In his latest newsletter Bloomberg’s Mark Gruman claims Apple has decided to delay the launch of a now HomePod design that has an integrated display until at least early next year.
The rumor aligns with other recent comments made by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo
The main reason for the delay given by Gurman is that it’s a way for Apple to save costs and maintain focus on more immediate projects like the rumored mixed reality headset.
Apple, so far has not had to have the massive layoffs as some other tech companies and slowing the pace of new projects is one way they’ve been about to stay ahead of the tide.
The report also notes that Apple has also been delaying bonuses for corporate teams, not hiring for specific teams or replacing team members as they exit, and has been reducing budgets all in it’s effort to stay ahead of negative market forces.
A future HomePod with a display will help Apple better integrate it’s “home” products enabling a central hub for Music, TV, FaceTime, and Hom eKit products.
There was a couple of new references for AirPods in the latest iOS 16.4 betas released to developers
AirPods with the model number A3048 and a new AirPods case with the model number A2968
Considering Apple recently released AirPods Pro 2 updates and AirPods Max doesn’t really have a charging “case” per se it’s hard to know what the reference is for.
Most likely Apple will update the second gen AirPods Pro to have a new USB-C case.
Ming-Chi Kuo says these will start shipping in the 2nd or 3rd quarter
Functionality will remain unchanged and there are no USB-C updates planned for AirPods 2 or 3
Apple opening new retail in India
Apple is getting close to opening a massive new 22,000 square foot flagship store in India
The store will be in the Jio World Drive mall in Mumbai and is expected to open around the first of next month
There will also be a smaller 10-12,000 square foot location opening at the S elect CityWalk mall in New Delhi around April or June.
India is quickly becoming a key and emerging market for Apple and considering it’s the second largest smartphone market in the world it makes sense for Apple to focus it’s efforts there.
iPhones with USB-C
When this years iPhone 15s arrive it’s largely believed they will offer USB-C connectivity instead of Apple’s Lightning connector
What we’re learning now though is that in Apple’s world not all USB-C will be created equal. While the standard will be supported if you want the best performance be prepare to have to get Apple “blessed” tech.
This is nothing new and we already heard rumors via “ShrimpApplePro” that Apple will still push MFi certification even in the world of USB-C
Now Ming-Chi Kuo says the iPhone 15s will have “fast charging”, but if you want it you’ll need both and Apple certified USB-C charger and and Apple certified USB-C cable.
It’s also believed that faster USB 3.2 data speed on the iPhone’s could be limited to just the PRO lineup with non-Pro models using the older and slower USB 2.0 data transfer speeds, like you get with Lightning today.
Due the the requirements and the fact that Apple no longer ships a charger in the box, Kuo also believes Apple will see a nice uptick in shipments of their 20W USB-C chargers.
"expected to see a significant 30–40% YoY growth, amounting to 230–240 million units"
Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple will move the proximity sensor on the iPhone 15 models from behind the screen below the Dynamic Island up into the Dynamic Island. No word on why.
Apple TV+ get BAFTA nods
Apple TV+ shows scored an impressive 15 nomination for the upcoming British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards
The nominations were lead for Apple by "Slow Horses" and "Bad Sisters" with other nominations coming for shows like "The Essex Serpent”, “Pachinko”, and “Black Bird”
Friday Night Baseball is making it’s way back on to Apple TV+, but this year is a little different
The season starts April 7th and you’ll be able to watch weekly doubleheaders, but this year you’ll need to be an Apple TV+ subscriber to see the action
The games will be offered with no restrictions or blackout and this year be available in 60 countries, up from 12 last year.
Apple also has a whole new lineup of commentators and reporters, something the service to some flack for in their premier year.
Bloomberg says Apple is considering trying to get the right to stream Apple stream some UK Premier League and lower league football (soccer for us Yanks) matches.
Right now games are streamed through Sky, BT Sport, and Amazon in the UK and Peacock streams Premier League games in the US.
Apple would likely be trying to get just some of UK streaming rights for match-ups, like Amazon.
Apple TV+ has been continuing to roll out an impressive line-up of award winning TV shows and series, but overall, since their big “best picture” win for CODA at the oscars, their film lineup has been decent, but not quite as great
Now Apple looks to be trying to change that according to “Bloomberg”
They say Apple will spend up to $1 billion a year on movies and most of those will have small theatrical runs to qualify them for awards shows.
Having a film run also allows the service to attract top stars for their productions
One highly anticipated title with promise is Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon," which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro
Apple TV+ saw a slight loss in marketshare last year according to recent “JustWatch” numbers
The last time we say numbers from JustWatch back in August of 2022 Apple had about a 6 percent global market share. The latest numbers have them at 5 percent
Apple headset prepped for “slow” launch
Via Bloomberg… Apple reportedly gave a "polished, glitzy, and exciting” demo of the expected to be released soon mixed reality headset to a group of about 100 of their top executives in the Steve Jobs theater
The demo was designed to build excitement for the public announcement which many believe could happen during WWDC
Good news is that it sounds like Apple’s executives are being pretty realistic about the prospects for the first gen of the product
Basically knowing that it’s going to not likely be an earth shattering device from day one
From the rumors we think it will:
Be expensive, likely USD $3,000 or more.
Be more bulky than Apple had hoped
Not really have a “killer app”
Poor battery life, with an external battery pack.
Have limited content at launch
Some have reportedly said it’s, “a solution in search of a problem,"
So what’s to be excited about?
