2020: WHAT TO EXPECT IN TECH
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iPHONE 11: PRO CAMERAS AND EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENTS
RENEWABLE: APPLE FLYING THE FLAG FOR GREENER WORLD
122 MACBOOK PRO: THE ULTIMATE PRO NOTEBOOK
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APPLE AND THE ART OF ENGINEERING PERFECTION 08
PHOTOS: A PRIVACY-CONSCIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA FROM CUPERTINO 24
APPLE WATCH 5: TIME FOR AN UPGRADE 82
iOS 13: FEATURES YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 102
PETS: THERE’S AN APP FOR YOUR BEST FRIENDS 150
INTRODUCING THE BEST FEATURES OF iPadOS 170
TURN IT UP: APPLE LAUNCHES AIRPODS PRO 186
EVERYONE CAN CODE: APPLE EMPOWERING STUDENTS 216
TOP 10 SONGS 140
TOP 10 ALBUMS 142
TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS 144
TOP 10 TV SHOWS 146
TOP 10 BOOKS 148
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THE LITTLE TOUCHES THAT MAKE CUPERTINO’S ACCESSORIES WORLD-BEATERS America’s first trillion-dollar company didn’t come to acquire such a status by accident; indeed, one of California’s finest imports is renowned, some may say notorious, for the utterly impeccable attention to detail that it devotes to its design and engineering processes. It’s a philosophy that applies as strongly to the company’s accessories as it does to the main products we all know and love. Another characteristic that has long typified Apple’s approach to the creation of its reliably world-conquering hardcore, software and extras is secretiveness, although the previously nighon impenetrable veil adopted so religiously by the Cupertino firm has become a little more translucent in recent years. This is in large part thanks to such publications giving an insight into the company’s inner operations as Adam Lashinsky’s Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works and Ken Kocienda’s Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs. Together, these books and other recollections by former Apple staffers and insiders paint a picture of a company continuing to diligently follow a Product Development Process that can be reasonably described as one of the most successful design processes in world history.
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SOME OF APPLE’S MOST IMPORTANT ENGINEERING IS ALMOST INVISIBLE Most of us think we know all of the fine touches that make the difference to the triumphant cultural cachet and sales enjoyed by such iconic Apple products of recent years as the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. But of course, we don’t – the level of complexity and intricacy employed across the materials, designs and engineering in such products is almost unfathomable for a mere mortal. But our chief focus in this article is not the familiar – perhaps over-familiar – offerings that constitute Apple’s main product range. Indeed, it is in many ways the finest of fine engineering behind the company’s generous complement of accessories that is most instrumental in making Apple’s headline devices such a delight to use on a day-to-day basis. Such supposed mere ‘extras’ as the Apple Pencil, EarPods, power adapters, cases and sleeves – to cite just some examples – actually contain some of the most important and difficult design and engineering that the Cupertino giant has ever had to grapple with. It’s all in the name of not only supporting the status of Apple’s principal devices as the ‘stars of the show’, but also making your own life as an Apple device user that little easier each and every day.
A STAGGERING LITTLE APPLE INNOVATION THAT YOU MAY NOT EVEN HAVE NOTICED Such is the swiftness of Apple’s innovative engineering verve, that so many technologies and touches have come and gone in its products 12
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and accessories down the years that you may not have even been aware of. Let’s give you just one example: Liquidmetal. It’s an extremely hard and light metal alloy that was originally developed at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and which was the subject of considerable speculation in the world of Apple at one point. The company seemed to have serious ambitions for the use of Liquidmetal in its products in the early 2010s, even extending to acquiring exclusive rights to its use. Matters seemed to become more serious still when CultofMac.com reported in 2010 that Apple had already used the exotic alloy for the pin for ejecting the iPhone 3G’s SIM card. It seemed that the Cupertino firm’s logic in using the space-age metal for such a relatively inessential part was to test the manufacturing capabilities of Liquidmetal Technologies, which created the pin on a single production line. Alas, despite recurrent speculation about possible further uses of the metal by Apple, as well as conformation in 2018 that the company has been granted a patent for Liquidmetal iPhone parts, we’re yet to see the material actually show up in another Apple product in the shops. It’s tempting, though, to speculate about how much the metal could still yet shape the future of Apple.
A CONSTELLATION OF ASTOUNDING AND CONTINUALLY DEVELOPING ACCESSORIES Key to Apple’s stellar success in recent years has been an attitude that no accessory is a 15
mere ‘extra’, instead playing a central role in the experience of the user of the company’s main devices – and plenty of examples abound of precisely what we mean by that. One might think, for instance, of the Magic Mouse that was released in its first iteration in October 2009 and was the first computer mouse to have multi-touch capabilities. The most recent version, the Magic Mouse 2, is not only completely rechargeable – meaning you don’t have to keep buying traditional batteries for it – but is also lighter and has fewer moving parts than its predecessor, made possible partly by its continuous bottom shell. Such a product aptly demonstrates Apple’s relentless commitment to honing the finest
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details of its accessories over time – but there are many more examples where the Magic Mouse came from. The multi-touch Magic Trackpad 2 is one; it brings Force Touch to the desktop for the first time, with its four force sensors underneath the trackpad surface enabling users to click anywhere. Similar sentiments can be extended to Apple’s work when it comes to on-screen entertainment. The Apple TV Siri Remote may only have six buttons, but it’s both easy to use and a powerful solution for doing all manner of things beyond the basics – think actions like effortlessly flipping between apps scrubbing through a video. On the subject of displays themselves, meanwhile, plenty of speculation lately
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has centered on the possibility of a new Apple 6K monitor, for which there has long been an obvious gap since the company’s discontinuation of the Thunderbolt display in June 2016. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that Apple is developing such a display with impressive 31.6-inch dimensions, adding that it could incorporate a new mini LED-like backlighting design to deliver “outstanding picture quality�. However, little else is yet known about the product, despite suggestions that it could break cover this year.
Image: Viktor Kadar
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STILL AT THE FOREFRONT OF REFINING AND REDEFINING SOUND As for the thing that best complements great visual quality, well, that’s great audio quality. It should be no great surprise, then, that this has been a major point of emphasis for Apple in its design and engineering. It was certainly something that the company focused on with its answer to the Amazon Echo and the Google Home, the HomePod, with marketing chief Phil Schiller declaring: “We think we can do a lot to make this experience much better. Just like we did with portable music, we want to reinvent home music.” Furthermore, how could we talk about Apple sound quality without mentioning the firm’s iconic, if occasionally complained-about white in-ear headphones? Curiously, given that Beats Electronics is now a subsidiary of Apple, the former company’s establishment in 2006 was inspired in part by founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s disgruntlement with what they considered to be the substandard audio quality the Cupertino firm’s plastic earbuds produced. The dynamic has changed somewhat since then, though, not least due to the emergence in 2016 of Apple’s wireless AirPods, which AppleInsider declared were “still considered by many to be the best wireless earphones ever made” in a long-term review in 2017.
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PRODUCTIVE RESTLESSNESS IN THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION Pick up any popular Apple accessory these days – from the Apple Pencil and Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Cable, right through to the company’s compact and efficient power adapters – and you only need to take a slightly closer look to begin to appreciate the finer touches showing Apple’s astounding design and engineering nous. Apple is a firm that is truly well-practiced in the art of engineering perfection – and long may that continue to be the case! by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan
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It would be tempting to think that Apple just doesn’t ‘get’ social media. Two previous attempts by the company to build a social networking component around its famed music services – with iTunes Ping and then Apple Music Connect – failed to take off and were ultimately shuttered. In 2016, Apple was rumored to be working on a video-based social network app, but this was apparently re-engineered into the video creation app Clips, which was intended to fuel creativity on existing social networks. It all might initially look like a case of ‘three strikes and you’re out’ when it comes to Apple’s hopes in the social media space. However, in an age where privacy scandals have increasingly wrecked social media, Apple might have inadvertently created the perfect remedy: a more privacy-conscious version of Instagram. It’s on all up-to-date iPhones and iPads, and it’s the Shared Albums feature of the wellestablished Photos app. Could we be looking at the Instagram of the future?
MORE AND MORE EVIDENCE THAT THE FACEBOOK SHIP IS SINKING It’s probably not excessive to say that in recent years, Facebook has apparently sleepwalked from one scandal to another. As well as facing allegations that it provided a platform for Russian tampering with the democratic process during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Facebook has been left reeling by revelations that the U.K.-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica sourced personal data from millions of Facebook profiles without securing consent. 26
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg cut a sheepish figure when, at the social media giant’s F8 conference in April, he joked: “I know that we don’t exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now, to put it lightly,” without TechCrunch hearing a single laugh. However, even his opening declaration at the conference, that “the future is private”, felt ultimately hollow when it transpired that few of Facebook’s proposed remedies would tackle the root causes of the problem. Facebook did announce that it would fully encrypt all of the messaging apps it owns, including Messenger, WhatsApp and – yes – Instagram. However, the site will still be merging these apps on a backend that will give the company even greater insight into its users and so allow it to target them with ads more effectively. It doesn’t help that Facebook’s data boat has continued to periodically leak, with user data shared without consent and developers allowed to misuse data.
A CASE OF SHARING TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE Therefore, while sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter do provide a raft of privacy-focused features that in theory should assuage fears of data lapses, it can often seem a very different story in practice. Even the recently-announced redesign of Facebook’s website and mobile apps, which brings much of the whiteness and sparseness of the Instagram interface, has come under attack. Fast Company has pointed out that Instagram “has its own problems with misinformation 29
Image: Michael Nagle
and hate speech”, so a “surface-level transition” turning the focus to groups and private messaging “isn’t going to fix Facebook’s underlying content moderation or privacy issues.” The crux of the problem is that Facebook’s business model is “built on learning as much as possible about its users”. On well-established social media portals, you could theoretically keep privacy worries at bay simply by locking down content to prevent people outside a close social circle from accessing it. However, even this strategy evidently could fail. For example, as recently as January, Twitter disclosed that a security flaw had left the “private” tweets of some Android users exposed for years. Along similar lines, it’s not just the Cambridge Analytica scandal that has shown the potential perils of Facebook’s close relationships with third parties. In December, Facebook admitted to yet another data leak, with this one allowing 876 developers to, through possibly as many as 1,500 apps, see Facebook account holders’ photos that these developers were supposed to be barred from seeing. What is especially ironic about this particular scandal is that when you do want to share photos on the Facebook-owned Instagram, you could find the options... well, disappointingly limited. For example, it is difficult to share content previously posted by other users. While HubSpot has shared solutions for this issue, some of them require you to download an extra app – and besides, you need written permission from the original content producer before you can share the content in question.
