Pre-roll: ZocDoc

This episode of the Maccast is brought to you by ZocDoc. More on them later in the show.

Apple iPhone 14 vs 14 Pro. Why more is more.

Seems like this year Apple wants to give you more reasons to want to go “Pro” with your iPhone 14 purchase and don’t worry you’ll also apparently get to pay more for tyhe privilege too.

One difference we already have covered is the rumor that the “base” models, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max (yup. remember, this year by by mini, hello Max) will stick with last years A15 chip from the iPhone 13

But don’t worry too much, at least if you believe leaks from “ShimpApplePro, who claims there will still be some improvements over the previous A15

One big one is 2GB more memory, taking it to 6 vs 4

But they also say some performance tweaks as well

Also a smaller more efficient modem

Other sources like Bloomberg have also previously indicated that this year A15 could be a “variant”, so maybe Apple gives it a slick new marketing name, A15X, just to sell it a bit more.

The Elec also says that the displays in the Pro models will be getting Samsungs “latest and most advanced material” OLED display materials.

While the non-Pro editions will use“lower tier ones”

It was already previously leaked that the Pro models exclusively will offer ProMotion and possibly a new “always on” display option.

Hints of an always on mode are even in the latest iOS simulator from the iOS betas.

What basically looks like a desaturated and simplified mode when you “sleep” the iPhone.

The iPhone 14 is expected to get improvements to the wide-angle camera, but the Pro models are expected to get “significant” upgrades

The 48MP wide angle camera update with “pixel binning” for 12MP shots to preserve image quality in some situations, like low light.

Upgrades to the telephoto camera

Will result in an increase to the size of the camera bump with one report from MacRumors saying leaked specs indicate the height and width will expand 5 percent in each direction and the depth of the bump will increase from 3.60mm currently in the iPhone 13 Pro Max to 4.17mm in the iPhone 14 Pro Max

New purple color for 2022

Some confusing reports on pricing

A source out of Korea claimed that a decision was made "at the top executive level," to keep the base iPhone 14 price set at USD $799.

Meanwhile analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks Apple could increase the average selling price of the entire iPhone 14 lineup by about 15 percent

That could mean the starting price for a Pro model pushes up over $1000 USD.

If it happens I would suspect Apple does the “typical” thing of pushing the starting price of each model in the line-up up by about USD $100 bucks (maybe USD $200 on the Pros?)

iPhone 15 - $899 USD

iPhone 15 Max - $999 USD

iPhone 15 Pro - $1,099 USD or $1,199 USD

iPhone 15 Pro Mac - $1,199 USD or $1,299 USD

Even with the updated pricing there is debate on if the “base” storage on the Pro models would be increased from 128GB to 256GB

Originally analysts Jeff Pu and the research firm TrendForce agreed this year Apple would up the storage.

Now Pu has revised his prediction and thinks Apple will continue to offer the same storage options as they exist with the current iPhone 13 Pro models.

iPadOS delayed until October, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman

A possible reason is Apple needs more time to work out bugs and issues with the new Stage Manager features which are limited to the M1 iPads

Give time for Apple to focus on the release of iOS in September

The push also might better align with a rumored M2 update to the iPad Pro.

Apple is already prepping it’s iPhone / iOS event according to Mark Gurman

Says Apple has already started recording and producing segments eluding to the fact that Apple will likely do another “virtual” event vs resuming in-person events at Apple Park.

They could also use an approach similar to what they did for WWDC with select members of the media being invited to watch the recorded event in person so they can also have a “hands on” area form them to checkout the new products.

Actually two events

September event will focus on the new ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch, while the second event in October will be Mac and iPad-focused.

Despite some mixed expectations from analysts it sounds like Apple might be very optimistic about demand for the iPhone 14 models

Most reports were hearing from the supply chain seem to indicate that Apple is targeting 90 to 95 million units which would seem to indicate they believe there will be strong demand for this years iPhones

Latest beta of iOS 16 brings back the battery percentage indicator on most devices

Currently you can get the percentage, but you need to swipe into the control center.

This update overlays the number on the battery indicator (without the % symbol)

Works on “most’ iPhone models from the X series up except the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 11, and the iPhone XR

Seemingly due to screen resolution. I thought the fact that the iPhone 11 and the iPhone XR were not on the list and the iPhone X was was odd, because the physical screen sizes are slightly larger on the 11 and XR, but the iPhone X has a 2436-by-1125-pixel resolution and the 11 and XR have a resolution of 1792-by-828-pixels

Scorsese and DiCaprio in second Apple TV+ Project

So I’ve already mentioned the upcoming Apple TV+ film, “Killers of the Flower Moon” which is being directed by Martin Scorsese and that stars Leonardo DiCaprio.

