Wednesday Morning News

Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/10/wednesday-morning-news041017/

The iOS updates just keep coming, with this morning’s release of iOS 11.0.2. The second public update to iOS 11 since it was launched as many weeks ago fixes an issue that affected iPhone 8 and 8 Plus owners, who would occasionally experience crackling or static in the earpiece during calls. The release notes for the update also say that the update fixes an issue where photos would become hidden, and an issue where attachments in encrypted emails would not open.

Apple is investigating two iPhone 8 battery failures. In both cases, the display separated from the rear of the device due to an expanded battery, and while two devices hardly sets a precedent for a more widespread issue, an Apple spokeswoman has confirmed to MacRumors they are aware and looking into the issue.

With the news that both the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus support fast charging, AppleInsider broke out the 29W USB-C power adapter and tested charging times using a variety of different power adapters. It’s interesting that wireless charging is no faster than a regular 5W USB wall charger, and that there’s no difference between the 29W USB-C power adapter and Apple’s beefiest 87W USB-C power adapter.

The official Nike+ Run Club app has been updated with new features that were announced on stage last month (not that I noticed, amidst all the iPhone news). Audio-guided runs from Nike coaches and athletes are now available, which can be used in conjunction with playlists that you can use with your streaming music service of of choice.

Over in the US, Ikea’s TRÅDFRI collection now includes one colour bulb. Like the rest in the series, TRÅDFRI devices are HomeKit compatible, and it even comes with a remote for those that don’t own iOS devices to control their lightbulbs. In other HomeKit news, Philips has added HomeKit support to its Hue tap, dimmer switch, and motion sensor products, and last but not least, LIFX’s newly-launched Beam Kit is HomeKit-compatible accent lighting.

Macworld’s Glenn Fleishman tells us about the changes in Photos 3, included with macOS High Sierra. If you’ve been holding out moving from iPhoto, Photos is now at the stage where it has enough features to make the jump worthwhile. If you’re as annoyed as I was with iPhoto’s inability to deal with Live Photos, then you should definitely switch, as Photos now makes Live Photos as easy to manipulate as actual individual stills.

Nvidia has released new Mac drivers for its Pascal-based graphics cards. The new drivers are compatible with macOS High Sierra, and should allow Nvidia owners to use Pascal graphics card in older, cheesegrater-style Mac Pros.

Analysis of Apple’s investment into micro LED technology could mean vastly more power-efficient displays on the small scale, which would be ideal for the Apple Watch. An Apple Watch with micro LED display tech could see significant improvements to battery life, pushing the Apple Watch past its current 1-2 day battery life threshold.

The Mac Observatory asks the question if Apple CEO Tim Cook is a product visionary, and perhaps more importantly, whether he needs to be. Apple’s seen financial success following the passing of Steve Jobs, and there’s no question that Cook is a capable leader for the new Apple, but is that what is needed for the next 5-10 years? It’s a hard question to answer.

Stephen Hackett wraps up the news for us this morning by telling us about the history of the iPod touch. Looking back on it now, the iPod touch served as the ideal in-between device when iPhones for your teenager were still slightly out of reach, but they still wanted their own internet-connected device that was also a music player.

That is the worst article to read. The graph says it all, but really it’s something that should have been presented in a table which should look something like this assuming I’ve translated correctly.

Bottom line, USB-C get’s you to 50% much faster than anything else, but much beyond that it doesn’t really matter. A decent USB-A charger is only 15 minutes behind in achieving a full charge. (I’m assuming here that any aftermarket 12W+ USB adaptor would perform similarly).

The one that surprises me is that the iMac USB-A port is only putting out 5W or so?

There is also the whole theory that batteries prefer a longer slower charge for health meaning the 5W adaptor could very well be better for the iPhones battery in the long-term. I do wonder if that is part of the rationale in only providing a 5W charger in the box? Also the reality that most people probably charge the phone overnight anyway where speed doesn’t really matter?