Benjamin Mayo

A nice little feature of watchOS 8 that has gone a bit under the radar is the new Voice Feedback option in watchOS 8. The toggle can be enabled in the Settings app on the Watch itself or through the companion Watch app on the iPhone; go to Settings -> Workout and look for the Voice Feedback toggle.

An explosive report from Amnesty International interpreted device logs to reveal the scope of targeted malware attacks in active use targeting Android and iPhone devices, since July 2014 and as recently as July 2021. Exploited devices can secretly transmit messages and photos stored on the phone, as well as record phone calls and secretly record from the microphone. The attack is sold by Israeli firm NSO Group as ‘Pegasus’.

Whilst the company claims to only sell the spyware software for legit counterterrorism purposes, the report indicates it has actually been used to target human rights activists, lawyers and journalists around the world (as many have long suspected).

Ahead of the new season premiering on Apple TV+ this Friday, some Apple retail stores are giving out promotional sticker packs featuring Memoji of Ted Lasso.

Apple has made a few iMessage sticker packs for other TV+ shows like Snoopy in Space or Dickinson but this is the first time we can recall Apple distributing show-specific promotional materials at Apple retail stores.

Apple is readying a new service that will allow Apple Pay users to buy products and pay them off in monthly installments, rivalling existing monthly payment plan options from the likes of Affirm and PayPal. Bloomberg says this feature is in development and internally named ‘Apple Pay Later’.

However, Apple’s service would be directly integrated with Apple Pay. Apple is said to be partnering with Goldman Sachs on the new scheme. Goldman Sachs already serves as the backing bank behind the Apple Card.

Apple today released the MagSafe Battery Pack accessory for iPhone 12 models. Many months after the iPhone 12 series was unveiled, Apple has quietly released a new first-party MagSafe accessory in the form of a wireless battery pack. (Unofficial magnetic battery packs for iPhone 12 have been around for several months from third-party makers.)

The MagSafe battery pack attaches magnetically to the back of the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max offering additional hours of battery life. The pack itself charges with a Lightning cable, and it can passthrough charge to the attached iPhone at the same time. Apple recommends using a 20-watt USB-C charger for the fastest charge times.

The awards nominations for the 2021 Primetime Emmys have been announced today and Apple TV+ is leading the Comedy categories thanks to heartwarming hit Ted Lasso. The series was placed in the Best Comedy category, and Jason Sudeikis was nominated for best lead actor in a comedy series. The Ted Lasso cast earned three nominations for best supporting actor with recognition for Brendan Hunt, Brett Goldstein and Nick Mohammed. Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple were also nominated for best supporting actress in a comedy series.

Ted Lasso’s performance at the Emmys mirrors the success the comedy has seen at other high-profile awards shows including winning a Peabody Award and a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series.

Apple is continuing to grow its international content ambitions. Today, Variety announced a first-look deal between Apple and AR Content, the production company led by Academy Award nominated producer and directory Alexander Rodynansky.

AR Content will produce Russian-language and multilingual shows for Apple TV+. Rodnyansky says Apple is the first global streaming platform to form a strategic partnership with a Russian production company.

Apple TV+ today announced a new documentary special airing later this year. The show is entitled ‘9/11: Inside the President’s War Room’ and will explore the 2001 terrorist attack from the perspective of the immediate response of the people in charge.

The special will be narrated by Jeff Daniels and include testimony from ex-President George Bush, Dick Cheney, and more. In a notable move for the streaming service, the special will premiere simultaneously on Apple TV+ and on the publicly-funded broadcast channel BBC One.

Only a couple of weeks after the initial iPhone Wi-Fi bug was found, the same security researcher Carl Schou has found another similar issue.

Schou tweeted today that if an iPhone comes in range of a Wi-Fi network named ‘%secretclub%power’, then that iPhone will no longer be able to use Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi related features. Schuo even says that this bug persists when resetting network settings.

Apple is said to be adopting the latest-generation fabrication process from TSMC as soon as the second half of 2022. Nikkei reports that both Apple and Intel are currently testing chip designs using a 3-nanometer fabrication process.

The publication indicates that the first 3-nm Apple chip will likely arrive in an iPad (presumably a Pro model). The iPhone 14 will use a larger 4-nm SoC due to yield rates / scheduling lead times. This would still be an improvement over the 5-nm chip design seen in the iPhone 12 and expected to feature in the iPhone 13 later this year.

Digitimes today reported that Apple is bringing on suppliers ready for the production ramp of the highly-anticipated 2021 MacBook Pro lineup. The report says new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are currently scheduled to launch late in the third quarter of 2021, which presumably means September.

The laptops will feature mini-LED panels, similar to the screen technology seen in the 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Whereas traditional LCD panels use a single large backlight, mini-LED screens features thousands of independent dimming zones allowing for super high peak brightness whilst delivering contrast levels similar to OLED displays.

Update: The original version of this story said the iPad Air had a mini-LED display. This is not correct and the story has been updated.

The Elec is the latest publication to claim that Apple is readying iPad models with organic LED displays (OLED) for as soon as next year. Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first raised the idea in March.

The Elec claims that Apple will launch an OLED iPad with a 10.86-inch screen in 2022, most likely branded as an iPad Air as the current iPad Air already features that exact same screen size. The company is also said to be preparing 11-inch and 12.9-inch OLED iPads for 2023, which would most naturally be iPad Pro models.

Today, Ming-Chi Kuo reiterated that he expects the next-generation of AirPods Pro to arrive next year and feature ‘innovative’ health tracking functionality. This lines up with an earlier report from Bloomberg.

However, in the near term, Kuo is cutting his estimates for Apple’s headphones shipments, mainly because of increasing competition and lack of new AirPods models. However, the recent release of the Beats-branded Studio Buds will offset some of that decline.

As Apple moves more of its services into the cloud, and more Apple users adopt iCloud for photo library and file storage, the company’s infrastructure requirements keep on rising. Although Apple manages many of its own data centers, it also relies heavily on third-party cloud companies as well.

The Information reports that Apple’s spending on Google Cloud services has increased by 50% year over year, and is set to spend about $300 million this year managing more than 8 exabytes of total data.