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News
Apple revises Q1 2019 guidance
It was not a good week for Apple or Tim Cook
He posted a letter to investors revising Apple's Q1 2019 guidance down about $5 billion to approximately $84 billion.
Mentions "economic weakness in some emerging markets" having "significantly greater impact than we had projected"
meaning mostly China
Also note that this and the timing of the product releases, string US dollar, and supply constraints caused fewer then expected iPhone upgrades.
Apple was caught off guard by slowing economy in China and concerns over US tariffs and that is likely why they are revising guidance. I don't think it completely explains the "whole" picture behind this years consumer reaction to iPhone.
I think there is a lot more complexity tied up in all the stuff that "caused fewer then expected iPhone upgrades"
And it's the factors we've been talking about. Less exciting upgrade features, higher price points, and iOS 12 being a damn good upgrade on older devices.
Cook did mention battery replacements as a factor.
That said, there does seem to be evidence that, at least in the US, iPhone is doing just fine.
Cook said in a memo to employees that, "iPhone activations in the U.S. and Canada set new Christmas Day records".
Localytics showed Holiday activations of iPhone XR were strong
Up 88% over the holiday period. "More new device activations than any other device over Black Friday weekend".
6th Gen iPad activations were up 219% and iPad Pro 11-inch Activations up 125% and 12-inch up 99%
Surprisingly iPad mini 4 activations were up 108%
Still despite the good "lift" numbers overall Apple's older devices like iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, and iPhone X showed the strongest overall share of Apple's iPhone mix.
The Maccast "poll" would seem to indicate pretty healthy iPhone upgrades
I get that our sample audience is likely skewed.
Most of the upgrades seem to be from iPhone 7 owners with many option got iPhone X series models, with a few iPhone XRs.
Those with a iPhone Xs and iPhone 8s seem fairly happy to stick with what they have.
Can Services be Apple's saving grace?
Apple did announce that the App Store set new worldwide spending records over the holidays
App Store purchase of $1.22 billion between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
On New Years Day the App store saw $322 million in purchases which was a single day record.
One area they are going to need to figure out is revenue from the upcoming streaming video service
The idea we've been hearing is "free" with up-sells of "premium" channels like HBO, Showtime, etc.
That relies on in-app (in channel) subscription and a rev share.
They lost Netflix last month and now we know that's to the tuns of about $21 million a month on average (data from Sensor Tower)
AirPower the product that could? Well, might.
Apple promised it's be here in 2018. It didn't show up.
I have written it off, but there are some trusted community members saying this little product may not be vaporware.
Developer Steve Troughton-Smith claimed on Twitter that his birdies are saying Apple is past their issues with the product and could be getting it ready for release soon.
Ming-Chi Kuo told his investors in a note that Apple may launch the AirPower "in late 4Q18 or early 1Q19,"
The assumption is that we'll also get Apple's AirPod Wireless Charging case at the same time.
An icon for a Smart Battery Case for the iPhone XS was show on an iPhone running iOS 12.1.2
Accomplished by a Reddit user who trimmed down his Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 7 to fit his iPhone X
The icon sown seems to be a new design with no "chin".
Not definitive proof it's coming be there have been rumors of new leather battery cases coming for the XS series phones.
iTunes coming to 'smart' TVs
Not an Apple branded TV, but other Smart TVs
Samsung announced it will offer iTunes Movies and TV Shows and Apple AirPlay 2 support on 2019 Samsung Smart TV models beginning this spring.
Apple says "leading TV manufacturers" will also be including AirPlay 2 support in their TVs
They updated their AirPlay 2 site showing an example of the lock screen/ control center interface
This would also mean Siri and HomeKit integration which is great news
Apple seems to know very well that their services and content are what's going to take them past iPhone and on the the "next big thing".
This feels just like when Apple brought a mature iPod and iTunes product to Windows when iPod sales started to flatten and it's more about selling and delivering content and services.
A tri-lens iPhone?
Forget a camera bump what about a camera postage stamp?
Some possible renders of a possible engineering validation testing (EVT) design of a 2019 iPhone from Digit and OnLeaks shows a triple lens system.
Might be a platform for the rumors "Time of Flight" depth mapping lens system from Sony we discussed last week.
The renders are "fugly" and likely don't represent a final design.
An analyst at Atherton Research believes the 2019 iPhones will have USB-C connectors, a smaller notch, and Touch ID under the display.
Other rumors are citing punch hole designs
I highly doubt Apple would give up FaceID for TouchID now.
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
More on external DVD drives
We spoke about ways to still burn and watch DVDs with current Macs
I had mentioned that one disadvantage to having a non-Apple "SuperDrive" external DVD was that Apple's built-in DVD Player would not work.
The alternative was to use VLC
A few Maccast listeners wrote in to say they are able to play DVDs on non-Apple DVD drives with the built-in app just fine.
I ordered a $27 USD LG DVD drive to test it out. I'll report back.
Not so hidden UIs
We've been talking a lot about hidden UI elements in Apple OSes lately
Dan wrote in with on for Apple Watch
When you tap Apple's Calendar complication. It will take you to a view with the word "Today" in the upper left corner.
If you tap the word "Today" you get a "month" view with the current day highlighted.
You can't really do anything navigationally in this screen though. Tapping just returns you back to the view you were just on.
When I tried this on my Apple Watch I couldn't get it to work.
Turns out it only works in two of the three views, but luckily there is actually a "hint" for this one that is common to other Apple apps on watchOS and iOS
First, on the main view you need to "force press" to get the list of view options
List, Day, and Today. (mine was set to Today)
If you're in List or Day views Dan's trick will work.
When these views are enabled you'll see a '<' (carrot) next to the Word today indicating that there is another screen you can navigate to when tapping that link.
Scott gave another tip for Safari on iOS
Press and hold the two-squares icon (on the top-right on the iPad, bottom-right on the iPhone). You will see a menu that will let you manage the tabs.
Options to "Close all tabs", "Close This Tab", "New Private Tab", and "New Tab"
A few others for Safari on iOS
When you're in the "Tab manager" screen (tapping the two squares) icon. Tap and hold the "+" for adding tabs to get a list of recently closed tabs.
Also in the tab manger, swipe up and if you use iCloud Safari sync you can see your iCloud tabs
Tap to access tabs open in Safari on other devices
Can swipe across them to close the tabs remotely.
Tap and hold the "reload" icon to get the option to "Request Desktop Site". Also "Reload without Content Blockers".
Tap and hold the "Reader View" icon (three lines) in the URL bar to set options to use Reader View on a site or all websites permanently.
tap and hold the "back" or "forward" buttons to get a history list.
Peek and Pop links
With 3D Touch enabled devices you can press one level (peek) on a link to preview it.
Swipe up to get options like "Open", "open in new tab", "copy", "add to reading list", "share"
