Hate to say it, but I have been saying it. AirPower will never see the light of day and now it's official.
Apple's Senior VP of Hardware Engineering gave a statement to several news outlet call the end to AirPower
"After much effort, we've concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward."
I believe Apple tried VERY hard to bring this product to market and ultimately just couldn't beat the laws of physics
Rene Ritchie had the perfect take on Vector this week.
Apple set out to push wireless charging forward and this time just couldn't get there
Despite several "multi-pad" charging devices being on the market they don't do what Apple was attempting to do with AirPower
Apple's mat would have allowed charing of three devices of varying sizes on the same surface without regard to placement or orientation
No other pad on the market today does that
The rumors were Apple had between 21 to 24 coils of various sizes and ultimately couldn't overcome thermal and interference issues
The fact that there's a image on the wireless AirPods box that looks like an AirPower just solidifies that Apple likely thought right to the end that they could get there.
More on Apple Card
It will be coming to more countries after the US according to Goldman Sachs International's CEO
No specifics on timeline or countries though.
Interest ranges from between 13.24 percent to 24.24 percent, depending on qualifiers.
Apple will try to shift you to the bottom tier you qualify for, which should be a lower rate based on your credit score.
If you need a card number for a non-Apple Pay purchase or a phone purchase you can generate virtual card numbers from the Wallet app
The number is semi-permanent and can be regenerated whenever you want
There are not single use or single merchant numbers though
Won't support multiple users, each person needs their own card and Apple ID. So if you share an Apple ID, you can't use Apple Card.
Tap to activate the physical card, but the physical card itself doesn't support NFC
Physical card doesn't require a signature.
Can pay your CC bill from the Wallet app attached to your bank account.
Color of the card in the Wallet app itself shifts to match the gradient based on your spending habits
Purchase categories have specific colors and those will shift on the card as your spending shifts
Soon over a billion transaction will have been made with Apple Pay, according to Tim Cook
Still only of people who have activated Apple Pay on their devices only about 3 percent of transactions are Apple Pay at retailers who accept it.
Business Insider did a survey and 80 percent of users said they'd be more likely to use Apple Pay if they had Apple Card
They say they'd be brought in by the cool factor of the physical card, but want to use Apple Pay for the higher rewards
Many of you have pointed out concerns over the future of Apple's Barclay's car or with Apple Pay cash.
I don't know much about it, but I guess you get rewards on Apple purchases that return in the form of Apple or iTunes Gift cards
Apple has also done "no interest" promotions on the card. Not clear if the new Apple Card will have similar promos.
Also, not clear if the Barclay's card will remain.
How does Apple make money?
Interest, Apple will likely be getting a share of that and as we pointed out it might be slightly lower than with other cards, but it's not "low"
There are also interchange fees, charged to merchants, around 2 percent, but with the cash back that's likely a wash.
They will be able to keep more of the interest money by having lower costs on things like customer acquisition, fraud (due to security features), lower customer service costs (Apple Maps) and Messages for support, and Apple won't pay interchange fees on it's own card when it's customers purchase it's products with it's card.
A rare Apple apology
We've seen Apple do it over Maps, but it's a rare instance indeed when Apple apologizes to customers
It seems even on third-gen Apple butterfly keyboard, with the membrane, some customers continue to have issues with sticky or unresponsive keys.
The continued failures were brought up by the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern
In a statement from an Apple spokesperson Apple said, "We are aware that a small number of users are having issues with their third-generation butterfly keyboard and for that we are sorry. The vast majority of Mac notebook customers are having a positive experience with the new keyboard."
The membrane seems to have reduced the number of incidents but might not have eliminated them entirely
The 2016 and 2017 models have a warranty repair program. Hope fully the program will be modded to include the 2018 models ad possibly extended
ECG support widens with watchOS 5.2
watchOS 5.2 rolled out and the big news is support of the ECG feature on Apple Watch Series 4 in more countries
ECG in now supported in 19 countries
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, US and US Virgin Islands
Update also added support for News+, AirPods (gen 2) support, and support for real-time text (RTT) for phone calls.
"Apple Genuine Parts Repair" program may be a thing?
From a leaked presentation discovered by Motherboard
Looks like an effort for Apple to complying with right to repair legislation
Some AASP vendors may already be in the program and it may signal a lightening of restrictions on repairs
Gives shops access to Apple diagnostic software, genuine Apple repair parts, repair training, and doesn't restrict types of repairs that independent companies are allowed to do.
Apple has, and continues to, lobby against right to repair legislation. Arguing that it “threatens consumer security and safety” and “stifles innovation.”
The big deal on this new program is it seems to allow repair shops to do any work necessary to repair devices in house (in the past some repairs required sending devices back to Apple) and to get the genuine parts needed to do those repairs from Apple.
AirPod 2s still remain "unrepairable" in the latest iFixit teardown
Did get a look at the H1 chip with Bluetooth 5.0
Charging case has the same 398 mAh battery capacity, but adds the wireless charging coil.
The buds also have the same 93 milliwatt hour battery
There appears to be a new "water-repellent coating" on the circuit board.
