Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/06/wednesday-morning-news280617/
Rumour has it low yields of OLED displays will severely constrain availability for Apple’s upcoming iPhone. Estimates put new iPhone stock at 4 million units for 2017, which will put quite a dent in sales numbers for the tenth anniversary iPhone. The nightmare scenario is that the new iPhone becomes like AirPods, which still have a six-week shipping time almost a year after launch, but here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that.
Apple has posted a job listing for a “Siri Event Maven”, which describes the role as “strategic awareness of cultural happenings in the collective zeitgeist”. While the position describes the ideal candidate as “a maven, trend-setter or Czar of cool”, it’s clear Apple realises Siri isn’t great when it comes to current events, and they’re looking to improve that.
Greenpeace has rated the repairability of six Apple devices against the overall smartphone, tablet, and laptop market. Teardown scores from iFixit were used to determine how the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, fifth-generation iPad, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and 2017 MacBook scored in the categories of battery replaceability, display replaceability, tools required, and spare part availability. The idea is that they’re highlighting planned obsolesce by the technology industry.
In the US, Apple has started selling refurbished Apple Pencils at a $14 discount on the US$99 price. The US appears to be the only country with refurb Apple Pencils at the moment, but here’s hoping they come to other countries sometime soon.
An Apple patent describes using sleep-tracking equipment such as the Apple Watch, iPhone, or even Beddit to adjust alarms based on sleep patterns. The idea is that no matter what time you get in bed and what time you go to sleep, your alarm will always be set so that you get the optimal amount of sleep every night. I’m not really sure how that works when you have to be at work at a certain time every morning, but I’m not much of a morning person anyway.
The Verge writes that Apple’s AR ambitions are closer to reality than Google’s. It’s true, because so far Google hasn’t released anything substantial, while Apple will soon have the largest install base of AR-enabled devices in the world. Pokémon Go might have brought AR to the mainstream, but Apple will take it to the next level.
AppleInsider has a review of the Logitech Slim Combo keyboard case for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro. As far as keyboard cases for the iPad Pro go, it’s not too bad — the keyboard is backlit and features a full row of function keys, and it’s reliably sturdy when used on a desk. But it’s a lacklustre case, doubling the weight of your iPad Pro and is the entire package is thicker than a MacBook Pro.
Daring Fireball’s John Gruber provides a handy lesson in accepting that a device can be terrible for your particular tastes or preferences, while simultaneously acknowledging that it’s great for others. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, and both iOS and macOS complement each other.
Jean-Louis Gassée writes about Apple culture after ten years of the iPhone. It’s hard to imagine the kind of scale that Apple builds iPhones at, and now people without smartphones are seen as the outliers. It’s pretty safe to say at this point that Apple isn’t doomed.
Ars takes a look back at the top iPhone games from 2008, from when the App Store first opened. I’m kinda surprised Super Monkey Ball didn’t make the list.