Potential launch dates teases Apple customers as September anticipation builds
According to claims found on the Chinese e-commerce site IT Home, Apple may have plans to launch its iPhone 13 (all models including mini, pro and pro max) starting on September 17 and the next generation AirPods on September 30.
The dates are totally speculative, other earlier dates have also been floated, and there have yet to be any official confirmations of launch dates from the company. The two separate September product launch dates could also align with previous rumors that Apple will hold up to 3 events in the same month.
However Apple has traditionally released new products starting in September so the timeline could be true. In previous years, Apple has held events on September 7, 14, and 21.
How to take an iPhone camera and make the most of it using taste and talent
Apple offers “Today at Apple” to inspire and educate iPhone users to help them learn and be creative with their devices. The online videos range from music to photography and are centered around Apple’s latest technologies.
This most recent video teaches users how to get the most out of the iPhone in portrait mode, but really using all to the various power features that are already in the iPhone 12 and even 11.
For example, 3 lenses allow ultra-wide, X1 and X2 (tele) shots at any time just by flipping between each preset. And once a group of photos exists, simple creative cropping and framing has a huge potential to bring out the most attractive and interesting features of each shot, and can be immediately saves as a separate image.
Of course, with such a high resolution image capture in the first place, cropping retains enough image-data that even an ultra-close crop can retain beautiful depth and detail.
Learning how to use all the tools, and most of all a photographer’s eye
The five minute video features self-taught New York City photographer Mark Clennon. In the clip he shows and explains how he sets up, shoots and edits his images, mainly in-camera (that is to say “in-iphone-camera”) to capture his most powerful portraits.
With iOS 15 (released in public beta) and soon with the iPhone 13 (or what the actual name turns out to be) both expected to be revealed in early September, the potential for portrait mode will be added also, potentially, to video in addition to photos and many other upgrades and improvements are on deck.
Free and extensive software upgrades, along with the not free and not inexpensive new hardware are a yearly ritual with Apple since the very first iPhone was released in 2007. Recently, with Apple Silicon and the gradual merging of the functionality to MacOS, iOS and iPad OS the upgrades seem to be in overdrive.
We have cataloged some of the more interesting changes in stand alone articles but still have more to come as this years upgrades and changes are particularly extensive.
This video is an example of how it’s possible to take even one feature, designed to assist in one form of photographic expression, and dig deeper into it with talent and intelligent use of experience and take the resulting images to a whole other level:
Sci-fi sounding, inevitable upgrade for today’s online communications
You might have heard lately about the “metaverse” and yet that can mean a variety of different things to different people. Often, it’s a term that relates back to gaming and 3D augmented reality enhancements of networked communications.
There are even crypto and blockchain related projects using this term and concept. While all of these various factors are welcome, and potentially part of this next phase of convergence of communication via networked technology, there’s something else happening under the surface.
”The pandemic, with its requirements of physical distancing, has brought people into online digital environments for a growing range of shared human experiences.” — Wired UK from “The Metaverse is coming” by David Baszucki
The acceleration in AI application, machine learning, and converging use cases for all communications tech has created a situation where the entry-portal to the emerging metaverse is already here.
One often overlooked aspect of a transition to a more complete digital life is the need for humans to have adapted to the need and potential benefits of the idea. This is what is happening via many routes, including Apple and the constant synergistic upgrade cycles that have just gone into a new, bigger phase with the migration to a unified OS structure built around Apple Silicon.
The gradual increases in iOS functionality and user sophistication are changing how we interact
iOS15, previewed this week at the WWDC2021 is rolling out literally dozens of new features, many based on machine learning, neural networks and AI that propose a new level of highly sophisticated options to communicate with video, photos and text.
While this mixture of “basic” media has been the staple of our current modes of online communication, particularly via social media, the incredibly increased depth of new options and functionality of iOS15 and iPadOS15 and MacOS Monterey will make all modes of communication feel completely new.
In the evolution of online media and enriched communication (OMEC to coin an 80s sounding acronym) the slow and uneven progress is based on many factors. #1 is always user adoption and sophistication.
Second is the quality of the hardware devices and software upgrades each user around the world has access to. In the case of iOS (iPad, iPhone & macOS) the immediate adoption of upgrades is a large factor on the plus side, helping new innovation to arrive in general use more quickly.
The last factor, a huge one, is access to fast ubiquitous internet data connections, and, in the US at least, this is less consistent than ever (or our expectations are rising faster than the build out).
