Modern hardware constantly pushes thermal and power limits, trying to strike a balance that minimizes noise and heat while maximizing performance and battery life.
And:
Apple’s customers don’t usually have control over these balances, and they’re usually fixed at design time with little opportunity to adapt to changing circumstances or customer priorities.
The sole exception, Low Power Mode on iOS, seems to be a huge hit: by offering a single toggle that chooses a different balance, people are able to greatly extend their battery life when they know they’ll need it.
Mac laptops need Low Power Mode, too.
Marco digs into the benefits of disabling Turbo Boost, in effect, offering a low power mode that helps your MacBook run significantly cooler, likely extending battery life as a result.
Attorney General William P. Barr declared on Monday that a deadly shooting last month at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla., was an act of terrorism, and he asked Apple in an unusually high-profile request to provide access to two phones used by the gunman.
Mr. Barr’s appeal was an escalation of an ongoing fight between the Justice Department and Apple pitting personal privacy against public safety.
“This situation perfectly illustrates why it is critical that the public be able to get access to digital evidence,” Mr. Barr said, calling on Apple and other technology companies to find a solution and complaining that Apple has provided no “substantive assistance.”
Regardless of CEO Cook’s seemingly (even if out of necessity) chummy relationship with President Trump, Apple’s response to this will likely be the same as it was in a similar case in 2016 – Apple will tell the government to go pound sand.
Right now opt-in rates to share data with apps when they’re not in use are often below 50%, said Benoit Grouchko, who runs the ad tech business Teemo that creates software for apps to collect location data. Three years ago those opt-in rates were closer to 100%, he said. Higher opt-in rates prevailed when people weren’t aware that they even had a choice. Once installed on a phone, many apps would automatically start sharing a person’s location data.
Apple’s latest privacy protection move, however, is making people more aware that they do have a choice about which data is shared. Seven in 10 of the iPhone users tracked by location-verification business Location Sciences downloaded iOS 13 in the six weeks after it first became available, and 80% of those users stopped all background tracking across their devices.
“People have decided to stop their phones’ sharing location data at a universal level,” said Jason Smith, chief business officer at Location Sciences.
As always, I have little to no sympathy for companies trying to make a living off selling my data without my expressed permission.
A quick quiz—just answer quickly, without thinking about it: Are you a Macintosh user?
I’m not actually interested in what computer you use, but your reaction to the word “Macintosh.” If you didn’t blink at it, you’ve probably been using Macs for over two decades, whereas if it sounds funny, or even entirely foreign, your experience with Macs is probably shorter. Or you respond well to branding changes.
If you are a Mac user, think about where you might encounter the word Macintosh. Interesting post.
In the five years since a court ruled that “Blurred Lines” infringed on Marvin Gaye’s 1977 “Got to Give It Up,” demanding that Thicke and Williams fork over $5 million to the Gaye estate for straying too close to the older song’s “vibe,” the once-sleepy realm of music copyright law has turned into a minefield. Chart-topping musicians have been slapped with infringement lawsuits like never before, and stars like Ed Sheeran and Katy Perry are being asked to pay millions in cases that have many experts scratching their heads. Across genres, artists are putting out new music with the same question in the backs of their minds: Will this song get me sued?
To me, this mirrors the patent trolls in tech. Achieve a certain level of success with a technology, or a song, and you’ll pop up on troll radar.
Apple Inc. is trying to change the way electronics are recycled with a robot that disassembles its iPhone so that minerals can be recovered and reused, while acknowledging rising global demand for electronics means new mines will still be needed.
Daisy, Apple’s recycling robot, is not news. But this is an interesting slant:
The Cupertino, California-based company says the robot is part of its plan to become a “closed-loop” manufacturer that does not rely on the mining industry, an aggressive goal that some industry analysts have said is impossible.
And:
“There’s this ego that believes they can get all their minerals back, and it’s not possible,” said Kyle Wiens, chief executive of iFixit, a firm advocating for electronics repair, rather than replacement.
Ego or not, I applaud this effort. The more rare earths that can be reclaimed, reused, the less we have to pull out of the ground. And the less dependent we are on specific regions where rare earths can be found.