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“In an age where privacy scandals have increasingly wrecked social media, Apple might have inadvertently created the perfect remedy�
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WE COULD BE WITNESSING THE TERMINAL DECLINE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Some of the media’s predictions about social media look frankly apocalyptic at times. It was speculated that for the photo-leaking debacle alone, Facebook could be heavily fined under the European Union (EU)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). One former Facebook Vice President, Chamath Palihapitiya, has even, in a video interview shared by The Washington Post, accused social media of eroding “the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other”. Nonetheless, rather than the slow death of social media, perhaps we could instead simply be seeing the emergence of a slightly different type of social media. You might be surprised to realize that the answer to your own issues with social media could lie in the app from which you regularly fetch images to share on the likes of Facebook and Instagram: the preinstalled Photos app on the iPhone. Even within this app, images can be shared with others surprisingly effectively; a video on the Apple Support channel of YouTube shows how. Another video on the same channel explains how to make a shared album in the app – and this feature is where the social magic can really happen.
THE SHARED ALBUMS FEATURE: THE POTENTIAL FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Right now, you might rejoice in sharing images with loved ones on the mainstream social media sites, and enjoy seeing how they react with comments, emojis and other elements. However, Image: Matt Elliott
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How to use Photos on your iPhone — Apple Support
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Image: Matt Elliott
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you wouldn’t have to say goodbye to all of this if you opted to quit conventional social media channels, as the Photos app on iOS devices can prove a surprisingly palatable alternative. This app’s Shared Albums feature would allow you to be selective regarding exactly which photos from the gallery you share and with whom. You could even tap into the Sharing How to create a shared album in Photos — Apple Support
Suggestions feature to let the software itself intelligently choose the greatest moments to share from your Photos library. In either case, the images can be shared across iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, Macs, Apple TV 4Ks and Apple TV HDs – but make sure they all run the latest operating systems and are set up with iCloud. You should also make sure the Shared Albums feature is activated on all of the devices on which content will be shared. You can invite as many as a hundred people to see a shared album you have made, as well as add comments and even their own images to that album. While it is possible to share albums with people not using iCloud, those people will not be able to leave comments or ‘like’ photos in those albums, which is why it’s a good idea to encourage them to sign up for iCloud. If you were the one who created the album in the first place, you can keep a tight rein over who accesses it; for example, you are free to remove subscribers or even completely delete the album. If you do delete the shared album, it will automatically disappear from your devices and those of your subscribers. Photos and videos added to shared albums don’t even deplete any of your iCloud storage, even though they are kept in iCloud – making for a versatile but also very secure network.
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Quite frankly, we don’t think you could really hope for more from an image-sharing social media experience, minus the recurrent privacy concerns that come with the more ‘traditional’ platforms. Shared Albums may still be a relatively unknown feature even to many Apple users, but it is also a potentially very powerful one. by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan
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Tim Cook and Co took to the Steve Jobs Theater to lift the lid on a trio of new smartphones under the iPhone 11 moniker, elevating the experiences we all know and love for the year ahead. This week, we go hands-on with the devices and look at the new iPad, Apple Watch, and the launch of Apple Arcade in one of Apple’s biggest keynote presentations to date…
iPHONE 11 Following the launch of the iPhone X, Apple was criticized for pushing the price of its flagship smartphone over the $1,000 price point. Despite huge innovations, many thought Apple had let its success get to its head, and sales suffered as a result. Last year, Apple attempted to rectify that with the launch of the more affordable iPhone XR, offering the majority of features as the “premium” iPhone XS and XS Max, albeit for $250 less. Subsequently, the XR became the company’s most popular smartphone, selling 26.9 million units in the first six months of 2019 alone. This year, Apple takes that up a notch, promoting the XR to its flagship smartphone, under a new name: iPhone 11. This stunning new smartphone features a bunch of new features that take the XR experience to new heights, including a dual-lens rear camera, six new color options, support for Dolby Atmos sound, a faster A13 Bionic chip, and more. Just as the XR did, the iPhone 11 has a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display, an LCD, which helps to keep costs low. Whilst that was once considered a 45
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handicap (no support for 3D Touch), it’s now the norm, with Apple eliminating the technology from all of its iPhones in favor of Haptic Touch, supposedly to support an under-the-display Touch ID sensor in 2020 iPhones. For everyday users, the iPhone 11 is the go-to smartphone for just $699. What’s perhaps most striking about the new iPhone 11 is its incredible new camera setup, a dual-camera system with an all-new Ultra Wide and Wide cameras that are deeply integrated into iOS 13, offering the highest quality video on a smartphone and major advancements in photography for the ultimate camera experience. During the on-stage demos, it was clear that the iPhone 11 had enjoyed a significant bump over the iPhone XR’s cameras, with the iPhone 11 now shooting beautifully sharp video, with both Ultra Wide and Wide cameras supporting 4K video with extended dynamic range for more highlight detail and cinematic video stabilization. What’s more, with a wider field of view and a large focal plane, iPhone 11 users can now shoot detailed action videos with the Ultra-Wide camera, offering unparalleled performance and unlocking new possibilities for shooting footage on an iPhone. For light users, the idea of two cameras may seem pointless, but their combination and the powerful technology in iOS 13 with advanced video editing tools allow users to easily zoom between each camera while Audio Zoom matches the audio to the video framing for more dynamic sound, and then rotate, crop, increase exposure and apply filters to videos instantly all within the easy-to-use Camera interface creating social-media-ready content in seconds. 47
The iPhone 11 was also handed the new A13 Bionic chip, which Apple says is the fastest chip ever in a smartphone, offering secondto-none performance for every task iPhone 11 handles. iPhone 11 offers up to 20% faster CPU and GPU than A12, which corresponds to leaked benchmarks, and is built with machine learning in mind with a faster Neural Engine for real-time photo and video analysis, and new Machine Learning Accelerators that allow the CPU to deliver more than 1 trillion operations per second, creating the most powerful iPhone range ever made. On the surface, it appears as though the iPhone 11 offers only a slight bump in performance over the iPhone XR, and whilst this may not be the biggest leap in the history of the iPhone, it’s still a worthy contender if you’re planning an upgrade. The iPhone 11 is rated IP68 for water resistance up to 2 meters for up to 30 minutes, and is protected against accidental spills from common liquids such as coffee and soda, which is better than the iPhone XR, and it’s available in six new stunning colors including purple, green, yellow, black, white and PRODUCT(RED), allowing consumers to express themselves in new ways with their phone. What’s more, a new Apple-designed U1 chip uses Ultra-Wideband technology, the first-ever in a smartphone, for spatial awareness, and with iOS 13.1 which arrives on September 30, AirDrop gets even better with directionally aware suggestions. The iPhone 11 also features Gigabit-class LTE and Wi-Fi 6 which allows for even faster download speeds, and Dual SIM with eSIM. Available to pre-order in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB starting on September 13 at 5 am from 48
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just $699, it’ll be hard to say no to an iPhone so powerful at such a great price.
BRINGING THE PRO TO THE iPHONE Where the iPhone 11 will appease priceconscious consumers, it’s the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max that were the real stars of the show. The spiritual successors to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, Apple’s top-of-the-line iPhones now sport the ‘Pro’ tag, bringing the range in line with the Mac and iPad naming system. Featuring Super Retina XDR displays, A13 Bionic chips, and a new triple-camera system with Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto camera options, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are for power-users. Available in a stunning new Midnight-Green color option, as well as Space Grey, Silver, and Gold, the iPhone 11 Pro features a 5.8-inch display, whilst the iPhone 11 Pro Max features a 6.5-inch display, offering the same features with different form factors and battery capacities.
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Without a doubt, the biggest selling point for the iPhone 11 Pro family is its triple-camera system, offering unparalleled creative control and the most advanced photo and video editing features ever seen in an iPhone. Featuring Ultra Wide, Wide and Telephoto cameras, deeply integrated into iOS, Apple has created a pro-level camera experience designed for everyone, offering the highest quality video ever seen in a smartphone. Each of the three cameras is capable of recording in 4K with extended dynamic range and cinematic video stabilization, and thanks to its wider field of view and large focal plane, the Ultra-Wide camera is great for shooting action videos. And because users can zoom between each of the three cameras with an Audio Zoom that matches the audio to the video framing for more dynamic
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sound, you’ll never miss an important moment again - capture everything you want. Design-wise, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max feature a similar chassis to the 2018 iPhones, though they have a stunning texture matte glass back and polished stainless steel band design, and feature the toughest glass ever used in a smartphone. What’s more, both of the phones are rated IP68 for water resistance up to 4 meters for 30 minutes, offering greater protection over the iPhone XS and Max, even from liquids like coffee and sodas. The models also sport a new Super Retina XDR display, which is an Apple-designed OLED that provides users an “immersive HDR viewing experience for movies and other HD videos” with up to 1,200 nits brightness. What’s more, the display features wide color support with systemwide color management and True Tone to offer a natural viewing experience, and with a 2 million-
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to-one contrast ratio with true blacks, the device offers the most vivid viewing experience ever on an iPhone, as well as being more power-efficient than previous models. Like the iPhone 11, the new iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max feature the A13 Bionic chip, which offers up to 20 percent faster CPU and GPU than the A12 chip. And because the A13 Bionic was built with machine learning in mind, the CPU can deliver more than 1 trillion operations per second, increasing the speed and performance of the iPhone even for the most complex of tasks - without impacting battery life. In fact, the iPhone 11 Pro now offers up to four more hours of battery life in a day than iPhone XS, whilst the iPhone 11 Pro Max offering up to five hours more than iPhone XS Max. What wasn’t announced as part of this year’s iPhone 11 range, however, was the widely-rumored bilateral wireless charging feature, with insiders suggesting that lastminute production issues forced Apple to scrap the idea. Still, Apple had to introduce a larger battery to accommodate this proposed tech, so it’s good news for power users who struggle to get through the whole day on a single charge.
