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News
Apple has great Q3
Record quarter with double dight growth in products and services.
Revenue of $59.7 billion and profit of $11.25 billion.
Revenue breakdowns by product category
$26.42 billion: iPhone (Up 1.66% YOY)
$13.16 billion: Services (Up 14.85% YOY)
$7.08 billion: Mac (Up 21.63% YOY)
$6.58 billion: iPad (Up 31.04% YOY)
$6.45 billion: Wearables, Home, and Accessories (Up 16.74% YOY)
International sales accounted for 60 percent of revenue
Of particular, but not surprising, interest are the large growth numbers in Mac and iPad sales
What was surprising, even to Apple, was the small growth in iPhone revenue
Cook attributed it to the success of the lower cost iPhone SE update and the economic stimulus package
The global smartphone market declined 14% in the second quarter of 2020 according latest research from Canalys
They report that Apple was the only company to grow in the quarter with shipment up 25 percent year over year.
Apple did note that despite the great success in online sales, store closures “weigh on the results”
Apple updates the iMac Line
As expected Apple has come out with some updates to the iMac line.
But going against a number of rumors it’s not quite the updates that were expected.
No redesign or new sizes, like the 24-inch.
Still they made an impressive update to the 27-inch model
New 10th gen Intel Core processors with 6, 8 or 10 core options
AMD Radeon Pro Series 5000 graphics
up to 128GB or RAM (still consumer upgradable)
T2 security chip
All SSDs with up to 8TB
1080p FaceTime camera (finally) and updated ‘studio quality’ microphone system
$500 nanotexture glass option, like on the Pro Display XDR
Also like the Pro Display, Apple will include a special cloth that is the ONLY cloth they advise be used to clean the display
You also cannot use water to clean the display. If liquid is needed Apple says use their cloth and a 70-percent isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution.
Replacement cloths need to be ordered from Apple for around $9 bucks each
Prices start at USD $1,799 for 27-inch with a six-core CPU, 8 GB RAM, a Radeon Pro 5300 GPU, and a 256 GB SSD
With the new specs it’s an attractive machine
Up to 65% faster performance in the CPU and up to 55% faster graphics performance
Still, Apple Silicon based iMacs are likely approaching
Updates to the 21.5-inch models are disappointing, at best
Finally SSD across the line, but you can order with a Fusion drive
No CPU updates
The base mode iMac Pro got a CPU bump.
The base config now comes with a 10-core 3.0 GHz Xeon W chip, which was previously an upgrade option
Apple released the first public beta of Big Sur
While it might be tempting, I’d advise most people avoid it on their main systems.
iPhone 12 will be “a few weeks late”
Apple did confirm that the launch of this years iPhone updates would be “a few weeks late”.
Last year Apple started selling iPhones in late September, so depending on Apple’s definition of “a few weeks” we could be looking at mid to late October.
We’re expecting a four model line-up this year with two size options on the iPhone 12 (5.4-inch and 6.1-inch) and two iPhone 12 Pro models. The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and a 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max.
It’s likely that the Pro models will get the new LiDAR Scanner tech that was released with the latest iPad Pro updates.
I wouldn’t be surprised either if we saw a staggered release for different models.
Apple has done this in the past.
Some recent rumors are suggesting the two 6.1-inch models would come first and the 5.4-inch and 6.7-inch models would be released a few weeks later.
Ming Chi-Kuo recently noted an issue with one of Apple’s camera lens suppliers where coatings on the wide angle lenses were becoming cracked.
He said that’s not likely to impact the launch timeline
Kuo seemed to indicate the production of the 5.4-inch and lower-end 6.1-inch model was proceeding simultaneously. So could be that the iPhone 12 would launch first, followed by the Pro models.
Starting to see more frequent component leaks
Weibo had what is reportedly a circular array of 36 magnets that would be inside the back case
Likely for mounting or alignment for charging
Also reported leaks of an iPhone 12 display unit
has a reoriented display connector coming up from the bottom rather than the side
The notch for the True Depth camera system seems to be about the same size.
