Chip supplier TSMC is preparing to double production on its 16nm chips, which AppleInsider is taking as a sign that prep for the next iPhone has already begun. Production will increase to 80,000 12-inch wafers by the end of the month, and given that Samsung may or may not be involved in chip production on the next iPhone, that figure might have to be enough.
After confirming Apple Pencil was supposed to be able to be used for navigation, Apple has righted the wrong with the fifth beta of iOS 9.3. Released yesterday, the latest beta restores Apple Pencil navigation, meaning you can now use the accessory for tapping and swiping like you would use your finger normally, although you still can’t (and have possibly never been able to) invoke Control Centre or the Notification pull-down, both of which require interaction that starts from beyond the display.
MacRumors has posted up a few more tidbits about the latest iOS 9.3 beta, including how Night Shift is disabled when using Low Power Mode, as well as changing the Night Shift icon in Control Centre. Previous betas showed a contextual menu when the Night Shift icon was tapped, but now there’s a little more smarts built into the icon, which now only turns on Night Shift until the next automatic trigger, which is either sunrise or sunset in your schedule.
More MDM features are coming as part of iOS 9.3, including the ability for organisations to manage home screen layout, and hide and blacklist apps. Devices supervised in this manner will also show a “this device is managed by your organisation” message permanently on the lock screen.
Jason Snell weighs in on the debate about moving away from model numbers for the iPhone and iPad lineup. Apple’s never been much of a fan of model numbers on the iPad side of the fence, instead preferring to go with “the new iPad” instead of iPad fourth-generation, but iPhone model numbers have featured prominently on marketing and packaging.
An FAQ published by iMore on Apple Pay in Australia and Canada explains only American Express is supported by Apple Pay in our countries, despite Visa and MasterCard holding the vast majority of the credit-card market. While we already know Apple’s insistence on a high cut of transactions has prevented any deals with banks so far, but I wonder what the reason is for Canadian banks to hold out.
Voice assistant app Hound is reportedly both faster and more accurate than competing apps, such as Siri, Google Search, or Cortana. I sense an acquisition coming on, if the results are indeed better than the current offerings.
Meanwhile, if Siri really comes to the Mac, Dan Moren writes it will have a number of advantages over its iOS counterpart. Power considerations are gone, but it’d be cool if Apple let Siri on the Mac talk with other devices, or finally come with some decent third-party integration.
MacStories checks out GIF Brewery 3, which is the best iteration of one of the best GIF-creation apps for the Mac.
A preview of Alfred 3 shows what’s coming, with major improvements to workflows, themes, and clipboard interactions.
Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/03/thursday-morning-news030316/