That film is based on a non-fiction book by David Grann about murders that took place on the Osage Indian reservation in the 1920s.

Apparently Scorsese and DiCaprio must be fans of Grann’s work because according to Deadline they are already teaming up to make another film based on one of Grann’s books for Apple TV+

This time it’s called “The Wager” and is based on the book, “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder.”

This is the story about the shipwreck of a British naval ship the Wager and crews struggle for survival on a deserted island off the tip of South America.

Friday night baseball on Apple TV+ continues to be free in September. It’s available to anyone, no Apple TV+ subscription required, through the TV app or via the website. (tv.apple.com)

Apple also seems to still be looking to get into college sports. Specifically with the Big Ten conference

We’ve heard about Apple’s attempts in the past, but now there’s a new report from The Atlantic

The report says that at least part of the broadcast rights may have already been won out by Fox, but the conference is also looking for a streaming partner and Apple would like to be it.

It also sounds like the deal would be similar to the “Friday Night Baseball” one Apple has with the MLB where not every Big Ten event would be streamed, but likely events from a specific day of the week

According to the “Hollywood Reporter”, Apple TV+ will be getting a new A24 documentary about the life and career of comedian Steve Martin

According to the report the doc will actually be broken into two parts

Production has started but there is currently no title for the project nor a release date.

Additional bits on products coming soon

A reported leaked schematic and CAD render from “MySmartPrice” supposedly shows some of the planed updates for the 10.2-inch entry level iPad

The shape is mostly the same and there still appears to be a home button

It does adopt the “flat edge” design of the more modern iPads and appears to be slightly thinner

The most significant change, besides the USB-C connector which has been expected, is a rear camera bump.

Still a single lens though and it’s an oblong shape.

There is a second hole under the camera, but that looks just like the mic hole. Though it could also possibly be for a TrueTone flash.

Finally, there does not seem to be a headphone jack.

Previous rumors have predicted a slightly larger display, an A14 Bionic chip, and 5G support

There’s also a report out of Macotakara that Apple is planning a new 4-pin connector for the next iPad though they have no information on what it’s for.

They claim the connector is on the top and and bottom side edges

Outside the connector they also say the iPad will have the same “housing design” and “chassis design”

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman continues to contend that Apple is planning a new Home Pod that is closer to the the original

In addition to being bigger + more speakers it would us a S8 processor (Apple Watch) and have support for Matter (the new “open” smart device communication technology).

There will reportedly also be an update to the HomePod mini, but none of these updates are expected before 2023.

Gurman also revised his think on an upcoming Mac mini Pro update

Originally it was believed Apple was planning an M1 Mac mini Pro model

Now he says that has been “scraped” and Apple will move forward with M2 updates for the mini including an update with an M2 Pro processor

Ming Ch-Kuo continues to think Apple will announce their mixed reality headset in early 2023, maybe as soon as January.

He says it will be Apple’s next “next revolutionary consumer electronics product after the iPhone.”

We’ve already heard the first version will be expensive and Kuo believes Apple will price the first generation of the device between USD $2000 and $2500

He also thinks that Apple will not sell more than 1.5 million units in 2023

Kuo is also predicting that in 2023 Apple will switch the connector in all Air Pods charging cases to USB-C

Zocdoc

If you’ve listened to the show for a while you might know I’m a fan of board games. I love to sit down with my family and breakout a game like Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride.

One game I don’t like however is “hurry up and wait” especially when I’m not feeling well. We’ve all been there you need to see a doctor but their all booked out and you be waiting weeks, if not months to get an appointment. So frustrating.

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Every month, millions of people use Zocdoc. And I’m one of them. It’s my go-to whenever I need to find and book a quality doctor.

Go to Zocdoc dot com slash MACCAST and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Then start your search for a top-rated doctor today. Many are available within 24 hours.

That’s Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash MACCAST. Zocdoc dot com slash MACCAST.

Make a file “invisible”

Rick wants to know if it’s possible to make a file invisible on MacOS

The reason is that he uses encrypted disk images to store tax information and would also like to hide those on his system

FYI, encrypted disk images are a great way to store sensitive data on your Mac.