The hope is the product will make “Apple the market leader in mixed reality within a few months" and be a platform they can quickly iterate on.
I think many forget that the original iPhone launch was also not great, nor the iPod for that matter.
The announcement was exciting, but the products were expensive, had limited appeal, and little content.
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
‘Fanbois’ community feedback
The “woke” elephant. I knew some of you would try to make this about that and it’s specifically why I tend to avoid topics like this on the show
This is about embracing our similarities and not our differences. It’s also about respecting each other as humans who share the same planet.
It’s also VERY much about trying to understand the points of view of people you might not agree with and where you can, making compromises, without needing to change your own views, for the better good of the entire community.
Overwhelmingly, to the main question posed to the female portion of the community
Most were not bothered by my use of the term “fanboi”, but also did not feel it necessarily represented them
Secondly, and to me more importantly, the vast majority of the community seemed to disagree with me and saw “fanboi” as a negative term and did view themselves in that way.
It’s mainly for that second reason I see that using the term “fanboi” is probably not appropriate for use in THIS forum.
As I already established… to me personally I like “fanboi” and consider myself one. I enjoy stealing the power from the negative connotation of the word and I will wear the badge proudly. Many of you also see it the way I do and that’s great.
At the end of the day though, this community is a place for all Mac Geeks and it’s simple enough to not use language that makes people feel awkward or less welcome and I’m OK with that.
A mystery beep
Dan has a Mac Studio that has started to make this mystery sound when waking from sleep
Play sound
Very subtle, but strange
The only “beeps” I’m aware of on Macs are “startup” noices that can indicate hardware failures
One beep every 5 seconds - Your Mac isn't detecting any memory (RAM). If you recently added or replaced memory, make sure that it's properly installed.
Three beeps, then a 5-second pause, repeating - The memory in your Mac didn't pass an integrity check. If you added or replaced memory, make sure that it's properly installed.
Three long beeps, three short, then three long - To resolve a firmware issue, your Mac is restoring its firmware. You might see a progress bar, after which your Mac should start up normally.
The Mac Studios also have had reports of some owners who say there is a high-pitched fan noise. Since this is only a single “beep” on wake I don’t think that is it unless maybe something on wake is causing the fan to maybe jolt forward briefly causing a sound?
I also thought possible there might be an acessibility setting for visual imparments so you’d get an audible notification that the Mac was waking, but I did not see anything in the settings.
I asked Dan aout any recent changes in hardwre or software, but nothing jumped out.
What are your thoughts? Has anyone else experienced this?
Choosing SSDs for backup
Mike asks, “Is there any advantage to using a HDD versus a SSD for backing up your Mac with Time Machine?”
and then also, “If I use an SSD, does it matter if it’s MLC or something else?”
The first question I believe, especially now, is a nuanced one. Mainly because the cost of SSDs has come down so much in the past few years.
The second one… I had to do some research because I didn’t know what MLC was.
MLC is multi-level cell (MLC), there is also TLC or triple-level cell SSDs
Apparently some see TLC as a type of MLC, but it’s debated in the storage community and for us it doesn’t matter
An MLC is an SSD that can store two bits of data per cell. TLC, as you might imagine given the name, is three bits of data per cell.
At the end of the day it seems like it comes down to storage density and how they work.
TLC SSDs have eight different charge levels and MLC SSDs have four.
For you and I you just need to know that the difference will come down to cost, reliability, performance, and endurance.
TLCs tend to be less expensive by about 10-20 percent. They have more storage layers and a less expensive to make
MLCs tend to be more reliable because they have fewer voltage levels and every voltage level adds more room for error
MLCs are faster because during data reads the drives need to check every voltage level. Fewer levels, fewer checks
MLCs have better longevity due to fewer cells.
If you can afford the higher price, MLC SSDs offer better performance, endurance, and reliability
Spinning drives though have moving parts
Less rugged
Noise
Technically… lower longevity, thought I’ve had HDDs that have lasted 10 years or more (though I don’t count on that)
HDD Drive colors:
This is mainly a Western Digital thing, but you’ll hear it discussed
Blue - General purpose storage, they are great all-rounders, and an average user can’t go wrong with Blue.
Green - Basically same as Blue, less performance. However, it is the most eco-friendly HDD, and it’s quite cheap.
Black - Performance including gaming, media, and content creation. Also one of the most expensive HDDs.
Red - Optimized for NAS systems.
Purple - For surveillance. Advised for 24/7 operation.
Gold - The most premium of all. Made for a multitude of Datacenter-specific applications.
Benefits of HDD
Need lots of storage at a lower price
Saving money
Backup with some exceptions
You’re not looking for “fast” backup. If you are archiving large files then that may make a difference to you, but with most backup you’re not “babysitting” it.
Benefits of SSD
Speed. Typically even a “slow” SSD is going to be a lot faster than even the fastest HDD
Large file transfers.
Rugged. No moving parts.
Longevity
HDDs are typically 3 to 5 years. SSDs are 5 - 10 year, in normal operation
Keep in mind that for most “backup”, after a first pass, writing will be just incremental changes. And typically we’re not reading a ton from our backups unless we’re doing a recovery.
Brand matters. Get a good quality drive with a decent warranty
For the record…ANY hard drive can fail at anytime for a multitude of reasons. That’s why we have multiple backups, right?
Bottom line
If you like the benefits and can afford it than SSDs are fine for backup and have lots of advantages over HDD
If you just want the most amount of backup without breaking the bank you’re still fine to use HDD. That’s what I currently have for all my backups, at least locally.