I’m old school. Love the Academy Awards, though I’m trending towards the irreverent Golden Globes these days.
Ever since I was a kid, always looked forward to the nominations, looked forward to the actual broadcast. But with Twitter, etc., the bloom is off the rose, at least a bit. Everything associated with the movies has just gotten so over-exposed.
But I digress.
Follow the headline link, check out the nominations. One thing that stood out to me was the Actor in a Supporting Role category: Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Brad Pitt.
The youngest of these actors is Brad Pitt. And he’s 56. Weird, no?
Apple TV+ has scooped its first major awards win. Billy Crudup won the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Critics Choice Award, for his performance as Cory Ellison in The Morning Show.
In this year’s Critics Choice awards, Apple’s streaming service only got one nomination but it converted that into a win. Crudup edged out competition from the likes of Asante Blackk (This Is Us), Asia Kate Dillon (Billions), Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) and Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen).
No argument here. Crudup was a scene-stealing delight.
Oprah Winfrey is stepping away from a documentary that centered on a former music executive who has accused Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct.
The film has been among the highest profile doc projects set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this month. Winfrey, who until now had served as an executive producer on the film, planned to air it on Apple TV+ following the festival.
“I have decided that I will no longer be executive producer on The Untitled Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering documentary and it will not air on Apple TV+,” Winfrey said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “First and foremost, I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women. Their stories deserve to be told and heard. In my opinion, there is more work to be done on the film to illuminate the full scope of what the victims endured, and it has become clear that the filmmakers and I are not aligned in that creative vision.”
This happens on a fairly regular basis in Hollywood but will nonetheless be a blow to Apple. It is the second film to be pulled from Apple’s lineup. The Banker was pulled late last year.
Apple has determined that some Smart Battery Cases made for iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR may experience charging issues. An affected Smart Battery Case may exhibit one or more of the following behaviors:
Battery case will not charge or charges intermittently when plugged into power
Battery case does not charge the iPhone or charges it intermittently
Affected units were manufactured between January 2019 and October 2019. This is not a safety issue and Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will replace eligible battery cases, free of charge.
If you have the battery case for any of these three affected phones, contact Apple about getting a replacement.
Watch the video. Neil Peart makes virtuosity look so easy.
From the linked Rolling Stone appreciation piece:
Peart was one of rock’s greatest drummers, with a flamboyant yet utterly precise style that paid homage to his hero, the Who’s Keith Moon, while expanding the technical and imaginative possibilities of his instrument. He joined singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson in Rush in 1974, and his virtuosic playing and literate, wildly imaginative lyrics – which drew on Ayn Rand and science fiction, among other influences – helped make the trio one of the classic-rock era’s essential bands. His drum fills on songs like “Tom Sawyer” were pop hooks in their own right, each one an indelible mini-composition; his lengthy drum solos, carefully constructed and full of drama, were highlights of every Rush concert.
I don’t think Dave and I have ever talked about the legendary singer Ronnie James Dio on the show before, but we fix that this week. We also discuss the various ways to adjust volume levels on iOS and Dave’s surprise check from AppleCare.
I have taken it upon myself to decide, once and for all, which is the superior ’80s murder-copter: Blue Thunder or Airwolf?
You remember Blue Thunder and Airwolf, right?
Blue Thunder was a 1983 movie starring an experimental, machine-gun-toting police helicopter that eventually tears up Los Angeles. The movie’s human star is an LAPD helicopter pilot (played by Roy Scheider) whose name is Murphy, because all movie cops are named Murphy. Murphy uncovers a conspiracy involving the chopper that leads him into the aforementioned aerial dogfight over the streets of LA.
Airwolf, by contrast, was a totally different thing. It was a TV show that ran on CBS from 1984 to 1986 before squeezing out one more season on the USA network. It also involved an experimental military chopper flown by a sullen ex-Army pilot with the shockingly preposterous name “Stringfellow Hawke” (played by Jan-Michael Vincent).
What a great trip down memory lane. I’ve studiously avoided re-watching Blue Thunder because I don’t want my childhood memories of enjoying it immensely be ruined by discovering, as an adult, that it was actually a bad movie.
We’re visiting a giant factory in China that makes lipo iPhone batteries, aka lithium polymer batteries, and seeing how they are made from start to finish. This is by FAR the coolest and biggest factory I’ve been to to date.