However, particularly in Asia, 5g is beginning to make a dent. Satellite broadband, like Starlink, should also start to be a factor as early as 2022. Government infrastructure build-out funding and subsidies in the US is on the way in 2021.
Augmented 3D features are still growing but will merge with 2D
The upshot of this topic is that “2D” factors and increasingly sophisticated manipulation and interactive features that are already coming in iOS15 will bring us all closer the entry-portal stone-age version of the metaverse.
We all depend more and more on communications and using our devices – work from home, personal, business and hybrid activities (such as the emerging content creator class). Often, as a result, we have fewer options to go offline for “organic” RL (real life) interactions.
The increasingly sophisticated capabilities available are beginning to make even face to face communications, particularly in work situations, feel “un-enhanced” as we become accustomed to and dependent on the digital enhancements and potential of a full media rich interaction.
This is an example, one could say, of the subtle encroachment of the emerging metaverse onto the “real world” and how the boundaries are blurring and even beginning to disappear.
Rather than a sudden “jump” into a metaverse, similar to the cliché sci-fi plots from films like “Ready Player 1”, what is happening is a nearly imperceptible transition to metaverse-like experiences that will become commonplace, initially in a primitive form, and then eventually become the norm. Similar to the proverbial Frog in pot, with warm water temperatures that increase so slowly that the Frog doesn’t even notice, until it finds that it is swimming in pot that is already boiling.
The misconception that a “killer app” or sudden shift into an online, virtual reality world, is the future, and that a big leap will happen nearly all at once, is harmlessly superimposed on the real transition that has already begun.
When Apple’s 2007 launch of the iPhone changed communication forever: the journey began
The new “Digital Legacy Program”, also announced at WWDC2021, is another hint that we are already living in an extremely primitive version of the metaverse. Our online identity, data, and even behaviors and experiences are so essential and all pervasive that it has become necessary to keep a digital key to access the huge trove of personal data we will leave behind to pass on to our living loved ones, after we are gone.
The metaverse, that means, is not only creating a parallel digital universe for us to live in, in an ever more complete and sophisticated way, but we are also already setting up the eternal storage of our virtual life experiences to be passed down to future generations.
Though nearly invisible while in such a relatively primitive iteration, the concept, an example of overlapping advancements in innovation, is a tiny step towards digital immortality.
The metaverse could help to save us all
It’s not just professional and work related communication that relates to the gradual increase in the depth of networked communication options, but, even more so, casual and leisure communication and interaction is key.
TikTok and other video communication trends are at the forefront of of user evolution and metaverse activity expansion. When people feel motivated to find new and better ways to communicate using richer media and augmented techniques for fun, and to gain more recognition in online societies, that advances digital sophistication.
This process of the evolution of user comfort and sophistication, while existing and interacting in the metaverse, is the fastest way for the augmentation to become more effective.
There’s a mostly unseen benefit and need for this, otherwise seemingly pointless, global development
The challenges that the world faces, encroaching, devastating fallout from global warming and excess carbon in the atmosphere, political corruption and inequality, disinformation and cybercrime, and so on.
Ultimately, unlike at any time in human history, we are facing a challenge. The survival of our species and even the planet are at stake.
In the years and decades to come it will become more and more obvious that there are only two paths possible. One path toward a kind of Utopia, or another one that will lead, inexorably to Oblivion.
Though the metaverse is scary in many ways, and does not always appear as a way to a better life, augmented and enhanced communication is one of the most desperately needed ways that solutions could eventually be discovered and implemented.
And that would put this progression and evolution of tech more in service of Utopia, and could be at the heart of a rescue plan to prevent Oblivion, before it’s too late.
For what seems like a long time many of us have been living inside our iPhone, immersed in a metaverse of our digital lives.
And the deeper into Apple’s walled garden we are submerged, the more monumental the yearly OS upgrades become. That’s because, when you are in a digital life, we’ll, lots of things are worse than the “real” world. The sensual experience is built of fractions of the full sensory bandwidth of life.
But there’s one thing about the metaverse, the fact that, since it’s artificial and human engineered, it can, and does, improve.
In the case of Apple’s universe, the yearly upgrades and constant, sometimes nearly imperceptible changes in a thousand different parameters add together, over time, and suddenly, the world comes alive with vibrant, super sensual satisfaction …
Sure, the weather animations just got sent to a 3rd convolution level of better-ness, that’s true. But add this to all the thousands of better feelings and deeper interactions with yourself and the spirit of ourselves, and you will find: the future
Photo credit: Apple
WWDC 2021 was a pure upgrade fest with a lot of detail to sift through
We are in the middle of our ongoing coverage of the Apple event and all that was revealed. There are so many features and so many important details and interdependent uses for this features that it can be more easily digested in bites.
