Apple's 'It's Showtime' Event

Apple today announced a slew of services. They announced Apple News+, Apple Arcade, Apple Card, and Apple TV+. I don't have the time nor energy to talk about every little thing about the event, but, in short, I was underwhelmed. This was genuinely the worst Apple keynote I have seen yet. There was nothing interesting for the people who usually watched these keynotes, with a few exceptions. This presentation basically sums up how different Apple is now then from 5-10 years ago. The most interesting thing for me was the Apple Card, which adds features to iOS while staying true to Apple's commitment to privacy. Apple Arcade seems like a slap in the face to macOS users and a quick excuse to get Apple in the conversation about gaming. Apple News+ and Apple TV+ aren't for me. I'm sure someone is excited for these services, and more power to you if you are. That's all I'll say on that matter.

It's good for a tree to grow and branch out, but it's pointless if your trunk being chopped with an axe. I can't take Apple seriously if they're going to make services like these while their software is notoriously buggy and hardware is outdated. My Apple Watch crashed and restarted without explanation in the time it took me to write the last paragraph. I know that different teams work on different things, but what matters in the end is where Apple puts their resources and focus. We wait for so long for updates with a laundry list of problems, only to have a small fraction of them checked off every few months, with new problems constantly being added. It's frustrating and I know Apple can do better. 

Apple Releases New AirPods

Over two years after their initial release, AirPods has finally received an update. These AirPods have a new H1 chip, which allows for "Hey, Siri" functionality in the AirPods. They also have better battery life, which most users will be happy about. You can also engrave the AirPods case now if you order through Apple's website. Apple is releasing the AirPods Wireless Charging Case. You can buy the new AirPods with the new case ($199), or with the normal case ($159). While I wish we would've had some more features, like gesture commands (i.e. volume slide up), an AirPods update is always welcome. There are still rumors of an iPod Touch or AirPower being announced later this week as well, so we'll have to wait.

iMac Refresh and New iPod Touch Announcement Imminent

Following updated iPads yesterday, Apple has announced this morning that the iMac and iMac Pro lineup will be getting a minor refresh. The new iMacs have new Intel processors, while the iMac Pro can now have up to a whopping 256 GB of RAM. Ahead of their service-based event next week, Apple seems to be quietly announcing new products this week. Thanks to MacRumors, we now have reason to believe that Apple will announce a new iPod Touch as early as tomorrow. The iPod Touch has been long untouched by Apple, not being updated since mid-2015, so an update is welcome. To see the features I want in a new iPod Touch, check out my post on it. While I would like the new iPod Touch to have an edge-to-edge display, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Apple will likely update it for the sake of keeping the device series alive.

Apple Announces New iPad Mini and 10.5" iPad Air

Apple has updated two iPad models today: the iPad mini and the iPad Air. The new iPad mini is the fifth iteration of the small tablet with Apple Pencil support and the A12 chip. The new iPad Air replaces the 10.5" iPad Pro, simultaneously simplifying and confusing the iPad lineup. It made sense to get rid of the 10.5" iPad Pro, as it conflicted with the new iPad Pros. But it is confusing because the iPad Air brand has been absent for several years, and the regular iPad branding is still on the 9.7-inch iPad. The iPad and iPad Air have no major weight differences, so it's unclear why they've created inconsistent branding. Regardless, the new iPad Air gives up ProMotion and quad-speakers for a cheaper price point. It still has Apple Pencil support. Aside from the branding, this was a good choice by Apple. The main gripe from consumers is that the prices could've been a bit lower, but that's not to say they're super overpriced. The iPad Air and iPad mini start at $499 and $399 respectively.

Apple Announces WWDC 2019

It's that time of year again. Apple has announced WWDC 2019, which means the software speculation levels are through the roof once more. It will take place from June 3 to June 7 in San Jose. The big rumor is to expect a new Mac Pro after almost 6 years of waiting for an update. In addition, I wouldn't be surprised if we finally got Dark Mode in iOS 13. It would make sense after we got it in macOS Mojave. WWDC is always an exciting event to look forward to, so hopefully we get great announcements to match the anticipation.

Apple Hosting 'It's Show Time' Event on March 25

Apple will be hosting a special event on March 25 in the Steve Jobs Theater. It will take place at 10 a.m. The event has been rumored to focus on services, and will likely have no new hardware announced. The event will be streamable but it's definitely not for everyone. The event is expected to reveal Apple's new service for streamlining news for $9.99 a month. 