Phil Schiller reduces role at Apple
He will step down from his role as senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing to become an Apple Fellow
Greg Joswiak will be stepping into the SVP of Worldwide Marketing role.
“Jaws” has served as vice president of worldwide product marketing, so his role is basically being expanded.
Schiller will still be involved at Apple reporting directly to Tim Cook, but his roles will be different
Schiller will continue to “lead the App Store and Apple events.
And will continue to provide “thought partnership and guidance”
Schiller noted that we want to remain at Apple as long as they’ll have him, but is backing away from his existing role to make more time in the future for “family, friends, and a few personal projects”.
Next Apple Watch could bring blood oxygen monitoring
According to reports from DigiTimes
The report says Apple has been working closely with Taiwanese partner ASE Technology to keep their sensor game up
Code in iOS 14 also points to the addition of blood oxygen monitoring.
If the watch detects a drop below 95 to 100 percent saturation it would notify the wearer as that could be a sign of t a serious respiratory or cardiac problem
The report seems to suggest the feature might require a new Series 6 Apple Watch
The feature also could potentially be enabled for older devices
iFixit has noted that the sensors on Apple Watch going back to 2015 have had the ability to monitor blood oxygen levels
Apple has never done anything with the feature though
It’s possible Apple has been waiting for better more accurate sensor technology?
Apple “Everything” Gift Cards
Apple is finally fixing their gift cards, at least in the US (for now)
No more different cards for Apple Store vs App Store and iTunes (Music, Movies, etc.)
The new Apple gift cards will work for everything including in store, in app, and with services.
Old Apple Store cards still work in the Apple Store, but older App Store & iTunes Gift Cards can now go into your Apple Account Balance, and can be used to buy Apple products, accessories, games, music, movies, TV shows, and more.
Might mean the death of “discounted” iTunes Gift Card packages?
iPhone as Payment Terminals
A Bloomberg report says that Apple has acquired mobile payment startup Mobeewave for about $100 million
The company developed an App and technology that allows any NFC enabled smartphone to capture payments from NFC payment cards
Apple is likely looking to expand Apple Pay options for retailers and this would basically allow any iPhone to become a “tap to pay” terminal.
Of course Apple never comments on their purchase or plans for companies that they acquire.
Apple also acquired the talent from the Mobeewave team, so safe to assume they tech will help expand Apple’s various Apple Pay and NFC initiatives.
“Unpatchable” Secure Enclave hack
Chinese hackers from the Pangu Team report finding a security hole in the hardware related to the secure enclave
The flaw is actually in the memory controller that potentially lets hackers to acquire data that would normally be viewed and used by only the Secure Enclave
because it’s in hardware it’s technically “unpatchable”
The exploit was disclosed by the team at the Mobile Security Conference in Shanghai
Affects all Apple chips between the A7 and A11 Bionic
Any exploit would require physical access to the device.
And it’s noted that the issue cannot be used in browser-based or app-based jailbreaks
More likely a concern for corporate espionage and nation state hacking
Apple TV+ adds another “first look” deal
Coming from “Deadline”
This time with Appian Way Productions, a film and television production company founded by actor Leonardo DiCaprio
Apple is already working on two upcoming projects with Appian Way
A thriller starring Elisabeth Moss called “Shining Girls”
The Martin Scorsese film, “Killers of the Flower Moon” which will star DiCaprio and Robert De Niro
Apple has been picking up a lot of “first looks” which could give their Apple TV+ service a leg up over the competition as it means they’ll have they first shot at projects coming from many a list directors, actors, and production companies.
In addition to the Appian Way deal Apple’s landed “first looks” with A24, Idris Elba's Green Door Pictures, Ridley Scott's Scott Free Productions, Justin Lin's Perfect Storm Entertainment, and others.
Apple has also inked a deal for a new detective drama series with the Team Downey production company run by Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey
The series is based on Toronto Life article, "The Sting”, writen by the series co-producer Michael Lista.
Adam Perlman will also server as writer and executive producer.