In the last quarter of 2018 AirPods captured 60 percent of the wireless in-ear headphone market according to a new report by CounterPoint
And that was in a market waiting on the release of AirPod 2s
Triple lens "triangle" config
OnLeaks has show off yet another version of the tri-lens "Ritz Camera" bump design
This time the large square camera bump has the lenses on a "triangle" orientation.
In the past we've seen a symmetrical orientation with the the three lenses and the True Tone flash in a square orientation the pips of the number 4 on a die.
It's believed only the next gen iPhone XS Max will get the new triple lens camera system.
A triple-lens rear camera would allow for a larger field of view, a wider zoom range, improved low light performance, and it would capture more pixels.
We've heard resolutions between 10 and 14 megapixels.
It's also believed the three lenses could help power new 3D and AR feature with a "time of flight" depth sensing capability.
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Feedback
Impressions News+
I've had a bit more time with it and I stand by my first impressions.
They content needs to be better optimized for devices to be more compelling
Not sure the incentives exist for publishers to do it.
Still hate that almost all the Apple News formatted magazines still have their iPad and Mac versions with text in a single "iPhone" width column.
I think for folks who are heavy consumers of news and magazines, maybe it works?
Think it may be hard to justify the $9.99/mo. price tag for many.
The "family" nature is nice.
I'll admit the more I use it, it is growing on me.
Apple will close down it's Texture service on May 28th
That will leave Andorid users out of luck
Existing customers will be offered a one-month free trial to Apple News+
Many have been confused about how to add and manage their magazines from the Apple News+ tab
When you're in a magazine at the top you can tap the Magazine banner (name)
Show you all the recent issues and the latest stories
There are "hearts". One to follow (subscribe) and one to block
Anything "followed" will show up in the "My Magazines" tab.
Unfollow and it will be removed from the tab.
The last magazine you were looking at will always be in the "My Magazines" section
I've also had a little time to play with the new TV app
It's available in public beta, even works on 3rd Gen Apple TVs
Brings actual 2FA Apple ID verification code support to 3rd gen AppleTV as well
I really like the new UI and launching into the various channels inside the app feels much more seamless
It does mix the content you have access to with stuff you don't which is one of my least favorite aspects. I wish this was configurable.
Get that this is partly how Apple will make some money
Visually it's really nice, still not sure I like the auto-plying trailers, though they do have a swipe up to play full screen which is nice.
How will services fit Apple's future?
To me they are definitely more part of Apple's near term future, though they have long term prospects
A bridge between iPhone and the next big thing.
That "next big thing" will likely tie into these or other new services
Follow the money trail.
Based on analyst numbers from UBS
AppleTV+ at $9.99 to $14.99 with 10 million to 40 million subscribers by 2021 could represent between 2 to 11 percent of Apple's total revenues.
Apple News+ with 10 to 25 million subscribers would generate 2 to 5 percent of Apple's 2021 revenues
Apple Arcade at a $9.99 price with 5 to 10 million subscribers, 1 to 2 percent of Apple's revenue.
Apple Card (ApplePay), "may not be material contributor(s) to revenue." this seems wrong according to other reports
Tony Sacconaghi thinks possibly ~$1Billion
They ace up Apple's sleeve in all this is the "billions" of iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, and Macs
Also, don't forget Apple TV app coming to SmartTVs, Roku, and Amazon Fire opening the market even further.
Roku has 37 percent of the streaming hardware market.
Subscription fatigue is sure to be another challenge. Still think at some point a discounted "I want it all deal" will be a good idea.
As excited as I am about Apple TV+ I wonder if Apple can pull off the quality vs. quantity play in a market with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and soon to be Disney.
Will Apple Arcade be the place for developers of non-freemium titles?
We still don't know what the rev share agreements are, but there are reports Apple is investing in some titles up front and assisting developers with development.
Do payout happen based on plays / downloads?
How do you get on the platform, is it invite only which it seems like for now.
Can you buy a game if you want to keep it after unsubscribing?
Clear Apple Watch Notifications
Play question from Mark
If it's just the Notifications, swipe down from the top, then you can use a Force Touch.
Will display a "Clear All" option
To clear just the "set" of messages ones
Swipe to the left over the group
You'll see a "x" (close) button to clear the group.
Also has a "…" to give you the "Deliver Quietly" options or you can turn off that type of notification on Apple watch.
If you want to delete all your message conversations in the Messages app, I don't think that is possible on the Watch
As you noted you can delete those individually
It's also a bummer because you can Open Messages on the iPhone and tap the edit then select message threads and bulk delete them on iPhone. But, Messages in iCloud sync doesn't work with Apple Watch.
iPhone ringtone issues
Mia wrote in and is having trouble with her purchased ringtones.
I don't use ringtones, so I'm not sure how to address this, but i'm hoping you on the community can help.
She has a bunch of purchased ringtones that are all assigned to different people in her contacts - both ringtones and text tones.
Every time she restarts the iPhone 8 Plus on iOS 12.2, the ringtones and alerts reset to the defaults.
The first time this happened she went into "Sounds and haptic feedback" and pressed "download all purchased ringtones". It solved the problem until next time she had to restart my phone.
I could see this happening after a "restore", but not after a reset?
Most recently this trick didn't work. Google searching mentioned that purchasing a new ringtone could fix the issue and it did, but that is not what you should have to do every time you reset your phone.
So anyone else having this issue? Know why it's happening or have a good fix?
