First things first, watch the video here.

Next, follow the headline link for an incredibly colorful entry into Apple’s college student portal/store. Worth a look, even if you are not connected to a new college hopeful.

[Via 9to5Mac]

Apple:

Premiering globally July 30, 2021 on Apple TV+, this new docuseries will explore groundbreaking technology in music with Paul McCartney, Questlove, King Princess, Dave Grohl, Ad-Rock and Mike D from the Beastie Boys, Charli XCX and more

And:

Ronson explores music’s intersection with artistry and technology in candid conversations with music legends and icons including Paul McCartney, Questlove, King Princess, Dave Grohl, Ad-Rock and Mike D from the Beastie Boys, Charli XCX and more, where he discovers the ways in which these unique tools have influenced their work.

And:

At the end of each episode, Ronson will create and unveil a unique piece of original music using groundbreaking technology and techniques including reverb, synth, auto-tune, drum machines, sampling and distortion.

I’m a bit of a music documentary junkie, will definitely check this out. Sounds a bit like that drum machine documentary, 808. Or the fantastic Dave Grohl documentary Sound City.

Sami Fathi, MacRumors:

Siri has apparently prematurely revealed that Apple plans to hold an event on Tuesday, April 20, where the company is expected to reveal brand new iPad Pro models and possibly its long-awaited AirTags trackers.

Interestingly, I could not replicate this on any of my devices, until I asked my HomePod.

The #AppleEvent special hashtag does not yet seem to be enabled, so the announcement is still not official. Makes me wonder if Apple will turn this particular Siri response off on the server side, or if it will slowly make its way to my other devices.

My bet is on the latter, given that the date is a week away. Invites forthcoming later today?

Vanity Fair:

In the Apple TV+ series debuting June 4th, King starts at the end of a romance, exploring where devotion took Lisey and Scott Landon—what it cost them and what it gave them. King being King, he weaves a stalker thriller and an otherworldly supernatural mystery into his heartfelt love story.

Stephen King has quietly become a top notch TV series creator, getting better with each new kick at the can. This one is definitely on my short list to watch. Lots of details in the Vanity Fair piece.

The three questions raised by The Verge’s Alex Castro:

• Is the exclusive App Store a necessary part of iOS?

The heart of the case is the so-called App Store tax — a 30 percent surcharge Apple collects on purchases made through the App Store. Fortnite was kicked off the App Store for dodging that tax by installing its own payment system, which is forbidden under App Store rules. Now, Epic is making the case in court that the rules should never have been put in place.

• How is the iPhone different from a PlayStation?

One of the biggest challenges for Epic is that the App Store model is fairly widespread. Consoles like Xbox and PlayStation operate on basically the same playbook, delivering games digitally through an open but curated digital store that’s locked to the hardware and controlled by the manufacturer. That alone doesn’t make it legal, but it adds credence to Apple’s claim that the App Store lockdown isn’t trapping consumers. If you don’t want to play Fortnite on an iPhone, you can play it on a console or a PC. Some devices come locked into a specific distribution channel and some don’t, giving users the chance to vote with their feet.

• How much control can Apple exert over its hardware?

Underneath everything else, Apple is facing a profound question of how much control it can exert over its own devices. For critics, this is Apple’s original sin, using industrial and graphic design to lure customers into a walled garden, then locking the gate. For fans, it’s Apple’s genius, integrating hardware and software to deliver a more purposeful and powerful user experience. But it all rests on Apple’s ability to maintain a closed stack, using hardware integration to control what happens in software.

The quotes are just the start of Alex’s take on each question, just a taste. I found this a solid read, helped me get my head around an incredibly complex set of topics. Worth reading, and worth reading the comments/responses that follow.

José Adorno, 9to5Mac:

A new study reveals that Apple TV+ has the highest-quality content when compared to Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Disney+, and Hulu. The analysis from Self Financial uses IMDb scores with US customer data.

Here’s a link to the study itself.