Robert Downey, Jr. will has a supporting role in the series.
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
App Store App Easter Egg
Noted on MacRumors
Type the search “10 Years” into the App Store App
You get balloons that bounce around the screen.
tap them and they’ll inflate and pop.
double tap and they’ll float off the screen, or you can just wait.
Archiving Messages
Marco wrote me to express some frustration with the Messages app.
This is not something that has really bothered me because I have always viewed Messages as transient, but I can see how it might bother others.
The trouble is over the years you might build up many and larger conversation threads with people or groups of people. There can be a lot of Message history there.
But you also might not always be messaging with these people or groups.
It can start to clutter up your Messages app.
The new “Pinned” messages in iOS 14 might help surface your most recent or favorite conversation
Up to 9
But the issue Marco mentioned was that, unlike with some other messaging apps, there is not a way to “Archive” conversations.
Basically keep them, but stash them away out of the main interface
Yes you can delete older Message threads, but then you lose the entire conversation history
You can adjust the “Keep Messages” setting in the Messages preferences
30 Days, One Year, Forever
So my question to the community is how do you deal with old messages and archiving or saving threads
One way I know of is to export them with a tool like [iMazing](https://imazing.com)
Still this just ends up being a PDF or text record that exists outside of the Messages app
Can really bring these back in.
Also, do you think the idea of a message “Archive” in Messages would be a good feature to have?
We have it for email, so it makes some sense to me.
Lock and hide a folder
Robin sent in an email asking for recommendation on an App that would easily lock and hide a folder on the Mac
Looking in the MAS there are apps, but as Robin noted most have really bad reviews.
There used to be a great App, called Hider from MacPaw, but that was discontinued in 2019.
Natively on the Mac you can use Disk Utility to create an sparse bundle disk image to store data in
Open Disk Utility
File > New Image > Blank Image…
Give it a name, format (APFS or MacOS Extended Journaled), Size (the largest size you’ll ever want it to be)
Set image format to “Sparse Disk Image"
This means it will only use as much storage space as is stored in the image
Under “Encryption” choose the encryption level and enter a password
Do not forget this as if you do any data in the disk image will be lost forever.
To use:
Double-click to mount the bundle
You’ll need to enter the password to decrypt. You can choose to store the password in the Mac OS Keychain.
To Natively “hide” a folder or file just put a “period” at the beginning of the filename
To do it you’ll need to show hidden files in the Finder first
In the Finder Type: Command + Shift + Period
This should work on macOS Yosemite and later systems.
Be VERY careful many critical system files are “hidden”, so don’t move or delete these.
Now you should be able to add a “period” the beginning of the filename. The system will warn you that it will hide the file or folder.
Confirm and then type Command + Shift + Period again and the file or folder (or disk image file) will be hidden.
Obviously this is not the easiest way to do it, but it will work.
You also have many options for just storing encrypted text or data
Password protected notes in the Notes app
Secure notes in 1Password
You can even add secure notes in the Keychain Access app.
So what else is out there?
Remote launch App on iMac
Donald wrote in with a dilemma that I too have run across on occasion.
He likes to listen to Music that is in his Music library on an iMac and access it remotely using the Music app and Home Sharing.
The trouble is for this to work the Music app needs to be open on the iMac and that might not always be the case.
If you’re on another floor or in another room it can be a bit of a hassle.
He asked if there was a way to remotely launch an app from iOS
I immediately thought of a couple options
You could set-up remote login on the Mac using SSH or VNC and then use an app like Prompt or Screens on your iPhone to remotely log into the iMac and launch iTunes
In System Preferences > Sharing
Option for Screen Sharing
You’ll need to click Computer Settings and check the VNC option and set a VNC password
Option for Remote Login (SSH)
In all cases you want to set the accounts that can access the Mac and limit it
If you’re only accessing it locally on your home network and that network is secure (no open external ports and using a good secure wi-fi password) there should be limited security concerns.
When you enable these features it will show you the IP address or network address you need to use to access the Mac remotely