What we are witnessing is the growing interdependence and interoperability of iOS 15, iPad OS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey, particularly with the built in apple apps they all have built in.
Safari, though still with slight variations between the three OSs, is becoming more powerful everywhere, FaceTime got a huge upgrade in the new systems, and utilities connected to iCloud such as the Find My network are also extensively revamped.
While some find the sheer width and breath of Apple’s hardware, software and services conceptually off-putting, it is, at this early stage of the monumental changes that are being wrought by Apple Silicon, a wonder to behold how all the various products and underlying software for those products is evolving in a way that is constant and deep.
As put forth in articles published by Lynxotic years ago the changes that are underway are vast and were conceived and put into motion based on Steve Jobs’ core concepts for the future of Apple many years ago. And Tim Cook and the rest of Apple have not deviated from that vision, in fact are reaping benefits on behalf of users that could barely be imagined a decade ago.
One bite we’ve started to delve into is the dual and interdependent features from macOS Monterey; Airplay to Mac and Universal control. It turns out that compete interoperability for Airplay to Mac is still in the future, the list of the various models and vintages that it functions on is as follows:
2018 or later MacBook Pro or MacBook Air
a 2019 or later iMac or Mac Pro
an iMac Pro
the 2020 Mac mini
As you can see this is a fairly exclusive list. What is most conspicuously missing is the possibility to use and older mac, such as a 2018 27” 5k iMac to take advantage of the beautiful screen.
Universal Control, meanwhile appears to work with most devices that run on iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey. It allows you to a single mouse and keyboard and flow from iPad to Mac and back, pretty much as you would imagine using the cursor and keyboard for either, and, thankfully there is no setup required.
FaceTime just got a Facelift
FaceTime’s big jump ahead is somewhat more complex since the iPhone, iPad (various models of both) and the mac each have a UX and screen size that varies, as well as different computing advantages. One interesting note on the various technical enhancements, pretty much across the board from what was announced at WWDC 2021, M1 chips and Apple Silicon based devices get the biggest boost from all the new capabilities.
Rather than being a marketing ploy, at least so far there’s no evidence of that kind of approach, this is an organic by product of the underlying “big picture” goal – to unify the experience and potential of the three device categories even as they cross pollinate one-another.
All the various, and gradually hard to list, OS flavors, macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, watchOS 8 and all the various accessories that benefit from the upgrades such as AirPods pro spatial audio, HomePod mini liaison with Apple TV 4k and tvOS 15, as well as SharePlay where FaceTime can allow multiple users to share streaming audio or video content for a synchronized experience.
Please stay tuned for the many articles to come that will further dive into the changes and improvements that are on the way, free of charge, for Apple users with this massive roll-out that will culminate in fall 2021.
As per Apple:
Redesigned Weather and Notes Apps
Weather includes more graphical displays of weather data, full-screen maps, and dynamic layouts that change based on conditions. Beautifully redesigned animated backgrounds more accurately reflect the sun’s position and precipitation, and notifications highlight when rain or snow starts and stops. Video animation below:
Notes adds user-created tags that make it easy to quickly categorize notes, and mentions allow members of shared notes to notify one another of important updates. An all-new Activity view shows the recent history of a shared note.
Notes adds user-created tags that make it easy to quickly categorize notes in line with relevant content:
This is a feel-good story if it works and then it’s Hallelujah!
Ok, other than to be a benign stalker or to monitor your girlfriends actual ETA, do you even use the Apple “Find My” network? Were you aware that it applies to people, devices and now “items” using air tags? And that you can also find yourself, in case you don’t know where you are?
Well, all that has been expanded into a new realm, at least for those that want to hang onto expensive audio gadgets as long as possible. You guessed it, Apple has now added AirPods Pro and AirPods Max to the devices list.
This was announced at WWDC2021 but it is not, I repeat, not, something that you need to wait for a software upgrade to make use of. It’s live now if you have iOS 14.
Above: Photo Credit / Apple
Why the jubilation? I think because so many of us suffer from extended anxiety, even early symptoms of PTSD from the thought of losing those $250 or yikes(!) $549 babies.
