Month: June 2019

Say goodbye to the trash can. Apple’s new Mac Pro is a more traditional machine that takes into account the specific needs of creative professionals, while enabling a layer of modular interactivity with other Apple devices that could totally change the way they work.

Looking so like a stainless steel cheese grater that it’s hard to imagine the likeness is not intentional, the new Mac Pro is designed to be highly modular and accessible for repairs and replacements.

Powered by an Intel Xeon processor of the latest generation with up to 28 cores — generously powered and cooled — the Mac Pro is paired with a Radon Pro 580X or Vega II, and with 12 DIMM slots that could concievably hold up to 1.5 terabytes of RAM. But at the prices Apple charges, you’ll need to open a few new lines of credit to do so.

It’s full of PCI express slots: 4 double-wide, for expansion cards, 4 normal-width for smaller stuff, and one dedicated to an I/O shield with Thunderbolt, USB-A style connectors, and a 3.5mm audio jack. At least the company admits here that these interfaces are necessary for professionals!

It’s powered with a massive 1.4 kilowatt power supply — that’s three times what my desktop pulls — and cooled by a trio of huge, quiet fans on the front and a bunch of heatsinks (no word on fluid cooling).

The machine is meant to handle huge workflows — hundreds of instruments in Logic, multiple 8K and 4K streams for video editing and effects work. The crowd lost it when one demo showed a thousand audio tracks being played at once, using 56 threads — and not even stressing the CPU.

This is a far cry from the Mac Pros introduced in 2013; The futuristic design wowed on stage, but it soon became clear that function had followed form and these “pro” machines were less than practical. The unique design proved hard to adapt to the new, GPU-centric computing paradigm, and couldn’t provide the flexibility an ordinary tower does for users seeking unusual configurations.

As seems to be increasingly common at Apple, a bold design led to compromises elsewhere, and with the Mac Pro it took four years for them to admit the trash can was a dead end and announce that, after a final update, the cylindrical PC would be scrapped.

A year later the company explained that it was taking a workflow-centric approach to designing the new Mac Pro.

As John Ternus, vice president of Hardware Engineering, told TechCrunch last April:

We’ve brought in some pretty incredible talent, really masters of their craft. And so they’re now sitting and building out workflows internally with real content and really looking for what are the bottlenecks. What are the pain points. How can we improve things. And then we take this information where we find it and we go into our architecture team and our performance architects and really drill down and figure out where is the bottleneck. Is it the OS, is it in the drivers, is it in the application, is it in the silicon, and then run it to ground to get it fixed.

Apparently they also checked in with industrial designers from OXO or something. It’s uncanny how much this thing looks like a cheese grater.

The Mac Pro starts at a wallet-destroying $5,999, and you better believe that price will go up in a hurry as you upgrade components. Here’s hoping it’s as friendly to aftermarket improvements as the company says.

Apple is finally back in the monitor game. Today, at WWDC 2019, the company took the wraps off the Pro Display XDR to go along with a new Mac Pro. This is the first Apple monitor since the company discontinued the Thunderbolt Display in 2016.

The screen is covered with a new type of matte coating. Apple says the glass is etched to replace the matte effect without the downsides. A redesigned blue array shapes and controls the light while the backside of the display acts as a heatsink to allow the display 1000 nits of fullscreen brightness indefinitely. The screen can be rotated to portrait mode, too.

The backside features the same cheese grater design found on the new Mac Pro. There are four Thunderbolt 3 ports on the backside, too.

Apple has a long history of producing class-leading monitors and left a hole in the market when the company discontinued its last monitor. In its place, Apple turned to LG’s UltraFine line. The monitors are great with great fidelity and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. But it’s not an Apple monitor, which left many longing for the days of the Cinema Display.

This monitor has been in the works since 2017 when Apple reveled to TechCrunch it was working on a new display for a 2019 release.

The Pro Display XDR will be available this fall for $5,000 or $6,000 with the optional matte coating. The stand and VESA mount costs extra because it’s Apple.

