Apple:

Here’s what we announced.

Apple has posted the full video of this morning’s Apple event in case you didn’t watch it live. Want just the highlights? They’ve also posted this video:

Apple:

Apple today announced iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, a new pro line for iPhone that delivers advanced performance for users who want the very best smartphone. The new Super Retina XDR display is a pro display with the brightest display ever in an iPhone. The powerful Apple-designed A13 Bionic chip provides unparalleled performance for every task while enabling an unprecedented leap in battery life to easily get through the day. A new triple-camera system provides a pro-level camera experience with an Ultra Wide, Wide and Telephoto camera, delivering huge improvements to low-light photography and offering the highest quality video in a smartphone that is great for shooting action videos.

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max come in four gorgeous finishes including a beautiful new midnight green, and will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, September 13 and in stores beginning Friday, September 20.

These are the replacement for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. This is some pretty amazing gear. The cameras are a major leap forward, both in terms of computational photography and Night mode, which looks to make huge improvements in low light photography.

Follow the link and check out the images. The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max look remarkable.

On pricing:

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max will be available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB models in midnight green, space gray, silver and gold starting at $999 and $1,099, respectively.

Don’t forget to use your Apple Card for the 3% daily cash bonus.

Apple:

Apple today announced iPhone 11, delivering innovations that make the world’s most popular smartphone even more powerful, improving the features people use the most throughout their day.1 iPhone 11 introduces a powerful dual-camera system, offering an intuitive camera experience with the highest quality video in a smartphone and Night mode for photos. iPhone 11 is powered by the A13 Bionic chip to perform the most demanding tasks, while getting through an entire day on a single charge, and is designed to withstand the elements with improved water resistance.

iPhone 11 comes in six new gorgeous colors, and will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, September 13 and in stores beginning Friday, September 20, starting at just $699 (US).

This is the replacement for the iPhone XR (which is still available, at $599) in the big three lineup. Follow the link for all the details, including the dual camera, which seems a big step up from the XR camera system.

Apple:

Apple today announced Apple Watch Series 5, debuting an Always-On Retina display that never sleeps, so it’s easy to see the time and other important information, without raising or tapping the display. New location features, from a built-in compass to current elevation, help users better navigate their day, while international emergency calling1 allows customers to call emergency services directly from Apple Watch in over 150 countries, even without iPhone nearby. Apple Watch Series 5 is available in a wider range of materials, including aluminum, stainless steel, ceramic and an all-new titanium. Combined with the power of watchOS 6, users are empowered to take charge of their health and fitness with new features like Cycle Tracking, the Noise app and Activity Trends.

And:

Starting today, Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS) is available to order in 41 countries and regions and Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS + Cellular) is available to order in 22 countries and regions. Both models will be available in stores beginning Friday, September 20.

The biggest change worth noting, at least in my view, is the always-on Retina display. To conserve battery, the watch display is dimmed, but bright enough to make out the important elements, to see the time and complications. Raise your wrist, or tap the display to bring the display to full brightness.

All this, and the battery life is still 18 hours, just like the Series 4.

As to pricing:

Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS) starts at $399 (US) and Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS + Cellular) starts at $499. The popular Series 3 (GPS), with built-in GPS, optical heart rate sensor and water resistance, starts at a new low price of $199 and Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) is $299.

Again, be sure to use your Apple Card if you plan to buy one of these, for the 3% daily cash bonus.

Apple:

Apple today introduced the new seventh-generation iPad, bringing more screen area and support for the full-sized Smart Keyboard to its most popular and most affordable iPad. Starting at just $329, the upgraded iPad features a stunning 10.2-inch Retina display and the latest innovations including Apple Pencil support, the fast A10 Fusion chip, advanced cameras and sensors, unmatched portability and connectivity, ease of use and great all-day battery life.3 The new iPad is available to order starting today and in stores starting Monday, September 30.

Don’t forget to use your Apple Card if you plan to buy this for that 3% daily cash bonus.