THE CRITICS REACT Though we’re still a week away from the launch of the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, critics have shared their thoughts on the new products so far. Dieter Bohn from The Verge said that he enjoys the new matte finish of the iPhone 11 Pro, saying that, “from the outside, the phones look and feel slightly better than the iPhone XS, though quite a lot of that is the matte finish on the back, which I really prefer.” 59
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On the giant new camera bump, which will no doubt be as controversial as the ‘notch’ on the iPhone X, Bohn said: “I don’t love it, but everybody uses a case anyway, so that will help.” Chris Davies from SlashGear wasn’t so complimentary of the bump, saying: “I wasn’t feeling Apple’s big square camera array when I saw the leaked images and renders. Even now, I’m not 100-percent a fan, particularly when you look at the iPhone 11 Pro next to the iPhone XS Max.” He made a fair point, however, arguing that “had the camera bulge been grafted on, it would’ve felt clumsy; by growing it out of the glass as a whole, it’s not necessarily pretty but it does feel intentional.” Gareth Beavis from TechRadar criticized the new devices, saying that there’s “not a huge amount of new features outside the camera,” but praised its “increased speeds [which] mean gaming is far more impressive”. Julian Chokkattu from DigitalTrends said that “the iPhone 11 is basically a refreshed iPhone XR, and that’s ok,” adding that the lower-end model “doesn’t have all the bells and whistles,” but that it “will be more than satisfactory for people looking for an affordable, new iPhone.” Tom’s Guide added that there is “a lot to love about the iPhone 11 at first look,” and that “the camera features are impressive, even stacked against the iPhone 11 Pro, the design and new purple shade are beautiful, and the price is right.” Ultimately, it’s the price that’s the most important talking point. Apple has been criticized in recent years for its inflated prices and incremental updates, but for a company that pushes the boundaries and creates technology that changes the world every year, incremental 63
updates are all that is needed to take the iPhone to new heights and put the company back at the top spot. With the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, Apple has proven that it can appease the price-conscious critics, the profit-chasing shareholders and the needy power users, and this iPhone lineup speaks volumes about the changing direction of the company. Apple won’t break sales records this year - this latest batch of iPhones is widely considered ‘S-year’ releases ahead of the blockbuster 2020 iPhones with 5G modems, under-display Touch ID and a bunch of new features like bilateral wireless charging and USB-C charging points, but they’re enough. And for users ready for an upgrade, the iPhone 11 family offers everything you’d need and more. Power, aesthetics, and the world’s best operating system.
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The 2010s represented a real change in the world of technology, changing the way we work, live, and communicate. But where are we headed next, and what can we expect to happen in 2020? This week, we take a closer look at innovations that are just around the corner…
2020 IS ALL ABOUT 5G Perhaps one of the biggest changes expected to hit the market in 2020 is 5G technology, promising super-fast download and upload speeds, more stable connections and unlimited possibilities for new apps, software, and hardware. Though the United States, the United Kingdom, and China have already begun to turn on networks in parts of their countries, it won’t be until the end of 2020 when we begin to see widespread adoption of the new tech. Some of the world’s biggest networks, including EE in the UK and T-Mobile in the United States, have promised that 5G will come at no extra cost to consumers, so everyone will be able to join in the fun and take advantage. And it’s not just being able to download a movie in a couple of seconds that will change; greatly-increased speeds mean that we’ll replace our broadband and home internet boxes with our smartphones and movable dongles, and there are immense possibilities in the world of machinery, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and Internet of Things devices, with the real potential of this new technology yet to be realized.
AUTONOMOUS DRIVING Though we’re not quite at the stage where we can holler a robotic Uber to take us from A to B, there will be a significant shift in autonomous 68
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vehicle development in 2020. Tesla’s Elon Musk has already promised that the company will deliver its first truly automated vehicle in 2020, and we expect to see things such as automated braking and lane-changing come to the fore across a number of vehicle manufacturers’ 2020 models. And that’s without considering the rise of automated taxis, with Google’s Waymo already completing its first trial of autonomous taxis in California, transporting more than 600 people across the city in its first month. By the end of 2020, expect to see a huge number of automated players enter the market and partner with companies like Uber, Lyft, Ola, Careem, Didi, and Taxify; as the market moves towards automated driving, it’ll change the way we get to work forever. And it’s not just cars where automated vehicles will change. The trucking and shipping sectors will become more autonomous in 2020 and beyond, and we’re expecting to see some major breakthroughs in 2020. We’ve already seen Amazon deliver parcels in under an hour using drones, but that’s just scratching the surface of what could soon be possible as we combine technology with distribution. Of course, all of these changes and innovations won’t come without their challenges; not only from a human standpoint, but from regulators, legislators, and authorities. We’ll likely see the debate heat up around autonomous driving - is it safe, is it ethical, and who is accountable when something goes wrong - but it will be more a question of “when” rather than “if” we see vehicles take to our roads.
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AI AND VOICE Artificial intelligence has already had an impact on virtually every facet of our lives, but in 2020 and beyond, its dominance will be felt much more greatly. As technology companies increase their computing power, we’ll soon be able to leave devices to carry out complex human tasks at lightning speeds, freeing up our time to consume content, hang out with loved ones and focus on the creative aspects of our jobs, rather than monotonous tasks. Huge advancements in facial recognition, voice technology, and understanding the human condition mean that our technology is growing at a frightening pace - soon, AI won’t need human intervention and will be able to learn on its own, and the opportunities are endless. Voice will also become more important. Today, 20% of all searches on Google are conducted via voice, and that figure will only climb as more of us introduce smart hubs and speaker systems into our homes. But whilst Siri and Google Assistant may fall short of our human expectations, they are continuing to grow and develop, offering a more humanlike experience. Indeed, Google and Amazon record millions of hours worth of voice searches every day, and through artificial intelligence, voice processing, and machine learning, they’re building capable machines that will become significant in the years ahead. Neuro-linguistic programming, for example, allows computers to understand the meaning of our voice, giving them a deeper knowledge of underlying tone and sarcasm, creating truly smart assistants for the decade ahead. Image: Chris Monroe
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Image: Concept by Phone Industry
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A BIG YEAR FOR APPLE Apple rounded out the 2010s with an impressive year, launching a boatload of new products and introducing four new services to its arm that will no doubt increase profitability and prop up the company’s trillion-dollar valuation. In 2020, however, Tim Cook and Co will blow it out of the water, introducing a whole host of products and services as Apple enters its new era. The iPhone SE 2 will start off 2020, offering a smaller, cheaper iPhone handset for priceconscious consumers and developing markets such as India and South America. The company is expected to follow up on the four-inch iPhone SE in March, sporting the same form factor as the iPhone 8 and introducing impressive internals, like an A11 chip and new camera, all for under $400, comfortably competing with the likes of the Google Pixel 3a. The iPad Pro will also be given some love in 2020. The company refreshed the iPad, iPad mini and iPad Air in 2019, but the Pro model wasn’t updated, suggesting a new model is coming before long. Insiders suggest a spring launch, with Apple expecting to bump up the processing power, introduce new triple-lens cameras, and perhaps even a mini-LED display. Apple TV will also be overhauled in 2020, following the launch of the Apple TV+ streaming service in November. Though the current box offers everything users need to access their favorite content and play games through Apple Arcade, a set-top-box with a cheaper price point will encourage more consumers to make the jump to Apple TV+, while the long-rumored 75
Apple TV stick could see the light of day, allowing Apple to reach the masses. Apple is also widely expected to launch its own headphones in 2020. Though the company already offers an impressive line-up in the form of its AirPods, AirPods Pro and its Beat range of earbuds and headphones, the Cupertino company has yet to develop its own over-theear headphones with Apple branding. That is expected to change in the first six months of 2020, with StudioPods offering a high-end audio experience for professionals. A new HomePod will also be welcomed in 2020, allowing Apple to better compete with the likes of Amazon and Google who have cannibalized the smart speaker market. Though the company’s first foray into a home hub was well received amongst critics, few could deny that the HomePod was overpriced; so much so that the company eventually dropped the price. In 2020, we expect Apple will launch a new HomePod and a cheaper, smaller alternative (akin to the Google Home Mini and Amazon Echo Dot) to help Siri dominate. 2020 will also bring with it an updated MacBook Air with a new keyboard (first introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro) and a new Mac mini, which hasn’t been updated since October 2018. Those two new devices, potentially set to be unveiled at WWDC 2020, could be the first to come packaged with an Apple-made processor; the company has made no secret of the fact it wants to move away from Intel, and some expect the first will be ready for 2020. And the announcements don’t stop there. Several high-profile sources are adamant that 76
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Image: Concept by Taeyeon Kim
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Apple will release the first iteration of its AR Glasses, offering developers the ability to build apps and games that change the way we play, communicate, and work. It’s the world’s worst kept secret that Apple Glasses will be followed up by a VR alternative in 2021 or 2022, but code has already been found in iOS 13 to suggest the first version of Apple’s glasses will be coming in 2020. 2020 will also see some big changes to the iPhone lineup, with Apple launching its firstever 5G-capable devices in September. They’ll be powered by iOS 14, whilst iPadOS 14, macOS 10.16, and new versions of tvOS and watchOS will, as per tradition, be teased at WWDC. Finally, the small issue of Apple Car. Rumored for more than eight years, we know that Apple is working on something motoring related behind the scenes, though we’re unsure exactly what the firm has been cooking up. More than 1,000 developers are working on Project Titan, and rumors have suggested that 2020 will be the year we hear something official. Of course, there’s no guarantee an Apple Car is coming at all (the project had previously been scrapped) but we’re certainly expecting to hear about some major developments in 2020.