Losing both or even one of these could be a life changing event, triggering depression and doubt and sadness. And Apple appears to understand this, indeed, they assure us that, not only is the Find My network supposed to geolocate your AirPods, they even have a new feature called “Separation Alerts”.
They specifically describe this feature thusly: “Separation Alerts notify a user if they leave an AirTag, Apple device, or Find My network accessory behind in an unfamiliar location…”
“Separation Alerts”, admittedly, sounds like a term for childhood trauma but, again, if you walk out of a Starbucks on 5th Ave. in NYC and you get a notification that you are sans your AirPod Pros, hallelujah, all is not lost, instead, you are running back in to grab those babies, STAT! (From the Latin word statim, meaning “immediately.”)
These subtle, free and unheralded improvements are seemingly the wave of the future, if you are an inhabitant of the Apple ecosystem, which is on the verge of turning into a kind of pre-metaverse training ground for future digital life pioneers.
Hardware Schwardware updates, who needs ’em?
WWDC2021 was, perhaps cleverly, devoid of hardware news or release announcements. This trick worked like a charm. Various top and sub-top media outlets spent the weeks ahead of the show and keynote, touting leaks, speculation and sources regarding, mostly, what turned out to be non-existent hardware updates.
Those will no doubt still be forthcoming, just not at the WWDC2021 keynote, as that ship has sailed.
Instead, and this is a good thing, we can all begin the journey to learn more about what is in store for the annual pilgrimage to the next generation of software enhancements for the Apple ecosystem, meaning macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and all the rest too numerous to name here.
See our latest posts from the show for more details.
As per Apple release:
”Find My introduces new capabilities to help locate a device that has been turned off or erased, as well as live-streaming locations for family and friends who choose to share their location. Separation Alerts notify a user if they leave an AirTag, Apple device, or Find My network accessory behind in an unfamiliar location, and the Find My network now supports AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. A new Find My widget offers an at-a-glance view directly from the Home Screen.”
Among the avalanche of new features and upgrades to iOS, iPadOS and most of all macOS 12 Monterey, there were two that were like a dream come true for anyone who has used AirPlay with AppleTv or “SideCar”, which originally came to the mac with macOS Catalina, and wished for one bold step further.
In an office environment, like our newsroom, being able to beam an iPad or mac on to a large conference style TV is great, but springing for the $ it takes to get a high resolution computer monitor large enough for group viewing is not such a great treat.
A fantastic compromise, one that many have wished for but never seen is the new option cogently called “AirPlay to Mac” which, just as the name implies, allows you to bean your phone or iPad (or I presume one mac to another) for paired or group viewing. (there were times when I, for one, forgot that this feature did not yet exist and tried to connect a mac screen using airPlay, to no avail).
AirPlay brings the Mac to life in all-new ways.
Even with tiny bugs that might arise at first when trying to get multiple macs to act as screens for a single source, once this is mature it should revolutionize meeting of small groups of colleagues all armed with trusty macs but wanting to do a group think and discussion session. (At a digital publisher meeting, like at Lynxotic, we might be looking at analytics data for the past week and all want to see the same data across all screens, for example.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that sound, just as in “regular” AirPlay, is included in the bargain. So even if it’s audio only that you want to share (like force feeding colleagues your favorite song) that is going to sound great on built in iMac speakers etc.
This seems instantly like something that is so obvious and intuitive that it could be one of those things, like AirPlay itself, that once entrenched and bug free, would be hard to live without.
Apple’s marketing copy:
“With AirPlay to Mac, users can play, present, and share just about anything — from the latest movies and games to vacation photos and presentations — from their iPhone or iPad right to their Mac’s stunning Retina display. The Mac’s high-fidelity sound system can also be used as an AirPlay speaker, so users can play music or podcasts on their Mac, or use their Mac as a secondary speaker for multi-room audio.”
Universal control, which sounds somehow ominous is, hopefully, just a simple way to more easily migrate live from device to device (of the same owner)
Though the mechanics of this feature were not explained in detail at the Keynote for WWDC2021, this is another feature that seems mind-bendingly obvious as a boon for any Apple device power user, it also seems strange that it did’t exist all along.
As shown with one example in the video below, it involves having a single mouse or trackpad control multiple devices. Or the same set up for a keyboard, or both. While there are some unanswered questions – such as would the keyboard designated as being the one to “universally control” another device automatically turn off the control on the remote devices native keyboard?