This was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be.
Yesterday on Apple’s device trade-in program web page, the iPhone XS Max had an estimated trade-in value of up to $600, but today Apple is only offering up to $500 –– a full $100 less than it did 24 hours ago. The only devices that have been spared reductions are the MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Mac mini, and Apple Watch Series 1, 2, and 3.
Follow the headline link for details on old vs. new trade-in pricing.
There’s a benefit, to me at least, of bringing your old iPhone to the Apple Store, doing the transfer from old to new, then leaving with a complete transaction, no need to worry over packaging up your old iPhone and fretting over the pricing you get.
But at some point, that trade-in number matters, tips the scale, makes the search for a better trade-in deal worth the hassle. This that point for you?
Days before Christmas, at the height of the last-minute holiday shopping rush, an ominous message appeared on Amazon.com. It warned shoppers who used a popular browser extension called Honey that the service, which promises to track prices and discount codes, was “a security risk.”
“Honey tracks your private shopping behavior, collects data like your order history and items saved, and can read or change any of your data on any website you visit,” the message read. “To keep your data private and secure, uninstall this extension immediately.”
If you’ve logged into PayPal lately, you’ve no doubt seen heavy duty marketing for the Honey plug-in. It’s a nice idea, looking out for coupons and discount codes for things you are buying.
Amazon flagged it as a security risk. Genuine concern for your safety?
Amazon has a browser extension of its own called Amazon Assistant. It also tracks prices, just like Honey, and allows you to compare items on other retailers to those on Amazon.
Reading the article, seems like this is more about thwarting competition on Amazon’s part, not at all about safety.
Back in the day, Apple was beleaguered, and made the decision to acquire an OS from outside the company to come in and save the day, pave a new path for Apple.
The choice was narrowed down to, of course, Steve Jobs and NeXT, and a little known company called Be, Inc, with an OS called BeOS. The company was founded by long-time Apple exec Jean-Louis Gassée.
The linked article tells a bit of the Be side of the story.
Not sure how I missed this. Is this common knowledge? A fascinating story. Happened back in 1999.
As far as I know, Eugene Merle Shoemaker, from Los Angeles, is the only human whose remains have left the planet.
Follow the headline link, scroll down to the section labeled “Death”.
UPDATE: A number of folks have pointed me to this page, which lists people whose remains have been “buried in space”. Shoemaker remains the only person whose remains were placed on another celestial body. But a pretty fascinating list.
A new Emergency Power Save Mode (EPSM) will be able to broadcast a distress signal in multiple different ways while also minimizing battery use in order to keep the device working until the user is rescued.
This is from a patent application. No guarantee we’ll ever see this in a shipping iPhone, but I do like the idea.
I was in the audience that day 13 years ago. While we “knew” it was going to be called the iPhone, we had no idea what it would actually look like. To say it blew our minds would be an understatement.
Subaru’s display at the 2020 Singapore Motor Show was headlined by the Viziv Adrenaline Concept, the Forester e-Boxer and GT Edition, and the refreshed Impreza. There was one model showcased in the Japanese carmaker’s booth, though, that we figured deserves your attention, too: the Forester Ultimate Customized Kit Special edition.
Make an acronym out of that name, and you’ll see why we consider it…interesting, for lack of a better word.
This is one of those stories you absolutely can’t believe is true until you see it yourself and even when you do, you think, “How the hell did that make it this far!?”
If you’re “of a certain age,” (read: old), this will be comedy gold for you. Personally, I’d rather watch this series than the actual Mandalorian which I found boring and tedious.
Jeffrey Katzenberg insists that his new video-streaming service Quibi isn’t competing against Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, or any of the other streaming services that have launched or are launching soon. You’ve got it all wrong. You’re not even asking the right questions.
“We don’t think we’re in the streaming wars,” Katzenberg, the former boss of Walt Disney Studios and founder of DreamWorks, tells The Verge in a closed-door meeting the day before the company’s grand reveal at a CES keynote. “They’re all battling for this,” he says as he thrusts his arm toward a TV in the room. “We’re going for this,” he says, gesturing toward his phone. “Don’t tell them!”
