Unusual to see an article like this in Apple’s knowledge base. But these are unusual times.

Justin O’Beirne:

Would Apple continue working on its new map during the pandemic?

We seemingly got our answer when Apple started testing a new map expansion last month and then released it a few weeks later.

And:

But Apple hasn’t just been expanding—it’s also been updating the areas it has already mapped, such as here in Chicago.

Follow the link to Justin’s excellent site, scroll through to see what’s new. The Maps team has been busy!

Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, does a good job laying out both sides of this long-simmering argument. Why Apple should, why they likely won’t ever again release a 4″ iPhone.

Jim and I discussed this on last week’s Dalrymple Report. The new iPhone SE tells the tale, I think.

I think it boils down to this: I believe people who would prefer a smaller iPhone are still buying an iPhone. They are not moving to another platform. From a sales perspective, there’s no incentive for Apple to make a smaller phone. This ship has sailed.

Netflix:

For many years, Netflix has allowed teachers to screen documentaries in their classrooms.

However, this isn’t possible with schools closed. So at their request, we have made a selection of our documentary features and series available on our YouTube channel.

There are a lot of great documentaries listed here for those of you who don’t have Netflix. I highly recommend the “Our Planet” series.

CNET:

Apple is changing leaders at Beats, the premium headphone and earphone maker it acquired in 2014 for $3 billion. Longtime president Luke Wood is exiting and veteran Apple exec Oliver Schusser, who heads up Apple Music and International Content, is taking over at the end of this month.

Apple hasn’t publicly announced the leadership change, but Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, told Apple employees about the transition via email in recent weeks. A Beats spokesperson confirmed to CNET that Schusser will lead Beats after Wood’s departure on April 30. Schusser will also continue to run Apple Music and International Content, reporting to Cue. The consolidation is a homecoming of sorts for Apple Music, which was built on the backbone of the earlier Beats Music streaming service.

The move has been in the works for a while, Cue said in his note to employees. Cue wrote that he was sensitive to making a management change in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, remarking that “the timing of the announcement isn’t ideal.”

Changing leadership at any time isn’t always easy but it must be doubly so in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

TidBITS:

The Zoom videoconferencing service has faced unprecedented scrutiny amid massive growth, largely from consumer and school users relying on its free service tier. At the beginning of April, TidBITS published my extensive list of every Zoom security, privacy, and encryption flaw, design mistake, and judgment error.

Even during the writing and editing of that article, new exploits and problems emerged while Zoom was simultaneously addressing all the concerns it could. The company’s all-hands-on-deck efforts continued in the following days, but have finally slowed down as it has gotten ahead of urgent changes. Let’s look at the now-solved issues, new disclosures, and Zoom’s update on its roadmap.

Many felt that Zoom was just “catching up” because of the onslaught of new users and new scrutiny. The fact is, Zoom didn’t care about user privacy as much as it did growth. But the analysis of its shortcomings by security experts made them act (somewhat) faster to lock down the app to where it can be relatively safe and secure for most users.

Ars Technica:

The multi-platform, Web-based interface for the Apple Music streaming service exited beta and officially launched today. It lives at music.apple.com and is accessible through any modern Web browser.

In many respects, the design and layout of the site closely resembles that of the native Mac app. The layout of store pages is similar, and the visual language is the same. It has the same player controls at the top, and it also has the left-aligned navigation bar with “For You,” “Browse,” and “Radio.”

It’s interesting, though, that the website prominently features “open in Music” (in Safari on Apple devices) or “open in iTunes,” depending on the platform. This suggests that Apple still sees the website as a supplement to the native app experience, not a full replacement for it. Also, the Apple Music Web app lacks some of the personal library features that were grandfathered into Music from iTunes on Macs.

Personal preference (and old eyes) make me like the website version more than the iOS one.

The current version of the public release of macOS Catalina is 10.15.4.

In the beta of macOS Catalina 10.15.5 is an update of the Energy Saver System Preferences pane. Follow the link for details.

From Apple’s post:

macOS Catalina 10.15.5 introduces battery health management, a feature designed to improve the lifespan of your Mac notebook’s battery.

And:

All rechargeable batteries are consumable components that become less effective as they get older—and their age isn’t determined only by time. A battery’s lifespan depends on its chemical age, which is affected by factors such as its temperature history and charging pattern. As your notebook’s battery ages chemically, its charging capacity gets smaller.

And:

The battery health management feature in macOS 10.15.5 is designed to improve your battery’s lifespan by reducing the rate at which it chemically ages. The feature does this by monitoring your battery’s temperature history and its charging patterns.

Based on the measurements that it collects, battery health management may reduce your battery’s maximum charge when in this mode. This happens as needed to ensure that your battery charges to a level that’s optimized for your usage—reducing wear on the battery, and slowing its chemical aging.