Apple’s audio hardware didn’t get a ton of love at WWDC but the devices didn’t go unmentioned, here’s what’s coming to your HomePod and AirPods.

• For AirPods users, Siri will now be able to read incoming iMessages to you as soon as they arrive on your phone and allow you to respond instantly without bothering with “Hey Siri…”
• The company is introducing a feature that will allow you to instantly share a song you’re listening to from one iPhone to another. It doesn’t seem to be AirPods specific, but wireless headphones will probably make this feel ritzier.
• Handoff is coming to HomePod, and it’s coming about in a very physical way. If you are walking in the door and want to move audio from your iPhone to the HomePod, now you can just bring your iPhone close to it and it will transfer the audio, this works in the opposite direction as well.
• One far overdue update is multi-user support finally coming to the HomePod so you’ll be able to play music that’s unique to you and get info like iMessages, Reminders and Notes as well.
• Across Siri, you’ll now be able to listen to radio stations on iHeartRadio, TuneIn and Radio.com

Apple shared plenty of news today at its WWDC 2019 annual developer conference, but a few of the announcements early on are potentially its biggest in terms of what they signal about the company and its direction. Specifically, Apple unveiled a new single-sign on unified ID platform, as well as a new way it’ll operate as a go-between for security cameras that work with its HomeKit smart home services.

These didn’t come out of nowhere: Apple has been playing up its privacy game for at least a few years now, and in the Tim Cook era it’s especially come to the fore. But today’s announcements really crystallize how Apple’s approach to privacy will mesh with its transformation into becoming even more of a services company. It’s becoming a services company with a key differentiator – privacy – and it’s also extending that paradigm to third-parties, acting as an ecosystem layer that mediates between users, and anyone who would seek to monetize their info in aggregate.

Apple’s truly transforming into a privacy-as-a-service company, which shows in the way that it’s implementing both the new single sign-on account service, as well as its camera and location services updates in iOS 13. The SSO play is especially clever, because it includes a mechanism that will allow developers to still have the relevant info they need to maintain a direct relationship with their users – provided users willingly sign-up to have that relationship, but opting in to either or both name and email sharing.

The radial decision-making that also includes an option to create a tokenized single-use email for a direct, but unique relationship is especially inspired. It means a developer or service provider can still easily talk to you directly, but also means that they can’t then trade that on for profit by selling or sharing your information with other developers and providers. It’s entirely about moving the locus of control for privacy to the user, rather than playing the classic charade of providing “control” to users in the form of long, obscure and hard to reject terms of services with onerous requirements for the user re: their data sharing by the service provider.

Apple’s work with camera providers is also unique – providing actual on-device analysis of footage captured by third-party partners to deliver things that security device makers have typically offered as a value-add service themselves. That includes apparent identification of visitors to your home, for instance, and sending alerts when it detects people, as well as being able to differentiate that from other kinds of motion.

That’s going above and beyond simply protecting your data: It’s replacing a potential privacy-risk feature with a privacy-minded one, at a service level across an entire category of devices.

The new location services feature similarly puts all the control with users, instead of with service providers. Making it possible to provide single-use location permissions to apps is terrific for privacy-minded users, as are updates about usage, which sound like they could be detailed about what specific apps are doing with that data in Apple’s estimation.

Other new features, including HomeKit firewalling of specific services and devices, are similar in tone, and likely indicate what Apple intends to do more of in the future. Combined with its existing efforts, this begins to paint a picture of where Apple plans to play in offering a comprehensive consumer services product that is substantially differentiated from similar offerings by Google and others.

It’s a bold play, and one that could end with Apple accruing a huge amount of control over consumer relationships with not only hardware, but also anything else that software providers want to do on their platform. Given Apple’s track record with privacy to date, that’s reassuring, but we should definitely watch closely to see how their business evolves if they succeed in shifting that locus of control.

Apple has spent years trying to live down the fiasco of swapping out Google for its own, underdeveloped version of Maps, and today at its WWDC event it unveiled a sizeable rebuild that that gives it a big leap in dynamic rendering and interactivity, which could indeed bring a new wave of users back into the fold.