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THE FUTURE IS COMING With technology impacting every aspect of our lives, and innovations taking place across the globe both publicly and behind the scenes, it’s impossible to predict what our world will look like a year from now. We didn’t have time to mention a humanized internet, global electrification, cheaper solar power, the growth of the Internet of Things, new cures in medicine thanks to scientific breakthroughs, and data-driven healthcare, fueled in part by wearables like the Apple Watch. And that’s without thinking about the possibility of printable organs, the “internet of everywhere” connecting the dots and bringing us closer to one another, and the environment, and how technology can help us to reserve the damaging effects of climate change. Oh, and there’s the small matter of foldable phones, health tech, the growth of cryptocurrencies, and the increasing role social media plays in our democracies, with all eyes firmly on the 2020 United States Presidential Election. In short, 2020 represents real change. It will be a year of coming together, using technology to empower us and change the way we work. Automation and the threat of jobs will no doubt be one of the biggest challenges we overcome, but it’s a hurdle that will set us off on a new path and allow us to build a world that’s brighter, smarter, and safer for everyone…
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With Apple lifting the lid on the new Apple Watch Series 5 at last September Event, featuring an always-on display, built-in compass, and new titanium casing options, we delve deeper into the world’s most advanced smartwatch and explore its impressive functionality…
WATCH OUT As predicted, Apple used its September Event to show off a bunch of updated consumer hardware, including new iPads, the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, and of course, a brand new Apple Watch range. The fifth iteration of the smartwatch may, on the outside, appear very similar to the Series 4, released in 2018, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts, with Apple working to elevate the smartwatch experience through software and hardware for the year ahead. Still sporting the thinner, smaller bodywork of the Series 4, the Apple Watch Series 5 remains water-resistant, supports Apple Pay and is available in cellular and GPS varieties, but that’s where the similarities end. In typical Apple style, the latest Watch is more than a spec bump. Speaking of the launch, Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, said that the company has “seen Apple Watch have a meaningful impact on customers’ lives,” and that they were “excited to deliver even more capabilities with Apple Watch Series 5 and watchOS 6,” adding that the “seamless integration of hardware and software delivers an enhanced experience that makes it easier to stay active and connected to the people and information you care about.”
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ALWAYS-ON DISPLAY Though identical in design to the Series 4, Apple took the opportunity with the Apple Watch Series 5 to introduce an all-new alwayson display, using a lower power (LTPO) OLED screen that lasts the whole day. To allow for the new always-on display, Apple introduced a bunch of new watch face options which offer users the ability to see the time and their complications, and these faces are optimized to preserve battery life, intelligently dimming when moving the wrist down using an ambient light sensor on the front face of the watch. Of course, this new technology can be disabled permanently or temporarily if required, which is useful in settings such as movie theaters where you would not want a glaring white screen. Always-on displays aren’t new in the smartwatch industry, with Samsung introducing the feature on its Galaxy Watch and some Gear watches several years ago. They introduced the technology to show a permanent clock, like a real watch, although warn on their user manuals that “using the Always-On feature will increase battery consumption significantly.” Apple’s new technology, on the other hand, has no effect on battery life, with Apple Watch Series 5 still offering an “all-day” 18-hour battery life, the same as previous models. What’s more, Apple’s always-on display allows users to stay up to date with their activities, with Apple Watch automatically showing constant workout information on your display when it detects you’re taking part in a workout, further incentivizing users to push themselves.
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STUNNING NEW FINISHES On the outside of the Apple Watch Series 5, users can expect the same black ceramic and
generation accelerometer and gyroscope, is still available, and the bottom of the watch still features the now-iconic heart rate sensors.
sapphire crystal backing and a Digital Crown
What’s different about this year’s Apple Watch,
with haptic feedback that can take ECGs in supported countries, and on the inside you’ll
however, is that Apple is introducing a number of new colors and casing materials, giving
find an S5 chip, offering similar performance to the S4 chip on last year’s model, albeit tweaked
consumers more opportunities to express themselves. In a similar manner to the launch
to support the new always-on screen. Tech such as fall detection, which is enabled by a next-
of the Apple Watch back in 2015, Apple is now offering a whole range of casing finishes,
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including aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, and ceramic, at varying price tags. That’s on top
black shade manufactured with a diamond-like coating, whilst the ceramic option, which has
of the Nike and Hermès models with exclusive bands and watch faces, which offer image-
been available as a finish in the past, is now only available in white, though there’s a new black
conscious consumers more choice.
ceramic option for Hermès models.
The star of the show is the titanium material
Whilst the aluminum Apple Watch starts from
Apple Watch, which is noticeably lighter than the stainless steel Apple Watch, offering a
just $399, other finishes are significantly more expensive, with the stainless steel starting
“superb strength-to-weight ratio.” The finish is available in a natural titanium color and space
from $799 and titanium from $799, and the ceramic case starts from $1,299. It’s clear
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that Apple is trying to broaden the appeal of its smartwatch with the Series 5 and add more glamor and personality to its products, but whether consumers will pay almost four times the base price for a ceramic finish - on a device that will be replaced by something bigger and better in a year’s time - remains to be seen although, it’s still much more affordable than the original $10,000 Apple Watch, which was made obsolete within 3 years.
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Apple has also introduced a new digital Apple Watch purchasing experience called the Apple Watch Studio, which allows customers to “enjoy a more personalized experience when purchasing Apple Watch Series 5 in Apple Stores, from apple.com and in the Apple Store app.� Rather than shipping with a standard black band, customers now have the opportunity to pick their preferred case and band combination to create a look that is uniquely their own.
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EXCITING NEW FEATURES Many criticized Apple for this year’s new Apple Watch, arguing that there were not enough new features to call it an upgrade. However, Apple did introduce a couple of changes such as a new international emergency calling feature for LTE Apple Watches that contacts the local emergency services when SOS is activated, wherever the Apple Watch is in the world, and a built-in compass feature and Compass app let you see your direction right on your wrist, offering a more advanced Maps experience on the wrist. Indeed, the updated location features on Apple Watch Series 5 offer users greater navigation tools to use throughout the day, with a built-in compass and updated Maps app allow users to see which way they are facing. Apple Watch Series 5 customers can use the new Compass app to see the heading, incline, latitude, longitude and current elevation, making it a great tool for those who love to walk, climb, or record intense workouts and record their data to analyze when they’re home. As with previous Apple Watch models, the new Apple Watch Series 5 is available in both GPS and LTE varieties, starting from just $399. Pricing can vary dramatically depending on finish and watch face size, but it’s good to know that Apple is continuing to sell the Apple Watch Series 3 at a discounted price of $199, introducing a truly affordable Watch to the mix. The Series 4, almost identical to the Series 5, has been officially discontinued. For users wanting to make an upgrade, Apple is offering up to $110 in credit for trading in an eligible Apple Watch, which Apple says is “good for you and the planet.” 94
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DRIVING FORWARD WITH watchOS 6 Though the Apple Watch Series 5 may be short on new hardware, it’s the software that takes the experience to new heights. What was absent at this year’s keynote, however, was any word on sleep tracking on the Apple Watch, a feature that had been widely rumored ahead of its release. Indeed, Apple calls the feature Bed in Time Tracking, allowing users to track their sleep cycles if they wear an Apple Watch to bed. Fitbit, Garmin, and Samsung all offer native sleep-tracking on their smartwatches, so it’s disappointing to hear that the technology was not ready for release alongside the Apple Watch Series 5. However, we’ll no doubt hear more in the coming months and perhaps see the technology introduced as a point release, as sources inside Apple have confirmed that its sleep-tracking functionality won’t require special hardware to work. What we do know for certain, however, is that watchOS 6 takes the Apple Watch to new heights. With new health and fitness features such as a Cycle Tracking app, which gives users the ability to log important information related to their menstrual cycles, and a Noise app, which helps users understand the ambient sound levels in environments such as concerts and sporting events that could negatively impact hearing, there’s lots to be excited about. Activity Trends, which comes to the iPhone with iOS 13, offers a long-term view of users activity patterns to help them understand their progress, and with dynamic new customizable watch faces, including Meridian, Modular Compact and Solar Dial, the Apple Watch has never been more personal. 96
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THE CRITICS REACT Reaction to the new Apple Watch has been mixed, with TechRadar praising the company for introducing an always-on display but criticizing Apple for recycling the same design as the Series 4 Apple Watch, and not introducing sleep tracking as widely rumored. The Verge, on the other hand, said that the “awkward days of the Apple Watch are over,” adding that “now, the Apple Watch stays lit, at least a little bit, no matter what. And we can all rest easy knowing that even a small fraction of that social awkwardness might disappear.” iMore, on the other hand, was less complimentary, telling users not to upgrade unless they “need” an always-on display. “If all you ever wanted was for your Apple Watch to tell time, it might be worth it to you to upgrade from the Series 4,” they added. Edward Munn from Expert Reviews added that he has “no doubt the Watch 5 will offer a marked improvement over previous generations,” but asked whether “it’s worth paying double for one or two extra features?”
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The truth is, Apple Watch Series 5 was always going to be a quieter upgrade following the redesign introduced with Apple Watch Series 4, just like the iPhone 11 is an evolution of the iPhone X rather than a revolution. Apple is widely expected to overhaul the iPhone for 2020 introducing 5G technology, under-display fingerprint scanning and much more, and it may be that it’s holding off overhauling its Apple Watch range to coincide with a “hero” release year. However, the Apple Watch Series 5 offers a marked improvement on the Series 4, and for those with older models, an upgrade is a nobrainer. Apple has proven time and time again that it owns the smartwatch market, and though the Series 5 may not be perfect, it nudges the Apple Watch closer… 101
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With Apple releasing iOS 13 and now iOS 13.1 to consumers around the world, we go handson with the new operating system to explore its new features, including Dark Mode, an all-new Find My app, a new voice for Siri, powerful new privacy tools, and much more…
FASTER THAN EVER Just like with iOS 12, Apple took the time to introduce some performance improvements to this year’s operating system, speeding up everyday tasks on new and older iPhones. For Face ID devices, for example, iPhones now unlock up to 30% faster than on iOS 12, and apps now launch up to twice as quickly, as Apple has managed to reduce the size of apps by up to 50% when first downloading, and up to 60% when updating thanks to under-thehood optimizations - which are on Apple’s side, rather than on the side of developers. As apps are now smaller than ever, Apple has removed limitations on downloading apps over cellular, and you can download apps of any size over an LTE connection if you’re away from WiFi.
DARK MODE Though iOS 13 looks virtually identical to iOS 12 at first glance, the biggest change is a system wide Dark Mode, which now serves as an alternative to the Light Mode that’s been on iOS since its inception. Perhaps one of the most-requested iOS features of all time, iOS 13 introduces a mode that transforms the look of the entire operating system, darkening inbuilt Apple apps and even new wallpapers, which can dynamically change throughout the day like on macOS Mojave. What’s more, iOS 104
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13 introduces a Dark Mode API, so developers will be able to make their third-party apps compatible, and websites can tap into Dark Mode strings to trigger darker CSS, too. Some of the App Store’s most-used apps, like Facebook, are yet to be transformed, though we’re expecting developers to issue updates in the coming weeks.
