Hardware

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

Joseph Cox, Motherboard:

I plugged the Apple lightning cable into my iPod and connected it to my Mac, just as I normally would. My iPod started charging, iTunes detected the device, and my iPod produced the pop-up asking if I wanted to trust this computer. All expected behaviour.

But this cable was hiding a secret. A short while later, a hacker remotely opened a terminal on my Mac’s screen, letting them run commands on my computer as they saw fit. This is because this wasn’t a regular cable. Instead, it had been modified to include an implant; extra components placed inside the cable letting the hacker remotely connect to the computer.

This was more fruit from the annual DefCon hacking conference, proof of concept that is worth keeping in mind.

Me? I avoid using unknown USB bricks, lightning or USB-C cables. I suspect I might be overly paranoid, but easy enough to just throw an extra charger in my bag when I travel so I never have to take that chance.

Very interesting read.

[VIDEO] Headlines have been flying around the internet similar to this one:

“Apple Is Locking iPhone Batteries to Discourage Repair”

As I read through the various articles on this issue, I remained pretty convinced that Apple was not specifically trying to discourage repair. There had to be more to the logic.

Turns out, there was more to it. And Rene Ritchie did a great job laying out the issues, making this understandable. Still not thrilled with the answer, but I get Apple’s goals here. Watch for yourself. Video embedded in main Loop post.

The big change here is the move from HDMI 1.4b to HDMI 2.0.

HDMI 1.4b:

• 4096 × 2160 at 24 Hz
• 3840 × 2160 at 24, 25, and 30 Hz
• 1920 × 1080 at 120 Hz

That last is also known as 1080p, or Full HD.

HDMI 2.0:

• Requires special higher bandwidth certified cable
• 4K video at 60 Hz with 24 bit/px color depth

Note that there’s also an HDMI 2.1, requires still another specialized cable, for 4K at 120 Hz, and beyond. Apple’s updated dongle is rated for HDMI 2.0.

Wall Street Journal:

A deal, covering a portfolio of patents and staff valued at $1 billion or more, could be reached in the next week, the people said—assuming the talks don’t fall apart.

And:

It would give Apple access to engineering work and talent behind Intel’s yearslong push to develop modem chips for the crucial next generation of wireless technology known as 5G, potentially saving years of development work.

There’s long been talk that Qualcomm modems are better performing, especially in poor signal areas, than Intel’s modems. To get a sense of the more recent state of affairs, take a look at the charts in this PCMag article.

Not all roses, but you can see that Intel’s modems have definitely made great strides since the days of the iPhone X.

While 5G modems will certainly be the new hotness, LTE performance will still matter much more in the real world, especially when you are on the road, away from any 5G sweet spots that emerge.

Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

Apple has lowered the cost of higher-end Mac solid state storage options, cutting the price in half for many of the configurations.

For example, the 4 TB SSD of the 512 GB 15-inch MacBook Pro used to cost $2800. It now costs $1,400. These savings are seen across the iMac, iMac Pro, Mac mini, and MacBook Air line.

Great stuff, read the post for more examples.

Note that a 1TB SSD upgrade for the MacBook Air is $600. That is a significant price drop, but consider that a 1TB PCIe SSD runs from $99 to $217 on Amazon.

I would love the chance to buy a 128GB MacBook Air and, as my budget allows, upgrade to a 1TB SSD in the future, something that has become impossible with tough-to-open machines filled with sticky tape and glue, not to mention soldered on components. Adding RAM and storage is one way to get more life out of older machines. This might not be in the best interests of Apple’s short term bottom line, but it certainly is better for my pocketbook and the planet.

From Apple’s Maximizing Battery Life and Lifespan page:

If you want to store your device long term, two key factors will affect the overall health of your battery: the environmental temperature and the percentage of charge on the battery when it’s powered down for storage. Therefore, we recommend the following:

• Do not fully charge or fully discharge your device’s battery — charge it to around 50%. If you store a device when its battery is fully discharged, the battery could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding a charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may lose some capacity, leading to shorter battery life.

• Power down the device to avoid additional battery use.

• Place your device in a cool, moisture-free environment that’s less than 90° F (32° C).

• If you plan to store your device for longer than six months, charge it to 50% every six months. Depending on how long you store your device, it may be in a low-battery state when you remove it from long-term storage. After it’s removed from storage, it may require 20 minutes of charging with the original adapter before you can use it.

This is one of those tips that applies widely, to all lithium ion devices. Best thing you can do is find an active home for your old devices. But if you can’t do that, and want to keep your battery alive, follow the advice above.

[Via Reddit]

BBC:

UK-based chip designer ARM has told staff it must suspend business with Huawei, according to internal documents obtained by the BBC.

ARM instructed employees to halt “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements” with Huawei and its subsidiaries to comply with a recent US trade clampdown.

The screws are tightening. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, some form of retaliation from China.

This still feels like a negotiation tactic, rather than an actual security concern.

Side note: The BBC article does a nice job explaining ARM and its relationship to ARM adoptees like Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm. Huawei is one of ARM’s top customers. This ban is a big deal.

iFixit:

Put simply, haptic feedback recreates the sense of touch or movement in an otherwise immovable or shallow-clicking object, like a button or trackpad. This is accomplished with a vibration motor, emitting controlled bursts of bzzzt as you tap and press. Apple has branded its own vibration motor the Taptic Engine.

And:

What makes Apple’s Taptic Engine different from other haptic applications we’ve seen over the years is the precise engineering Apple has put into it, and the precious space they devote to it inside their increasingly tight devices. Given this effort, Apple has come closer than any firm at actually replacing the tactile mechanical buttons some of us might miss.

And:

When the weighted mass inside a vibration motor moves back and forth at just the right speed, the vibration effect produced by the motor is amplified across the whole phone.

And:

Apple tunes their Taptic Engines to resonant frequencies optimized for quick, precise taps; and since they are designed in-house, they can pick specific sizes, shapes, and resonant frequencies for each product. In contrast, other smartphone manufacturers are at the mercy of whichever vibration motor manufacturer they happen to be purchasing from.

It’s those tiny details. No one is better than Apple at identifying and implementing those details in fit and finish. And I hear some of you in the back shouting “Butterfly keyboard”. Yes, but the keyboard issues are most notable because they are glaring exceptions to what we’ve come to expect from Apple.

Fascinating read.

This is some nerdy deliciousness. The highlight is this graph, which shows what’s really going on.

The four takeaways, for folks who hate nerdy graphs:

• The AirPods “boost” charge for the first 3.5 minutes
• Pods take 30 mins to completely charge, Case takes 2 hours
• The case waits to charge until the Pods hit 20%
• Pods+Case never draw more than 2.5 watts total

Note that this was done using a 5 watt brick and a standard Apple cable on a non-wireless case.