Bottom line, you’ll get this new battery intelligence when you update to macOS Catalina 10.15.5. Automatically.

If you’ve held off updating to Catalina, this is a strong reason to make the leap, once 10.15.5 becomes public.

A good resource if you’re trying to get your head around the size and look of the new SE.

This is not about Gruber’s review of the SE, this is from a post titled, “The Quadrennial iPhone SE Schedule”.

A few highlights:

The fact that our collective concern about the time we spend on our phones has grown alongside the physical size of our phones is not a coincidence. The 4-inch 2016 iPhone SE felt like a statement in that regard, whether intended by Apple or not.

An excellent point. Though I still wish for a 4″ form factor, for folks with small hands, no pockets. But we do spend ever more time, do an increasing amount with our phones. Much of that work depends on, and is made possible by, a more complex processor, one that depends on a bigger body for heat dissipation and a larger battery. Not to mention more components.

I think the 4″ form-factor has sailed, part of the past.

Gruber talks about the SE name. From this Fortune article by Jason Cipriani:

Shortly after Apple announced the iPhone SE, I had the chance to ask Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, the meaning of “SE” in the phone’s name, which deviates slightly from its previous “S” format. SE is an abbreviation for “Special Edition,” Schiller said, a name that, to him, recalled the Macintosh SE, a computer the company released in the late 1980s.

Back to Gruber:

Now we have a second iPhone SE — the first time Apple has reused an old name for a new iPhone. What makes “special edition” apt for the two iPhones bearing the SE name is the way they differ, strategically, from regular edition iPhones.

You could argue that the iPhone X could have been called the iPhone SE, but I do get the naming logic there. That was a fork in the road model, not a one-off special edition.

There’s so much more to Gruber’s post. Take the time to make your way through the whole thing. It’s a terrific read.

I found this useful: AnandTech built a side-by-side chart comparing the specs of the iPhone SE vs all the iPhones 11.

One spec, Battery Life, shown as ?? in the AnandTech chart, is listed on China Telecom’s web site as 1,821 mAh, the same as the iPhone 8.

Also, iPhone SE RAM is said to be 3GB, compared to the 2GB of the iPhone 8. Via the same source.

Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook led a companywide virtual meeting on Thursday to address concerns about the impact of Covid-19 and discuss the iPhone maker’s plan to return to work.

During the meeting, Cook called the pandemic an “uncertain and stressful moment,” but expressed confidence that the company will emerge strongly from the crisis, as it did after the 2008 recession and following a near-bankruptcy in the late 1990s.

He said Apple entered the coronavirus pandemic with a strong balance sheet and stressed that the company will keep investing in a “really significant way” in research and development and future products, according to Apple employees who attended the meeting.

A voice of sanity in an insane world.

The Guardian:

The Las Vegas Strip looks like the morning after the end of the world.

On a recent day in late March, the strip was full of advertisements for things that read like transmissions from another planet where the air is easier to breathe.

Most of the businesses on the Vegas Strip and on Fremont Street, the city’s old strip, shut down in mid-March, when Steve Sisolak, the Nevada governor, ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses. This is the first time the entire strip has been shut down since the JFK assassination; even the devastating mass shooting in 2017 only resulted in a partial closure.

As a photographer, I see these as remarkable photos only possible at this time in history.

The tagline is:

iPhone SE vs. your iPhone. Go.

Pick your iPhone model on the left, scroll to see various comparisons between the new SE and what you have now. Apple’s been doing this side-by-side forever, but this page is specific to the SE.

Good link to share for folks considering the new phone.

My take? This is a great deal, especially for folks running older gear, or folks looking to dip their toes into the Apple ecosystem. I think Apple will sell a ton of these.

Joining the Apple tax stratosphere club, a set of wheels for your Mac Pro, $699.

Been thinking about this pricing. The best I can come up with was this: These are custom wheels, with custom-made attachments. Apple will not sell a ton of these (limited number of Mac Pros, and a limited subset of those folks will want wheels) and so they had to amortize the cost to develop these wheels among those limited sales.

Wondering if somewhere in the hallowed halls, this high price is seen as embellishing the brand, raising the prestige.

Whatever the logic, I see $699 for a set of wheels for my computer (with no wheel locks) as extraordinary.

Post from Sebastiaan de With, founder of Halide, a best-selling (and for good reason) iPhone camera app.

If you are not particularly interested in the camera aspects of the new iPad Pro, skip down about halfway to the section titled, “The Depth Sensor”. That’s where, for me, this post really gets interesting.

Some great explaining, and some really clarifying animated GIFs. This is now my go-to post for passing along to folks who ask about Apple, AR, and LIDAR.

Great read.

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

Apple offers two sets of small, medium, or large ear tips for $7.99 each in the United States, with pricing varying in other countries.

Here’s a link to the purchase page. Pick from small, medium, or large. Box of two sets, $7.99.