Apple

Apple Maps now shows COVID-19 testing sites across the US

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Joe Fingas, Engadget:

As hinted earlier, Apple has started displaying COVID-19 testing sites in Maps. People in all 50 states and Puerto Rico can use Apple’s default navigation app to quickly find a place to get checked, whether it’s a hospital, urgent care clinic, pharmacy or dedicated testing site. The facilities also fall under a new “COVID-19 Testing” search category that’s prioritized alongside other essentials like groceries and healthcare.

To see this yourself, fire up Maps, tap in the search field, then scroll down past Recent Searches to the section labeled Search Nearby. COVID-19 Testing should be first on that list. Tap it, then testing centers near you should appear on the map.

Each location is marked with an icon:

  • Hospitals are marked with a “+”
  • Clinics and others are marked with a “*”
  • Military locations are marked with a stethoscope icon

Or that appears to be the scheme. I’ve found exceptions, so it’s possible there’s more to it than that. If you know the specifics, ping me, I’ll update the post.

NHS rejects Apple-Google coronavirus app plan

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Leo Kelion, BBC News:

The UK’s coronavirus contact-tracing app is set to use a different model to the one proposed by Apple and Google, despite concerns raised about privacy and performance.

And:

The NHS says it has a way to make the software work “sufficiently well” on iPhones without users having to keep it active and on-screen.

And:

It has opted for a “centralised model” to achieve this – meaning that the matching process, which works out which phones to send alerts to – happens on a computer server.

This contrasts with Apple and Google’s “decentralised” approach – where the matches take place on users’ handsets.

With this basic premise in mind, go read Ben Lovejoy’s piece, titled It’s no exaggeration to say UK rejection of Apple API will cost lives. Smart take.

Rene Ritchie and iJustine talk Final Cut Pro for iPad

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[VIDEO] Rene Ritchie and iJustine make their livings using Final Cut Pro on the Mac. In this video (embedded in the main Loop post), they discuss the rumored emergence of Final Cut Pro for iPad. Lots of detail, smart questions.

Two things that stand out for me are the issues of RAM and storage space/management. How will iPad support resource hungry projects that take advantage of the much large RAM/storage of a specced out MacBook Pro or Mac Pro?

It’s all speculation, so take with a grain of salt, but this is a good case study if you are considering an iPad as a Mac replacement.

Apple retail chief sees ‘many more’ store reopenings in May

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Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Deirdre O’Brien, vice president of retail and people, made the disclosure in a weekly video update, according to retail employees familiar with the matter. She didn’t specify which stores or regions, but said “we are continuing to analyze this health situation in every location, and I do expect we will reopen up many more stores in May.”

Tantalizing, but wish there was more detail. Is this a slow regional spread from the Seoul Apple Store that opened earlier this month? Will we see Apple Stores open in the US? UK? EU? Standalone stores first, mall locations last?

The incredibly well balanced design of the Magic Keyboard (try this at home)

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Saw this tweet, my brain kind of exploded:

https://twitter.com/MattVanOrmer/status/1253826835529584641

Thought it might be some kind of trick, but no, I asked, Matt assured me that it was real.

And got this video from Matt Birchler in reply:

https://twitter.com/mattbirchler/status/1254760427277475841

I absolutely love the balance here, the stability. And look forward to a day when I can try one of these out on an airplane tray table.

Apple Watch designer reveals history of faces and features on fifth anniversary

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Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac:

Imran Chaudhri spent over 20 years at Apple and helped create the company’s hero products like iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Now on the fifth anniversary of Apple’s highly successful wearable, Chaudhri has shared some neat details on the history of what went into creating the Apple Watch‘s faces and features.

Nice collection of tweets from Chaudrhi, worth scrolling through.

Amazing to think back to that first Apple Watch, entering a crowded, clunky, smart watch market, tiny in comparison to the gigantic mechanical watch market. Oh how things have changed.

Here are the parts you can swap between the new iPhone SE and iPhone 8

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iFixit, from the comparison teardowns of the iPhone SE and iPhone 8:

iPhone SE’s cameras, SIM tray, Taptic Engine, and display assembly (including the microphone and proximity sensor) are all swappable with iPhone 8 parts.

And:

That screen should be cheaper to replace than any new iPhone we’ve seen in years. However, as with any modern iPhone screen swap, you will lose True Tone unless you have access to a screen programmer.

And:

Home buttons are still not interchangeable—you’ll need to hold on to your original home button in the event of a repair, substitute an aftermarket home button with no Touch ID, or else pay Apple whatever they ask to fix it for you.

