Quick thoughts on Apple Event

Just some quick thoughts

They went on sale last Friday and I DID jump in on the iPhone XS

Explain why

The easiest ordering process I ever had

It was not clear I had ordered

Dates did start slipping on some of the iPhone XS Max 512 GB model after an hour, but most other models were available the next morning.

Some models and options are back ordered into October.

iPhone XR goes on pre-order 10/19 and ships 10/26

Seemed like Apple Watch Series 4 slipped into October pretty quick.

I thought it was an overall great event.

Not surprised it only focused on two products

Happy there were a few surprises

The neural engine enhancements

"computational photography" with the depth of field feature (sold me on upgrade)

The iPhone XR matching the core features of the iPhone XS models

EKG in Apple Watch Series 4 being FDA approved.

Fall detection in Apple Watch Series 4

Thinness of Apple Watch, but not as thin as Series 0 or 1, also larger 40mm and 44mm

The "demo" drug a bit as usual, but liked the basketball AR one.

No mention of the AirPower.

Increased pricing on the Series 4 and high price on the iPhone XS Max ($1449.00 USD) topped out

Apple Watch starts at $399 for the GPS model and $499 cellular

Apple has a new 10% tariff on Apple Watches sold in the USA

Series 3 stays in lineup starting at $279

With iCloud storage not sure how many people need the 512GB models

The jump from 64GB to 256GB at $149 is a bit odd.

Looking deeper at what Apple announced

iPhone XS line

A12 is a serious update

Apple's first 7nm chip

6-core CPU. 2 performance. 4 efficiency

4 core GPU, that's 50 percent faster

Quadrupled the cores in the Neural engine from 4 to 8

Plus all the other SIP stuff

ISP, Depth Engine, Video encoders/decoders, Secure Enclave, controllers, Always-on Processor, more

The iPhone XS Max is just 0.04" shorter and 0.02" narrower then an iPhone 8 Plus

iPhone XS is exactly the same dimensions and 0.10 ounces lighter

Faster FaceID, same sensors. Will just not recognize me faster (I kid).

Camera systems

New iSight wide angle sensor with 20 percent increase in pixel depth. 1.4-micrometers, up from 1.22. Better low light sensitivity

Smart HDR which uses new features in the neural engine and ISP chips to make better HDR

New Depth Control

Adjust the aperture after you take the shot from F1.4 to F16

At launch, this will only work in post-processing after the photo has been taken, but a software update this fall will enable a real-time preview at the point of capture.

Faster LTE

4×4 MIMO up from the 2x2 in the iPhone X (and iPhone XR)

SpeedSmart tests did some testing on US carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon) and shows massive speed improvements (like 266% faster). DL speeds from 15-20Mbps to between 60 - 72 Mbps.

Bluetooth 5 (also on Apple Watch Series 4)

Dual SIM is one physical and one eSIM, except in China.

Replacing the physical SIM card while keeping the eSIM for their home carrier (or have a second local line or carrier)

Dual SIM Dual Standby, lets both accept in coming calls and switch on the fly

Needs carrier support. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile in US.

Will activate the feature through a future iOS 12 software update, but did not say when

Apple's first handsets to support the 600MHz spectrum on T-Mobile in the US

Apple's 2018 iPhones will support HPUE on Sprint's network.

Supports "faster" charging rates

This is in efficiency, not power. So still capped at 7.5W?

Full charge about 30 minutes faster then an iPhone X

NFC Express Cards with power reserve

Transit cards and Student ID cards that use NFC may still work even when the iPhone has "no power".

Doesn't work if you manually powered down the device.

iPhone XR

Shares almost all the same processor, GPU, wide-angle iSight, and TrueDepth Camera features with the XS models

What's different

IPX67 rating, 1m water for up to 30 minutes

Maxes out at 256GB

IPS Display (Liquid Retina) at 326ppi, vs. 458ppi

Sill has TrueTone and P3 wide color

1792 by 828 resolution (some unhappy because it's not at least 1080p)

iSight can't do "Stage" lighting effects

But does do Smart HDR and Depth Control

No optical zoom, 5x digital

LTE Advanced, not Gigabit-class LTE

Longest battery life of all the new iPhones

colors: Black, White, Product(Red), Yellow, Coral, and Blue.

Yes it has wireless charging.

Pricing: 64GB: $749, 128GB: $799, 256GB: $899

Note starting price is $50 more then the iPhone 8, but $50 less then the iPhone 8 Plus

Apple Watch Series 4

Dual core 64-bit processor with 2x performance

Electrical and Optical heart sensor

First with FDA approval being sold directly to consumers

The FDA used data from the Apple Heart Study in order to grant Apple their clearances

The study done with Stanford Health launched last November and wrapped up at the beginning of the month.