Key bullet point from the study:

AppleTV+ has the highest average IMDb score for its titles (7.24), but has fewer than 70 titles to choose from.

I know there are plenty of people who discount IMDb, prefer other scorekeepers (MetaCritic, Rotten Tomatoes, whatever). But picking one lets you compare apples to apples. And an average IMDb score across the service of 7.24 is remarkable.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

The company is working on a product that would combine an Apple TV set-top box with a HomePod speaker and include a camera for video conferencing through a connected TV and other smart-home functions, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.

Struggling to wrap my head around this. Why pull all these things together? Especially the speaker part. If this is an actual in-the-works product, where would it sit? Is this intended for the TV room? If so, would it replace the TV’s own speakers? Any additional speakers you might have added to the TV already?

And if there’s a camera in the mix, wouldn’t it be difficult to position if it is tied to the speaker? Presumably, a speaker would require one specific placement (and you’d want at least two speakers, right?) and a camera a different placement.

Or is this a kitchen counter thing, like a portable TV so you could watch cooking videos in the kitchen? And do FaceTime calls at the same time?

Back to Mark Gurman:

Apple has explored connecting the iPad to the speaker with a robotic arm that can move to follow a user around a room, similar to Amazon’s latest Echo Show gadget.

Hmm. I guess I’ll understand it when I see it?

Yup. I said Samsung and clever in the same sentence. Cause it’s true (Don’t tell Jim). Watch the video, click this link on your iPhone if you want to take it for a spin on your own device.

Follow the headline link, then:

• Click on each of the 4 color wells to set your gradient colors
• Drag the little squares in the left image to set your gradient starting positions
• Drag the squares in the right image to set the end positions

Rinse. Repeat. Export if you create something you like. Cmd-Z to undo. Shift-Cmd-Z to redo.

Have fun. Pass it along.

Taiwan News:

Taiwan’s worst drought in over 50 years has been a boon for one lucky tourist who was able to recover a fully functional iPhone that he accidentally dropped into Sun Moon Lake almost exactly one year ago.

First things first: The phone was in a waterproof case. But still, a year in the water, at the very least, that’s an excellent case. Check out the image about halfway down the page. That case took a beating. But the iPhone looks pristine.

Deadline:

Eager to bring Justin Timberlake back into the Apple TV + fold after the strong results of the Fisher Stevens-directed dramatic film Palmer in January, Apple won an auction and acquired the script to develop an hour-long drama series that will have Timberlake playing Gong Show host Chuck Barris.

Never heard of Chuck Barris? Do a search for the ridiculous Gong Show to see him in person. But he’s got other skills, including creator of classic shows like The Dating Game and the Newlywed Game and…um…CIA assassin?

All this was highlighted in the 2002 movie Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. It’ll be interesting to see what Apple does with this.

Apple:

Apple today introduced the updated Find My app, allowing third-party products to use the private and secure finding capabilities of Apple’s Find My network, which comprises hundreds of millions of Apple devices.

And:

New products that work with the Find My app from Belkin, Chipolo, and VanMoof will be available beginning next week.

And:

Approved products can be added to the new Items tab and will feature a “Works with Apple Find My” badge to clearly communicate to users that the product is compatible with the Find My network and the Find My app.

And:

Apple is also announcing a draft specification for chipset manufacturers that will be released later this spring. With this, third-party device makers will be able to take advantage of Ultra Wideband technology in U1-equipped Apple devices, creating a more precise, directionally aware experience when nearby.

Interesting that Apple has opened up the Find My ecosystem to third-party products before they announced their own proprietary and rumored AirTags. Perhaps it means nothing, but I would have expected the AirTags announcement to lead, with third-party capabilities as a follow-on to the announcement.

No matter. This feels like a brilliant move on Apple’s part. More ecosystem lock-in, more ammunition for their anti-trust counterattack.

This from John Gruber:

We’re all expecting Apple to announce its own “AirTags” tracking beacons imminently, but here’s Apple promoting third-party products, including a tag-like product from Chipolo that seems directly competitive with what we expect AirTags to be, and wireless earbuds from Belkin that obviously compete against AirPods.