Gather Round Event: Quick Thoughts

Today, Apple had their annual iPhone announcement event. Pretty much everything was leaked this morning or in the weeks prior to today, but let's go over it anyway. One major difference to this year's rumors than previous rumors was the lack of iPhone rumors. We pretty much knew there would be three models, one an 6.1-inch LCD in multiple colors and the other two being different sized OLED models. We also knew their names, the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR (Marketing team really burned the midnight oil on these ones). Other than that, we didn't know much. And that's because there was nothing else to say. There is next to nothing new with the iPhones other than "this is faster" and "this is 50% better" or "this lasts 30 minutes longer than the iPhone X." The only purpose of this generation of iPhone is to make a bigger iPhone X and a cheaper iPhone X, the two biggest requests since the iPhone X came out. You can hear the nervousness in the speakers' voices, because they were stretching an event that should have been 45 minutes tops into 2 hours. "Look at this photo! Doesn't it look great?" Like, yeah, but you said that last year. There's nothing groundbreaking. "We have three developers to lengthen the show!" "I'd like to invite up John Appleseed to reiterate exactly what I just said." It was painfully slow at times. And I know this is an "S" update, but even the iPhone 6s had Live Photos and 3D Touch. The iPhone 5s had Touch ID. All models still start at 64 GB, which seemed weird for me. I feel like the higher end models should have started at 128 GB, especially with the decline in SSD prices in the past few months. By far, the most surprising part of the entire keynote was Todd Howard coming on stage, even if what he was showing off wasn't groundbreaking either.

Let's talk about the Apple Watch. This was definitely the highlight of the show, even if we knew about it due to leaks. That one leak was probably the best we've seen it and the rest of the images we saw didn't really do it justice, so I'll have to see it in person when it comes out. I am long overdue for an upgrade from my Apple Watch Series 0 and this is an Apple Watch worthy to upgrade to. That ECG/EKG (they're the same thing) looks really cool. The focus on health is a huge selling point. You could tell the speakers were catering this model towards Series 0 and Series 1 owners, because they listed every feature to come out since Series 1 at the end of the Apple Watch section. It would've been nice if cellular came standard on the Series 4, but I can't really complain about that. The option of cellular just confuses me, because that was what defined Series 3, even though it was optional there too. The Series 4 is definitely on the pricier side, so when you throw in all of these optional features, it feels like you're at a car dealer.

We got nothing on AirPower, which we now have reason to believe has been delayed further. We literally only got updates to the iPhone and Apple Watch. Some minor news includes the iPhone X, the iPhone SE, the iPhone 6s, and the Apple Watch Series 1 being discontinued.

The 2018 MacBook Pro

Apple announced their 2018 MacBook Pro today. There are considerable spec bumps that look really nice. The following changes only affect models with Touch Bar. All 13-inch models now have quad core 8th-generation Intel processors and can now have up to 2 TB of SSD storage. The 15-inch models all have 6-core 8th-generation Intel processors (including the i9 chip) and can have up to 4 TB of SSD storage. Both the main display and Touch Bar have True Tone displays. They also feature a third-generation Butterfly keyboard, which is up for debate if that's a good thing. The new T2 chip brings "Hey Siri" to the MacBook Pro. Finally, the leather sleeve accessories for the MacBook are now coming to the MacBook Pro. Overall, it's good to see some Apple hardware news after such a long drought, especially for the Mac. We'll hear more about this in the coming days.

WWDC 2018 Impressions: iOS 12

I think it’s not too outlandish to say this year’s WWDC was underwhelming. I set my expectations low, so I’m not too surprised. This was a two hour presentation with very little substance. Let’s start from the very beginning.

The intro video is always something I look forward to. This year, we saw a nature documentary about developers going to WWDC. It was pretty lackluster. There were a few moments that were funny, but we’ve seen way better in previous years. One of my favorites was a Google I/O intro from a few years ago with the actors from Silicon Valley watching the presentation. This year’s intro video just made me not want to attend WWDC. Maybe it’s just me, but watching a bunch of introverted people crowding into a building, awkwardly socializing, grabbing at food, and then trying to get seats isn’t what I’d like to associate WWDC with. I know it’s just a joke, but previous years had much better wit and creativity.