They are great because they are encrypted locally, so even if you have a backup on a local drive or NAS or in the Cloud the backup is also encrypted

You can create them easily with Disk Utility

Open Disk Utility

Choose File > New Image > Blank Image…

For modern Macs with a current OS I recommend APFS, Single partition GUID partition map, sparse bundle

For the size, pick the largest amount of storage you think you will likely need for what you’re storing in that disk image

The advantage of the “sparse bundle” image format is that regardless of the “size” you choose for the image it will only use the storage equal to what you have stored in the bundle. But you will be able to add data to the image until you get to the original size limit you set when you created the image.

To encrypt the image when you create it choose the 256-bit AES encryption option

This will prompt you for an encryption password.

Make this secure and DO NOT forget it. I recommend using a password manager, like 1Password or LastPass, to generate and store this.

Also, when asked… I would recommend storing this in your iCloud Keychain if you use that. That way if you’re logged into you Mac you can mount the disk image without needing to re-enter your password

With this advice I assume you’re using a unique secure password as your Mac password.

To use the disk image…

It will “mount” like any other external disk on your Mac and you can add or remove files from it

You can also “eject” the disk. To re-mount it you just need to double click the disk image file.

Note that while it’s “mounted” it’s in it’s unencrypted state.

Should not be a problem if you log out or shut down your Mac.

Just be aware if your Mac is open and not secured by a password when asleep any data on the mounted disk image would be accessible.

Now… on to hiding

On the Mac, because OS X is UNIX based, you can hide any file or folder by giving it a name that starts with a period.

Now, if you try to do this in the Finder, by default, it will display a warning message and NOT allow you to do it.

“You can’t use a name that begins with a dot “.”, because these names are reserved for the system. Please choose another name.”

You’ll need to first enable invisible Files in the Finder

Type Command+Shift+Period

Once this is turned on be VERY careful. You’ll possible see many invisible files and folders and many of these are critical to the operation of your system. DO NOT move, delete, or modify any of these files.

Once you have enabled invisible files in the Finder you can create or rename files or folders with a “dot” at the beginning of the name and that will make it invisible.

Just type Command+Shift+Period again you turn off viewing invisible files and any items that start will a dot (period) will no longer be visible.

The mysterious jumping cursor

I have this one from Ash and it’s a stumper

“I bought a new M1 MacBook Pro 3 months ago. When using an ext Apple keyboard & trackpad, my cursor randomly jumps to a new position in the doc by itself whilst I am typing.”

The issue goes away when all peripherals are disconnected, but Ash says this happens when using an external Apple keyboard and trackpad.

It does not happen when using the built in keyboard.

My first instinct was to tell you to check the Trackpad settings and make sure that the “Tap to Click” option is off

This CAN be an issue for some people who use the built-in keyboard and then accidentally “tap” the trackpad.

But Ash says this only happens with “external” devices.

My other idea would be to check any accessibility settings, specifically “Mouse Keys”. This lets you control the cursor with the keyboard.

this can sometimes get “accidentally” enable because the default toggle for it is tapping the option key five times quickly.

Finally… maybe a stuck or sticky command key on your external keyboard? There are keyboard command to move the cursor to the start of the line, end of a line, or the bottom/top of the page. Though most of those involve the arrow keys, so maybe unlikely in this case?

Those are my thoughts, but Ash feels like maybe it’s a Bluetooth issue?

I wonder of you have any 3rd party peripherals?

Do any of those have their own software or drivers?

Maybe one of you in the community has an idea?

Tiny video in group messages

This came from Tim who says, “Videos sent to groups via iMessage sometimes arrive as tiny videos. All are iPhone users. Happens on WiFi and cellular. I’ve seen many posts online but no fixes.”

I know this can happen if a member of the group chat is on Android. This is because Apple uses SMS to send messages to non-Apple users

It’s actually one of the reasons why Google and many carriers are pressuring Apple to adopt the newer Rich Communications Services (RCS) standard, which doesn’t have the video limitations.

But in Tim’s case that is not likely the issue since he confirms that all members of the group chat are all are iPhone users

My next suspicion was that Messages may be adjusting the video size based on the quality of the connection when the video is uploaded. If you’re on a slower connection or cellular it’s possible it would send a version that is appropriate for the connection speed.

Tim also shot that theory down as he said he sent a video via his home wi-fi and it was still “tiny”

Now I still wonder if my theory holds from the receiving end? Or maybe the connection on the wifi was just bad at the moment of sending, but that may be unlikely

I too saw this behavior happen with a video my daughter recently sent to our family group chat, so I at least can confirm the behavior.

So… with my personal theories seemingly blown, I’m stumped. And here’s where you come in.

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