Wednesday Morning News

Articles
#1

Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/08/wednesday-morning-news170816/
img_1230What’s rumoured to be the logic board of the next iPhone has been leaked on Weibo, giving us a chance to compare components to previous logic boards. MacRumors says it’s extremely likely Apple has switched to Intel as their supplier of baseband modems, although it’s still possible that Apple will be using models from both Intel and Qualcomm.

Merchandising reset hours from AT&T in the US has given us some insight into iPhone launch dates. According to the leak, it’s possible the new iPhone will be announced on September 9 and launch on September 23. There’s no concrete proof that the merchandise reset has anything to do with the iPhone, but it’s certainly a possibility.

With the Olympics continuing in Rio, Apple is skirting around an official Olympics sponsorship by gifting their flag-themed Apple Watch bands to Olympic athletes. 9to5Mac says there’s nothing in the rules that prevents Apple from doing so, as they’re not using the Olympics logo, the Rio 2016 logo, or any other kind of branding which would otherwise infringe on the sponsorship rules.

TechCrunch reports Apple is planning to build a new R&D facility in China, but that’s about all we know. Apple CEO Tim Cook is currently on a tour of the region, and it’s expected that the facility will open before the end of the year, with speculation saying it’s possible they would be better-positioned to work on weird wireless technology standards unique to China, as well as any hardware projects.

Apple has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Farstone, a PC backup provider. The lawsuit alleged Apple’s Time Machine backup and restore interface infringed on a patent held by Farstone, with Apple eventually winning the appeal after the original lawsuit was dismissed from court for attempting to cover “too many issues”.

Also in Apple patent news, AppleInsider writes about Apple being granted a pair of 3D computer vision patents. The first patent describes a method where a computer recognises a hand-motion and translates that into a user interface action, while the second uses sensors in a mobile device to determine its location and motion.

A refresher on Mac keyboard shortcuts has what the symbols in menu bar items mean, as well as a collection of general keyboard shortcuts found in many apps.

The Apple Store at One World Trade Center comes with the features of the modern Apple Store, including “avenues” for displaying and concealing specific product lines and accessories, and recessed power outlets in the wooden tables that appear and disappear with the touch of a hand. TechCrunch has photos.

Over at The Verge, Walt Mossberg says he couldn’t replace his laptop with an iPad Pro due to Apple’s keyboard being a poor example of a portable keyboard and case. Logitech’s Create isn’t perfect, but it comes damn close to being the ideal keyboard and case combo for turning your 9.7-inch iPad Pro into a true laptop replacement.

Microsoft’s latest ad for the Surface flies in the face of Apple’s recent ads saying the iPad is a computer now, pointing out the iPad’s flaws such as no external ports, the inability to run the full versions of apps such as Office, and the lack of power that comes from a non-Intel processor.

#2

I hadn’t particularly looked at the iPad Pro until the last couple of days where I’ve been toying with a new iPad for the house and started looking at the differences between all the models. Thanks to the marketing hype I was under the impression the iPad Pro was something more that what it appears to be. I’m sure it’s very impressive and powerful (and bigger) but on paper at least it looks like what the iPad Air 3 should have been if it was released last year. In reality the iPad Pro 9.7" IS basically the successor to the iPad Air 2. (But with better sound, more RAM and Pencil support…)

In any case, while the Microsoft ad is pretty cringe worthy in general… it’s not wrong :stuck_out_tongue:
(and it’s no worse than the old Mac ads… we just like them better)

#3

Very strange he should say that. I’ve been using the iPad Pro (9.7") keyboard cover for a while now and it is utterly fantastic. I can type like a demon on it, it’s on par with my typing on the MacBook Pro / Apple Wireless Keyboard. I’m really particular about my keyboards so I’m shocked that he’s given it this negative feedback.

That said I do think the keyboard cover could do with some more angled options for positioning the iPad itself. But overall it’s great.

#4

Having owned a Surface Book and now an iPad Pro - the iPad is far superior. If I need to use any full fledged Windows apps then I can just RDP to my terminal server or use a RemoteApp. Sure not everyone has this option so I accept that. I don’t care that I can’t plug anything into my iPad. There’s nothing I need to plug into it! I access everything via the cloud and tether my iPhone for internet. All that aside the native iOS apps for everything (including Microsoft Office) are perfectly functional for what I need out of a mobile device.

#5

I’ve had issues with spreadsheets on iOS not working properly with my iPad where as the run fine on my work Surface Pro 4, more importantly MYOB runs on Apple and Windows but not on iOS.

#6

A touch screen MacBook (or MBA) would solve this. iOS is great but I need to do too much on OS X to rely on my iPad Pro for my current work.

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#7

Ah well there you go, I leave the spreadsheets to my project managers :slight_smile:

#8

Even though macOS isn’t designed for touch, I could imagine them making some elements slightly larger (such as the window traffic light buttons, whatever they’re called) when the Mac is equipped with a touchscreen. I do look forward to it, but I sort of see their reservations, including people thinking it’s meant to be an expensive iPad that doesn’t run their iPhone apps.

Also, using a laptop with a touch screen isn’t as ergonomic because you have your arms suspended in the air at an awkward angle and distance. There’s too many trade-offs, until Apple can come up with the perfect solution that feels natural.

#9

A laptop hinge that folds the keyboard right around until it sits flat against the back of the screen combined with a thin keyboard would pretty much fix that problem.

#10

It’s Walt Mossberg. He’s a cranky old man who’s the John C Dvorak of 2016.

#11

You say that like that’s a bad thing :slight_smile:

Too many journos these days are afraid of questioning product or software, either they say “it’s good” or they say “it’s bad” and they end up doing opinion pieces instead of investigative stories.

In my (grumpy old man) book that’s contributing to the dumbing down of tech media.

#12

There’s a difference between questioning products and just breathing a lot of hot air. Mossberg does do a bit of both, Dvorak pretty much just does the latter.

#13

That’s pretty true these days but I was more thinking of Dvorak 20 years back.