The theme of the presentation was putting the customer at the center. The use of the term “customer” felt really strange coming from Apple. Apple usually refers to the consumer as their users. They like to make us forget that we’re shelling out a lot of money for their products so using this term a lot was weird. I get that this presentation is for developers, but even then, customer is not the best choice. (Also, this presentation has very little substance for developers.)

iOS 12’s first feature was performance improvements, which I really hope is pseudo language for bug fixes. I can’t send three iMessages to my friends without the order of the bubbles getting mixed up. So much of iOS has become unacceptable at release and should’ve been fixed. Moving on, many of the features were either things that already exist or attempts to get certain apps used more.

ARKit looks nice, but had way too much demo time. I could see ARKit table tennis, where people would just need their phones and a table to play. The Measure app is a nice utility, but already exists in the App Store from other developers. Hopefully the measurements are as accurate as advertised.

FaceTime got a long overdue update. Up to 32 people can FaceTime at once now. I don’t use FaceTime very often, but I do use FaceTime Audio. I’ve been waiting for group FaceTime Audio forever, so I’m a fan of this. I also like having FaceTime calls in iMessage. I think that’s a nice touch.

Memoji is literally just Apple copying Bitmoji. The customization looks robust, and gives hope for more frequent Animoji updates, but they put way too much emphasis on this. I don’t want to use these things in a FaceTime call. This just looks like Apple copying Snapchat. If I wanted this, I would probably use Snapchat, especially considering Snapchat is cross-platform and doesn’t require an iPhone X. Of all things, I’m actually happy they added tongue tracking. Of the few times I did use Animoji, it was weird having everything but my tongue line up. That sounds weird, but when you’re playing around making exaggerated facial expressions at your phone, you notice it quick.

I’m really tired of these “use your phone less” updates. Google did it last month and Apple is doing it too. I can see it as a parental control feature, but not for adults. Phones and tablets are so essential today that the monitoring feature is a bit redundant. I’m glad they didn’t add that “turn your screen black and white so you don’t use your phone” feature that Android has. I do really like the idea of having Do Not Disturb automatically disable based on location or calendar events. That’s perfect.

Notifications are finally grouped. They also will have some interactive uses that a total of five apps will take advantage of most likely. For example, you can quickly add another seat to a reservation from the lock screen. I like features like this, but the use is so specific, very few developers hop on. And the apps that are perfect for this will likely never add it.

Photos features always bug me. Mostly because Apple pretends that every photo we take is perfect. I like the iPhone’s camera a lot, but I don’t like Memories. The new For You tab is Memories times ten. It picks random irrelevant photos I never asked for and shoves them in my feed. When I want to view specific photos, I view said specific photos. Apple can’t predict what photos I want to see and they shouldn’t try. Also, sharing photos with friends is still super fragmented.

Shortcuts was both awesome and scary at the same time. Apple actually did something with Workflow, which they acquired a while back. I get that regulating so many commands for so many apps will be a huge undertaking for Siri, but we needed better third-party support for Siri. I’ll have to wait and see how useful some of these new features are, but I like being able to create automations for Siri. Workflow wasn’t super user-friendly and I didn’t like how certain automations didn’t work as expected, but maybe Apple making it will improve upon these issues. It bugged me that the demo didn’t use phrases for the commands, instead using basic words that were just commands. It took away from using Siri as a proactive assistant and just makes Siri look like something you have to tediously setup to get it to do what you want. Also, they way overplayed the “Siri can tell your boss if you’re running late” feature. It’s cool, but they made it sound like it could do more than just that. Maybe it can, but I’m not sure. You can’t even edit the prewritten response it seems.

They had this little section some of about iOS’s “most popular apps.” Those apps were iBooks, Voice Memos, Stocks, and Apple News. Apple Books looks okay. Yeah, okay. Sure. They didn’t show off much. There’s a better design at least. Voice Memos looks terrible. It has long-overdue iCloud support but the ruined the design, and that’s saying a lot. The previous version was nothing to brag about either. Granted, we didn’t see much of this, so maybe it’s easier to navigate. Stocks and Apple News merged. Apple News looks way worse on the iPad with the sidebar. There was probably a better way to design that. Apple News on the iPad should look like a newspaper, not a website or whatever they made here. The new Stocks is fitting I guess, but I’ll have to get used to it. I think they just merged it so people will finally use Apple News.