And:

Although the battery looks identical, the battery’s logic board connector differs from the one in the 8, so they don’t fit together. The SE will connect to an iPhone 11 battery, which uses the same connector—but it won’t turn on. And, sadly, this seemingly throwback phone has some very modern Apple roadblocks inside. You can’t even swap one genuine iPhone SE 2020 battery for another without triggering a “not a genuine Apple battery” service warning.

Barriers to self-repair. But at the same time, keyed parts to keep repairs from going wrong. Interesting article.

Germany flips to Apple-Google approach on smartphone contact tracing

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Reuters:

In Europe, most countries have chosen short-range Bluetooth “handshakes” between mobile devices as the best way of registering a potential contact, even though it does not provide location data.

But they have disagreed about whether to log such contacts on individual devices or on a central server – which would be more directly useful to existing contact tracing teams that work phones and knock on doors to warn those who may be at risk.

Related note (via this MacRumors post):

Apple and Google are now referring to “contact tracing” as “exposure notification,” which the companies believe better describes the functionality of their upcoming API. The system is intended to notify a person of potential exposure, augmenting broader contact tracing efforts that public health authorities are undertaking.

See also the embedded Exposure Notification FAQ from the Apple/Google team. Can’t help but wonder if the name change from contact tracing to exposure notification was an attempt to ease EU concerns about privacy.

Connecting the iPhone SE display to an iPhone 8

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[VIDEO] If you teardown an iPhone SE and an iPhone 8, they look remarkably similar. We know the SE brings big camera and processor upgrades, but watch the video embedded in the main Loop post (it’s short) to get a sense of how much has stayed the same.

What matters in a phone?

Written by

Matt Birchler:

I look at my brand spanking new iPhone (which I of course will likely replace in 5 short months) and while I love how it looks, how fast it runs, Face ID, and how good the cameras are, I keep wandering over to the iPhone SE page on Apple’s site and keep looking for the “gotcha” moment. What is the Achille’s heel that makes this actually a bad phone for someone like me who likes the best in phones?

So far, I can’t really find one.

The primary differences are Face ID, screen real estate, extra camera features. Toughest to give up, for me, would be the extra screen real estate. But I like Touch ID (not as convenient as Face ID, but it has its own convenience), and the iPhone SE camera is an excellent camera, I’d guess good enough for most folks.

And the cost saving is significant.

So when I see the $399 iPhone SE with 5 years of likely updates, with a really good single lens camera, and with it’s processor that’s faster than all 2020 $1,000+ Android phones, and will likely still be faster than all 2021 Android phones…well, it just looks like a damn good phone, and it makes it look like we’ve been frolicking around in excess for years now.

Practical vs luxury.

Apple TV+: Beastie Boys, Defending Jacob go live, Apple lands Paul Rudd/WillFerrell limited series

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If you’ve been looking forward to the Apple TV+ show Defending Jacob or the History of the Beastie Boys documentary, today’s the day. Both are now live.

In other news, from this Apple media release:

Directed by Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick,” “The Lovebirds”) and based on the script by Emmy, Golden Globe, BAFTA, WGA Award winner Georgia Pritchett (“Succession,” “Veep”), “The Shrink Next Door” is a dark comedy inspired by true events that detail the bizarre relationship between psychiatrist to the stars Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf, played by Paul Rudd, and his longtime patient Martin “Marty” Markowitz, played by Will Ferrell. Over the course of their relationship, the all-too-charming Ike slowly takes over Marty’s life, even moving into Marty’s Hamptons home and taking over his family business.

The series is based on this podcast. Sounds like some dark, dark comedy.

Bloomberg: Apple aims to sell Macs with its own chips starting in 2021

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Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. is planning to start selling Mac computers with its own main processors by next year, relying on designs that helped popularize the iPhone and iPad, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is working on three of its own Mac processors, known as systems-on-a-chip, based on the A14 processor in the next iPhone. The first of these will be much faster than the processors in the iPhone and iPad, the people said.

And:

Apple is preparing to release at least one Mac with its own chip next year, according to the people. But the initiative to develop multiple chips, codenamed Kalamata, suggests the company will transition more of its Mac lineup away from current supplier Intel Corp.

Take with a grain of salt. It’s a rumor. But a believable one, very believable. So logical that Apple would want their own processors in every device they make.

Add in the recent rumors about Xcode coming to iPad Pro (big grain of salt, but still), and it all seems so inevitable.

Rene Ritchie, video review of iPhone SE

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[VIDEO] Typical Rene Ritchie video: Lots of detail, story well-told, well-filmed, well worth watching. Video embedded in main Loop post.