And:

Conspicuously absent from the list, of course, is Tile. Given their membership in Epic’s Coalition for App Fairness, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Apple to promote Tile’s products. And it’s unclear to me whether Tile even wants to be in the Find My app — their spat with Apple is more about their own app competing with Find My, and their accusations that Apple unfairly advantages Find My by not holding it to the same rules as third-party apps that ask for always-on location access.

Fascinating.

If you liked Craig Grannell’s curated list of favorite iPhone/iPad apps, follow the headline link for his take on games.

All run on iPhone and/or iPad, but not all run on Android. Tiny evidence that for developers, it’s an Apple first world.

Andrew Webster, The Verge:

Last week, Apple Arcade received its biggest update since launching back in 2019. More than 30 titles were added to the subscription service, including much-anticipated games like Hironobu Sakaguchi’s roleplaying epic Fantasian. But while the quantity and quality of titles added were impressive, the most important part of the announcement was a change in direction. Among those big-name exclusives were a number of classics, ranging from Monument Valley to chess to Threes, that help round out the service. Apple Arcade has finally matured into something close to a Netflix for mobile games.

If you dipped your toes in the Apple Arcade waters and haven’t been back, worth another look. I’ve found some new games that really caught my attention, and the relaunches add some depth to the catalog.

Apple Arcade still feels like an experiment, running in parallel with the IAP and paid games section of the App Store. I hope it finds its groove with subscribers, bringing in enough value for Apple so they continue to invest in its growth.

Sami Fathi, MacRumors:

In a slight slip-up, however, Intel has accidentally used a MacBook instead of a Windows laptop in one of its newest ads to promote one of its new 11th-generation chips as “the world’s best processor.”

Follow the headline link, check the ad. That’s a MacBook Pro, from this Getty Images stock photo page, tagged as:

Hipster asian man playing games on a laptop at home

Who writes these captions?

Caption aside:

But while Apple still sells Intel-based Macs, the chip referenced in the ad is not used in any Mac, and in fact, it was launched around the same time Apple released its M1 Apple silicon chip late last year.

This just does not feel well thought through.

Sami Fathi, MacRumors:

Eleftheriou has highlighted yet another scam app on the ‌App Store‌. This time Eleftheriou is shining a light on how one scam app called “Privacy Assitant: StringVPN” uses Apple’s in-app purchasing system to trick people into purchasing either a weekly, monthly, or yearly subscription for a fake VPN service.

Here’s the tweet:

I don't know what's worse about this app:

– “Translated” fake reviews
– “Recommended by Apple” popups in Safari
– https://t.co/Kq5lRrKCWc contact email
– Blank website, registered in India
– $9.99/week subscription
– Grossing $1M (!) a month

What is Apple even doing?? pic.twitter.com/5oUBCJ2GNh

— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) April 7, 2021

First things first, wrap your head around what’s going on here. Then wonder why these sorts of apps are allowed on the App Store.

I posed that question in this tweet. Follow the link, read the responses.

Some have suggested that Apple makes money on the scams, is not motivated to fix the problem. I just can’t accept that explanation. No way.

A better explanation is in this tweet from Joe Cieplinski:

I think it’s because for every one of these, there are 10,000 more that they did take down. I don’t think most of us understand the scale at which people are scamming the App Store. How many per day can a small group of reviewers take down, realistically?

If so, feels like Apple either needs to ramp up their efforts here, budget for more reviewers, or find a way to get smarter. Maybe they could create a trusted list of third party reviewers, starting with @Keleftheriou, who can help trim the scams out of the App Store. Maybe even offer them a bounty.

This hurts users, hurts Apple’s reputation, and also harms the developer community, especially indie devs, because it makes it so much harder for their apps to stand out/stay in business. This has got to change.

This is a good post to scan, just to see if anything catches your eye. But also an excellent post to share with folks new to the ecosystem.