Student ID cards. Where was this last year? My dorm used contactless ID cards for entry and I would’ve loved using my phone to unlock it. Unfortunately, most uses of ID cards require the card to slides through the reader, which isn’t possible with iPhone. Still, maybe it can be used as a form of identification. It’s also only available at a few select universities, so maybe adoption will pick up, but likely not anytime soon.

All in all, iOS 12 needs to make strides to fix a ton of bugs above all. A lot of the features iOS 12 boasts are either not necessary or things we should've had forever ago. Hopefully bugs will be dramatically reduced moving forward.

HTC's Teaser Image

HTC recently shared a teaser photo for a new phone that they will be revealing soon. Looking below, the teaser actually is made up of iPhone 6 parts [Source: Anandtech]. This confused many and led to speculation. HTC responded by telling CNET that this was to represent how their competitors "inelegantly cram" their parts into their phones. Yeah, I'm sure about that. It's pretty common knowledge today that Apple is the one company that cares about how the inside of their products look, even when you're not supposed to see it. Ironically, HTC made the news a few years ago because of how similar one of their phones looked to the iPhone 6. In the end, HTC managed to make headlines for their teaser because of this detail, and they probably got the publicity they wanted.

Educational Apple Event Announced

Apple is hosting a keynote at a high school of all places. To discuss announcements for education, Apple will be doing a keynote at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago. It will take place on March 27. We are expecting a cheaper entry-level iPad, costing around $259, a new MacBook or MacBook Air, a new Apple Pencil (based on the invite), and iOS 11.3, with something called ClassKit.

Image Credit: Bloomberg

WWDC 2018 Announced

Apple has announced that WWDC will take place from June 4 to June 8 this year at San Jose's McEnery Convention Center. A keynote will be held on June 4 and will announce new software, such as iOS 12. Tickets cost $1,599 (exclusive to developers chosen via lottery) and there are up to 350 student scholarships available. Those unable to attend can view the keynote online.

What Happened with the Face ID Demo

The Face ID fail at Apple's event yesterday was embarrassing, no matter what actually happened. You never want to see that happen during a presentation. But, thanks to David Pogue, we know what happened, as he contacted Apple. As some have speculated, while people setup the iPhone X for the demo, they may have woken it up accidentally and looked at it, causing the iPhone to recognize that as a bad attempt. We see that as the lock icon doesn't shake as I assume it would if it detected an incorrect face. From this, we can assume that there were no more Face ID attempts. This checks out with me and most people, but definitely not a good way to show off one of the flagship features of the iPhone X.

iPhone Event 2017: Quick Thoughts

I just now finished watching Apple's iPhone 8/X event. Here are some quick thoughts.

Apple Watch Series 3

The general consensus is that cellular on an Apple Watch isn't very practical. I'm not going to call someone while I'm surfing. I'm not away from my phone long enough to justify an extra $10 per month on my phone bill. Series 3 without cellular looks nice. More speed is all I can ask for. Compatibility with the AirPower Mat is nice. I was hoping Series 2 would cost about $100 less and I could get that, but it looks like we're stuck with the same price.

Apple TV 4K

This was a product that was two years late. There were rumors two years ago about a 4K Apple TV. I think it's important to note that we have video games in 4K now. I understand it wasn't as mainstream two years ago, but if iPhone 6s could shoot 4K video at that time, it seems that would've been perfect timing. If not then, then last year, but now just feels late. The features for the TV app look nice, but that's for any Apple TV.

iPhone 8

This phone looks solid. Yeah, it was just performance upgrades and a glass back, but I really like this phone. Coming from an iPhone 6s owner, I like this phone for no other reason than there weren't a bunch of gimmicks Apple was trying to sell me on. Granted, they offered wireless charging, but I am excited for wireless charging. The idea of placing my phone in my car and having it charge and connect to CarPlay is awesome. AirPower Mat is still a cool idea. I believe that will revolutionize the way people travel with Apple products. No itinerary just for cables. Just bring your devices and the mat. No one likes the transition for things like AirPods and Apple Watch, but I get why we need the upgrade for wireless charging. I also feel this introduction to wireless charging could be a great transition for USB-C next year, so users can choose between USB-C and wireless, causing less controversy.

