Looking back at another week of news and headlines from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes amazing iPhone performance, amazing iPhone 14 price, iOS always-on screen leaks, MacBook Pro questions, iPad OS delay, Apple’s ad expansion and Apple by Microsoft Silicon Movement.
The Apple Loop is here to remind you of some of the many conversations surrounding Apple over the past seven days (and you can read our weekly roundup of Android news here at Forbes).
iPhone 14 set to boost performance
While the upcoming iPhones may not feature groundbreaking features — they’ll feel more like “S” updates with each reveal — Apple seems poised to up the ante on the handset. The latest details on the lower-end iPhone 14 models suggest a new treatment around the modem to deliver a faster phone:
“…Apple has redesigned the internals of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max and will equip them with a new Qualcomm X65 modem. The former is usually done to improve heat build-up, which allows the chips to run faster for longer. The latter is expected to be up to 30% faster than its predecessor, the X60, while adding global support for mmWave — 5G’s fastest band. The leak ends by saying “etc,” indicating that Apple has made further improvements elsewhere.”
(Forbes).
DHAKA, BANGLADESH – 2022/05/18: A man uses iPhone 13 pro to take pictures in an office. (Photo … [+]
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
iPhone pricing freeze
The iPhone looks poised to challenge the competition in another way this fall. As prices are generally raised by suppliers and subcontractors, Apple is trying to keep the price of the entry-level iPhone in 2023 at the same level as the 2022 model:
“…Apple’s decision was based on the ‘stagnation of the global mobile phone market and a decrease in demand… so the price of the base model has been frozen despite some price increase factors.’ As detailed by other users, these factors include rising component prices due to shortages and Apple upgrading several key elements of the iPhone 14 lineup. Most notably, an all-new front-facing camera unit from LG Innotek, which according to leaks is three times the price of its predecessor”.
(Forbes).
Apple leaks iPhone always on display
A closer look at the source code from Apple’s xCode developer environment revealed settings and sample code that would allow iOS to deliver a seamless experience. This does not guarantee that the tool will appear on the iPhone 14 family, but it makes it much more likely.
“Spotted by rhogelleim, iOS developer, the fourth beta of Xcode 14 appears to include an example of what Always on Display for iPhone might look like. As shown in the screenshot below, the iPhone will appear to darken and gray out the screen when Always on Display is enabled. “The developer notes that the widget (of Tim Cook’s face) is normally in color, but the SwiftUI preview removes all colors from the image when this potential feature is enabled”
(Rhogelleim via iMore).
Challenging the MacBook Pro
Every time there seems to be something to suggest the 13-inch MacBook Pro might be a good idea, reality knocks at the door. Even with a $200 discount just weeks after its launch, the M2-powered laptop still feels isolated from the rest of Apple’s macOS portfolio. I took a look at the average ground the MacBook Pro is stuck in:
“Apple has kept this consumer-focused MacBook Pro for at least another two years, positioned uncomfortably between the consumer MacBook Air and the professional MacBook Pro. It should deliver more performance than the MacBook Air thanks to the M2’s active cooling chipset, but it still falls short of the M1 Pro and M1 Max in the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models from 2021. It should offer better value for money than the larger MacBook pro models, but it’s the MacBook Air that brings the new design elements and modern touches, not the smaller MacBook Pro.”
(Forbes).
iPadOS update delayed
With the focus on the iPad platform pushing it towards more mobile computing tasks, iPadOS continues to expand and adapt to the changes required. This year’s update is running a few weeks behind schedule… expect it to be alongside a macOS release in October instead of the iOS release in September:
“It’s not unusual for macOS to follow a few weeks behind iOS, but iPad software has always been updated on the same schedule as its iPhone sibling. Since iPadOS split from iOS in 2019, the two operating systems have reached the same day. [Bloomberg’s Mark] Gurman says that all of Apple’s software updates are running a little behind schedule this year (Public Betas were released a little later than usual, for example), but not that drastically.”
(MacWorld).
Apple is gearing up to expand ads
Apple looks poised to expand its ad delivery system with a new set of hires that suggest a demand-side platform to serve ads across all Apple properties is in the works. This is likely to target areas such as App Store ads, the News and Stocks app, and possibly live streaming and media events (like Friday Night Baseball:
“A DSP is a statement of intent for any ad business — let alone one like Apple, which has grown exponentially after deciding to make it difficult for companies to develop their own within its ecosystem. Indeed, a DSP is the core part of an ad tech stack for any company with plans to earn more media dollars. It’s the technology, or more specifically the software, that allows a marketer to advertise with the help of automation. Automating the process is important because it means that marketers can create campaigns and manage them with relative ease. In turn, they’re likely to spend more.”
(Digiday via 9 to 5 Mac).
And finally…
While moving away from Intel to Apple Silicon, Apple’s Rosetta software allowed x86-based applications to continue running in the belief that developers would switch to the ARM-based chipset in time. Microsoft’s popular Teams app made this jump this week:
“We have a universal, production-grade binary version of Teams, which means it will run natively across the entire Mac range, including those with Apple silicon. For Mac users, this means a significant performance boost, ensuring efficient use of device resources and an optimized Teams experience even when using multiple high-resolution monitors during calls or meetings.”
(Microsoft).
The Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here at Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of the Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.