Perhaps this is a naive question since it appears that it is presumed that any device being universally controlled is owned and being used by a single human.
In one way this seems to have the best use when using, say, an iPad pro for a drawing task and then moving across to the mac to process the drawing in photoshop, illustrator etc. Honestly, sometimes it’s interesting to see each device as connected to a “chair mode” – iPad for a chaise lounge, iMac or MacMini for an office chair, iPhone or iPad mini for freedom from any chair, and switching from the more human-centric modes (chaise lounge) to get down to serious business on the biggest baddest screen and most powerful CPU seems like a utopian dream, with this feature activated and working without a glitch.
The ways this could be integrated into a workflow, and the permutations of how this could be useful, seem infinite, assuming it operates anywhere near as seamlessly as in the demonstration by Craig Federighi in the video. Being able to drag and drop, as he did, across three (3!) separate devices at will is pretty incredible, if not only for its simplicity and elegance.
As per Apple: “Universal Control lets users work more seamlessly across their Mac and iPad. Working across Apple devices is now better than ever with new Continuity features:
Universal Control lets users work with a single mouse and keyboard and move between Mac and iPad for a seamless experience, with no setup required. Users can even drag and drop content back and forth between devices — great for sketching a drawing with Apple Pencil on iPad and placing it into a Keynote slide on the Mac.
Above: Apple Spring Loaded Event Poster Credit: Apple
“Loaded” is a loaded concept and let’s hope it rings true
After weeks of fits and starts, and even a bizarre siri advance confirmation leak, it’s finally official: Apple will be hosting a product reveal event on Tuesday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.
Naturally, as with all event scheduled this year so far this will be digital only and streamed live from various platforms including the Apple events page.
The event is expected to reveal new 2021 product updates and more, and the rumor mill has been busy so there’s a lot of potential for both news that’s been hinted at, as well as surprises.
Highest on the list of anticipated possible reveals are; iPad Pro models, a new low-cost iPad and a new iPad mini.
Less expected but also very much in the realm of possibility are refreshed iMacs, the endlessly rumored AirTags and more updated news on chip development as will as advance information ahead of WWDC2021 and the fall big show where typically new iPhones appear.
Apple will be streaming live on its website and with the Apple TV app starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, April 20.
As big a splash as last year? Predictions are affirmative
Apple revealed its schedule for this year’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). To take place in an all online format on June 7th through 11th there will be a large audience due to the unlimited size of the venue (virtual) and, as was the case last year, the software and app developers event will also be an opportunity for Apple to highlight plans for new hardware designs.
As is customary, of course, the keynote address will thoroughly update the progress on the upcoming OS versions; iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8 and tvOS 15. Rumored expectations of hardware such as the highly anticipated iPad Pro, possibly a new MacBook Pro, new iMacs and the new Apple TV that is overdue and oft talked about.
Any or all of these, as yet unconfirmed, predictions could be upended by a prior release date, the iPad Pro for one, is rumored to be likely to get an announcement before June.
Above: Photo / Apple
The bulk of the conference is devoted to the software and if the upgrades are anywhere near as substantive as they were in 2020 that will be a lot to dive into.
Getting more buzz daily and sign-ups continue to accelerate
Clubhouse is a fast growing “new” social media sensation that is growing at an amazing rate. It is also constantly morphing in an endless kaleidoscopic experience that comes from an amazing new technology: the conference call.
Exploring the paradox that having no gifs, no photos, no memes, not even a string of text is now the most added social app with the biggest buzz is as good a starting point as any.
Imagine you are unable to text, unable to send or post a photo, unable to speak unless you are called up or invited to be on on stage, need to use your real name for sign-up and must adhere to the specified topics and protocols of each room.
Sounds restrictive right? But it is this very contrast with other forms of social media that seems, for many, liberating, even transcendent. Once you realize that you are in a room with, in some cases, 12 or so people on stage and thousands of people listening in the audience, its a bit like a panel discussion, but in a smaller rooms it’s like a small gang in Philly circled around an oil drum fire chatting (or conspiring as it were) while they rub their hands together to keep warm.
Next, imagine, in a few years, when apple’s “Animoji” capability is added, perhaps with a body, the ability to walk around with some scenic backgrounds and you have “Ready Player One” in real life.
Obviously gaming platforms approximate this but for non-gamers, as the tech sophistication advances, it becomes more viable and interesting. And it’s the enthusiasm from the public exploding for the speech only version of this that could be key in hastening the realization.