Apple:

Apple today announced that Apple Arcade will be available on the App Store on Thursday, September 19 with iOS 13, offering an all-new way to enjoy games without limits. With a subscription to Apple Arcade for $4.99 per month, users get unlimited access to the entire catalog of over 100 new, exclusive games, all playable across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Apple TV. Apple Arcade is launching with a one-month free trial, and users will not find the games on any other mobile platform or subscription service. Apple Arcade games can all be played offline, and a single subscription includes access for up to six family members with Family Sharing. The catalog will exceed 100 games in the coming weeks as new titles are introduced, with more games to come every month. Apple Arcade will be available on September 30 on iPadOS and tvOS 13 and in October on macOS Catalina.

Follow the link for a partial list of games and descriptions. The games I’ve seen so far look phenomenal. I’m definitely in.

Apple:

Apple today announced Apple TV+, the first all-original video subscription service and home for today’s most imaginative storytellers, will launch November 1 in over 100 countries and regions. Apple TV+ will offer a powerful and inspiring lineup of original shows, movies and documentaries, including “The Morning Show,” “Dickinson,” “See,” “For All Mankind” and “The Elephant Queen.” The service will be available on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac and other platforms, including online at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. Starting today, customers who purchase any iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch or Mac can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share one Apple TV+ subscription.

That one year free if you buy one of the listed Apple devices makes this even more of a no-brainer.

Apple:

Apple today announced three unprecedented medical studies, in partnership with leading academic and research institutions, that will reach more participants than has ever been possible. The studies will be available on the new Research app.

The studies:

• Apple Women’s Health Study: In partnership with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Apple has created the first long-term study of this scale focused on menstrual cycles and gynecological conditions. This study will inform screening and risk assessment of conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), infertility, osteoporosis, pregnancy and menopausal transition.

• Apple Heart and Movement Study: Apple is partnering with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association on a comprehensive study of how heart rate and mobility signals — like walking pace and flights of stairs climbed — relate to hospitalizations, falls, heart health and quality of life in order to promote healthy movement and improved cardiovascular health.

• Apple Hearing Study: Alongside the University of Michigan, Apple is examining factors that impact hearing health. The Apple Hearing Health Study is the first of its kind to collect data over time in order to understand how everyday sound exposure can impact hearing. The study data will also be shared with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a contribution toward its Make Listening Safe initiative.

The Research app will be available as a free download in the App Store later this year.

This is a great playlist, all on its own, but this is also a perfect place to search for that tune you just heard in an Apple ad.

This playlist runs in your browser, no need to jump to iTunes (or the Music app, if you are running the new shiny) to login.

The headline seemed sensationalistic, started reading filled with skepticism. That said, I did find the article well written and full of interesting detail.

A few examples:

Apple requires that all iOS web browsers—Chrome, Firefox, Brave, or any other—be built on the same WebKit engine that Safari uses. “Basically it’s just like running Safari with a different user interface,” Henze says. Apple demands browsers use WebKit, Henze says, because the complexity of running websites’ JavaScript requires browsers to use a technique called just-in-time (or JIT) compilation as a time-saving trick. While programs that run on an iOS device generally need to be cryptographically signed by Apple or an approved developer, a browser’s JIT speed optimization doesn’t include that safeguard.

As a result, Apple has insisted that only its own WebKit engine be allowed to handle that unsigned code. “They trust their own stuff more,” Henze says. “And if they make an exception for Chrome, they have to make an exception for everyone.”

The point being made here is that Apple bottlenecks all browser activity through WebKit. To me, this seems a solid approach, as long as WebKit is bulletproof.

The problem with making WebKit mandatory, according to security researchers, is that Apple’s browser engine is in some respects less secure than Chrome’s.

There’s the rub. If that’s truly the case. Seems to me, no matter the choice Apple makes here, there will be security holes. The key is how quickly Apple responds to identified flaws. My (possibly uninformed) sense is that Apple closes loopholes before they become widely known, or quickly issues a patch if exploits do become public.

