Zac Hall:
Based on the new information 9to5Mac has learned, Apple will simply call the new entry-level model “iPhone SE” while referencing the new hardware as the 2020 version.
I still think they should call it the iPhone SE X.
Rob Griffiths, on Robservatory:
Yesterday, instead of having a productive afternoon at home, I had the privilege of sitting at the bank for a couple of hours, resolving a problem completely of my own doing: I fell for a phone scammer. My wife and I had to close our accounts—which were in excess of 25 years old—and set up new ones. I then spent hours updating our various bill paying services, Quicken account access, etc.
Do yourself a favor, and don’t be me. I never thought I’d be “that guy” either, as I keep current on scams, look for signs of fishiness on phone calls, etc. Still, they got me, and it was painful—not necessarily in terms of financial loss (we’re out $500 for maybe 60 to 90 days while they investigate), but in terms of time: Time to fix what I did, and even more time spent beating myself up over my stupidity.
I have a strict rule — I do not give out any personal data or passwords to anyone, especially over the phone, even if I know it’s the bank calling me. I will either ask to call them back, to make sure I’m dialling the correct number, or I’ll go down to their branch personally.
Luckily Rob should pull through this one fine — he’s out some $500, which he’ll probably get back. It could have been much worse.
Drew Stewart, for Wired:
Nearly eight years ago, Disney gave George Lucas $4 billion for what is arguably the biggest film franchise in the world. Since then, Disney has released an additional five Star Wars films, raking in almost $6 billion worldwide at the box office. In those intervening years, the Mouse House also launched its own streaming service, Disney+, which now offers fans new 4K restorations of the original Star Wars trilogy and its prequels. Having those films all in one place, a place where the new films will also one day live, is a huge selling point for the streaming service—but it could be so much more massive […]
These aren’t the versions that were nominated for 17 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. These movies didn’t change the world. They’re not the phenomena that upended the way movies were made from that moment on. Moreover, these aren’t the movies that fans want to see. Look at the comments on any article about the aforementioned Skywalker box set. Half of them are people asking if they’re going to include the theatrical cuts, and the other half are people saying how they’re not going to buy the sets because they already downloaded a fan restoration of those original movies.
Amazing comparison of all the changed and added scenes in the Original Trilogy, including an explanation of how and why they came to be.
I recently rewatched all the Star Wars movies, including Harmy’s Despecialized Editions, and Episodes IV, V, and VI are just so much better without the subsequent changes. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, search the internets for them — they’re a must-see.
Adam Grossman:
Today we have some important and exciting news to share: Dark Sky has joined Apple.
Our goal has always been to provide the world with the best weather information possible, to help as many people as we can stay dry and safe, and to do so in a way that respects your privacy.
There is no better place to accomplish these goals than at Apple. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to reach far more people, with far more impact, than we ever could alone.
The iOS apps will remain without change, Android and Wear OS are being shut down by July, and the API isn’t accepting new sign-ups but will continue to function without change through the end of 2021.
John Gruber, on Daring Fireball:
[…] The ARM revolution for notebook PCs is coming, whether Apple is ready or not.
(I think they’re ready.)
We all know John likes to slyly pass on insider tidbits from time to time. Is this one of those? Are ARM Macs coming this year, or do we still have a way to go? Either way, I’m really curious how an A-series chip will perform in a larger form factor, without all the thermal and power constraints of an iPad or iPhone.
Robert Heaton:
I suspect that Wacom doesn’t really think that it’s acceptable to record the name of every application I open on my personal laptop. I suspect that this is why their privacy policy doesn’t really admit that this is what that they do. I imagine that if pressed they would argue that the name of every application I open on my personal laptop falls into one of their broad buckets like “aggregate data” or “technical session information”, although it’s not immediately obvious to me which bucket […]
Wacom’s privacy policy does say that they only want this data for product development purposes, and on this point I do actually believe them. This might be naive, since who knows what goes on behind the scenes when large troves of data are involved. Either way, while I do understand that product developers like to have usage data in order to monitor and improve their offerings, this doesn’t give them the right to take it.