The updates are being rolled out across the US by the end of this year, Apple’s SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi said, with more countries getting added next year.

Federighi said that the team has covered some 4 million miles in the process of gathering more data for Maps — “Our team continues its obsession,” is how he put it — underscoring how mapping is a major priority for the company, not least because it is a cornerstone of getting Apple more users in connected vehicles by way of Car Play.

To be fair, Apple has a long road ahead of it: Google Maps, combined with Google-owned Waze, essentially dominate the market for mapping apps today, and that’s not just because Android is a more ubiquitous operating system.

Meg Cross, the director of product design, then came on to the stage for a demo. She noted that the new Maps app will feature a more detailed rendering of roads that will also include more data about public spaces such as beaches and parks, as well as buildings, handy when you are trying to find a specific address that isn’t immediately visible when you are on the move or in an unfamiliar place.

She also noted that users will now be able to mark and easily skip to favorite locations by way of a short tap. Favorites, in turn, can now be organised into handy collections to make it easier to call up a specific subject-based list rather than scroll through a larger list (for example, kids’ activities, or favorite restaurants, or houses of people you know, or places in a specific neighborhood). Collections can also be used when you are planning a trip somewhere to pin all the places that you will want to visit. 

The rendering in the new Maps app is particularly nice looking, a little like Google’s Street View on steroids. When you spot something that catches your eye, you can zoom in on it with a set of binoculars, which lets you then look around the space more deeply in a three-dimensional experience. This seems to also extend into interior spaces, although I couldn’t quite tell from Cross’s demo. (It would make sense, considering that Apple has also been doing a lot of work on acquiring and building interior mapping IP.)

The binocular effect is notable for another reason: it’s also a sign of how Apple is using and envisioning use of Apple maps: it’s not just a practical tool that a person would use in real time when travelling from going from A to B. It becomes its own discovery platform.

Apple has yet to make any big moves into VR and AR, although it’s certainly been dabbling in it, but you can see how all of this could eventually become very useful to a company that has in recent times made a big shift into content and media that are used (and purchased!) for its hardware. Maps will likely be developing to fit with that vision (no pun intended) as well.

The Maps reveal also is important for one other aspect: the company has been going big on the privacy angle, not least because others have not. “Privacy is a fundamental human right,” Federighi said when he took over the presentation again, “and we engineer [it] into everything we do.” That, he said, extends to location and how you are tracked. The idea and implication here is that while Apple is aiming to provide an informative and entertaining maps experience, it’s doing so just for you — not to make you into one more of its data points. Hopefully, that commitment will not becoming a moving target itself.

Apple will soon let you grant apps access to your iPhone’s location just once.

Until now, there were three options — “always,” “never,” or “while using,” meaning an app could be collecting your real-time location as you’re using it.

Apple said the “just once” location access is a small change — granted — but one that’s likely to appeal to the more privacy-minded folk.

“For the first time, you can share your location to an app — just once — and then require it to ask you again next time at wants,” said Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi at its annual developer conference on Monday.

That’s going to be helpful for those who download an app that requires your immediate location, but you don’t want to give it persistent or ongoing access to your whereabouts.

On top of that, Apple said that the apps that you do grant location access to will also have that information recorded on your iPhone in a report style, “so you’ll know what they are up to,” said Federighi.

Apps don’t always use your GPS to figure out where you are. All too often, apps use your Wi-Fi network information, IP address, or even Bluetooth beacon data to figure out where you physically are in the world so they can better target you with ads. Federighi said it will be “shutting the door on that abuse” as well.

The new, more granular location-access feature will feature in iOS 13, expected out later this year,.

Onstage at WWDC, Apple announced that iPad’s software will now exist inside its own vertical OS.

iPadOS doesn’t look dramatically different from iOS 12, this actually might be the lamest update they’ve had in a while, but the name change undoubtedly makes it easier for Apple to introduce functionality to iPads that won’t exist in any capacity on the iPhone.