MAKING PRIVACY A BIG DEAL Over the past couple of years, Apple has been ramping up its privacy efforts to demonstrate to consumers why the iOS and macOS ecosystem is preferred over Chrome and Android. In a highly competitive move, Apple fired shots at Facebook and Google and its latest privacy-focused feature, Sign in with Apple, is designed to serve as an alternative to sign-in options from those tech giants. Though such services are super convenient and negate the need for a password, they track your profile and collect data as you travel around the web, selling it on to advertisers for future marketing purposes. Sign in with Apple, on the other hand, does not track or profile you when you use the feature, and it has some in-built benefits to boot. You can use Sign in with Apple in the same way as you’d use Sign in with Facebook, except you’ll use your Apple ID. Because of that, there’s no need to create a login name or email address or provide other information - and you can authenticate every login via Face ID or Touch ID, backed up by two-factor authentication to create the most secure login alternative.
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What makes Sign in with Apple even better is that, if you don’t want to share your email address with a service, you can hide it and Apple will create a unique single-use email address for you that forwards to your real email address. The best part? Apple’s terms of service state that all App Store apps that offer Google, Facebook, and Twitter sign-in options to also provide a Sign in with Apple button, so the option should be pretty prominent soon. Apple introduced a bunch of other privacyfocused features including the ability to give an app or website your location just once, with a requirement to ask again when the next time it wants to use location data. What’s more, Apple will now send you notifications when apps use your location data in the background, and you can then turn off tracking for that app if you desire. Companies such as Facebook are most likely to be affected by these changes. When it comes to sharing content such as images and videos on social media, iOS 13 now lets you control where you share your location data, and under the in-built Share Sheet panel, you’ll be able to turn off location metadata from your photos. VoIP apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have also seen some changes in iOS 13, with Apple limiting data collection. Apple’s APIs were originally meant to allow apps that provide phone calls over the internet to listen for calls in the background, but developers were using them to keep their apps running in the background to collect data, which Apple banned from iOS 13. Facebook and WhatsApp will now collect less data on everyday users.
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Finally, Bluetooth and WiFi were handed some privacy improvements, with new APIs which prevent apps from accessing your location using WiFi and Bluetooth without consent. When apps collect data using Bluetooth or WiFi, you’ll receive a notification and will be able to turn off access in Settings - again, apps like Facebook will suffer the most from these changes.
NEVER LOSE YOUR PHONE AGAIN The Find My app on iOS 13 was designed to replace Find My iPhone and Find My Friends, and serve as a single hub to locate your devices and friends. Working in the same way as its predecessors, the Find My app even lets you find missing devices without WiFi or cellular connections, using crowd-sourced location information via Bluetooth which is picked up by other smartphones and Macs, relaying the information back to users to find their devices. The new feature uses end-to-end encryption and therefore requires at least two iPhones or Apple devices to work. For those with Family Sharing enabled, users will be able to see their family’s devices under the Find My app, and you can help a friend or family member find a lost or stolen device by tapping Help a Friend under the Me tab on the Find My app. Apple is widely expected to introduce Tabs in a coming iOS 13 release and keynote presentation, Tile-like devices that allow users to track objects such as their keys, wallet, car, and other items that are likely to be lost.
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Apple’s NEW Find My App - How it Works
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PHOTOS FRONT AND CENTER Photos was also given a new look in iOS 13, with Apple putting the best photos front and center to relive memories at a glance. Making the app more competitive with apps such as Google Photos, which offers unlimited free photo storage for life, Apple Photos can now be organized by day, month, and year, filtering out clutter such as screenshots and duplicate images to ensure only the most significant moments are seen, including Live Photos which automatically play as you scroll, bringing your photo library to life. What’s more, Apple now highlights locations, performers, holidays, and more under an All view, and you can see photos of a person on their birthday if you’ve assigned a date to them in the People album. Editing has also been overhauled on iOS 13, and now the tools are front and center alongside a slider wheel that’s easier to use than ever. One particularly useful new feature offers a before and after of what photos will look like when applying a filter, and you can now adjust the intensity of the pre-set filters including Vivid or Noir, creating a more subtle look. Video editing has also been given some love, and now users can adjust elements such as their exposure, contrast, saturation, brightness, and more - a greater experience than the video cropping and trimming tools which were available on previous iterations of iOS. You can also apply filters over videos, and because edits are nondestructive, you can remove them and revert back to the original video whenever you’d like, which is great if you make a mistake or want to look back on original footage before you applied manipulations. 113
Speaking of photos and videos, the Camera app
LOOK AROUND WITH MAPS
was also updated with iOS 13 and users can now adjust the position and intensity of studio
iOS 13 takes Apple Maps to the new level, introducing more advanced detailing for
lighting, so they can smooth skin, sharpen eyes,
roads, beaches, parks, buildings, and more. It’s
and brighten facial features. These new tools are limited to the XS, XS Max, XR and of course
expected to roll out across the United States before the end of 2019 and will enter into other
the new iPhone 11 family, and a new High-Key Mono Portrait Lighting effect allows iPhone
countries including the United Kingdom and Canada in 2020. One of the most interesting
users to take photographs of a monochromatic subject on a plain white background.
new features is Junction View, which helps drivers avoid wrong turns, whilst real-time
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transit schedules offer arrival times and network stops, whilst flight information is also new,
you can tap to move through the area. What’s different about Look Around and Street View is
offering information on terminals, gates, and departure times.
that Apple will highlight points of interest such as restaurants and businesses right from the get-
Look Around is perhaps the biggest new feature in Apple Maps - Apple’s alternative to Google
go, which is great if you’re a tourist looking to explore a new city on the fly.
Street View, offering a street-level view of towns and cities. Whenever you see a pair of binoculars,
What’s unfortunate, however, is that Look Around is limited to parts of California and
tap them and you’ll be taken to a close-up street level view of the location in a card, which
Nevada, although Apple has promised its availability will expand over the course of 2019.
How to Use Look Around in Apple Maps in iOS 13? How to Look Around with address or without address
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Image: Brittany Hosea-Small
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It took Google years to build a $5 billion dollar business around Google Maps and Street View, so we’re not expecting Apple Maps to roll out Look Around across the world soon. Also new in maps is a new Favorites option, allowing you to search for locations and add them to a dedicated list, whether that be home, work, or holiday. Tapping a favorite location brings up directions to that spot, and Siri Suggestions can suggest places to add. Collections are also new, aggregating different locations like restaurants you might want to try when you are visiting a new city - these can be shared with friends and family to build an itinerary, too.
TONS OF IMPROVEMENTS It would be impossible for us to reel off every change in this year’s iOS release, but a few more notable changes include a completely overhauled Reminders app, the introduction of Memoji on Messages - even for those without Face ID - and Memoji and Animoji Stickers, which can be used on Apple’s apps and on third-party apps, even Facebook and Twitter. Dual-SIM support also introduces an easier way to send messages via two numbers - users are able to select which number they’d like to send a message from when they’re preparing an iMessage, which will make it much easier for those running two numbers for their work. The Contacts app has also been given a lick of paint with new relationship labels and the introduction of Memoji, whilst the Notes app has a new thumbnail and gallery view and new 117
tools for folders and subfolders, creating a more useful note-taker across iOS and macOS. Apple has also introduced several improvements to the Mail app, such as the ability to block a sender and mute a noisy email thread. A formatting bar, which appears above the keyboard, now allows users to format their emails and add attachments before sending, and formatting tools mean you can change font styles, colors, and sizes, add selections and strikethroughs and much more, supporting imported fonts on iOS for the very first time. Safari introduces a new startup page and a View menu, allowing users to change text size and adjust access to cameras, microphones, and locations per-site. What’s more, an all-new Downloads manager allows you to check on the status of files you’re downloading and drag and drop them into an email, creating a more professional-friendly experience on the iPhone. The Health app has been overhauled in iOS 13 with a streamlined user interface and new features such as noise monitoring, activity trends, cycles, and toothbrushing time for smart toothbrushes. Siri has been given a more natural-sounding voice, the shortcuts app is now installed by default, a new QuickPath keyboard makes it easier to swipe a finger from one letter to the next to type without removing your finger from the iPhone’s display, and Bedtime feature has been overhauled with new functionality. That’s without mentioning controller support for Apple Arcade, improved voice control, ARKit 3, Screen Time improvements, and the ability to read a wider range of NFC tags. CarPlay has also been overhauled for iOS 13, and there are tons 118
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iOS 13.2 - 8 Confirmed Features Coming!
of hidden features that make everyday tasks on your iPhone simpler.
MORE CHANGES ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER Before the launch of iOS 13, Apple took the unusual move of seeding the first beta of the iOS 13.1 update, introducing some of the features that were removed from iOS 13, including Automations in the Shortcuts App and the ability to share an ETA in the Maps app. The point release also introduces the audio sharing feature introduced in iOS 13 to Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, expanding the feature from AirPods and Powerbeats Pro, and allowing users to listen to audio from an iPhone with more than one pair of headphones, which is great for families, couples, and groups traveling on airplanes. 120
Alongside a new audio sharing feature, Apple introduced new icons for AirPods, Beats, and HomePod devices when they’re connected to the iPhone, as well as new HomeKit icons and smaller changes such as new dynamic wallpapers, an indicator for TestFlight apps, and more. iOS 13.1 was released on September 24, just a few days after iOS 13, and iOS 13.2 is expected to follow in October or November with new emoji, such as disability-themed emoji, including a new guide dog, an ear with a hearing aid, wheelchairs, a prosthetic arm, and a prosthetic leg - alongside features such as the ability to have Siri announce new messages, Apple Tags support, the Image Capture API, and more. Whether you’re rocking a shiny iPhone 11 Pro Max or you’re a loyalist to your iPhone 6S, there’s no denying that iOS 13 is one of the most significant iOS releases to date, elevating iOS to new heights. Make the most of the new features and be prepared for even more advancements the world’s most powerful operating system just keeps getting better…
Image: Jason Cipriani
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With Apple winning a United Nations award
“newness” and innovating its products from the
for its use of 100% renewable energy and the
ground up every year, whether that’s a major
company making great strides towards cleaning up its carbon footprint, we take a closer look at
new development like the introduction of Face ID or something as simple as a new color option
the future of one of the world’s most sustainable and eco-conscious technology giants…
for iPad or iPod Touch. And whilst it’s easy to criticize Apple for its
INVESTING IN GREEN ENERGY
approach to throwaway technology, the company has made great strides in recent years
“Truly innovative products leave their mark on the world instead of the planet,” Apple proudly states on its website. It’s a big claim for a company that produces millions of iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and other technology products that, in the majority of cases, are used only for a year or two before they’re discarded for the latest model. Indeed, Apple has built its business on
to clean up its act, most notably by investing in green energy projects around the world. The company has more than 30 operational renewable energy projects globally, with 626 megawatts of generation capacity and 286 megawatts of solar PV generation to boot. What’s more, Apple confirmed towards the end of 2018 that every touchpoint - from retail
Image: Apple Inc.