Sad and unacceptable.
Mehedi Hassan:
What is more interesting, however, is rumours that Panos Panay was reportedly looking for a new role — either inside, or outside of Microsoft. Apparently, Panay considered a leave of absence from Microsoft and might have even considered joining Apple. Mary Jo Foley was unable to confirm this with more sources, so the credibility of this remains uncertain.
I hope Microsoft deviates from the route they have taken (similarly to what Apple is doing) and refrains from charging exorbitant prices for RAM and SSD upgrades. If not then they should at least be industry standard off-the-shelf parts, so users can upgrade them themselves. This is one of the aspects of Apple’s hardware I loathe — I don’t like to feel screwed.
John Gruber on Daring Fireball:
A DF reader — also a professional photographer — wrote to me about this bug last week. He (the DF reader) was using a $6,000 new 16-inch MacBook Pro. I say _was_, past tense, because after a few days he returned it because this brightness issue was no small thing for him, because he sets his display brightness _precisely_ using a display calibrator. Doing this several times per day every day quickly drove him mad.
Is this the worst bug in the world? Not even close. It’s a paper-cut bug. No data loss, no crash, not something sort of thing where something doesn’t even work — just an annoyance. But no one wants to use a tool that gives you half dozen paper cuts every day. And MacOS 10.15 is chockablock with paper-cut bugs. And it’s not like the LG 5K Display is some obscure unsupported display — it’s the one and only external 5K display sold by Apple itself.
I finally made up my mind today to update to Catalina. I have since backtracked and will continue waiting for them to fix all the bugs, so maybe I’ll reconsider an upgrade in another 3 months or so.
Joseph Menn, reporting for Reuters:
More than two years ago, Apple told the FBI that it planned to offer users end-to-end encryption when storing their phone data on iCloud, according to one current and three former FBI officials and one current and one former Apple employee.
Under that plan, primarily designed to thwart hackers, Apple would no longer have a key to unlock the encrypted data, meaning it would not be able to turn material over to authorities in a readable form even under court order.
In private talks with Apple soon after, representatives of the FBI’s cyber crime agents and its operational technology division objected to the plan, arguing it would deny them the most effective means for gaining evidence against iPhone-using suspects, the government sources said.
When Apple spoke privately to the FBI about its work on phone security the following year, the end-to-end encryption plan had been dropped, according to the six sources. Reuters could not determine why exactly Apple dropped the plan.
“Legal killed it, for reasons you can imagine,” another former Apple employee said he was told, without any specific mention of why the plan was dropped or if the FBI was a factor in the decision.
That person told Reuters the company did not want to risk being attacked by public officials for protecting criminals, sued for moving previously accessible data out of reach of government agencies or used as an excuse for new legislation against encryption.
If this is true, then Apple’s pro-privacy campaign is only true if you refrain from using iCloud. Unfortunately, iCloud Backup is the only automatic backup system supported by iOS, although you can go back to making local and secure iTunes backups instead. We of course have no real clue whether our particular backups were accessed or not, but I assume nobody is searching people’s data who stay away from legal trouble.
That said, Apple should definitely introduce end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups, or educate its users about the dangers of using iCloud Backup at the very least.
Sam Henri Gold created The Apple Archive and it contains the most amazing collection of videos, photos, PDFs, screenshots, and other memorabilia, published since Apple’s conception. Make sure to go check it out (click the title of this post to get there) and if you like what you see, you can help Sam keep the lights on by donating some money — it costs him around 456 USD per year to keep the site running.
Marco Arment:
When Turbo Boost is enabled, the fans annoyingly spin up every time the system is under a heavy sustained load. Disable it, and it’s almost impossible to get them to be audible.