Haptic digital crown. Touch point for ECG

also low heart rate detection

Can detect atrial fibrillation.

Back is all ceramic and sapphire crystal making it radio transparent (but your body really isn't?)

Several, but not all of new faces will make it to older devices on iOS 5

Fire, Vapor, Water, Liquid Metal, and Breathe

Just not Infograph and Infograph Modular watch faces

Will not be "edge to edge" on older models

Order now, shipping this Friday

Other stuff

Ming Chi Kuo sees iPhones and Apple Watch doing well

Expects iPhones shipments to grow slightly year on year to between 75-80 million units

Did call early iPhone XS pre-orders "lower-than-expected" may account for only 10-15 percent of new 2018 iPhone shipments as customers opt for the larger iPhone XS Max or wait for the slightly more affordable iPhone XR

Apple Watch Series 4 "better then expected" because of "innovative features". Apple could reach 18 million units in 2018

Key to remember that everything is more expensive, so even modest growth could have a bigger impact on revenues.

AppleCare+ now has an option for Theft and Loss coverage

Add $100 to the base price of $299

2 incidents damage fees: Screen $29, Other damage $99

Theft and loss coverage requires you to have Find My iPhone enabled on your device at the time it is lost or stolen. During the theft or loss claims process, you will be asked to erase your missing device, disable it, and transfer ownership before you can be issued a new device.

$199 for iPhone 8, iPhone 7, and iPhone 6s

$229 for iPhone XR, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone 6s Plus

$269 for iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone X

Can pay for AppleCare with monthly payments

Battery repairs for iPhone X, iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs will cost $69. Repairs for all older iPhones will cost $49.

remember $29 replacements end at the end of the year.

What's gone and didn't happen

No iPhone SE, iPhone 6s

The new "base" model is the iPhone 7 and is $100 more then the $349 SE it replaces

The iPhone X was upgraded and yes they are not selling the old one. You get a "new" one.

5W power adapter in box, no 3.5mm Lightning adapter (Lightning EarPods)

No AirPower and it's likely dead (severely delayed)

Info in a [report](http://sonnydickson.com/2018/09/16/what-really-happened-to-apples-airpower/) from Apple leaker Sonny Dickson

Sources say the project might be "doomed to failure"

Heat management is reported to be one of the biggest issues

Buggy inter-device communication

Mechanical and interference issues

The report confirms there are between 21 and 24 various sized power coils in the products broken down into three charging groups

Because it requires the coils to overlap in the groups

Apple wants it all in a compact design and is not willing to compromise.

Apple Watch Edition (ceramic)

What's maybe next?

Or what's not. Kuo thinks 2019 will not bring an iSight camera "time-of-flight depth system"

Current tech is good enough for features customers want

Apple's "glasses" and advanced AR experiences, like AR Apple Maps, may not be ready to launch next year.

AR ecosystems requires, 5G connectivity, AR glass (a wearable, head-mounted device) and a "more powerful Apple Maps database" that includes appropriate distance and depth information

iOS 12 and watchOS 5 updates

iOS 12

Performance improvements for older devices

Screen Time

Siri Shortcuts

Tons of your favorite apps have been updated

Need to download the Shortcuts app (or update Workflow)

Apple has a [how-to tutorial](https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts/welcome/iOS) on their site. [MacSparky Field Guids Course](https://learn.macsparky.com/p/siri)

Memoji

Measure app, not for government work

Lesser known stuff

Tap and hold on the space bar to get "trackpad" mode (no 3D Touch required)

Add "alternate" FaceID appearance

Not sure if this would work for a second person or not because of timeout?

DnD options. Can be timed, location based, or permanent.

Quiet notifications. Swipe left on notification on lock screen and choose "Manage"

"Deliver Quietly" or "Deliver Prominently"

Swipe up on lock screen to access "quieted" notifications.

Live Listening

Settings > Control Center > Customize and add "Hearing"

Apple will watch Messages for one-time SMS passcodes and auto-copy and paste them.

Favicons in Safari tabs. Settings > Safari > Show Icons in Tabs

3rd Party password auto-fill. Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Autofill Passwords. Add apps, like 1Password.

watchOS 5

New faces

Walkie-Talkie feature

Podcasts App

Raise to speak. Not an option on my Series 2?

Open the Settings app.

Choose "General."

Scroll down to "Siri" and Tap it.

Make sure "Raise to Speak" is toggled on.

Doesn't support the Series 0

The auto start and stop workouts may be my favorite new feature

tvOS 12

Dolby Atmos for Apple TV 4K

New aerial screen savers

Password AutoFill using the Apple TV Remote

HomePod 12

Multiple timers, Calendar support, make and receive phone calls.