Katzenberg and Quibi CEO Meg Whitman, who is best known as the CEO of HP and eBay, are publicly announcing Quibi at CES — but not quite unveiling it — after having raised $1 billion on the promise of a roster of Hollywood stars and supposedly revolutionary video-streaming technology that delivers portrait and landscape video at the same time. Everything on Quibi is designed for viewing on a phone, on the go, in 10 minutes or less. These chunks of video are called “quick bites” — hence, “Quibi.”
In preparation for his first American tour in a decade, Ronnie James Dio spent months sequestered in a modest office suite in Marina del Rey, in Los Angeles. The office was on the second floor of a strip mall, above a vape shop and a massage parlor.
And:
Opinion among the Dio faithful, nonetheless, was divided on the subject of his “Dio Returns” comeback tour, largely because Dio has been dead for almost 10 years.
I love that last sentence so much.
More from the article:
A start-up called Eyellusion produced “Dio Returns.” It’s one of a handful of companies looking to mold and ultimately monetize a new, hybrid category of entertainment — part concert, part technology-driven spectacle — centered, thus far, on the holographic afterlives of deceased musical stars.
The holograms are coming. More spectacle to convince you to make your way to a concert. Matter of time before this technology makes its way into your home, either in that projected hologram form, or via AR or VR. A chance to bring up holograms of past historical events, and spend some time with people and places that are gone, or just simply inaccessible.
When Rob McElhenney was initially approached by Ubisoft about writing a series set in the video game industry, he was reluctant: He didn’t see a way into that world. But when the company invited him to tour its Montreal headquarters, he figured there was nothing to lose. Once there, he found the inspiration he needed.
And:
The resulting series, “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet,” is set to launch on Apple TV Plus on Feb. 7.
I’m really looking forward to this series. Funny is not easy. And this will be Apple’s first kick at this particular genre. My two cents, they’ve picked a good team for their first comedy.
The Variety piece goes into a lot of detail on this show, and on the Apple TV+ show launch process. There are issues to address, but it does seem as if Apple’s team is learning, and making changes where needed. Apple TV+ is a long play and, in my mind, seems like a winner.
Interesting post from John Gruber about the Consumer Electronics Show being all about concepts, and most frequently, concepts that will never become products.
But where it really hit home for me was when John turned to Apple and, more specifically, this anecdote from Lev Grossman’s Time Magazine profile of Steve Jobs from 2005:
“You know how you see a show car, and it’s really cool, and then four years later you see the production car, and it sucks? And you go, What happened? They had it! They had it in the palm of their hands! They grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory!”
And:
When Jobs took up his present position at Apple in 1997, that’s the situation he found. He and Jonathan Ive, head of design, came up with the original iMac, a candy-colored computer merged with a cathode-ray tube that, at the time, looked like nothing anybody had seen outside of a Jetsons cartoon. “Sure enough,” Jobs recalls, “when we took it to the engineers, they said, ‘Oh.’ And they came up with 38 reasons. And I said, ‘No, no, we’re doing this.’ And they said, ‘Well, why?’ And I said, ‘Because I’m the CEO, and I think it can be done.’ And so they kind of begrudgingly did it. But then it was a big hit.”
Twitter has been on a long-term mission to overhaul have people have conversations on its platform, both to make them easier to follow and more engaging without turning toxic.
Plenty of toxic, complicated problem to fix.
That strategy is taking another big step forward this year, starting in Q1 with a new way for people to control conversations, by giving them four options to “tailor” their replies: anyone can reply, only those who a user follows can reply, only those tagged can reply, or setting a tweet to get no replies at all.
These coming changes were announced at CES. Not clear how, or when, they’ll roll out to the masses. Tricky to change the mechanics of our Twitter conversations without breaking them.
One thing I think Twitter could do is be better at spotting the bots. I regularly get new followers with names like @rpt011999275 who’ve got no posts and just joined Twitter. Inevitably, they’ve got a generic bio, something like, “Just want to bring happiness into the world.”
And then there are the bots that post strongly opinionated political messages. A bit of checking shows them for what they are. The process of uncovering these bots seems simple enough. I’d love to see Twitter to a better job bot-vetting new accounts.