Marco is testing this on a 16-inch MacBook Pro with a Core i9 CPU. I have been using a Core i7 extensively for two weeks and have found that it takes longer to spin up that some of the i9s that I’ve heard of. As an example, after fully loading the CPU and GPU with a longer (30 minute), intensive task, it took 30-40 seconds before that fans spun up past 3000 rpm (that’s around the time they start to be irritating) and got up to 4800 rpm after 90 seconds (that’s around the region I cannot tolerate them any more). The case itself doesn’t seem to heat up as much as in the i9 too. So basically, for short bursts of power, lasting up to 30 seconds, the i7 doesn’t seem to spin up the fans noticeably.
Either way, I have been using Turbo Boost Switcher Pro for years and can heartily recommend it. An Apple-sanctioned Low Power Mode would be even better.
Netflix released a wonderful interactive map and timeline of events from The Witcher. You can choose a specific point in history at the bottom of the screen (scrolling works on mobile devices too) and a small pop-up will give a short summary of what transpired in that specific point in time. If you click the pop-up itself, you’ll get a sidebar with even more information. There’s a lot of reading in there, so have fun!
Travis Clark:
“The Witcher,“ based on the fantasy novel series by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, is the most in-demand TV series in the world across all platforms, according to the data company Parrot Analytics. The company’s ranking is based on “demand expressions,“ its globally standardized TV measurement unit to reflect the desire, engagement, and viewership of a series, weighted by importance.
If you think the TV show is good, you have to read the books — they’re actually much (much!) better. Please note that some of the stories and threads from the books have been altered for the TV show — the originals not only make more sense, but the characters (Yennefer and Ciri especially) are better developed.
This round-up by Michael J. Tsai shows what a cluster fuck Catalina was and continues to be. I was going to update over Christmas but I’m probably going to hold out until March or longer — at this point in time there is zero benefit for me to upgrade and a lot of incentive not to (I still run a few 32-bit apps with no replacements). I’m also terrified of the new Music app replacing iTunes.
So after the recent acquisition of Private Internet Access, which I used for these past few years, I decided to switch providers. After weeks of wondering which one to choose, I settled on ExpressVPN — it seems to have the best balance of features that suit my needs.
I am not endorsing ExpressVPN at this point — it’s much too early for that — but they seem to be a solid company with proper care for our privacy. If you’d like to try them out, and use this link, you’ll get 30 days free.
Chance Miller:
Several years ago, Apple introduced its adaptive color temperature feature “Night Shift,” while iOS 13 includes system-wide Dark Mode.
These features are designed to change the temperature and color of your display based on what time of day it is. New research suggests, however, that features designed to reduce blue light before bedtime might not be as effective as initially thought.
I never accepted what F.lux did on Mac before Night Shift was conceived and I haven’t used the latter since it was introduced. I also have no trouble falling asleep, even while holding my iPad and reading. I do like Dark Mode though — it’s so much easier on the eyes.
Reuters:
An earthquake hit north of Florence on Monday morning and led to trains across the country being canceled or severely delayed, including those on the national high speed line.
The tremor hit Italy’s central Apennine mountains at 3.30 a.m. (0230 GMT) with a magnitude of 4.8, the U.S Geological Survey said. There are no reports of casualties, the fire brigade said.
It woke me up and I sleep as hard as a rock. When my wife asked me what’s happening, I said that it’s either an earthquake, or our apartment building is collapsing, after which I rolled over on my other side and went back to sleep (it’s not as if there was anything I could do). Luckily, our building didn’t collapse and there don’t seem to be any damages to anything in the city itself.
My wife just told me it wasn’t the earthquake that woke me but her, since I was snoring and she wanted me to turn over. And that was when the earthquake hit. Possible and maybe even probable but I’m sticking with my version.
Shot with iPhone 11 Pro @ 26 mm: f/1.8, 1/4464s, ISO 32.
