Tuesday Morning News

Screen Shot 2016-03-29 at 7.41.36 amAnd we’re back! After a few days off courtesy of the Easter break, here’s a collection of things that happened while we were all busy consuming alarming amounts of chocolate eggs.

Apple may be downplaying the Apple Watch Edition online and in-store ahead of a refresh later this year, but their latest mini-site shows off the Apple Watch customisation experience with cases, bands, and faces. The three-step gallery lets you chop and change designs to get the perfect look, although it’d be cool if you could swap things independently, instead of as a three-step process.

Reviews of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro are out, and both Ars Technica and iMore seem impressed with their units. Ars Technica says the biggest question will be when you should upgrade from your previous iPad to the smaller iPad Pro, while iMore writes that while the spec difference may only be on paper, it’s still a slower tablet with less RAM than its larger sibling.

Similarly, reviews of the iPhone SE have also started popping up online. Mashable’s review of the smaller iPhone says big things come in small packages, whilst iMore claims it’s bigger on the inside, like some kind of Tardis. Daniel Jalkut’s take on the 4-inch form factor is that it’s Apple’s best iPhone design to date, leaving no room for doubt about their design prowess.

Apple’s latest Lightning to USB accessory lets you plug in all sorts of devices, and for iOS podcasting, this means you can plug in an external USB microphone. USB Ethernet adapters have also been confirmed to work with the accessory, which retails for $59 in Australia.

Speaking of accessories, the new USB-C to Lightning cable means you can now plug your iPad into the 12-inch MacBook, something that previously wasn’t possible without an adapter. It also means you can charge your iPad Pro via the also brand-new USB-C Power Adapter, a 29W unit that charges your iPad faster than the included 12W adapter ever will. 9to5Mac says that it’s the power adapter that should have shipped with the iPad Pro.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo speculates this year’s iPhone will be getting a curved screen and body, with Apple moving to a curved glass design for the rear of the iPhone. Kuo also says it’s possible the Plus-sized model will go from 5.5-inches to 5.8-inches, while the regular iPhone will stay the same at 4.7-inches.

Meanwhile, the 2017 iPhone will be a total revamp of the lineup, with Apple either settling on a form factor, or consolidating the lineup to include a smaller model, depending on how the iPhone SE does numbers-wise.

An issue with the iOS 9.3 update that affected older devices has since been resolved. Apple temporarily pulled the update while it tracked down and fixed an issue with Activation Lock preventing those devices from working after being updated.

The New York Times reports Apple is working on their own original TV series, which will be about apps. Entertainers Will.i.am, Ben Silverman, and Howard Owens will be on-board, with the TV show spotlighting the app economy.

Apple’s latest TV ad shows off Siri integration on the Apple TV. It’s not quite as cool as the new voiceover-style iPhone ads of late, but on the plus side, it does feature Alison Brie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, some guy from Game of Thrones.


Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/03/tuesday-morning-news290316/

Wut? As a sitcom? Documentary? Docudrama?

All of the above! But really no one knows :slight_smile:

Will.i.am. Enough to make me never want to view it.

Add a Bono and I’ll burn down the world just to avoid it.

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