Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/02/friday-morning-news030217/
Bloomberg tells us about the possibility of Apple using ARM chips in Macs, even though there’s already an ARM chip that powers the Touch Bar with Touch ID. It’s said this extra ARM chip will help with the low-power functionality of future Macs, working when features such as Power Nap are activated to perform backups or fetch data while the computer is sleeping.
An iPhone concept design shows off what a device with a near-borderless display would look like. The rounded metal border design looks particularly cool, but the best “feature” of their concept is the dynamic home button, which changes depending on context much like the Touch Bar does on the new MacBook Pros.
A number of tech companies are banding together in opposition of Trump’s recent travel restrictions. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook have drafted a letter that outlines their position, saying that the United States has traditionally welcomed immigrants, and even though there may be security concerns, there will also be economic impacts from not allowing immigrants into the country.
One recent patent application from Apple tells us about the possibility of a new kind of Apple Watch strap, one that’s embedded into the watch band itself or can attach to it. The patent seems to describe a watch band that can provide power to the Apple Watch via inductive charging, extending Apple Watch battery life.
Rene Ritchie talks about the Apple Watch being a success. Apple hasn’t released sales numbers for the Apple Watch like it does with Macs, iPhones, or iPads, but estimates put Apple Watch sales around the same kinds of numbers as the Mac per quarter, with over 25 million units sold to date.
Also from iMore is one of the coolest app reviews I’ve seen recently. Linea from the Iconfactory is a new iPad app that lets you sketch, write, and build ideas, and I’ve been seeing some cool stuff on Twitter where the app has tiny sliders that work with the Apple Pencil.
MacStories has a review of the latest version of Evernote. Their comparison of Evernote 8 to Apple Notes says that although Apple Notes is now a pretty good option for most people, Evernote might have swung the needle back in their direction with their renewed focus on note-taking tools and note organisation.
Third-party add-ins are coming to the iOS version of Outlook. Starting today with Evernote, Giphy, Nimble, Trello, and Smartsheet, Microsoft has also built a translator and Dynamics 365 into its mobile Outlook app.
Apple’s Support iOS app has been quietly launched on the Australian App Store. The app was first released in the US back in December, with other markets before that, and now Aussies can look up Apple products registered to their account and get support for them.
If you’re looking for something to play this weekend, there’s another Nintendo-published game out on the App Store today. Fire Emblem Heroes brings a small part of the Fire Emblem franchise to iOS, but it’s a good part.
