubiquitous “Shlayer” adware, which by some counts has affected as many as one in 10 macOS devices in recent years. The malware exhibits standard adware behavior, like injecting ads into search results. It’s not clear how Shlayer slipped past Apple’s automated scans and checks to get notarized, especially given that it’s virtually identical to past versions. But it’s the first known example of malware being notarized for macOS.
Interesting how this stuff gets discovered. All this time and it’s still in the wild. So much so, that it slipped past Apple’s scanners and got notarized.
Tim Hardwick, MacRumors:
Riders in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area should now be able to add their reloadable SmarTrip fare card to the Wallet app, and simply hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near a contactless payment reader at Metrorail stations or on Metrobus buses to pay their fare.
Huzzah! Can’t wait to give this a try. Great implementation. No need to wake your iPhone. No need for Face ID.
[VIDEO] One of the big questions raised about the new Apple Marina Bay Sands Apple Store was how you got inside. After all, it’s a big sphere, sitting there on the water. And most images of the store just show one side of it, looking impregnable.
Watch the video embedded in the main Loop post and you’ll get a much better sense of things.
[VIDEO] MTV used to be a really big deal. When it first started, it was a real game changer. And here’s the very beginning (video embedded in main Loop post), with that historic countdown and segue into “Video Killed the Radio Star”.
Just like the original Macintosh was a pirate movement against the establishment, this earliest MTV flew its own pirate flag. This first two hours started on August 1, 1981.
Enjoy.
TechRadar, on Apple Arcade’s highly addictive game, Grindstone:
Anyone who’s played Grindstone can attest to its engagement: the novel puzzle game centers around killing like-colored enemies in sequence to rack up big combos, with plenty of items to spare. But anyone versed in free-to-play games can see how easily Grindstone could include in-app monetization: there’s in-game gems and consumable health items that feel tailor-made for players to drop real-life money to buy. It’s so apparent that it seems like the game would have released with in-game purchases had Apple not come calling.
To me, this is a tremendous value point for Apple Arcade. You will never be held up for in-app-purchases that you need to, say, complete a level, or save yourself from an unreasonably, unnecessary grind.
Continuing:
In other words, part of what’s so engaging about Grindstone’s gameplay loop overlaps heavily with addictive loops that free-to-play games deploy to get players spending real money on in-app purchases.
There’s nothing preventing Apple from adding more games to Arcade that use such gameplay loops to keep players subscribed to the service without betraying Arcade’s no-monetization policy.
Interesting take, all the way around. The takeaway I got from this is that Apple Arcade has found its sweet spot. And they are tuning their future game acquisition model to home in on games that keep people engaged.
[VIDEO] Obviously not about Epic, but this short clip (under a minute) fits the current situation eerily well. Video embedded in main Loop post.
Fun read and great work by Michael Steeber, my go-to expert on Apple Stores. Don’t miss the before-and-after slideovers in the middle of each picture.
Reuters:
Facebook Inc on Thursday told Reuters that Apple Inc rejected its attempt to tell users the iPhone maker would take a 30% cut of sales in a new online events feature, forcing Facebook to remove the message to get the tool to users.
And:
Facebook said that Apple cited an App Store rule that bars developers from showing “irrelevant” information to users.
“Now more than ever, we should have the option to help people understand where money they intend for small businesses actually goes. Unfortunately Apple rejected our transparency notice around their 30% tax but we are still working to make that information available inside the app experience,” Facebook said in a statement.
Speaking of disingenuous, that last sentence just leaves a bad taste all around. There’s an implication that Facebook is a champion of transparency.
But I digress:
Facebook earlier this month said it planned to roll out a new tool that would let online influencers and other businesses host paid online events as a way to offset revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company said it had asked Apple to waive the 30% fee the iPhone maker charges for in-app purchases so Facebook could pass on all of the events revenue to business owners, but that Apple declined.
Facebook had aimed to provide a notice of Apple’s cut to users, according to mock-ups it released at the time, but Reuters found on Thursday that the promised message was not present on the new events feature.
On the surface, this does look bad for Apple. Did Apple actually prevent Facebook from transparently laying out the fee structure for in-app purchase? Or is there more to this story?
Hoping for a response from Apple telling its side of this story.