Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2018/06/wednesday-morning-news270618/
Once you’ve given all the new headlining features of iOS 12 a spin (Memoji if you have an iPhone X, everything else if you don’t), MacStories has a few of their favourite tidbits and smaller details. Making the cursor trackpad available on devices without 3D Touch is a great move from Apple, and a new colour picker in the iOS 12 markup tool are small features, sure, but will undoubtedly be appreciated by millions.
Even though there’s plenty of user-facing changes in iOS 12, there’s probably just as many changes that you may not notice straight away. At its core, iOS 12 is about making your phone work better, whether’s that’s via improved performance, smarter Do Not Disturb, or the duality of Apple’s bets on Siri Shortcuts and AR. Everything else is just gravy.
Six Colors has a first look at the macOS Mojave public beta. Dark mode looks great, there’s new accent colours to choose from, and cleaning up your desktop just got a lot easier with desktop stacks. The changes aren’t all visual, though, with plenty of other features besides, and once developers get access to the same APIs to give them an easier time making their iOS apps work like true Mac citizens in about a year or so, we’ll see many great iOS apps make their way across.
Bloomberg says Apple will be introducing updates to its audio range as early as next year. High-end AirPods with the potential of noise-cancelling and water resistance are on the cards, with Apple also said to be investigating the possibility of including health-related features in future models. Over-ear headphones are also expected to be released around the same time, complementing Apple’s existing Beats range and carrying the Apple branding.
There’s some talk about refreshed AirPods being released sooner than next year. While Apple will have to release an updated case to make AirPods charge wirelessly with AirPower, the jury’s out on whether that will mean refreshed AirPods themselves. It’s possible that Apple could put a new wireless chip into AirPods and bundle it with the new wireless charging case, but all we have to go on are rumours from the supply chain.
Apple’s latest lawsuit is against the easily-scratched Apple Watch. While the Canadian at the centre of the lawsuit purchased the Apple Watch Edition in ceramic, the design flaw he’s describing where the rear of the watch attracts the magnets in the Milanese loop affects all Apple Watch models when used with that particular band, causing scratches on both sides of Apple’s wearable.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently spoke at Fortune’s CEO Initiative event about a number of current issues, including commenting on companies taking a stance on public policy and other politically charged issues. Cook said that while Apple doesn’t address politics directly, they have a vested interest in taking a stand against policies they believe they have a right to talk about.
New details about Apple’s keyboard replacement program from MacRumors tell us that Apple will still cover keyboards damaged by attempted repairs, will replace individual keys before attempting whole-keyboard replacements, and will likely allow multiple repairs under the program. It’s still unclear if replacement keys or keyboards have fixed the underlying reliability issue, but allowing multiple repairs under the program suggests not.
If you’re into beta software, there’s new versions of iOS 11.4.1, tvOS 11.4.1, macOS 10.13.6, and watchOS 4.3.2 for you to install.