As to Messages:

Hackable flaws in iMessage are far rarer than those WebKit. But they’re also far more powerful, given that they can be used as the first step in a hacking technique that takes over a target phone with no user interaction. So it was all the more surprising last month to see Natalie Silvanovich, a researcher with Google’s Project Zero team, expose an entire collection of previously unknown flaws in iMessage that could be used to enable remote, zero-click takeovers of iPhones.

Read Apple’s reply to the Project Zero accusations.

More disturbing than the existence of those individual bugs was that they all stemmed from the same security issue: iMessage exposes to attackers its “unserializer,” a component that essentially unpacks different types of data sent to the device via iMessage.

All very interesting. I’m betting that Apple is working hard to identify and fix attack vectors in WebKit and better sandbox Messages. I think it’s a safe bet that none of this information is new to Apple.

Follow the headline link, scroll. It’s hard to capture the cool look of this colorful treatment in just a single image. Too bad it’s only temporary.

Maps Mania:

There are many place-names around the world which sound rude to English speakers. The vast majority of these place-names are benign in their mother tongue but sound profane to English speakers.

The theft of road signs is a common experience for many towns with strange sounding names. In 2010, the inhabitants of Shitterton in Dorset, purchased a 1.5-ton block of Purbeck Stone to place at the entrance to Shitterton, carved with the hamlet’s name to prevent theft.

I’m just childish enough to happily show this to my son, to the chagrin of his mother.

Bloomberg:

For its latest report, CLW said undercover investigators worked in Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant in China, including one who was employed there for four years. One of the main findings: Temporary staff, known as dispatch workers, made up about 50% the workforce in August. Chinese labor law stipulates a maximum of 10%, CLW noted.

And:

Apple said that, after conducting an investigation, it found the “percentage of dispatch workers exceeded our standards” and that it is “working closely with Foxconn to resolve this issue.” It added that when it finds issues, it works with suppliers to “take immediate corrective action.” Foxconn Technology Group also confirmed the dispatch worker violation following an operational review.

Given the two callouts above, is the headline fair? Did Apple break the Chinese labor law? If the problem is brought to their attention, and they address it, is it right to hold them to the same account as Foxconn?

China Labor Watch:

“Apple has the responsibility and capacity to make fundamental improvements to the working conditions along its supply chain, however, Apple is now transferring costs from the trade war through their suppliers to workers and profiting from the exploitation of Chinese workers.”

And Apple’s response:

“We believe everyone in our supply chain should be treated with dignity and respect,” Apple also said in a statement. “To make sure our high standards are being adhered to, we have robust management systems in place beginning with training on workplace rights, on-site worker interviews, anonymous grievance channels and ongoing audits.”

Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge:

Apple’s also coming off a major redesign for the Apple Watch last year, the first it’s ever done since introducing the product back in 2015, which means that the Series 5 models will almost certainly continue using the Series 4 design instead of something new. It’s particularly telling that the biggest updates rumored for the Apple Watch this year are either cosmetic — like the leaked titanium and ceramic cases — or software based, like the standalone App Store and rumored sleep tracking.

I have no big expectations for Apple Watch for tomorrow’s event, which means any big news will be that rare beast, a surprise.

One thing I would like to see from Apple Watch is a better interface for stand detection. If you ask me to stand, and I stand, flip the bit right away. If I’m supposed to stand for a minute, how about some kind of countdown timer? And if standing is not what you are going for (if you need me to move, not just stand), say so.

The headline is a bit leading, Betteridge’s Law and all.

But the article is still worth reading. Jason Snell does an excellent job in laying out the state-of-the-union on Apple and leaks.

The leaks are almost impossible to miss, but somehow, every Apple event still delivers in terms of surprise. As Jason says, it’s all in the details.

So much looking forward to tomorrow.

When I saw the New York Times headline, I immediately went straight to skeptical. But.