On the other hand, clubhouse users are raving about, while others are lamenting, the intense intimacy that comes with speaking to, or sometimes whispering in, each other’s ears. The ASMR version of a conference call. With an audience.
There are also music rooms and a music mode – a higher fidelity version of a room where singing playing instruments and more is possible. The idea is to eventually do concerts (possibly paid) and even live collaborations and more.
The phenomenal nature and accelerated adoption since the launch is is perhaps just as much a reaction to the chaos and collisions that are so ubiquitous on platforms like Twitter, Instagram and others, as it is a fascination with the “new-yet-old” options enabled by the Clubhouse technology.
Add to all the the perfect synchronicity of the first lockdown phase of the pandemic corresponding to the initial public launch in March, 2020 and you have a historic paradigm shift that may well carry forward for years or even decades. Adaptation to new ways of communicating as a necessity and a natural next step.
How to get your account set up and what’s what in the app
For a basic breakdown: the app is audio only. Once you are invited (or get on the waiting list and are let in by a sponsor) and ready to set up your account you will be prompted for the usual things, user name, real name, bio, phone number and so forth. You can also direct connect a live link Twitter and Instagram accounts, which is where the “DMs” have to happen since the app has no built in messaging.
Once is you will see there are “rooms” and “clubs”. Rooms are always available and can be joined or created by all members. If you join a “live” room you are, as default, put into the “audience” which has two sub-sections: the “followed by the speakers” section which gives you a kind of front row seat, and the “non-followed” regular audience. The audience members have no microphone button and cannot speak without it.
To become a speaker you can click on a “hand” symbol which activates “raise your hand” allowing any “moderator” (designated with a “green bean” asterisk icon) to invite you to the “stage”, which is where the speakers reside.
The moderators do have the power to interrupt a speaker or even kick a speaker back to the audience, thereby removing any speaking privileges.
The magic of the app is in this structure, clubhouse etiquette, and the ability to have multi-minds from all walks of life that, generally, choose a topic for the room and then, with the guidance of the moderators, get input from various speakers on stage.
“Clubs” are like permanent rooms that also have signed-up members (some have thousands or tens of thousands of them) and these often have scheduled sessions, weekly, daily or otherwise, in advance.
Apple had a big year – but how big will first become apparent in 2021…
By now, it is not unexpected for the latest iteration of the iPhone, iPhone 12 in this case, to do well and even best the competition across the board in any given year. While it is nearly an automatic ritual that doubt will be cast, and the demise or at least diminution of the iPhone and Apple are predicted, nearly every year the opposite in the case.
This year was different. There was plenty of doubt – but the surprise announcement of the M series of chips for mac and the even more surprising benchmarks and performance improvements pretty much obliterated the doubters.
Not only that, but a layer beneath that headline news was a secondary layer of innovation and areas where long planned improvements came to fruition.
The first steps into a massive multi-year system software transition, one that will eventually merge the mobile operating systems of the iPhone, iPad, Apple watch, etc with the mac, moved seemingly ahead of schedule, with the huge improvements in iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur.
And all the various services such as Apple TV+ and many other offerings made huge strides as well.
As a matter of fact, a list of all the upgrades, added features and new services and products would be so long and varied that the transcription is beyond the reach of a simple article such as this one.
However, that alone is not where some of the biggest changes and most surprising evolutions have occurred. The real “action” so to speak is in the integration and unexpected by-products of the merging and deepening of all the new features and settings.
Take for example the macs that feature the M1 chip. It is not the chip itself, not even the new operating system that has the most impact on the performance or usability of the machines.
It is the integrated functionality of the various elements of the chips – Apple M1, the first ARM-based system on a chip – composed of several different components including the CPU, GPU, unified memory architecture (RAM), Neural Engine, Secure Enclave, SSD controller, image signal processor, encode/decode engines, Thunderbolt controller with USB 4 support, all of which are made more powerful by the continuously upgraded software system.
This – a kind of invisible interactive and synergistic ecosystem – not only has at it’s heart the “whole widget” philosophy legacy of Steve Jobs, but also a new and insanely futuristic definition of “whole” which now includes these proprietary Apple chips (CPU, GPU, NE), plus A.I. / machine learning and system core operating as one continuously evolving and reinforcing “unit”.
The future is already here, we just don’t see it like fish, maybe, never heard of a thing called water…
This new concept of the constantly increasing potential advancement in efficiency and power is not only the new standard basis for what constitutes computing technology at Apple, but will emerge as the ultimate re-definition of what “power” in computing means at all.