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stores to servers - is now powered by 100% renewable energy. And that’s not a new thing
1 gigawatt of renewable energy, with three wind farms in Hunan and Hubei already able
- Apple has been powering its data centers with 100% renewable energy since 2014, and since
to generate approximately one-tenth of the anticipated overall project total. Lisa Jackson,
2011, the firm’s renewable energy projects have reduced greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) by
Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, said that seeing the project
54 percent from its facilities worldwide and prevented nearly 2.1 million metric tons of CO2e
completed was “really exciting” and that Apple was “proud that suppliers participating in the
from entering the atmosphere.
fund share our commitment to supporting innovative energy solutions, cutting emissions and fighting climate change.” At a time when the company is facing significant trade challenges with China, it’s great to see that its commitment to the environment stands head
Apple’s latest venture is called the China Clean Energy Fund, a first-of-its-kind investment fund in China that connects suppliers with renewable energy projects. Apple and ten of its Chinese suppliers have promised to invest an eye-watering $300 million by 2022 to develop projects totaling
and shoulders above its profit margins, putting the planet and its customers first.
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Apple launched the Supplier Clean Energy Program in 2015, and new initiatives including the China Clean Energy Fund have helped to reshape Apple’s power supply and create a cleaner production across every aspect. Globally, Apple and its suppliers are expected to generate more than 4 gigawatts of clean energy worldwide by 2020, which will cover around a third of the electricity needed for Apple’s global manufacturers and suppliers. Of course, there’s still a long way to go, and Lisa Jackon has said she is “confident these programs can be used as a model globally to achieve the goal of 100% clean energy” and that “projects in China show what’s possible when companies, governments, and innovators come together to address climate change,” signaling major leaps forward for the world’s greatest tech giant.
MAKING ITS PARTNERS GREENER As well as putting its money where its mouth is and investing in green energy projects, Apple is increasingly putting the onus on suppliers, forcing them to do their bit. Lisa Jackson explained to Fast Company how Apple was helping partners transition to renewable energy. One of their biggest commitments was to ensure that even the facilities it doesn’t own or operate have access to “the same high-quality clean energy that we did,” adding that Apple “needed to be able to work with suppliers on kind of short notice to put money into a fund and almost pool their buying power.” Introducing a series of new funds has helped its suppliers navigate things such as regulatory requirements, demonstrating Image: Apple Inc.
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Image: Apple Inc.
that Apple’s commitment to renewable energy goes much farther than handing out cash incentives. “We created a web portal, which sounds like a little thing, but there aren’t that many places where small or medium-sized businesses can go and get the information from a trusted source to show them how to do clean energy and do it the right way and ensure that they get quality clean energy that’s going to be put on the grid, so it actually makes a difference,” Lisa said during her interview. She also commented on the finances of the project, adding that Apple doesn’t “want it to be done where it’s a loss, or where it feels like it’s something you do as a charity because that’s not sustainable. We know the opportunities in clean energy right now are such that clean energy is cheaper in many, many places than traditional grid power.” What’s particularly exciting about Apple’s environmental policy is Lisa herself, with the VP showing passion and determination for change. “We don’t have to resign ourselves to a climate catastrophe,” she said during a talk at the World Economic Forum in late September. “That’s true if, and only if, we act now. It’s true if every one of us commits to doing the absolute most we can in our own spheres and joins forces to advocate for smart, strong public policy at every level. It’s taken a long time for us to get here, but I believe humanity is at an inflection point.”
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GREENER PRODUCTS Alongside its commitment to green energy, Apple has increasingly been extending its efforts into its own hands - creating greener products for consumers. Indeed, Apple’s new Macs are made from 100% recycled aluminum to give material from iPhones and iPads a second life. Whilst standard recycled aluminum accumulates impurities each time it’s recycled, Apple painstakingly designed a new alloy that can be recycled over and over again without losing important qualities, effectively meaning that iPhones, iPads, and Macs can be recycled continuously with components being reused time and time again for new devices. In its most recent devices such as the iPhone 11 Pro, Apple uses 100% recycled tin for the solder in the logic board, more than 40 components used in the devices are made from
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recycled plastic, and 100% of Apple packaging, whether an AirPods box or a MacBook box, is made from 100% recycled wood or wood from responsibly managed forests, helping to prevent deforestation. What’s more, Apple continues to advance its forest protection efforts, and most recently, CEO Tim Cook promised that the company would donate money to “help preserve and restore� the Amazon forest across Latin America. Energy consumption is another big concern amongst environmentalists. Energy used in our digital consumption now has a bigger impact on global warming than the aviation industry, but Apple products are 70% more energy efficient now than they were in 2008, and new innovations such as Dark Mode on iOS
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help to preserve battery life on OLED displays, as dark pixels can be turned off selectively on devices rather than lit up unnecessarily. Build quality is also another consideration, and Apple is now designing products that can withstand years of use, like water resistance and strengthened glass to prevent cracks on the iPhone. When the worst does happen, there are now more than 5,000 Apple-certified repair locations around the world, and Apple Trade-In allows users to exchange their old devices for credit, with those devices reused by new owners or recycled for parts for future Apple technology. That’s without mentioning software, with iOS 13 supporting devices back to the iPhone 6S and SE, extending the life of older products and introducing advanced new functionality and security like Sign in with Apple that makes iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks a long-term investment, rather than disposable. In addition, all of Apple’s services, from iCloud storage and Apple Music to FaceTime and Apple TV+, are powered by renewable servers and encourage consumers to consume less physical content, like DVDs and game consoles which contribute to more unnecessary plastic waste. Apple’s ecosystem is only getting more powerful, too, meaning more of the things we use and need every day can be stored on our smartphones. The Measure app means we don’t need a tape measure, the Photos app means we don’t need to print out our pictures, and the Notes app means no more Post Its. In the future, Apple users in the United Kingdom could even store their identity information and passports on their iPhones, unlocking more possibilities. 134
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THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY AT APPLE Apple’s commitment to the environment is stronger today than it has ever been, and whilst the cynics may say that it’s nothing more than good PR, creating a greener world is good for everyone - including Apple. The company’s commitment to using recycled materials in its devices should continue to pace up as precious metals become more scarce, and Apple may even look to connect with orbital internet from SpaceX StarLink, a solar-powered orbital network to the ground devices to remove the need for telephone masts around the world. Rumors have already indicated that Apple is working on a direct competitor to SpaceX’s orbital internet program to elevate the Apple ecosystem and innovate further, but such technology requires billions of dollars of investment and years of testing. Apple’s 2019 Environmental Report, released in April, showed some promising results, with the company boasting a 35% reduction in carbon footprint since 2015 - and a 64% reduction since 2011. However, the company’s 2017 battery scandal, which has resulted in expensive lawsuits around the world, demonstrates that executives don’t always have the interests of the planet at heart, putting shareholders first in today’s competitive times, so it’s clear that more must be done on a cultural level to make the big fruit of tech greener, both inside and out. Whatever your opinion of Apple and the environment, it’s hard not to take the words of Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple, seriously. Image: Apple Inc.
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“I know that we are all inspired by Greta Thunberg - by the clarity and moral force she brings to this issue,” she said during a recent keynote presentation. “We have a profound moral obligation - to Greta’s generation and to all the generations that follow - to address this problem head-on. Not in a few years. Not when it’s convenient. But right now, before it’s too late.” Apple won’t fix the world’s environmental problems alone - nor should it - but it’s sure going to play an instrumental role and continue to innovate, with a greener planet at the fore.
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NOBODY BUT YOU (FEAT. GWEN STEFANI) Blake Shelton
DANCE MONKEY toneS and I
MEMORIES Maroon 5
NICE TO MEET YA nIall horan
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU MarIah Carey
CIRCLES PoSt Malone
GOOD AS HELL lIzzo
FALLING haryy StyleS
SOMEONE YOU LOVED lewIS CaPaldI
10,000 HOURS dan + Shay
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FINE LINE harry StyleS
FROZEN 2 (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) VarIouS artIStS
FULLY LOADED: GOD’S COUNTRY Blake Shelton
THE ESSENTIAL NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL CHRISTMAS VarIouS artIStS
THE BEST OF PENTATONIX CHRISTMAS PentatonIx
GREATEST HITS earth, wInd & FIre
CHRISTMAS MIChael BuBlé
GREATEST HITS (REMASTERED) lInda ronStadt
A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS VarIouS artIStS
FROZEN 2 (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK / DELUXE EDITION) VarIouS artIStS
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LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (LIVE FROM PHOENIX, 2017) For kInG & Country
LAST CHRISTMAS (OFFICIAL 4K VIDEO) whaM!