Yusuf Mehdi:
The release candidate of the new Microsoft Edge for Windows and macOS can be downloaded right now with general availability targeting Jan. 15 in more than 90 languages. Microsoft Edge runs on the same Chromium web engine as Google’s Chrome browser, offering you best in class web compatibility and performance […]
We believe you should know who has access to your data and have the control to choose what you share. Microsoft Edge starts with tracking prevention on by default, so you don’t have to take any actions to immediately start having a more private browsing experience. With SmartScreen and Tracking prevention, we help protect you from phishing schemes, malicious software and new types of malware like cryptojacking.
I wish they’d chosen WebKit instead but at least Edge should be a decent alternative for people who need to use Google’s cursed Chrome.
Brittany Hillen, on DPReview:
Sony has overtaken Canon and Nikon to claim the top slot for full-frame camera market share in Japan, according to BCN Ranking. Sony showed growth in the overall full-frame, APS-C and fixed-lens digital camera categories from November 2018 to October 2019, as well.
Ultimately, Sony saw its total full-frame camera market share in Japan increase from 31.6% to 38%, while Canon was bumped down to second place at 36% market share compared to last year’s 37.8%. Nikon came in at 24% of the full-frame market, a decrease from last year’s 29.1%.
Quite frankly, I’m not surprised. Both Nikon and Canon have been resting on their laurels for a decade or so now, not innovating at all. Fuji and Sony are the only two “mainstream” brands that are actually trying something different and unique.
Cameron Esfahani on Twitter:
My first full time job at Apple was working on QuickDraw. The team was very small: the manager and one other engineer. Right before I started, Apple shipped the first PPC Macs. The QD team had done a lot of work for that so they took long, deserved, multi week vacations.
Read the whole thread.
(It would be so much better if these kinds of stories were posted to blogs, not Twitter.)
BBC:
Apple has complied with Russian demands to show the annexed Crimean peninsula as part of Russian territory on its apps.
Russian forces annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014, drawing international condemnation.
The region, which has a Russian-speaking majority, is now shown as Russian territory on Apple Maps and its Weather app, when viewed from Russia.
But the apps do not show it as part of any country when viewed elsewhere.
It appears to be a limit based on what App Store a user has chosen (Russian in this case) and this is yet another appalling case of Apple bending over backwards to please an authoritarian regime.
Google, which also produces a popular Maps app, also shows Crimea as belonging to Russia when viewed from the country. The changes happened in March.
Apple is, however, not alone.
Sean O’Kane, for The Verge:
It was a shame, then, to discover that the Taycan’s braking feels so mushy. Porsche made a somewhat controversial decision with the braking on the Taycan, and it’s been one of the more divisive parts of the driving experience in the early going as automotive journalists get their first seat time with the car.
I recently spent some time behind the wheel of Porsche’s E-hybrid models, and the pedal feel there is far from what I expected.
The lack of regenerative breaking on throttle lift-off is probably the only disappointing aspect that I found with the Taycan. I really hope they go back, fix their original designs, and allow for one-pedal driving.
Mark Gurman:
Software chief Craig Federighi and lieutenants including Stacey Lysik announced the changes at a recent internal “kickoff” meeting with the company’s software developers. The new approach calls for Apple’s development teams to ensure that test versions, known as “daily builds,” of future software updates disable unfinished or buggy features by default. Testers will then have the option to selectively enable those features, via a new internal process and settings menu dubbed Flags, allowing them to isolate the impact of each individual addition on the system.
I expected the iOS 13 betas to be as stable as last year’s iOS 12 betas. Unfortunately, we’re at iOS 13.2.3 and I’m still encountering problems, especially on iPad. I really hope they go back to what made iOS 12 so great.
The case features a dedicated camera button that launches the Camera app whether the iPhone is locked or unlocked. A quick press of the button takes a photo and a longer press captures QuickTake video. It works for selfies, too.
I wouldn’t mind a dedicated button on the phone itself. The iPhone is a camera first and foremost for many.
