Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2018/05/wednesday-morning-news230518/
Apple has sent out media invites to the WWDC 2018 keynote. We also get a new event page on the Apple website confirming that the keynote will be live streamed on the 4th of June, which works out to be the next day at 3am for us Aussies. Whoever updated the WWDC page on Wikipedia either knows something we don’t about what Apple is going to announce, or is madly speculating. (Thanks, Peter!)
Speculation about the next name of macOS aside, what we do know is that we’ll probably see the unveiling of iOS 12. It’s not expected that this release will have a huge number of user-facing changes or shatter any known paradigms, but MacRumors put together suggestions for iOS 12 features from their community. The only one I’m not really sure about is an always-on display for the iPhone X; I’d much rather the same tech in the next Apple Watch.
Security enthusiasts can now rejoice, as YubiKey’s latest iOS SDK lets you bring hardware-based two-factor authentication to iOS apps. There’s a few hoops to get through, but if you have both the NFC-enabled YubiKey NEO and your app of choice has been updated to use YubiKey’s latest SDK, you can have secure two-factor authentication on your iOS device.
Belkin’s Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack cable is exactly what it says on the box. It’s a single cable that removes the need for you to use the 3.5mm headphone jack to Lightning adapter, replacing it with a longer version that you’ll need to purchase separately, and although the iPhone 7, 8, and X all came with the adapter in the box, there’s rumours that claim that may end with this year’s iPhone.
Razer’s new Core X external GPU serves as an entry-level model for those wanting to take advantage of macOS support for external GPUs. There’s no USB and Ethernet ports compared to the already-available Core V2, and it also lacks the bells and whistles RGB lighting of its more expensive sibling, but there are other improvements including 100W pass-through Thunderbolt charging, and support for larger CPUs. Pricing starts at US $299.
1Password 7 for Mac is out, and there’s a lot that’s changed in this version. Besides the entirely new coat of paint, powerful integrations with third-party services to help keep your credentials even more secure, a better 1Password Mini interface, and more, the new version is also the first paid update in years. If you’re a 1Password subscriber, you’ll automatically get access to the new version, otherwise a standalone license is available for US $50 for a limited time, after which the price goes up to US $65.
MacStories takes us through the major changes in 1Password 7, including Watchtower support and dragging and dropping items between multiple vaults. They also cover minor changes that can sometimes make all the difference when using an app extensively.
Apple’s Clips app has been updated to include new soccer content ahead of this year’s FIFA World Cup. There’s only an animated sticker, label, and customisable text, but at least someone at Apple knows Clips is still a thing.
Interestingly enough, macOS applies compatibility fixes for many third-party apps. 299 apps in total have compatibility fixes applied to older versions, and reading through the full list gives you an idea of the kinds of apps that Apple thinks are somewhat important on the platform, even if the entire post is worth reading for the technical investigation.
Today’s Music app redesign says it takes the music listening experience and makes it better, but there seems to be an awful lot of added features that are peripheral to the music listening experience. It’s not that I don’t like it, but sometimes, less is more.