Interesting side note: Rene filmed this with chapter markers (they are detailed about 25 seconds in). Though the chapter markers do show up for me (as breaks in the progress indicator at the bottom of the video) in Chrome, they do not show up in Safari. But they do show up for Rene in the same version of Safari (I asked).

Anyone know why this would be? We’re both running the latest public release of Catalina and Safari. Ping me if you know why this is happening.

Gruber’s iPhone SE review

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Lots to read here, lots of detail. Two things stand out to me.

First, scroll down and look at the first four images embedded in Gruber’s review. All taken with front facing camera, two on the iPhone 11 Pro, two with the new SE.

Without looking at the identifying text, see if you can pick out which picture was taken with which phone. I would be surprised if your eye can pick out the difference. And, if pressed to pick a favorite, I’d not be surprised if you chose a self portrait taken with the SE.

Secondly:

It’s quite remarkable that the $400 iPhone SE significantly outperforms — and to a lesser but still noticeable degree, out-photographs — the $600 iPhone XR, both of which prices are for 64 GB base models. It’s even more remarkable that you can upgrade all the way to a 256 GB iPhone SE for $550, which is still less than the XR base model. But the XR has one obvious advantage: screen real estate. With the same text size, the XR shows significantly more vertical content.

For that last point, scroll to the bottom and check out the pic of the iPhone XR and SE side-by-side. Clear difference in screen real-estate. But in most every other way, the SE beats out the iPhone XR.

This is a great phone.

The cheapest iPhone has a more powerful processor than the most expensive Android phone

Written by

AndroidCentral:

I expect that some people are going to tell me about single thread versus multi-threaded performance and how the A13 GPU isn’t that great or how iPhones have much lower resolution screens so the chips don’t have to work as hard. All this is true, but another thing is true: the A13 is a stronger chip than the Snapdragon 865 for daily use in every category

I love when Apple gear appreciation pieces appear on Android sites. It’s one thing when Apple folk rave about the new shiny. But so much more credible when that appreciation comes from a traditional critic

Also, what a strong headline.

First version of Apple/Google contact tracing API will be available on April 28

Written by

Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

Tim Cook held talks with European Commissioner Thierry Breton yesterday regarding the upcoming contact tracing frameworks, that Apple and Google are jointly collaborating on. The companies announced a privacy-preserving API that allows devices to be notified when another user’s device who reports positive for COVID-19 was in close proximity, based on Bluetooth, without sharing the identities of said user.

And:

In a press conference following the call, iGeneration reports that Breton said Cook told him that the first version of the contact tracing API will be available on April 28.

And:

In a phase two followup said to arrive in the months ahead, Apple and Google will build parts of this system directly into the OS. This means an app download won’t be needed to get contact tracing proximity alerts.

No matter when this rolls out, it will have value in the long haul, a vital tool to help prevent the wandering in the dark we’re experiencing now.

Home — Inside Look | Apple TV+

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[VIDEO] Apple:

Behind every home lies a story. Learn more about how the unique series #Home, was made.

Nine episodes, all available now. Video embedded in main Loop post.

Using your iOS device as a webcam for your Mac

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Came across this tweet from Matt Cassinelli this morning:

https://twitter.com/mattcassinelli/status/1251918156563529728

Being able to use your iPhone as a webcam, especially in coronavirus time, is a great idea. It’d be a wonderful add for folks with older Macs, lower quality cameras. And for folks who do live streaming (reporters, or late night talk show hosts), they could do camera to camera cuts, perhaps with different over the shoulder shot images.

There is a way to use your smartphone as a webcam, using a third party app.

There are some downsides to this approach, however (not the least is that the app featured in the Verge story breaks with the latest Zoom release). It’d be so much nicer if Apple opened up an API to make this capability available at the system level.

A tough-love, detailed review of the Magic Keyboard

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Jeremy Horwitz, VentureBeat, delivers a real-world review, warts and all. A few highlights, just to give you a sense of the whole thing:

The Magic Keyboard has a vinyl body rather than metal (or Apple’s other iPad accessory material option, leather), so it’s highly likely to show signs of wear after a year or so of typical use. My unit’s exterior showed smudges within seconds of sitting on my dining room table.

And:

Both the top and bottom of the case appear to be reinforced internally with sturdy metal plates, However, the parts of the Magic Keyboard that are exposed to air will likely wear like plastic, including the entirely plastic palmrest area, which will probably become shiny over time as it rubs against your hands.

