Maccast 2017.09.09 - Show #627
V Opening
V Opening Music
* Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
V News
V Big iOS GM leak ahead of launch
V It's unsure where this came from, but most likely a source inside Apple.
* John Gruber said in a post to [Daring Fireball]( https://daringfireball.net), "I'm nearly certain this wasn't a mistake, but rather a deliberate malicious act by a rogue Apple employee,"
V Basically the iOS 11 GM firmware was leaked to the Apple press and on Reddit.
* Leakers like Steven Troughton-Smith and Guilherme Rambo‏ also wasted no time digging in on the leaked software.
V Created a uproar on Twitter Saturday morning.
* Many feel these kinds of leaks "ruin" the surprise (totally understandable).
* There is also compassion and respect for the awesome teams of people inside Apple who have their "moment" possibly ruined.
V My thoughts:
* I TOTALLY understand that some don't like leaks for the culture that leaks create. Some see the existence of leakers and sites like report in the leaks as part of the problem.
* I'm not convinced that we can make that culture go away and I'm not sure I agree that by simply talking about leaks we are causing leaks to happen.
* You may or may not agree.
* We CAN make choices about what we choose to consume. If you don't like leaks then don't read about or follow them. If you do, do.
V For my part moving forward I think I will do a better job of trying to separate rumors and leak information in the podcast and give warnings up front when those segments are happening, so you can choose to skip them (remember I use chapters, so skipping should be easy).
* I'm open to your thoughts and feedback.
* Now we're going to go over the latest leaks on the iPhone 8, so skip ahead at will.
V Might only come in three colors, black, silver, and "blush" gold.
* Possibly confirmed by some leaked SIM tray parts.
* iPhone 7 offers six color options: jet black, black, silver, gold, rose gold, and (product) RED.
V From the GM leak
* New wallpapers designed to show off the deep black contrast of the new OLED display. Including some with a retro six-colors design (which I love).
* Naming revealed to be iPhone 8, IPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X
* Tone Display at a resolution of 1125×2436
V More details on "notch'" and "ears"
* Animated "charging" icon
* Double height status bar
* time on left in app. colored when background stuff is happening (i.e. red for recording, green in-call, etc.)
* Extra "white space", that some are bitching about.
* Ming-Chi Kuo says all iPhone X models will have black bezels for "better aesthetic design"
V Portrait Lighting feature of camera. Mode effect for creating dSLR-like shots using depth by simulating different lighting effects.
* Contour Light, Natural Light, Stage Light, Stage Light Mono, and Studio Light.
V FaceID
* Including a possible animation and details of the set-up process
V Has you rotate your head around slightly to capture different angles. You need to do two full Face ID captures to set it up.
* Set up mentions being aware of when a user is looking at the phone.
V Animoji, that will capture your facial expressions and apply them to animated emoji
* Likely driven by "FaceShift" tech Apple acquired in 2015
V Sleep/Wake button (now called Side button, like Apple Watch)
* Double-clicking the side button will show Apple Pay cards and passes just like on the Apple Watch.
* You can also press and hold the side button to invoke Siri.
V Images of the LTE Apple Watch, with red accent on digital crown.
* LTE Apple Watch would be added to your existing cell plan, at an additional cost?
* Share the same number as your iPhone.
* Seems to imply you will be able to take and make calls via the Apple Watch.
* References to new Apple Watch finishes. "Ceramic Gray" and "Aluminum Blush Gold"
V Updated AirPods
* References to "AirPods1,1" and "AirPods1,2,"
* Main change seems to be moving the internal charging status LED from inside the case to the outside.
V Consumer temp for iPhone 8, mild?
* At least according to a recent survey of 400 current iPhone owners done by Piper Jaffray
* It showed that interest in upgrading this is about the same as it was for the iPhone 7 last year. 16 percent plan to upgrade vs. 15 percent last year. And 24, vs. 29 percent last year, said they would "maybe" upgrade.
* Still the survey notes that there may ultimately be more iPhone demand than these numbers indicate.
V Many people, outside of tech watches, don't know the extent of the radical upgrades and redesign
* Conditioned to the "S" cycle maybe?
V There is also an estimated base of 330M iPhone owners who's devices are over 2 years old. Typically the point at which many users upgrade.
* The piece note that the more significant the upgrade changes the more folks upgrade
* Overall they thing after 12-months Apple will have sold ~ 242 million iPhones. A 12 percent year-on-year increase. Not quite the 36 percent jump Apple saw with the iPhone 6 launch, but up from the somewhat flat numbers of the iPhone 7
V More on pricing and why this years model is more expensive
* Ming-Chi Kuo thinks a part of it is the OLED screen and the fact that Samsung is the sole supplier. They have more ability to control Apple's price.
* Kuo suspects that Apple is paying between USD $120 - $130 per unit. v.s say $45-$55 for an iPhone 7 Plus LCD.
* Getting in-display TouchID Kuo with 3D touch and OLED has also been a struggle. Assumes that's why Apple may abandon it in the new iPhone, but stopped short of saying TouchID is gone for sure.