The Smart Battery case is available for all three new iPhones:
Guilherme Rambo:
I’ve been unable to access my Apple developer account since August. When I try to access any part of the developer portal, like the beta downloads page or the certificates control panel, I get redirected to a contact form that reads “Need assistance with accessing your developer account?”. My developer team doesn’t show up in Xcode anymore. I’m also unable to manage certificates or send builds of my employer’s developer team apps while logged in to my developer account in Xcode because it says it’s “disabled for security reasons”. The push notification service denies any requests I make to it. Back when the issue first began, I filled out that form and got a case number (20000057023991), with the promise that support would get back to me “in one to two business days”.
No explanation given since August and this situation has started to affect his income and his users. Stuff like this should not take place.
Apple has resolved Gui’s issues.
Ben Lovejoy:
The bank originally issued a brief statement stating that each person’s credit line is evaluated uniquely, based on a range of factors that include income, credit score, debt, and how debt has been managed. Taking all of this into account, it says, different family members could be offered different limits.
When the controversy didn’t go away, Goldman issued a new statement stating that its evaluation system is not aware of the gender or marital status of the applicant, and offered to re-evaluate the credit limit of anyone who felt an error had been made.
I’d guess they have no clue how the algorithm works and are scrambling to find anyone that does.
Andrew Allemann:
Fresh off ICANN’s blunder letting Public Interest Registry set whatever price it wants for .org domain names, Internet Society (ISOC) has sold the .org registry Public Interest Registry (PIR) to private equity company Ethos Capital.
Game. Set. Match.
This gives Internet Society a huge (as yet unkown) endowment rather than worrying about what the future of the .org domain name holds. PIR generated $101 million in revenue in 2018 and contributed nearly $50 million to Internet Society. It contributed $74 million to ISOC in 2017.
ICANN made this deal much more valuable by removing all price controls on .org.
While Internet Society might not have wanted to raise prices, a private equity company surely will try to maximize the value of the registry.
After reading this article about pricing uncertainty with the .org top-level domain being sold, I just renewed http://manton.org registration until 2029. Still wish domain names were easier and cheaper.
Roger Cheng, interviewing Phil Schiller about the new keyboard design in the 16-inch MacBook Pro:
Will this keyboard find its way to other MacBooks? There are folks who don’t need the power of the MacBook Pro, but may appreciate the tactile experience.
Phil Schiller’s answer:
I can’t say today. We are continuing both keyboard designs.
It will be a sad day in Mac world if the new keyboard doesn’t propagate to all the other models as soon as possible, in their next updates.
I’m personally waiting for the new 13- or 14-inch MacBook Pro but it’s not a Mac I’ll be interested in, if it doesn’t get the new keyboard.
Marco Arment:
We haven’t had long enough to fully test it yet. There may be flaws or shortcomings discovered over time — there usually are (and always have been). But frankly, it could catch fire twice a week and it would still be my favorite laptop Apple has made since 2015. Fortunately, upon initial usage, nothing bad really jumps out.
The new MacBook Pro has no massive asterisks or qualifications. It’s a great computer, period, and it feels so good to be able to say that again.
For the first time in years, without any major exceptions, we can see that Apple loves computers as much as we do.
So when’s the updated 13-inch model coming out?
Apple:
The 16-inch MacBook Pro features a new Magic Keyboard with a refined scissor mechanism that delivers 1mm of key travel and a stable key feel, as well as an Apple-designed rubber dome that stores more potential energy for a responsive key press. Incorporating extensive research and user studies focused on human factors and key design, the 16-inch MacBook Pro delivers a keyboard with a comfortable, satisfying and quiet typing experience. The new Magic Keyboard also features a physical Escape key and an inverted-“T” arrangement for the arrow keys, along with Touch Bar and Touch ID, for a keyboard that delivers the best typing experience ever on a Mac notebook.
They fixed it! This setup is the best next thing after having no Touch Bar at all.