Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/06/tuesday-morning-news130617/
Reviews of the new iPad Pro are out. Ars Technica’s review says the new iPad is faster than its predecessor and has a better display, but isn’t quite worth buying until iOS 11 is out. The ProMotion display is probably the biggest hardware change of this generation, even if they can only recommend the iPad Pro to someone who may be looking to replace their primary computer with it, else a non-Pro iPad might be a better option.
None of the reviews I’ve read have been of the new 12.9-inch model, which is understandable given that it’s exactly the same form factor as its predecessor but with all the display improvements of the smaller form factor. For a while there, there was this weird dichotomy between the two models, with the larger of the two having a worse screen. In his review, MacStories’ Federico Viticci says that Split View multitasking is better on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (largely due to its ability to show two iPad-class apps side by side, something the 10.5-inch iPad Pro can’t do), but almost everything else is better on the smaller iPad Pro.
Leaked front and rear panels allegedly show us what the front and rear of Apple’s iPhone is going to look like. The glass back features the vertically-aligned camera lenses, while on the front, there’s a small area near the top for the top speaker, front-facing camera, as well as proximity and ambient light sensors. I’m not a huge fan of the interruption if the screen does go all the way to the edge, but I’m looking forward to Apple showing off the real thing.
Motherboard says Apple is trying to make your iMessages more secure by storing them in iCloud. Previously, iMessages were able to be separated from their end-to-end encryption if you backed them up to iCloud, but soon with the iMessage syncing coming as part of iOS 11, Apple has said they’ve figured out a way to store iMessages while remaining unable to read them while they’re stored on Apple’s iCloud platform.
The latest release of the Safari Technology Previews gives us a taste of the new features coming in Safari as part of High Sierra. There’s good stuff like autoplay blocking, intelligent tracking protection, as well as the usual performance improvements.
Ex-employees and developers working on Apple’s HomePod have expressed their disappointment at the lack of third-party integration HomePod has. Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home rose the anxiety levels at Apple up a few notches, with former employees also saying that Apple’s plans for Siri aren’t ambitious enough, according to a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal.
While Logitech’s new Slim Combo case for the iPad Pro is compatible with both the 10.5 and 12.9-inch models and features a detachable backlit keyboard and Apple Pencil holder, it doesn’t seem to be available via Apple’s online store just yet. It’s possible that it will be coming in the future, otherwise it looks like Apple’s Smart Keyboard is the only one you can buy right now.
One of the changes in iOS 11 will be how developers can prompt for reviews, with updated review guidelines saying that apps will not be allowed to show custom review dialogs. While this means unified review prompts, users will also have the ability to disable review prompts entirely.
With the introduction of the Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, Apple has seemingly removed the wired alternative from its online store. While you can use the Magic Keyboard when plugged in, having a version without the wireless was a lower-cost option for those who didn’t need a wireless keyboard to begin with.
The Atlantic answers the question of what it’s like to use an original Macintosh in 2017, or at least a simulated version of one. Sure, it’s a simulated computer running within a simulated computer on another person’s computer, but it’s a reminder both of how far we’ve come and how far computers still have to go.
