Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2018/03/tuesday-morning-news060318/
Accessory certifications have revealed the existence of Mophie’s Juice Pack Air for iPhone X. Given that it was found in the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi Certified Product Database, there’s a good chance that the Juice Pack Air for iPhone X will be Mophie’s first Qi-certified iPhone X wireless charging case, with MacRumors saying that it’s likely that the product will be announced in the near future and released for sale later this year.
Rumours of Apple’s high-end headphones have been confirmed by Bloomberg, who claim that Apple’s over-ear cans may also feature noise cancelling. Similar wireless pairing to AirPods will also be included, with Apple emphasising convenience and ease-of-use with their headphones. Other details are still pretty thin on the ground, with early speculation claiming that Beats headphone sales may fall as a result of Apple releasing their own.
Ars Technica’s review of the iMac Pro says it is, like Apple claims, the fastest iMac ever made. It’s arguably even more of an appliance than the old Mac Pro ever was, thanks to the inclusion of a great 5K display and all-in-one design that will be familiar to anyone who has seen an iMac in the last five or six years. It’s a nice machine, but is only half the solution — for true expandability, we’ll have to wait for the Mac Pro revamp.
The fourth beta of iOS 11.3 has been released to developers, along with the fourth beta for macOS 10.13.4. For whatever reason, Apple has reverted the name of Books back to iBooks in this latest beta, while the simultaneous releases for developers and members of Apple’s open beta program mean that we’ll probably see a public release within the next month.
US company Grayshift claims they can also unlock iPhones, with both the iPhone 8 and iPhone X capable of being unlocked by the company’s “GrayKey” tool. AppleInsider reports that because GrayShift doesn’t require devices to be sent to a lab and can be unlocked over the internet or locally, it’s likely that Apple will be able to discover how it all works and patch it in a future version of iOS.
Another day, another macOS concept. Alvaro Pabesio’s take on what macOS 11 should look like probably vastly overestimates the work effort required to take many iOS staples and make them work on the Mac like a first-class citizen, but I do like the minimalism of familiar macOS staples like the menu bar, even if I’m unsure about the some of the icons and the overall cleaner look of application windows.
Over at Macworld, Jason Snell tells us about possible AirPod improvements, should Apple ever release an updated version. Should Apple bring out more colours? Add volume controls directly into the AirPods, or more gestures? What about different sizes, or an in-ear version?
Social Speaker for Twitter is an interesting iOS app that lets you listen to your tweets. Not your own tweets, but the tweets from people you follow, turning your Twitter stream into an audio podcast. It has heaps of options for the voices that you can use, which is a nice touch.
Google’s updated Search app now has iMessage integrations that only work in the US for the time being, allowing you to put videos and search result links into conversations. On the iPad, there’s now drag and drop support, with both iPhone and iPad enjoying new share sheet options.
Malaysian Apple reseller Switch had to cancel a sale of older demo devices after over 11,000 people lined up for hours for a chance at deeply discounted Apple products. Less than 200 devices were available for sale, with prices as low as US $50 for iPhone 5S devices, although only ten of those were available in the first place.