iPhone X

For me, this phone is very controversial. I love the design. An edge to edge display for iPhone looks beautiful. But paying over $400 extra for that display plus Animoji doesn't seem worth it to me. If they announce the iPhone 11 next year and lower the price point, I would be much more excited about that phone. I would like it if they made an "AnimojiKit." Developers could take 3D models of popular characters, like Mario, and have users send animated versions of them. I don't care for the emojis. I don't like Apple making these emojis a flagship feature of their $1,000 phone. To me, it's just an iPhone 8 + a great display + a replacement for Touch ID + Animoji. In short, it's just the display that appeals to me. 

iPhone 8 Event Invite: Let's Meet at Our Place

Apple has officially announced that their iPhone 8 event will take place on September 12. Possibly more importantly, Apple has confirmed that this event will take place at the Steve Jobs Theater. That's why the invite says, "Let's Meet at Our Place." At this event, we can expect new iPhones, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, and more.

Apple Announces New iPad and Red iPhone

This morning, I was a bit surprised to see how much would come out of an Apple Store update. Apparently, when we heard new iPads would be announced this week, this was what it meant. These aren't new iPads exactly, nor are they iPad Pros. However, they are a 9.7-inch iPad with an A9 chip, giving it more powerful. The real kicker here is the price. It starts at just $329 for 32 GB and $429 for 128 GB. Also, the iPad Mini 4 now starts at $399 for 128 GB. The other big piece of news was a new (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7. This is all fine and dandy, but I'll personally be waiting for the iPad Pros and maybe, just maybe, a new desktop announcement finally. Priorities...

The iPad Turns 7

Seven years ago today, the iPad was announced. The iPad was absolutely essential to creating the post-PC market. I remember distinctly watching the iPad being announced when I was in the fifth grade. By the time most of my classmates heard what the iPad was, they thought I meant iPod, which ironically is irrelevant today. The iPad brought the beautiful interface of the iPhone to a larger screen, allowing developers to create bolder, more detailed apps. The New York Times app was mind blowing to me. I had never seen a digital newspaper on such a screen before. The MLB At Bat app showed real-time baseball game data in an immersive way. The iPad has shaped the tablet industry as a whole, and today, we celebrate its seventh year of existence.

Bluetooth 5

Bluetooth 5 has been adopted by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. This means that manufacturers are allowed to use Bluetooth in their devices. But what is Bluetooth 5? Bluetooth 5 is the new version of Bluetooth. It has four times the range, twice the speed, and eight times the broadcast message capacity. It's also a big push for the smart home and the Internet of Things. And, as always, it improves the power draw, so that it eats up less battery. However, it isn't a simple software update. Manufacturers must first use this in their devices for consumers to use it. There's a good chance that it'll work with next year's iPhone 8.

The New MacBook Pro

Today, the new MacBook Pro was announced, and the wait was worth it. Before I go further, this post is an opinion post and not a recap, so I'd recommend watching the keynote or looking at the official site to learn more about the product.

We learned that what we thought was the Magic Toolbar is actually called the Touch Bar. I really like this in that it can be contextual and provide supplemental information, while still providing access to important system functions at anytime, like the mute button. The entire time, I needed to hear them say that developers would have access to this technology, and they did wait a while to say this, but they did. Meaning, this technology can be the gift that keeps on giving as long as developers choose to support it. I also was hoping that Final Cut Pro would be compatible with it on day one. It was. The fact that they even acknowledged Final Cut Pro was crucial. Final Cut Pro has not received an update on the Mac App Store since January of this year. Since discontinuing Aperture, I've had a lingering fear that Apple may soon discontinue all of their pro apps, but this update means that Final Cut (and hopefully Logic Pro) will continue to be supported. The final point I wanted to make was how Apple put emphasis on the "Pro" in MacBook Pro. It was designed to be a top-of-the-line professional computer. It's finally that again, after such a long time without an update. However, it's not for everyone. This Touch Bar is not for everyone. That's why they have the model without the Touch Bar. It's great for more moderate usage, but at a price point that more people can afford. In short, today's presentation wasn't for everyone, but for the people it was for, it was an important step for the MacBook.

Leaked Images of the Magic Toolbar

The Magic Toolbar, which will be announced tomorrow alongside a new MacBook Pro, has had images leaked thanks to source files in the latest macOS Sierra beta [Source: MacRumors]. It appears that the Touch ID area will be embedded into a small square near the right side of the bar. I'm looking forward to seeing everything it's capable of tomorrow at Apple's "Hello Again" event.