Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/05/wednesday-morning-news250516/
We’re perhaps six months out from the reveal of a new iPhone, but 9to5Mac thinks it has the specs and rumours in the bag. While there’s no denying some of the features we’ll be seeing — a dual camera is almost certainly going to make an appearance on at least one model — how they’ll be implemented still remains to be seen, which is generally how Apple pulls ahead of the competition, even if they weren’t the first to market.
Rumours claim the next MacBook Pro will be thinner and lighter than its predecessors, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo takes it one step further by saying Apple could also experiment with Touch ID, and a touch-sensitive OLED display above the keyboard, used for function keys. The new MacBook Pro is expected to arrive in the fourth quarter of the year.
Additional rumours claim Apple will be moving to USB-C, which supports Thunderbolt 3. The port is thinner than the current USB and Thunderbolt ports found on the MacBook Pro, which would support claims Apple would be moving to a more MacBook-like thinness. Whether Apple ditches the MagSafe connector will be another question, but if USB-provides power as well, why not?
An interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook at Startup Fest Europe, talking about how Apple enabled developers to cater to a worldwide audience via the App Store. Cook also said that coding was important enough to be considered in school curriculum, and while questions were asked about Apple’s future and future products, Cook remained coy about those topics, saying instead to focus on areas which don’t currently generate revenue for the company. Look out, podcasts.
Cook was also asked about Apple becoming a wireless carrier along the same lines of other MNVOs, but Cook quickly shut down that line of thinking, saying Apple lacks the network expertise to make that kind of thing possible. Plus, tying itself to country-specific knowledge seems like a step backwards for a company with global presence like Apple.
Rumour has it Apple is working on a Siri SDK, which could be introduced at WWDC. Along with the Siri SDK rumour is another one saying that Apple is working on a competitor to Amazon’s Echo, with Siri potentially graduating from a personal assistant to a more of a house butler.
Apple’s latest hire is Jon Callas, former CTO at Silent Circle, the makers of the security-conscious Blackphone. This will be Callas’ third tour at Apple, as the security and encryption expert has worked at Apple in the 1990s, later returning between 2009 and 2011, and now.
Adonit’s latest Pixel stylus gives the Apple Pencil a run for its money. The Pixel is pressure-sensitive, features two shortcut buttons on the stylus body, and has palm rejection, but as with all third-party stylus, requires the inclusion of a SDK in any app which wants to support some of the more advanced features.
The first public beta of iOS 9.3.3 has been released to members of Apple’s public beta testing program.
And just because it’s a slow news day: Amazon-owned Comixology now has an unlimited subscription that gives you access to more than Marvel Unlimited will, due to not being limited to the Marvel universe. But the US-only comic subscription service has some quirks, and Jason Snell says it’s more about discovery than reading entire catalogs from cover to cover.