Nice job by Craig Grannell. A lot of focus on indie-apps, some excellent exposure.

Deadline:

Apple TV+ will prepare Mythic Quest fans for the comedy’s sophomore season by dropping a bonus episode ahead of the season two premiere.

“Everlight,” a standalone episode from season one of the gaming workplace comedy will launch Friday, April 16 on the streaming platform. Following the special “Mythic Quest: Quarantine” episode, the half-hour episode is directed and executive produced by Rob McElhenney and written by Ashly Burch. The episode will see the Mythic Quest crew return to offices and co-workers following the coronavirus pandemic for their annual Everlight party. Anthony Hopkins lends his voice to the episode.

Week from Friday. On my calendar. Three weeks from then, the new season starts.

Love this show. Right up there with Ted Lasso.

Om Malik:

In December 2020, with the release of the iOS 14.3, the owners of iPhone 12 Pro (and ProMax), got to experience Apple’s new photo format, ProRaw. In simplest terms, the iPhone camera captures multiple image frames, picks out the best bits from these frames, and stitches them together in a photo with higher amount of data that can be manipulated for editing later. These are big files — about 10-12 times the sized on normal files captured by the iPhone.

On the Adobe Photoshop side:

The term ‘Super Resolution’ refers to the process of improving the quality of a photo by boosting its apparent resolution,” Adobe engineers write on the company blog. “Enlarging a photo often produces blurry details, but Super Resolution has an ace up its sleeve — an advanced machine learning model trained on millions of photos.”

The results are pretty amazing. Follow the headline link, keep in mind that the two base photos were captured with an iPhone. The crops used Photoshop’s Super Resolution machine learning to tease extra resolution and sharpness out of those originals.

Anton Shilov, Tom’s Hardware:

As spotted via Twitter, if you want to boost the power of your Mac, it may be possible with money, skill, time and some real desire by removing the DRAM and NAND chips and adding more capacious versions.

Here’s the tweet:

Chinese maintenance engineers can already expand the capacity of the Apple M1. The 8GB memory has been expanded to 16GB, and the 256GB hard drive has been expanded to 1TB. pic.twitter.com/2Fyf8AZfJR

— DuanRui (@duanrui1205) April 4, 2021

Back to Anton:

With a soldering station (its consumer variant is not that expensive at $60), DRAM memory chips and NAND flash memory chips, (which are close to impossible to buy on the consumer level), the engineers reportedly upgraded the Apple M1-based Mac Mini with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage to 16GB and 1TB, respectively, by de-soldering the existing components and adding more capacious chips. According to the post, no firmware modifications were necessary.

There has been a lot of discussion about the M1 memory being on the M1 chip itself. As the tweet above shows, this is a bit misleading. The memory is on the M1 SoC package, as opposed to inside the physical M1 chip.

Here’s a pic, via iFixit, that shows this up close.

Note the M1 chip, which is the silver bit with the Apple logo. And next to it are two RAM chips (the black rectangles), each one with 4GB of SK hynix LPDDR4X memory.

I tweeted about all this here. Please do reply there if you’ve got anything to add or any corrections. I find this fascinating.

Kara Swisher:

I’m Kara Swisher, and you’re listening to “Sway.” My guest today is Apple CEO Tim Cook.

A few cherry picked Tim Cook responses, though if you have the chance, read the whole thing:

From the very start, we’ve always believed in curation. And so we review every app that goes on the store. That doesn’t mean that we’re perfect at doing it. We’re not. But we care deeply about what we’re offering our users. And when we have a news product like Apple News, we have human editors that are selecting the key stories. And so, they’re avoiding all of the misinformation that is out there. The reality is that the web in some areas has become a dark place. And without curation, you wind up with this firehose of things that I would not want to put into an amplifier.