And:

Hidden in the new hinge: an additional USB-C port. Initial testing suggests that this port delivers power (at a reduced speed) to both the iPad Pro and keyboard, but Apple makes no guarantees about its data performance. In other words, the iPad Pro’s own USB-C port is now free for any type of accessory you might want to connect, while the keyboard port can be reliably used for charging.

And:

The iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard is not as impressive as either the Mac’s Magic Trackpad 2 or Magic Trackpad. It’s much smaller — almost identical to the size of a business card, just a little wider — and it’s fully mechanical rather than haptic, so you actually press it down rather than just feeling click vibrations. Apple’s only remaining “magic” here is its thinness, which is aided by this Magic Keyboard’s lack of any internal battery.

Great work, Jeremy. Lots more to this review, well worth reading.

Why Apple’s iPad is the gadget of the pandemic

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New York Times:

In a flatlining economy, the $399 iPhone that Apple introduced last week might sound attractive. But there’s a better gadget deal in the pandemic: the iPad.

And:

It’s time for us to reconsider the iPad. Last week, I wrote about how the coronavirus had revealed our most essential tech and weeded out the excess. The tech we have turned to over and over boils down to a computing device, communication tools, entertainment and an internet connection. The iPad delivers on all of those needs even better than a smartphone.

And:

So why the iPad and not another tablet computer? After all, many of the same tasks can be done on cheaper tablets, like Amazon’s $50 Fire HD 8.

Yet those other devices are generally much slower and have inferior screens. The iPad is ultimately the best tablet on the market.

Brian X. Chen, hard to disagree with any of this.

Apple TV+ gets down in Fraggle Rock

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Hollywood Reporter:

Apple TV+ has picked up a shortform series from The Jim Henson Co. featuring the beloved stars of the 1980s favorite in a new adventure, called Fraggle Rock: Rock On. The show, which is now available for free on the streamer, features episodes that are between three and five minutes apiece. New episodes will debut Tuesdays on Apple TV+.

The teaser, embedded below, plays off the strength of that theme song, ear-wormed into a generation of kids (and adults).

For folks new to the Jim Henson series, here’s the original Fraggle Rock open.

Apple adds refurbished Apple Watch Series 5

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In the market for an Apple Watch Series 5? Here’s what you get with a refurbished Apple Watch from Apple:

All refurbished Apple Watch models are backed by a one-year warranty, free delivery and returns, and also include:

  • Full functional testing and a thorough cleaning
  • The original Operating System or a more recent version1
  • All refurbished devices are repackaged in a brand new box with all accessories and cables

If I could get a Series 5 on sale cheaper elsewhere, of course I’d go for that. But if not, this is worth a look.

Side note: This was the footnote at the bottom of the refurbish page:

We approximate your location from your internet IP address by matching it to a geographic region or from the location entered during your previous visit to Apple.

Interesting.

Gruber’s Magic Keyboard review

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Love this opening salvo:

Greatly anticipating its arrival, I unboxed the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard as soon as it appeared at my door, and before I even attached my iPad Pro, I was put off. It felt too stiff to open. Then I did attach my iPad Pro (immediate thought: “Man, these magnets are strong”), closed and opened the iPad-as-laptop configuration a few times, and formed a crushingly disappointing first impression. I didn’t like it.

But read on. The rest of the review is a bit of a love letter to the Magic Keyboard. Chock full of fascinating detail, this is the Magic Keyboard review to read, Gruber at his best.

Apple TV+ Beastie Boys Story review

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The Apple TV+ Beastie Boys documentary goes live this Friday. This review captures the spirit of the documentary pretty well. It’s got some spoilers, but if you are a fan, you probably know all this stuff anyway.

Definitely on my Up Next.

Apple expands reach of Apple Services

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Apple:

Apple announced that starting today, even more customers around the world can enjoy many of Apple’s most popular Services. The App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud are now available in 20 more countries, and Apple Music is available in 52 additional countries.

This is important news. Apple is turning a massive, slow moving ship, from dependence on iPhone sales to more and more dependence on services.

Two more Magic Keyboard videos

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[VIDEO] First up, Dieter Bohn from The Verge, followed by iJustine. Videos embedded in main Loop post.

Hands on with the Magic Keyboard

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[VIDEO] The video is available in 4K (you’ll need to switch to Google Chrome for 4K). At the default 720p, I could not make out the Apple logo on the case. Interesting.

I love how stiff the hinge is. Exactly my preference for a touchscreen stand. I don’t want taps changing the viewing angle. Well done.

Also worth noting is that the trackpad might look a bit small, but it maps exactly from the top of the iPad Pro 11″ screen to the bottom.

Jump to about 7:52 in for details on shortcuts and gestures.

Great video. Embedded in main Loop post.