Macs & Cold Boot vulnerability

Discovered by researchers at F-Secure

Effects almost all Mac and Windows computers, even when using encryption like FileVault

It's a firmware exploit that exploits how machines overwrite data when they are turned off.

The attacker would need physical access to the device, but in almost all instances it was possible to steal data even if the Mac had the FileVault encryption feature turned on.

They shared their findings with discovery with Apple, Microsoft and Intel.

Apple is looking into ways to protect their systems. Macs that have the new T2 security chips, iMac Pros and latest MacBook Pro are immune.

A separate iOS issue was disclosed by a researcher on Twitter

This one uses a bunch of CSS & HTML code to crash and lock up an iOS device

Crud-ton of DIVs

It happens when a CSS background-blur effect is applied in CSS to every element on a page

The processing involved overloads WebKit causing a kernel panic

Would have to visit a site with the code (or maybe an app with browser embedded?) Maybe an HTML email?

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New device day feedback

A number of folks have wrote or called in to share their thoughts on Apple's new devices.

Play comment & question from Martin

You can for sure backup to both places.

You should always be able to restore an older iOS backup to a newer version of iOS as far as I know, but you cannot do the opposite.

What can happen sometimes is the version of iOS on your old devices may be newer then the version on your new device. This is common if you buy from a carrier or retail store especially later in the upgrade cycle.

Many in the Maccast Slack were excited about the announcements. A lot planning to upgrade to the XS Max which surprised me given the cost

Many on the Upgrade program and the added monthly cost is minimal which is both cool and dangerous in my mind.

Still for some there was not enought changes to warant the upgrade.

Heard from many who are happy with their current devices from the iPhone 8 Plus down to iPhone 6.

With iOS 12 you get better performance on older devices and new features as well.

Many people seem to be jumping in on Apple Watch Series 4, other then owners who bought a Series 3.

How you use 3D Touch

I received a lot of great feedback from you on how you use Force Touch, but first a correction

I'm bad about saying "Force Touch" as a generic "cleanex" way of referring to any of Apple's "Force" technologies

Bart Busschots wrote in, correctly, to remind me that the technology in our iPhones is called 3D Touch and the stuff in the Apple Watch is Force Touch

The key difference is levels of force. Enables "Peek" & "Pop" on the iPhone (also on trackpads, which Apple oddly still calls Force Touch)

One way many of you think about 3D Touch on iOS is like a "right-click" on the mouse.

Adds access to many additional options, but not everyone knows it's there.

Bart also mentioned the "double standard" there.

A big common use for a lot of you is "peeking"

Bart pointed out you can do this in email to "preview" the message without making it as read. Also in Overcast to "Dip in and Out" of a podcast. Preview the show notes and decide to selectively listen or delete (must be enabled)

Force press to clear all notifications, also tabs in safari (but that's a press and hold)

Another favorite, force touch App icons to access "quick" features

Contacts or Phone: Access "favorite" contacts

Sharing an App.

In Apple music to add items to a playlist. Peek the track and then slide up. Also good for "love" or "dislike", but I often just use Siri for this.

Douglas mentioned the 3D Touch trick where you force press on the left side of the screen and slide in the last app you were using

You can then switch back and forth between open apps

Doesn't work on the new iPhone X, XS, XS Max, or XR with the all swipe interface.

Not new, but this is one of those annoying things about 3D Touch as it's not supported the same ways across all devices.

A word about iTunes Movies

Quite an uproar was created in a Tweet this week.

A guy who had moved from Australia to Canada noticed that three of his iTunes Movies (Cars, Cars 2 and The Grand Budapest Hotel) had gone missing from his iTunes Purchases and he could not re-download them

We've talked about this on the Maccast before, but good time to bring it up again.

Apple doesn't promise that any of your purchased media will be ALWAYS available on their servers

Licensing, deals with the studios, local government rules and regulations all can impact what's available and when. Oh and it can change at any moment

Apple specifically tells you that YOU are responsible for backup up copies of your purchased media.

Back to this case

What seems to be the issue is the films were bought in the Australian Apple Store

Now he's using the Canadian Store and the Canadian Store doesn't have those versions of the three films in question.

He could switch back to the Australian iTunes Store to download the films. Needs to have an active account with an Australian credit card in it.

So yes, if you choose digital in some cases it can be a bigger hassle, in other ways though it offers huge benefits

Apple doesn't want it to be difficult. Their hands are tied by a paranoid industry and their regulations and restrictions

If it bothers you then buy physical, use the digital codes, and RIP (also illegal BTW)

Use Movies Anywhere.

Always download and backup local copies of your purchased iTunes media. Films, TV Shows, and Music

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