Follow the headline link, then start scrolling, slowly. You’ll start with:

If you opened the App Store on an iPhone in May 2018 and typed “podcast” in the search box, you would have seen something like this.

No surprise, it’s Apple’s podcast app. Fair enough. But keep scrolling.

On some days, you would have had to scroll through as many as 14 Apple apps before finding one made by a different publisher.

It does seem logical for Apple’s podcast app to come first in search results. It’s free and it’s from Apple. But the follow on results make the Times’ case here.

Presented with the results of the analysis, two senior Apple executives acknowledged in a recent interview that, for more than a year, the top results of many common searches in the iPhone App Store were packed with the company’s own apps. That was the case even when the Apple apps were less relevant and less popular than ones from its competitors. The executives said the company had since adjusted the algorithm so that fewer of its own apps appeared at the top of search results.

The two senior execs are Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue.

The executives said the company did not manually alter search results to benefit itself. Instead, they said, Apple apps generally rank higher than competitors because of their popularity and because their generic names are often a close match to broad search terms.

Next, the article posts an interactive search for the term “music” over the years:

• Before Apple Music arrived in the App Store, Spotify was for years the first result in searches for “music.”
• Shortly after Apple Music was released in June 2016, it took the top spot. By then, Spotify had fallen to fourth place.
• In Feb. 2018, Apple apps suddenly appeared in the top six results for “music”
• By the end of 2018, there were eight, some of which were unrelated to music. At this point, Spotify was the 23rd result.

There’s a lot more detail in the article, all very interesting. A final bit:

Over the past several months, Apple engineers said, they began noticing how the algorithm was packing results with Apple apps. First, they stopped the algorithm from doing that for certain searches. In July, they turned it off for all Apple apps.

And:

Mr. Schiller and Mr. Cue said the algorithm had been working properly. They simply decided to handicap themselves to help other developers.

I’ve long wished for Apple to take the side of developers, given them precedence over Apple, help make it easier for indie developers to make a living on the App Store.

But there’s a flip side. Should Apple not include a built-in flashlight to avoid stepping on developer toes? I can absolutely see the logic in Apple wanting to build in a certain level of functionality to compete with Android. And Spotify. It’s a bit of a balancing act, one that’s getting trickier all the time.

The new RIAA sales report is out, and it shows vinyl on a pretty good upswing, and CD sales continuing to shrink.

What’s particularly interesting about the two curves is that they will likely cross later this year, with vinyl set to outsell CDs for the first time since 1986.

Personally, I continue to be surprised by vinyl’s rise. What is it about vinyl that continues to appeal, to spread? Is it the gear? The sound?

Is it the romance of the culture, something about sliding the vinyl out of its cover, then gently out of its protective sleeve, cautiously placing it onto a turntable, and oh so carefully lowering that tone-arm in place, no Siri in the loop, just you and the music?

The Washington Post:

Before 9/11, Gander was primarily known for its airport and strategic location on the east coast of Canada. During World War II, more than 20,000 Allied fighter planes and bombers took off from Gander’s airport, destined for battles across the Atlantic.

On 9/11, Canada accepted more than 200 planes forced to reroute when the U.S. government closed its airspace. Halifax, Nova Scotia, accepted the most aircraft, with 47, followed by Gander and Vancouver. More than 20 planes landed in St. John’s.

Gander, whose main economies are aviation, government and health care, was just doing its small-town thing when terrorists attacked its southern neighbor.

I will take every opportunity to remind people, especially our American friends, of the kindness and generosity of the people of Newfoundland.

Apple:

Cupertino calling. Join us for an Apple special event live from the Steve Jobs Theater on September 10 at 10 a.m. PDT. Set a reminder and we’ll send an update before the show.

This is the first time I can recall Apple doing their live stream direct to YouTube.

