Taking a look back at another week of news and headlines from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes stunning iPhone performance, surprising iPhone 14 price, iOS always-on screen leaks, MacBook Pro questions, iPad OS delay, Apple’s advertising expansion, and Microsoft’s Apple Silicon move.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).
iPhone 14 Set For Performance Boost
While the upcoming iPhones may not have any ground-breaking features – they are being to feel more like “S” updates with each revelation – Apple looks set to turn up the performance on the handsets. The latest details on the lower-end iPhone 14 models suggest a reworking around the modem to offer a faster phone:
“…Apple has redesigned the internals of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max and will equip them with a new Qualcomm X65 modem. The former is typically done to improve heat build-up, which allows chips to run faster for longer. The latter is expected to be up to 30% faster than its predecessor, the X60, while adding global support for mmWave — 5G’s fastest band. The leaker ends by saying ‘etc’, indicating that Apple has made further improvements elsewhere.”
(Forbes).
DHAKA, BANGLADESH – 2022/05/18: A man uses his iPhone 13 pro to take pictures in an office. (Photo … [+]
iPhone Pricing Freeze
The iPhone looks set to challenge the competition in another way this autumn. As prices rise across the board from suppliers and subcontractors, Apple is looking to keep the price of the entry-level iPhone in 2023 at the same level as the 2022 model:
“…Apple’s decision was based on “global mobile phone market stagnation and demand decline… so the price of the basic model is frozen despite some price increase factors.” Detailed by other leakers, these factors include an increase in component prices due to shortages and Apple upgrading several key elements of the iPhone 14 lineup. Most notably, an all-new front-facing camera module from LG Innotek, which leaks claim is triple the price of its predecessor.”
(Forbes).
Apple Leaks iPhone Always-On Screen
A closer examination of the source code from Apple’s xCode developer environment, has revealed settings and sample code that would allow iOS to offer an always-on experience. That doesn’t guarantee the tool will appear in the iPhone 14 family, but it makes it much more likely.
“Spotted by rhogelleim, an iOS developer, the fourth beta of Xcode 14 seems to include an example of what an Always on Display may look like for the iPhone. As seen below in the screenshot, the iPhone will appear to darken and gray out the screen when the Always on Display feature is turned on. “The developer notes that the widget (of Tim Cook’s face) is usually in full color, but the SwiftUI preview removes all of the colors from the image when this potential feature activates”
(Rhogelleim via iMore).
Questioning The MacBook Pro
Every time there looks to be something to suggest the 13-inch MacBook Pro might be a good idea, reality knocks on the door. Even with a $200 discount mere weeks after its launch, the M2-powered laptop still feels isolated from the rest of Apple’s macOS portfolio. I’ve taken a look at the middle ground the MacBook Pro is stuck in:
“Apple has kept this consumer-focused MacBook Pro around for at least another two years, sitting awkwardly between the consumers’ MacBook Air and the professionals’ MacBook Pro. It should deliver more performance than the MacBook Air thanks to the active cooling of the M2 chipset, but it still falls short of the M1 Pro and M1 Max in the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models from 2021. It should offer better value for money than the larger MacBook pro models, but it’s the MacBook Air that carries the new design cues and modern touches, not the smaller MacBook Pro.”
(Forbes).
iPadOS Update Delayed
With the focus on the iPad platform pushing it towards more mobile computing work, iPadOS continues to expand and accommodate the changes required. This year’s update is running a few weeks behind schedule… expect it alongside a macOS release in October rather than the iOS release in September:
“It’s not uncommon for macOS to follow a few weeks after iOS, but the iPad software has always been updated on the same schedule as its iPhone sibling. Since iPadOS split from iOS in 2019, the two operating systems have arrived on the same day. [Bloomberg’s Mark] Gurman says all of Apple’s software updates are running just a little behind schedule this year (the Public Betas launched a little later than usual, for example), but not drastically so.”
(MacWorld).
Apple Prepares For Ads Expansion
Apple looks set to expand on its advertising delivery system with a new set of hirings suggesting a Demand Side Platform for serving ads throughout Apple’s properties is being worked on. This is likely to target areas such as App Store Ads, in the News and Stocks app, and potentially into live streaming and media events (such as Friday night baseball:
“A DSP is a statement of intent for any ads business — let alone one like Apple, which has grown exponentially on the back of its decision to make it harder for companies to grow their own within its ecosystem. Indeed, a DSP is a core part of an ad tech stack for any company with designs on winning more media dollars. It’s technology, or more specifically software, that lets a marketer advertise with the help of automation. The automation of the process is important because it means marketers can set up campaigns and manage them with relative ease. In turn, they’re likely to spend more.”
And Finally…
In the move away from Intel to Apple Silicon, Apple’s Rosetta software allowed x86-based apps to keep running in the belief that developers would move over to the ARM-based chipset in time. Microsoft’s popular Teams app has made that jump this week:
“We are rolling out a production grade universal binary version of Teams, which means it will run natively on the entire Mac lineup, including those with Apple silicon. For Mac users, this means a significant boost in performance, ensuring efficient use of device resources and an optimized Teams experience even when using multiple high-resolution monitors during calls or meetings.”
(Microsoft).
Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.
