Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/08/thursday-morning-news170817/
As the battle for original video content heats up, Apple will be putting up a solid fight with $1 billion to spend on producing and procuring original video content. Apple’s video efforts so far have been somewhat poorly received, but even if you’re not a fan of Apple Music’s Carpool Caraoke or Planet of the Apps, there’s still a chance that Apple might come out with something good. It has to happen eventually, right?
The Apple TV set has been rumoured for years now, and soon, it may be a thing. Leaked blurrycam images appear to show off an Apple-branded flat-screen display, with MacRumors claiming that this is possibly an Apple OLED TV. It’s kinda hard to tell from the photos, but the narrow bezels and shell certainly seem to point towards a TV, but it could also be some kind of oversized Mac display.
A new discovery of a 3D navigation icon within the iOS 11 firmware has prompted speculation Apple may be looking into navigation using augmented reality. There are already demos of people using turn-by-turn directions with ARKit to produce “follow the arrows”-type navigation overlaid on top of streets in the real world, and it’s possible that this is something Apple is planning to do in a later version of iOS 11.
Changes in the latest iOS 11 beta include a new Maps icon, which The Verge writes puts the new Apple Park campus on the map. There’s also a new App Store icon that designers are losing their minds over, but all in all, they’re minor changes in the grand scheme of things. For now, the iOS 11 open beta has gotten solid enough to use on your daily driver, seeing as we’re only about a month away from the public release.
Concept designs are always a fun bit of insight into what future versions of iOS could look like on future hardware, and this concept of iOS 12 on a future iPhone Pro is no different. The concept really takes the idea of an edge-to-edge display and runs with it, showing off a dynamically-updated HomeBar that can be customised to show you relevant information alongside your virtual home button.
Rumoured dimensions of the iPhone 7 refresh say that the device will be slightly larger than the current iPhone 7 design in all respects, except for the camera bump. Speculation says the larger dimensions account for the device’s glass back, which will be required for wireless charging, which in turn will mean a reduction in the camera lens bump on the rear.
There’s a lot of speculation that Apple’s upcoming face recognition technology will be somehow worse than Touch ID. We’re not even sure if facial recognition will exist alongside Touch ID, or replace it entirely, but already people are setting themselves up for disappointment by comparing it to existing tech — even before Apple announce it as a feature. Over at iMore, Rene Ritchie says this is probably a smaller deal than everyone’s making it out to be.
Later this year when Apple releases iOS 11, the dock on the iPad version of iOS will work much differently to its iPhone and macOS counterpart. An explanation of the two docks by Joe Cieplinski tells us about the similarities and differences, including the multitasking features offered by the dock in iOS 11 on iPads, and what it can and can’t do.
Twelve South have shown off their latest product, and the Curve is a new MacBook Pro stand that doesn’t block the opening of the display like other stands. It looks super cool in matte black, too.
Hong Kong Apple Stores have put a halt on returns on exchanges for non-defective iPhones, with AppleInsider claiming it’s to stop scalpers returning devices ahead of the launch of the next iPhone. While faulty products are still able to be returned or exchanged, Apple’s typical 14-day return window is now closed to Hong Kong shoppers.