* Apple has reportedly been trying to get OLED production and deals going with Japan Display and LG Display, but their capabilities and volumes are not quite where Apple needs them, so it could be a few years before Apple can add additional OLED suppliers.
V Those displays may also delay the release date of the next iPhone
* While the iPhone "S" series models may ship September 22nd, the iPhone "8"s might not be ready until sometime in October according to Macotakara.
* Wall Street Journal also reported on the possible "about a month" delay.
V Steve Jobs Theater prepped
* We know about the exterior with it's round shape, 20ft. glass panels and "floating" disc shaped silver carbon fiber roof.
* We also know the main theater which seats 1,000 is underground, but so far not much is know about the interior.
* Next weeks Apple event will be held there so we'll get out first official look inside, but new info this week gives us a hint at the experience the media is about to have
V Bloomberg got some of the details from "inside" sources
* it goes 4 stories underground.
* Spiral staircases from the atrium to a lower level.
* Two custom-made rotating elevators
* A wall that retracts to reveal the demo room for after the presentation.
V Custom leather seats, with power outlets.
* Cupertino public works director Timm Borden claimed they cost 14,000 each according to the San Jose Mercury News.
V Wild HomePod sightings
V Guilherme Rambo, the Brazilian iOS developer, who ha been poking around in the betas might have discovered the HomePod setup process
* Posed a screenshot of a "failed" connection process that indicated the iPhone would listen for a tone from the HomePod.
* Presumably used during set up. There is a "Enter passcode manually" link too.
* HomePod doesn't have Bluetooth or NFC (which seems odd)
V Do wonder about the security of the "tone", especially in the wake of this weeks Siri "DolphinAttack" hack.
* Discovered by Chinese researchers it impacts all 'voice assistants'.
* Translated typical vocal commands into ultrasonic frequencies that are too high for the human ear to hear, but perfectly decipherable by the microphones and software powering our always-on voice assistants.
V Apple ends Apple Music Festival
* The past two year was called the Apple Music Festival and was a 10 day event at the historic Roundhouse in London. Prior to that it was the "iTunes Festival" and went on for a whole month.
* In the past has featured major acts like Elton John, Amy Winehouse, Paul Simon, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Linkin Park, and more.
* The Roundhouse reportedly sent out emails saying the Apple Music Festival will not be hosted in 2017.
* Apple has not said why or if the festival is permanently cancelled.
V There could be a number of reasons
* Apple this year has sponsored shows and artists at various venues including South by Southwest
* They also have Apple Music and Beats One radio which features live concert streams
* They have done concert films and documentaries for Apple Music
V Apple wants 007
* We know Apple has been putting together a budget, staffing up and looking for office space as part of new efforts to develop original content and programming
* Now it looks like they might be interested, along with Netflix, Warner Bros, Sony, Universal and Fox, in acquiring the distribution rights for future James Bond films. This is according to a piece in the Hollywood Reporter
* After 2015's "Spectre" the existing distribution contract for Bond, which was held by Sony, expired.
* Apparently Apple and Netflix may even be willing to spend more than
* It seems a bit odd because MGM is still holds the right to the Bond property, but it might be a play by Apple to try and get licensing or outright purchase the property from MGM in the future.
* The ex-Sony execs, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, who Apple hired are supposedly spearheading Apple's efforts to get the distribution rights.
* The deal could be upwards of several billion dollars. Apple has reportedly budgeted a billion dollars in 2018 for original content production.
V In addition this week saw Apple adding to the video content team with more key hires from Sony and WGN America
* Former head of current programming at Sony Pictures Kim Rozenfeld is joining Apple as its future head of programming and lead executive on documentary series development.
* Max Aronson, VP of drama development at Sony Pictures Television, and Ali Woodruff, Sony's director of creative affairs, were also recently hired by Apple.
* Finally, Rita Cooper Lee, formerly WGN America's head of publicity, will join the Apple team to lead communications for the video content unit.
V Apple got a new deal with Warner Music Group to pay a lower percentage of streaming music subscriptions according to Bloomberg
* Apple will now give the label 55 percent of sales. The current rate was 58 percent. The rate could also go lower if Apple hits certain subscriber targets.
* Apple pushed for the deal reportedly after rival Spotify secured a lower rate, believed to be 52 percent.
* Apple is looking to get better deals with Universal and Sony too, but have yet to make a deal.
V The piece doesn't discuss it, but I would like to know what this means for the artists.
* Overall global music sales grew 5.9 percent to $15.7 billion in 2016 which is good, but I'm not convinced that streaming deals are good for the artists.
* Still it's the way the music business is headed, so like any other economy impacted by changes in technology I guess they'll have to adapt.
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V Feedback, commentary, opinions
V Your AirPods feedback
* Thank you all for emailing in.
* While many of you agreed that you love the AirPods, there were some who brought up some various reason why AirPods were not for them.
V The biggest reason I heard was not quality, price, fit, "i'll lose them". It was "they're stupid looking" or more politely, "not my style".