Similar to the internet – where the evolution and development is at stone age levels compared to where it will (and must) eventually reach in decades and even centuries, computing (or “personal” computing as it was dubbed in the last century) is also in very early and very primitive stages of evolution and this next step represents an early beginning, not a destination or accomplishment of a goal.
Even Apple has stated that the initial transition of a unified operating system shared by mobile and desktop / laptop devices, iOS / macOS, will be years still in development and implementation.
Meaning, in 2024 we may see the first real life trails and dissemination of a new kind of computing system, and, more importantly, computer assisted communicating, made possible by the complete integration of these hardware, software and A.I. advances.
Just in time, because the threats of global warming, pandemics, political upheaval and economic disaster need, more than anything, enhanced learning and communication that can be aided, we must fervently hope, by improved digital tools. A better bicycle, so to speak.
Fortunately, Apple has our back on this. And in 2021 more, much more will be revealed, if 2020 was any hint, of an exciting future not just for technology, but for the creative uses of it for the betterment of humankind.
Humans never seem to learn – but starting today our Phones do: Big-time
Seems like every year, and sometimes twice a year, we all go through the same song and dance. Apple -oriented publications and media tout all the “leaks” and how they predict that Apple will have a “lackluster” announcement based on those leaks.
Then reality hits and the leaks, while technically more or less correct, turn out to be meaningless or worse. The idea of “only” incremental improvements is blown away by an expanding and deepening ecosystem, so dominant and advanced, in and of itself, that the real world goes Gaga and Apple has yet another world-changing hit on its hands.
The iPhone 12, the HomePod mini and even the MagSafe system are each going to smash expectations and, ultimately, change the world we live in.
The innovative new MagSafe system enables seamless, high-powered wireless charging and easy-to-attach accessories. Photo / Apple
That’s a Strong Statement, Dude, what R you? A Fanboy?
Well, if we were looking at what’s been going on, particularly during the last several years, you would have noticed that the “incremental” improvements that so much of the media has been whining about are actually all part of a huge shift into areas, heretofore unimaginable, and all powered by an ecosystem that is unrivaled and unparalleled in any industry.
Apple has developed and advanced all its products and innovations using Hardware design, Software, machine learning and AI, as well as hardware and silicon development; and that has started the process of replacing and becoming the sequel to Moore’s Law – on a whole new level.
Computational Photography is Today’s biggest buzzword (not counting 5G)
5G and the 5G roll-out are the real secret to why all the nay-sayers are wrong. Apple does not need to adapt to the issues and problems of moving technology forward. Technology will move forward and adapt to Apple. That is the true legacy of Steve Jobs, and hallelujah!
Although there were many photography related bombshells in the presentation today – such as the 5x optical zoom rage / capability (iPhone 12 Pro Max) and the more powerful, larger sensors on the iPhone 12 Pro, it’s the payoff on the machine learning, and software based enhancements to the visual results and the shooting experience that is mind-bogglingly advanced and has only just begun.
Apple does not need to adapt to the issues and problems of moving technology forward. Technology will move forward and adapt to Apple. That is the true legacy of Steve Jobs, and hallelujah!
– D.L.
Without going into a list of the improvements and features related to Computation Photography upgrades (we will cover that in a series of articles and videos in the coming days, weeks and months) the ways that both the experience and results of shooting with an iPhone are improving is vast.
iPhone 12 Pro Max
Screen: 6.7-inch Retina display
Resolution: 2778 x 1284 at 458 ppi (pixel per inch)
Processor: Apple A14 Bionic
Rear camera: 12-megapixel wide camera with f/1.6 aperture + 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with f/2.4 aperture (120-degrees field of view and Sensor-shift optical image stabilization) + 12-megapixel telephoto camera with f/2.2 aperture +LiDAR scanner for depth mapping
Optical zoom: 2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out (5x optical zoom range)
Front camera: 12-megapixel with f/2.2
Internal storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB
In the box: No earpods and charging brick; Lightning to USB-C cable included
Software: iOS 14
Starting price: $1099
The iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro will be available in the US from October 23. The iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available in the US from November 13.
And the sub-head should be: “wow” because the iPhone 12, just as was the case with the iPhone 11, will be further refining and improving these capabilities 24/7 while we sleep. The importance of this can not be overestimated. Your iPhone will take better photos and perform better with, not only, “incremental” software improvements that you will download throughout the year, but also with “invisible” upgrades that will happen 24/7 slowly but surely as a result of AI and machine learning, well, learning.