DANCE MONKEY toneS and I
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU MarIah Carey
I’LL BE YOUR SANTA TONIGHT keIth urBan
SEÑORITA Shawn MendeS & CaMIla CaBello
MEMORIES Maroon 5
BOP ON BROADWAY (HIP HOP MUSICAL) deBaBy
NICE TO MEET YA nIall horan
DESPACITO (FEAT. DADDY YANKEE) luIS FonSI
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KATARINA ROSTOVA (NO. 3) the BlaCklISt, SeaSon 7
CLAW AND HOARDER: SPECIAL RICKTIM’S MORTY rICk and Morty, SeaSon 4 (unCenSored)
GHOSTS, GODS AND RUNNING DOGS VIkInGS, SeaSon 6
CATS OF THE URBAN JUNGLE ProjeCt runway, SeaSon 18
BAY BREEZES AND BAD NEWS the real houSewIVeS oF new jerSey, SeaSon 10
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: PT. 2 BatwoMan, SeaSon 1
THE SHOW MUST GO ON keePInG uP wIth the kardaShIanS, SeaSon 17
THE LAST CHRISTMAS Modern FaMIly, SeaSon 11
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: PART THREE the FlaSh, SeaSon 6
SOME FENCES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN the real houSewIVeS oF oranGe County, SeaSon 14
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MISTLETOE COTTAGE deBBIe MaSon
WAIT FOR ME tIa louISe
A MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT daVId BaldaCCI
THE LIKENESS tana FrenCh
THE BOOKSHOP OF YESTERDAYS aMy MeyerSon
ABSOLUTE PROOF Peter jaMeS
THE GUARDIANS john GrIShaM
LIE TO ME j.t. ellISon
CRISS CROSS jaMeS PatterSon
THE GOOD DETECTIVE john MCMahon
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Photography: Christian Vieler | Website: https://www.vieler-photography.com | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vieler.photography/
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With pet care spending topping $72.56 billion in the United States alone last year, there’s little wonder why companies are cashing in on our obsession for cats, dogs, and other furry friends. This week, we delve deeper into the technology that is improving the lives of our pets, from the pet-friendly portrait mode on the iPhone 11 to pet healthcare innovations…
A BOOMING INDUSTRY With the average American spending an eyewatering $1,300 on their pets every year, the pet industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, with many pet parents prioritizing their pet’s health and happiness above their own. What’s more, we’re increasingly seeing Gen Z and millennial audiences turning to pets to ‘fill the void’ of marriage and parenthood, which they’re putting off until later life due to career and financial limitations, whilst many of us rely on our pets for reassurance and comfort in today’s challenging times.
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And it’s not just expensive cat food and veterinary bills we’re paying for - treats, bedding, and clothing are all common expenses for those with a loyal companion, and technology is coming into play, too. Indeed, the tech lovers amongst us are now reaching for our wallets to invest in technology and gadgets for our pets, whether that’s an app-powered water bowl or a camera so we can watch and interact with our pets when we’re out of the house during the day. Whilst many of these gadgets are fads and designed for a quick laugh, some of them can change our pets’ lives and create more welcoming, caring environments for all…
THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT It’s hard to come up with an inventive idea for a new app nowadays - every concept has been tried and tested a hundred times before, and the pet industry is no exception. Head to the App Store or Play Store and you’ll find thousands of pet-inspired apps, from games to play on our phones to full pet monitors and trackers for ovulation, pet’s mental health and more. Indeed, in today’s technology-obsessed world, more of us than ever are turning to our smartphones for help with caring for our pets and building deeper bonds through technology. PetCoach, for example, is a useful source of pet advice with tips from qualified experts, and you can ask for personalized advice on how to raise your pet and overcome challenges for free. BarkHappy, on the other hand, is designed as a social network for dog-lovers, allowing you to find dog walking meet-ups and likeminded owners in your neighborhood to walk together and make new friends, while Doggo 154
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is a personal pocket coach for your pets, with more than 50 commands for dogs with daily basis progress reports and an in-built clicker which allows you to choose a sound your dog likes the most. And for those without their own pet, or for those who want to experience the fun of owning a different pet like a parrot or a hamster, there are hundreds of apps to consider, too. From My Talking Pet, which allows you to super-impose your voice onto your pet’s face and have them talk to you, to Parakeet Pet, where you can raise your own “therapeutic� virtual parrot and collect
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points for your efforts, there is truly something for everyone - and with iOS and iPadOS features such as augmented reality and now Apple Arcade, the chances are that these games will only become more immersive. Dex: Your AR Dog Companion, for example, allows you to raise a dog in your home via AR, great for young children who need to be trained on how to behave with a dog around, whilst the Harry Potter and Pokemon Go apps allow you to collect virtual pets and characters which you can duel with other players. Such AR games have helped users around the world lose weight through their real-world gameplay mechanics.
Photography: Christian Vieler | Website: https://www.vieler-photography.com | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vieler.photography/
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BAKED INTO IOS Up until iOS 13, a special feature on iPhones to help users take selfies - known as “portrait mode” - has only recognized human faces, but this year Apple changed that. With iPhone 11, iOS users can enter pet portrait mode, recognizing animal features and enhancing them, utilizing the softfocus background feature for an impressive finish. Indeed, images released by Apple alongside the iPhone 11 launch demonstrate the power of the new selfie camera, which makes it easier for iOS users to snap adorable pictures of their cats and dogs. Earlier in the year, Apple also confirmed it was working on a new piece of software called VNAnimalDetector, which draws a digital rectangle around any part of a photograph containing an animal and labels it as a cat or dog. It’s part of the company’s ongoing efforts to take complicated and tricky machine learning techniques, and package them as
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part of the operating system and make them accessible to developers to enhance their apps and experiences. Part of the company’s Vision framework, the pet detection tool can be included in apps in just four lines of code, according to a presentation at Apple’s annual developer’s conference earlier this year, making apps smaller and more efficient - unlocking new AR and VR pet possibilities.
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Finally, a quick word on the Photos app. For a couple of years now, Apple has been using machine learning to detect faces of pets, labeling them in the Photos app on the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. As well as grouping together pet photographs in smart galleries, users can search for key phrases like ‘Dog’ or ‘Cat’ on their iPhone and have images appear onscreen, a feature that first appeared in 2017, being tweaked and refined ever since.
MONITOR AND TRACK Where technology really comes into its own is with monitoring and tracking your pets on the go - think of it as CCTV and the Find My app for pets. Pet cameras, for example, allow you to see how often your dog jumps on the sofa or check on their welfare, and some high-end models
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even include treat dispensers to reward your pet for good behavior. What’s more, you can even talk to your pet through your camera, though animal behaviorists are not all convinced this feature should be used indiscriminately, as hearing your voice could confuse or upset them. On the whole, however, pet cameras give you peace of mind knowing that your dog is settled and relaxed when you’re away from home though they can cause attachment issues. Pet trackers, or GPS dog trackers, on the other hand, allow you to keep track of your pet’s location, with the majority attached to pet collars for dogs and cats to provide real-time round the clock tracking - great if you allow your pets to roam freely around the neighborhood. As well as dog tracking collars and devices such as the Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker & Activity
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Monitor, which was voted by Family Living Today as the best dog tracker on the market, a growing number of conscious pet owners are implanting GPS trackers into their cats and dogs (different from identification microchips) to keep an eye on their location - without having to worry about collars falling off. 164
Photography: Christian Vieler | Website: https://www.vieler-photography.com | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vieler.photography/
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TOYS, CONTROLLED BY YOUR PHONE Whilst standard dog toys like squeakers and bones will always have a place, cool gadgets for pets are more popular than ever before, and each year a manufacturer will bring out a new toy that’s more exciting for both dog and owner than whatever came before it. Furbo, for example, is a dog CCTV camera that allows you to throw out a treat and talk to your dog when you’re away from home, whilst the $100 iCalmDog plays out 4-hour soothing tracks in your home [https://icalmpet.com/] (though you could use a HomePod or Amazon Alexa to do the same thing for free). If you’re tired of throwing a ball around, you can treat your pet to iFetch, where you can place balls inside the cannon, for them to be launched up to 30 feet away with just the touch of a button, whilst the DART Laser Toy has sixteen different play styles, keeping your cats and dogs entertained for hours as they chase laser lights around your living room.
NEW INNOVATIONS IN HEALTHCARE Although technology cannot replace professional guidance from a veterinary nurse just yet, it is going a long way to creating healthier, happier pets - and owners, too.
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Healthcare for Pets by DigitalXi allows you to discover new and relevant content for your pets with regular articles and tidbits, whilst VitusVet is a life and sanity-saving tool for pet owners. In addition to having all of your pet’s medical records available in an emergency, the app tracks major events and daily items like medication reminders, walk times, current pet food, and you can even request veterinary appointments. That’s without mentioning the growing telemedicine trend in healthcare, which is naturally making its way to the world of pets. Rather than pay hundreds of dollars to visit your local veterinary practice, pet owners can now recruit a vet via FaceTime for an online consultation, saving them time and money. Though new services are helping to change the way we deal with our pets’ health conditions, we should exercise caution and remember that meeting a qualified practitioner face-to-face is recommended.
There’s no denying that technology firms are transforming the way we look after our pets - with some companies using apps to help us find our new best friend from homeless shelters - but there’s still a long way to go. The future of pet care is incredibly exciting, and with the help of artificial intelligence, scientists are now learning how to translate animals’ vocalizations and facial expressions into something we can understand. Whether you’re a cat lover or a dog lover, we encourage you to embrace the current technology and pet care innovations available to build deeper relationships with your furry friend to enrich your life and theirs. Paws up!
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THE NEXT STEP FOR TABLET PRODUCTIVITY “You may notice there’s been one thing missing from the iOS 13 story,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, told the audience at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2019 after enthusing about the various features of the new iPhone operating system, “and that’s iPad.” There’s a simple reason for that: this year, the iPad has been given its own dedicated OS called iPadOS, reflecting the “truly distinct” experience of using the tablet. In a later interview with MacStories editor-inchief Federico Viticci, Federighi provided some further color on Apple’s rationale for introducing iPadOS. The executive explained that over the years, the iPad has “become something really distinct from the phone”. He clarified that iPad-specific features such as the multitasking functionality of Drag and Drop, Split View and Slide Over, as well as the Apple Pencil, “are things that really define a different way of working with the device.” Today, the days of the iPad being derided as simply a “large iPhone” feel like a fading memory. All the same, however, the iPad does not quite feel like a complete replacement for the Mac – even if in terms of functionality, the lines between the two have become increasingly blurred. VentureBeat’s Jeremy Horwitz has gone as far as hailing the high-end iPad Pro as “only an iPadOS update away from replacing a laptop”, boding well for next year’s expected refresh of iPadOS.