9to5mac:

For Manhattan locals and sightseers, the wait is almost over. After nearly three years of significant expansion and remodeling work, Apple’s landmark Fifth Avenue glass cube retail store is set to reopen soon. Apple is promoting the new 24/7 space with the tagline “Always Open to Open Minds.” No date is published on the face of the building.

Cantilevered steps replace the former glass staircase, winding upward to the iconic cube entryway. Outside, the plaza surrounding the store has been resurfaced and is now dotted by a grid of circular skylights allowing natural light to flow into the store below.

Apple’s Fifth Avenue store wasn’t the first Apple store I visited but it was the first store I spent 24 hours in front of waiting to buy the first iPhone.

A statement from Apple about last week’s Google vulnerability blog post:

Last week, Google published a blog about vulnerabilities that Apple fixed for iOS users in February. We’ve heard from customers who were concerned by some of the claims, and we want to make sure all of our customers have the facts.

First, the sophisticated attack was narrowly focused, not a broad-based exploit of iPhones “en masse” as described. The attack affected fewer than a dozen websites that focus on content related to the Uighur community. Regardless of the scale of the attack, we take the safety and security of all users extremely seriously.

Google’s post, issued six months after iOS patches were released, creates the false impression of “mass exploitation” to “monitor the private activities of entire populations in real time,” stoking fear among all iPhone users that their devices had been compromised. This was never the case. Second, all evidence indicates that these website attacks were only operational for a brief period, roughly two months, not “two years” as Google implies. We fixed the vulnerabilities in question in February — working extremely quickly to resolve the issue just 10 days after we learned about it. When Google approached us, we were already in the process of fixing the exploited bugs.

Security is a never-ending journey and our customers can be confident we are working for them. iOS security is unmatched because we take end-to-end responsibility for the security of our hardware and software. Our product security teams around the world are constantly iterating to introduce new protections and patch vulnerabilities as soon as they’re found. We will never stop our tireless work to keep our users safe.

Appreciate the clarification here.

Colorful and fun. Glad to see this.

Logged in on my MacBook Pro. A single fingerprint, and I was in. Easy-peasy.

As to the look and feel, I liked this layout better than iTunes (I’m on Mojave). And the performance feels rock solid. Great work.

Interesting that the bit in the lower-left corner says “Open in Music”. On my Mac, it launches iTunes. Obviously, this is a reference to the split-up of iTunes in Catalina.

Wondering if there will ever be a direct bridge between the web interface and my HomePod.

Interesting experience. Give it a try.

Start off with this Bloomberg article, titled: Apple Plans Return of Touch ID and New Cheap iPhone.

Some fascinating rumors there, including:

Apple is also working on its first low-cost iPhone since the iPhone SE. That could come out as early as the first half of 2020, the people said. The device would look similar to the iPhone 8 and include a 4.7-inch screen. The iPhone 8 currently sells for $599, while Apple sold the iPhone SE for $399 when that device launched in 2016. The new low-cost phone is expected to have Touch ID built into the home button, not the screen.

Now switch gears to this Daring Fireball take:

The SE debuted about 6 months after the iPhone 6S, with the same A9 chipset. If Apple follows the same playbook, this new iPhone would have the A13 chip we expect to see in next week’s new iPhones — the iPhone 8 has an A11 that will soon be two years old. Makes a lot of sense — none of the X-class phones are going to drop to $400 in 2020, but it would be good for Apple and for users if there were a $400 iPhone with A13 specs.

Totally agree, and good analysis. But:

The only downside of this report is for people holding onto hope that Apple will make a new SE-sized phone with a 4-inch display. I would expect this rumored phone to look as much like an iPhone 8 as the SE looks like an iPhone 5S.

Based on many conversations with SE lovers, I believe the small SE footprint is an important driver here. People with smaller hands and small (or no) pockets love the SE, find it a perfect fit. I’d hate to see Apple abandoning that smaller form-factor, though it does feel like that’s the way that particular wind is blowing.

Side note, this thread on a name for such a device. Pipe in with your own thoughts.