It’s all about focus and the fact that the company’s tablets are getting even more powerful than their macOS counterparts.

What’s new that you’ll get excited about?

• Chances are the best update is that desktop sites are now the default in Safari, hallelujah!!
• Changes in iPadOS include an update to the Files app which will allow you share folders in iCloud drive, there’s a new column view and you’ll be able to grab files from USB-C flash drives.
• You’ll be able to bring up multiple windows of the same app, which wasn’t previously possible and there are a lot of small interface changes that make it easier to multi-task with your larger screen real estate.
• You’ll be able to bring widgets to the home screen that are just a swipe away.
• Apple Pencil latency is dropping from 20ms to 9ms, Apple is bringing a PencilKit developer API so that third-party app developers can integrate some new controls.

Updating

Today at Apple’s annual developer’s conference, Apple revealed the biggest update to CarPlay since its release. The revamped in-car system looks dramatically better, leaving behind the faux iPhone layout for something that looks better suited for us in cars.

Until now, CarPlay was left largely forgotten since its debut in 2014. Most vehicles are now compatible with the system, but since its release, in-car systems have dramatically improved to the point where most are better than what Apple developed. This update looks like a large step in the right direction.

The biggest change seems to be the amount of information that can be displayed using CarPlay. The previous version’s home screen is just a grid of apps. It’s not helpful. Now, with this new version, the home screen can display a map, media playback and HomeKit devices like a garage door or lights.

Last month Google announced a large update to its Android Auto platform, which has long outclassed CarPlay. The difference have always been profound with Android Auto able to handle tasks and display apps in a manner better suited for cars. But now, with the new version of CarPlay, Apple’s in-vehicle system seems to have a lot of the functionality found in Google’s counterpart.

The announcement left a lot of questions. Will this work on older model vehicles built on older hardware? What versions of the iPhone will it work on? How does it handle scaling to different resolutions found in different vehicles?

We still don’t know exactly when Apple will launch its subscription streaming service TV+ (it’ll be sometime this fall), or how much it will cost, but CEO Tim Cook showed off a trailer for one of the original shows today at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

That show is “For All Mankind,” a new drama from Ronald D. Moore, the writer behind the critically acclaimed reboot of “Battlestar Galactica.”

The trailer starts out with familiar-looking footage of the moon landing, but things soon take a turn, with the Soviet Union reaching the moon as well, leading to an escalated space race that aims for “Mars, Saturn, the stars, the galaxy.”

“For All Mankind” stars “Altered Carbon”‘s Joel Kinnaman, and will supposedly tell its story “through the lives of NASA astronauts, engineers and their families.” It looks like show will deliver the old-school feel of a classic space race film, while breaking free from the constraints of real history.

Apple is giving iMessage a big upgrade with iOS 13, the company announced today at its Worldwide Developer Conference. At last, it will offer a way to get rid of those annoying gray initials that appear when someone isn’t in your Contacts with a photo you’ve uploaded. Instead, users will be able to add their own profile photo that will display when they’re messaging others via iMessage. This image can be a real photo of you or just your Memoji — which has also been given an update today.

While you could already adjust your Memoji to look like you by changing things like skin tone, hair color, eyes, and more, you’ll now be able to add makeup and accessories, as well. That means you can pick different eyeshadows or lip color, or add accessories to your face like piercings — or even add Apple’s AirPods in your ears.

Demoed on stage were things like lip piercings, tongue ring, ear and nose rings, as well as braces, earrings, and other minor upgrades like a gap tooth, gold tooth, and new hair and hat options. Apple picked a couple of beauty influencers to show off the new Memoji during the event.

The update makes iMessage feel more like a proper messaging app, like Messenger or WhatsApp, for example.

In addition, Memoji can now be delivered to others as a sticker with iOS 13.

Personalized emoji, like the Bitmoji found in Snapchat — have become a popular form of self-expression today. Ahead of Apple’s keynote this morning, Facebook also announced its own version Bitmoji, called Avatars. These launched today in Australia for use in Messenger and News Feed comments, and will later roll out worldwide.