* One person unfortunately returned them after "being made fun of" at the gym. (not cool).
* Also, snagging on clothing, specifically outerwear, was listed as a problem.
V Another more feature related complaint was lack of physical controls.
* Two suggestions for alternatives folks liked were the [Bragi Dash Pro]( http://www.bragi.com), a bit more expensive at $329 and the [BeatsX]( https://www.beatsbydre.com/earphones/beats-x), [Nuhera IQbuds]( http://www.nuheara.com) ($299.00)
* The BeatsX also have Apple's W-1 chips, so you get all the syncing advantages, but they do have a wire between the earbuds. Also offer different colors and ear tips.
V Lack of noise cancellation (I get this one), AirPods can be hard to hear in noisy environments. Can be good or bad.
* The Bragi Pros and toggle on and off the noise cancellation.
* The Nuhera IQbuds enable you to adjust sound for each ear independently and hear speech more easily in noisy environments.
V iTunes Matched, almost
* Play question from Danny
* I know what you're talking about it doesn't too often, but I've had a track or two that came up as "odd".
V Also want to clarify, "replaced" to make sure people understand what you mean. "in the cloud" is the key there.
* We're talking about the iTunes in the Cloud stuff.
* Local vs. Matched vs. Uploaded.
* It happens more to folks who are audiophiles and have more obscure versions of stuff I think. I know a common one is the old mono versions of Beatles tracks being replaced with stereo versions.
* It would be nice for Apple to add a "force" an uploaded version even if the track is "matched". They don't do that (probably due to how their licensing agreements work and costs). I believe they may pay more for you to stream tracks that were uploaded as compensation for the risk of tracks being pirated.
V The first one is if the odd match is just because of odd metadata in the source file.
* You could verify the track is linking to the right album in iTunes.
* Right-click on the track in the iTunes Library and choose 'Go-To > Song in Apple Music' and make sure it's the right version.
* Also make sure your copy has the title, artist, and album info as it appears in iTunes.
* After you make any adjustments, try 'File > Library > Update iCloud Music Library'
V The "one" workaround that I've heard of is to tweak the audio track in a way that would force iTunes Match to not recognize it.
* Here is a [how-to]( https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4544764?tstart=0) on Apple's Discussion Board
* Basically this guy backs up the original good track
* Then he makes a copy and tweaks it so the metadata is maintained, but filters the audio file in a way (like reversing it) so Apple Music can't match it.
* He then adds this file to iTunes and right+clicks and says "Add to iCloud." Have the iTunes Media folder open and make sure your good audio file and the bad one have EXACTLy the same filename.
* After iTunes displayed the message "Sending information to Apple", copy the original (correct) file and replaced the gibberish one.
* When Apple returns a "No Match" signal back to iTunes, it should begin to upload your good file as an 'uploaded' track.
V A final thing to note. Apple might not know they have a bad rip or track.
* I assume the whole process is highly automated and it could just be a "bug" that a track has wound up as an odd version.
V I would report the bad tracks to Apple and see if they get fixed on their end.
* In iTunes right+click the bad track and choose 'Share Song > Copy Link'.
* Go to [Apple's Feedback]( http://apple.com/feedback) site and click on Apple Music.
* Fill out the form selecting 'Broken Feature' under the "feedback type"
* Explain the problem track and what specifically is wrong with it and paste the link.
V Listener question grab bag
* Play questions from Martin
V On the buying an unlocked iPhone
* So when you buy your phone from Apple you will specify your current carrier and the just pay the full unlocked price.
V If you plan to switch there are some gotchas to be aware of:
* Currently there are two different cellular modem flavors of the iPhone
* The Verizon/Sprint versions support GSM and CDMA on their modems (Qualcomm). The AT&T/T-Mobile versions only have GSM (Intel modem).
* At launch Apple often only sells the "carrier locked" phones. So you could get a Verizon and then move to AT&T or T-Mobile, but not the other way around.
V Eventually they do sell a "carrier-free" version that comes unlocked, but often that is weeks to months after launch.
* I believe the carrier free models are the GSM/CDMA models
* You will need to typically activate the one you buy with a carrier and then go through their unlock procedure to free it from their network.
* Also, Intel may have acquired the CDMA license they need, so it's possible there may be only one model of the new phones, we'll know for sure after Tuesday's announcements.
V On the 1Password question
* No, an unencrypted data export is not safe.
* 1Password offers it's own syncing that is secure (if you use the subscription) and also allows you to use 3rd party services including Dropbox or iCloud.
V Backups, desktop vs. portable drives
* Doesn't really matter
* The main difference is going to be price/convenience
* Desktop drives are larger and tend to need external power, but are less expensive.
* Portable drives are much smaller, bus powered, and a little bit more expensive.
* I like portable dives myself, but that's really just personal choice.
V These days if you can afford it, going to SSD can give you better performance and can avoid mechanical failures.
* It has been proven over and over that modern SDDs can handle the write cycles for being used in backup, but don't necessarily have a longer life than HDDs
* Note however all drive will fail, it's only a question of when
V Closing
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