Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/04/tuesday-morning-news180417/
A new rumour from CNBC claims Apple has a team of biomedical engineers working on new methods for monitoring blood sugar. Ask any diabetic and they’ll tell you that keeping an eye on their glucose levels is a thing they have to be constantly aware of, and Steve Jobs wanted a new way to constantly and non-invasively monitor blood sugar in order to improve quality of life. The rumour says feasibility studies are already underway, with Apple now looking to hire consultants to sort out regulatory issues.
An internal memo distributed by Apple says Apple Stores may replace fourth-generation iPads with the iPad Air 2, where whole-unit repairs are required. The memo says Apple’s repair and order management tool will decide whether the substitution will take place, so local availability will likely play a part in your chances for a swap to a much newer, lighter, and faster model of iPad.
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles now reflects the fact Apple has a permit to test self-driving cars on public roads. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Apple’s self-driving car plans, but it’s the first confirmation we’ve had from a third party Apple is serious about this self-driving car stuff.
I’m not sure which is the bigger story here, that Apple is once again rumoured to buy Disney, or that it could do so using only cash from the US and overseas. On paper, the deal makes a lot of sense; Apple has shown interest in creating content, either via Beats 1 or original TV programming, and Disney’s connections to other content houses would also provide Apple with the necessary leverage for further content deals down the line. Still, with a estimated price tag in the vicinity of $230 billion, it would be the biggest acquisition that everyone will see for a while.
Did you hear the one about the guy who bought the parts for a new refurbished iPhone 6s from the public markets in China? It’s a pretty cool story of how the electronics market in China lets you buy pretty much any part you want, and how you can buy a whole lot of parts and put together something that works.
Marco Arment summarises what went wrong with the 2013 Mac Pro, in light of Apple’s reveal that it’s working on something else for pros. Apple has described it as a modular design that will make it easy for Apple (or, presumably, end users) to upgrade, and Arment writes that it all boils down to one word: versatility. The cheese graters had it, the trash can didn’t, and maybe that’s why it languished for over 1200 days.
While the death of 32-bit on iOS hasn’t been officially announced by Apple, the writing’s on the wall and we’ve all seen the signs. Ars Technica says that the move to 64-bit only would allow Apple to streamline hardware and software, freeing up precious space on SoC processors and on the software side, reclaiming space taken up by 32-bit compatibility layers.
What was previously iTunes Podcasts was re-branded by Apple over the Easter break to now be Apple Podcasts, with new badges available for you to use on your website.
Macworld says it’s about time the iTunes branding went away, at least in name. The break-up of the monolithic, do-everything iTunes has been rumoured for years, so maybe now is the time. I’m not so sure about the proposed Apple Music as its replacement, as then we’d be overloading that name, and isn’t that how we got iTunes in the first place?
New Shot on iPhone ads from Apple show us clips of life in Turkey to celebrate Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day on April 23. They’re available to watch on Apple Turkey’s YouTube channel.