I believe that this incredible fact is actually downplayed by Apple because they are worried that the general public might actually fear the power, based on some kind of Terminator-like dystopian scenario, thinking that the iPhone is a potentially dangerous pseudo-living being. The power is real. The fear is unfounded. Enjoy the upgraded experiences and performance now, and watch if improve day by day, week by week and move us all into a more beautiful future, at least for photos and screens and, oh yes, SPEED.
Humans never seem to learn – but starting today our Phones do: Big-time
Seems like every year, and sometimes twice a year, we all go through the same song and dance. Apple -oriented publications and media tout all the “leaks” and how they predict that Apple will have a “lackluster” announcement based on those leaks.
Then reality hits and the leaks, while technically more or less correct, turn out to be meaningless or worse. The idea of “only” incremental improvements is blown away by an expanding and deepening ecosystem, so dominant and advanced, in and of itself, that the real world goes Gaga and Apple has yet another world-changing hit on its hands.
The iPhone 12, the HomePod mini and even the MagSafe system are each going to smash expectations and, ultimately, change the world we live in.
The innovative new MagSafe system enables seamless, high-powered wireless charging and easy-to-attach accessories. Photo / Apple
That’s a Strong Statement, Dude, what R you? A Fanboy?
Well, if we were looking at what’s been going on, particularly during the last several years, you would have noticed that the “incremental” improvements that so much of the media has been whining about are actually all part of a huge shift into areas, heretofore unimaginable, and all powered by an ecosystem that is unrivaled and unparalleled in any industry.
Apple has developed and advanced all its products and innovations using Hardware design, Software, machine learning and AI, as well as hardware and silicon development; and that has started the process of replacing and becoming the sequel to Moore’s Law – on a whole new level.
Computational Photography is Today’s biggest buzzword (not counting 5G)
5G and the 5G roll-out are the real secret to why all the nay-sayers are wrong. Apple does not need to adapt to the issues and problems of moving technology forward. Technology will move forward and adapt to Apple. That is the true legacy of Steve Jobs, and hallelujah!
Although there were many photography related bombshells in the presentation today – such as the 5x optical zoom rage / capability (iPhone 12 Pro Max) and the more powerful, larger sensors on the iPhone 12 Pro, it’s the payoff on the machine learning, and software based enhancements to the visual results and the shooting experience that is mind-bogglingly advanced and has only just begun.
Apple does not need to adapt to the issues and problems of moving technology forward. Technology will move forward and adapt to Apple. That is the true legacy of Steve Jobs, and hallelujah!
– D.L.
Without going into a list of the improvements and features related to Computation Photography upgrades (we will cover that in a series of articles and videos in the coming days, weeks and months) the ways that both the experience and results of shooting with an iPhone are improving is vast.
iPhone 12 Pro Max
Screen: 6.7-inch Retina display
Resolution: 2778 x 1284 at 458 ppi (pixel per inch)
Processor: Apple A14 Bionic
Rear camera: 12-megapixel wide camera with f/1.6 aperture + 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with f/2.4 aperture (120-degrees field of view and Sensor-shift optical image stabilization) + 12-megapixel telephoto camera with f/2.2 aperture +LiDAR scanner for depth mapping
Optical zoom: 2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out (5x optical zoom range)
Front camera: 12-megapixel with f/2.2
Internal storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB
In the box: No earpods and charging brick; Lightning to USB-C cable included
Software: iOS 14
Starting price: $1099
The iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro will be available in the US from October 23. The iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available in the US from November 13.
And the sub-head should be: “wow” because the iPhone 12, just as was the case with the iPhone 11, will be further refining and improving these capabilities 24/7 while we sleep. The importance of this can not be overestimated. Your iPhone will take better photos and perform better with, not only, “incremental” software improvements that you will download throughout the year, but also with “invisible” upgrades that will happen 24/7 slowly but surely as a result of AI and machine learning, well, learning.
I believe that this incredible fact is actually downplayed by Apple because they are worried that the general public might actually fear the power, based on some kind of Terminator-like dystopian scenario, thinking that the iPhone is a potentially dangerous pseudo-living being. The power is real. The fear is unfounded. Enjoy the upgraded experiences and performance now, and watch if improve day by day, week by week and move us all into a more beautiful future, at least for photos and screens and, oh yes, SPEED.