And:

If you think about a surveillance world, a world where you know somebody is always watching everything you’re doing — and in the case of a phone or a computer, it’s also what you’re thinking, because you’re typing in searches and so on and so forth. And so I think in that kind of world, you begin to do less. You begin to think less. Your freedom of expression begins to narrow. And the walls move in on you. And I start thinking about that at its natural endpoint. And I don’t want to be a part of that society.

And (on privacy and transparency):

Steve commented on this with you over a decade ago. He said something like, privacy means people know what they’re signing up for in plain English, repeatedly. The individual should own their data. And they should own the ability to say who gets it and what of their data they get and what they use it for. And frankly, that’s not the situation of today.

And:

I think that you can do digital advertising and make money from digital advertising without tracking people when they don’t know they’re being tracked.

And:

The App Store is not cast in concrete, you know? And so we’ve changed over time. And in fact, if you look at the commissions, Kara, and I would sort of reframe a bit from what you said, because the vast majority of people pay nothing. Because there’s not an interchange of a digital good, right? And so, like, 85% of people pay zero commission. And then with our recent move with small developers, developers earning less than a million dollars a year pay 15%. Well, it turns out that that’s the vast majority of developers. And then, we also have rules that say that if you have a subscription model in the second year and later years, you only pay 15% of those. And so we’ve only reduced the price over time. It’s only gone in one direction. It’s gone down. More apps were exempted. But those rules are applied equally to everyone. So you’ve mentioned Amazon getting 15%. That’s true for any kind of video streaming service that meets the guidelines of that program.

And, on Ted Lasso:

There was no better show during COVID. I’m getting notes from a lot of different people that love it.

This is fact.

And, on Apple TV+:

We’re putting all of ourselves into it. It is not a hobby. It is not a dip your toe in. Because it’s an original focus, we don’t instantly have a catalog with 500 things in it. We’re going to build over time. We’ve gotten over 300 nominations now for awards and have won 80.

And, on Tesla and Apple Car:

I’ve never spoken to Elon, although I have great admiration and respect for the company he’s built. I think Tesla has done an unbelievable job of not only establishing the lead, but keeping the lead for such a long period of time in the EV space. So I have great appreciation for them. In terms of the work that we’re doing there, obviously, I’m going to be a little coy on that. The autonomy itself is a core technology, in my view. If you sort of step back, the car, in a lot of ways, is a robot. An autonomous car is a robot. And so there’s lots of things you can do with autonomy. And we’ll see what Apple does. We investigate so many things internally. Many of them never see the light of day. I’m not saying that one will not.

So much more to this. Great job pulling this together by Kara Swisher.

Troy Hunt (who runs Have I Been Pwned):

The headline is pretty self-explanatory so in the interest of time, let me just jump directly into the details of how this all works. There’s been huge interest in this incident, and I’ve seen near-unprecedented traffic to Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) over the last couple of days, let me do my best to explain how I’ve approached the phone number search feature. Or if you’re impatient, you can head over to HIBP right now and search for your number.

And:

There’s over 500M phone numbers but only a few million email addresses so >99% of people were getting a “miss” when they should have gotten a “hit”. The phone numbers were easy to parse out from (mostly) well-formatted files. They were also all normalised into a nice consistent format with a country code. In short, this data set completely turned all my reasons for not doing this on its head.

This Facebook hack just adds more fuel to the fire for me. Facebook. Feh.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Facebook and Apple are squabbling over document requests in the ongoing Epic v. Apple legal battle, according to a new discovery letter filed with the court today. Facebook is involved because Facebook executive Vivek Sharma is set to testify on behalf of Epic.

And:

According to Apple, Facebook has been continually ignoring requests for documents and using delaying tactics. Apple says it served multiple subpoenas to Facebook starting in December and met with Facebook several times to narrow the scope of the requests, but Facebook has refused to produce many of the documents in question.

Fascinating chess match here, with Apple and Facebook coming to an agreement that came unraveled when Epic added Sharma to its witness list.

At the 27th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, actor Jason Sudeikis won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his leading role as the eponymous English soccer coach in Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso.”

Turns out, Ted Lasso is Apple’s premiere show. Who knew.