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However, reassuringly, even if you haven’t bought or don’t plan to buy a new iPad soon, you could soon be tapping – quite literally – into a hugely enriched vein of professional practicality on your tablet. iPadOS is available for a long line of iPads going right back to the iPad Air 2 released in 2014 – and many of the software’s features highlighted at the WWDC 2019 keynote are present and correct even on that ageing slate. Speed-wise, too, the iPad Air 2 holds up well on iPadOS.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE FIRST WITH iPadOS Whether your first experience of iPadOS comes from using the software on a freshly-bought iPad or installing the operating system on an existing device, the first thing that might strike you about iPadOS is the Home screen. The icons on it now look a lot smaller and tighter, doing away with the excess of wasted space that notoriously blighted several iPad Pro models of years past. However, fear not – if you preferred the old size of the icons, you can switch back to that in Settings. As Federighi demonstrated at the keynote, it takes just a swipe from the left-hand side of the screen to bring up the Today View and its widgets. You can even pin the Today View permanently to the Home screen, if you would like. All you have to do is scroll to the bottom of that panel, tap Edit and then, on the menu that appears, toggle on “Keep on Home Screen”. Here, as MacRumors shows, you can also pin your favorite widgets to prevent them from disappearing. You might notice further changes even when you start browsing websites on Safari. That’s 175
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Today, the days of the iPad being derided as simply a “large iPhone” feel like a fading memory.” 177
because, whereas iPads have long had an irritating tendency to load mobile rather than desktop versions of websites, Safari has now been configured to load the latter by default. As a result, web-based productivity apps like those of Microsoft Office and Google’s G Suite are now accessible and usable on iPads, sparing you from having to settle for the (possibly more featurelimited) app versions.
CLEVER NEW MULTITASKING FEATURES AND OTHER GESTURES You might already be accustomed to using Slide Over, which displays an app in a side panel for you to easily slide onto and off the screen as convenient. However, even if you’ve replaced an app in Slide Over with a different app, you can easily switch back to the old one; just drag from the bottom to see it and then tap it to bring it back into the full Slide Over window. Meanwhile, in Split View, two windows from the same app can now be displayed side by side. Things get even better if you have an Apple Pencil and would like to annotate a screenshot. Now, once your iPad screen is showing a web page, document or email you want to capture, you can swipe up with your Pencil to show a screenshot ready for you to annotate with that Pencil. If you would prefer traditional typing with an on-screen keyboard, though, you could embrace the new floating keyboard ideal for typing one-handed, including swiping straight from one letter to another. While on the subject of text entry, have you ever noticed that the particular font you want isn’t available in the app you are using? Fortunately, the App Store now allows you to download new 178
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fonts for inclusion in your documents across a range of apps. When typing text in any font, you have various new gestures at your disposal – including making a three-finger pinch to copy and simply dragging your finger to move a cursor or select text, with no double-tapping needed beforehand. Then, there’s the Files app. Of course, this isn’t a new addition in iPadOS, but it has been beefed up in functionality. The app gives you more information about your files at a glance, including in a new column view that makes it easier for you to dig deep into folders and subfolders and quickly edit and tweak your files within the Files app. The app also lets you fetch extra files from an external hard drive, SD card reader or USB drive connected to the iPad.
PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE FOR A PROFESSIONAL MACHINE As the full potential of iPadOS as a work-oriented platform could only be realized with third-party developers’ support, it’s heartening that Adobe is reportedly working to bring Photoshop to iPad. Well, okay, in a sense, it’s already there – but only in the form of distinct, specialist apps like Photoshop Express, Photoshop Sketch, Photoshop Mix and Photoshop Fix. The functionality of each app for photo-editing is purposefully limited, making “proper” imageediting cumbersome on an iPad. Fortunately, that might not remain the case for too much longer, as according to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, Adobe is “all in” on an iPad version of Photoshop that serves as a “serious top-shelf project for creative professionals”. Although people beta-testing 181
the as-yet-unreleased app are said to have taken issue with the omission of key features, Gruber insists that Adobe engineers “have plans to add features iteratively on an aggressive schedule”. Gruber added that, rather than simply a “port” of the familiar Photoshop software, the iPad version will represent “a rethinking of the app for modern UI surfaces”. Consequently, we can expect the software to be noticeably different, but still intuitive to use. By the time you read this, Adobe may have already unveiled an iPad version of its graphic design software Illustrator, as Bloomberg reported in October that the developer planned to preview this at November’s Adobe MAX conference. Traditionally, the iPad’s operating system has been built on the core of iOS, and that hasn’t changed with iPadOS. For this reason, it still gets many major features of iOS 13 – including the new system-wide Dark Mode. Microsoft has acted quickly on this, adding Dark Mode support to its Office apps for both iPhone and iPad. Similarly, the Redmond corporation has updated its OneDrive app on iPad to enable the app to be shown in multiple windows in Split View. It’s clear, then, that developers are already taking notice of opportunities to utilize the professional potential of not only iPads, but also iPadOS itself. This is before we acknowledge the Sidecar feature – which, as we previously detailed in a recent issue of the magazine, allows an iPad to serve as a second external display for the Mac and expand the working space for Mac productivity apps. Sidecar is, however, only available with iPads that support the Apple Pencil.
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THE FUTURE’S LOOKING BRIGHT FOR THE iPAD At the time of writing, Apple has just released iPadOS 13.2, which includes support for the recently announced high-end AirPods Pro earbuds – simply head into the Control Center to activate Active Noise Cancellation, one of the earpods’ headline features. [https://www. macrumors.com/2019/10/28/apple-releasesios-13-2/] Also included in iPadOS 13.2 are privacy features enabling you to, for example, opt out of sharing your Siri audio recordings with Apple. As Apple continues rolling out further updates to iPadOS, we can expect even iterative improvements to mount up, bringing the iPad even closer to – yes – replacing a laptop. Even our own digital magazine has been specially designed for easy use on the iPad; our pages include high-quality images that look great on the Retina display, while it’s easy to tap to zoom in on the text columns, access the video links and browse the magazine inside our app. We also invite you to visit our website, where we regularly post fresh news about intriguing developments in the world of iPad – including new software, iPad models and accessories. Quite frankly, if you haven’t made much use of the iPad for professional purposes so far, it looks like the advent of the exciting iPadOS era could prove to be the perfect time to start! We will doubtless await further developments to see just how well Apple makes good on the re-imagined tablet software’s considerable promise. by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan
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Seven months after the launch of the secondgeneration AirPods, Apple has lifted the lid on the AirPods Pro, professional wireless earbuds for the music-mad and sports-obsessed. Let’s go hands-on with the new AirPods and explore their impressive Pro features…
STUNNING NEW DESIGN In just three short years, Apple has revolutionized the wireless audio experience with the AirPods, and now a slew of competitors are offering their own alternatives, like the Google Pixel Buds, the Samsung Galaxy Buds and most recently the Microsoft Surface Earbuds, which have received rave reviews despite the pricey starting tag of $249 coincidently, the same price as the new AirPods Pro, Apple’s premium version of its now iconic AirPods earbuds product. Indeed, the AirPods Pro take the AirPods experience to new heights, offering a breakthrough design and a stunning lightweight, in-ear experience that has been designed around comfort and fit. Unlike the original AirPods, which some have labeled as uncomfortable or unusable, the new AirPods Pro feature three different sizes of soft, flexible silicone ear tips that conform to the contours of each individual ear. In fact, Apple has promised a unique onboarding experience that encourages users to try each size for comfort and fit before settling on a favorite. The Ear Tip Fit Test, as Apple calls it, is designed to ensure users get the best audio experience from AirPods Pro by testing the quality of the seal and identifying the
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best ear tip size for them. As soon as users place AirPods Pro in each ear, Apple uses advanced algorithms to measure the sound level in the ear and compare it to what is coming from the speaker driver. In just a couple of seconds, Apple can detect whether the ear tip is the right size for the user or whether it should be adjusted to offer a better seal - a truly personalized AirPods experience.
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The idea behind the new silicone ear tips is to offer a more comfortable feeling in the ear and a superior seal over the original AirPods, which helps Apple to deliver immersive sound. In addition, the AirPods Pro use an innovative ventilation system, which equalizes pressure, minimizing discomfort common in earphones, meaning they can be worn for long periods. Whilst the AirPods are fine for everyday use at the gym and at home, the AirPods Pro are designed for professional athletes, offering sweat and water resistance, making them perfect for active lifestyles. They feature a rating of IPX4 under IEC standard 60529 but cannot be used for water sports or in heavy rain. However, that’s something Apple could introduce in a future version of the AirPods Pro as it’s done over the years with iPhone and Apple Watch.
IMPRESSIVE NOISE CANCELLATION One of the biggest selling points of the AirPods Pro is a new Active Noise Cancellation feature,
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which works by harnessing the power of two microphones that have been combined with advanced software to continuously adapt to each individual ear and headphone fit. The idea is that this will remove unwanted background noise (think traffic and commuter noise) and provide a balanced, customized, everchanging noise-canceling experience that is reactive to the outside world. Apple says that one microphone on each of the AirPods Pro measures outward-facing external sounds, analyzing environmental noise and using software to react accordingly. The AirPods then create an equivalent anti-noise which can cancel out that background noise before the listener can hear it in their ear, whilst a secondary inward-facing microphone listens towards the ear, canceling any remaining noise that is detected by the microphone. It’s advanced engineering and impressive considering the size of the AirPods Pro (just 45.2 mm by 60.6 mm by 21.7 mm in their charging
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case) especially when you consider that the cancellation continuously adapts the sound signal 200 times per second, and manages to retain the same great battery life.
SUPERIOR SOUND QUALITY It’s not just the adaptive sound and noise cancellation technology that make the AirPods Pro a cut above the original AirPods. Apple has introduced Adaptive EQ, which automatically will tune the low and mid-frequencies of music to the shape of an individual’s ear to provide the best possible sound. Apple says that this results in a “rich, immersive listening experience”. In addition, the AirPods Pro feature a custom high dynamic range amplifier that produces pure and incredibly clear sound while also extending battery life, as well as a custom high-excursion, low-distortion speaker driver which is designed to optimize audio quality and remove unwanted background noise. Apple says that the driver can provide consistent, rich
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bass down to 20Hz and detailed mid- and highfrequency audio, making it perfect for music of all genres as well as Podcasts and other audio such as radio shows and FaceTime calls. What’s particularly clever about the new AirPods is a feature called Transparency Mode, which was first introduced with the Beats Solo Pro, Apple’s latest update to the Beats range priced at $299.95. If you want to hear ambient noise for safety reasons or when you’re in line for a coffee in the morning, you can press a button on the underside of the Beats Solo Pro and enter “transparency mode,” offering perhaps the most natural-sounding passthrough on any consumer-focused headphone product. With the AirPods Pro, Transparency Mode comes to an Apple-branded earphone product for the first time, and it’s a truly impressive tool. Users are now able to simultaneously listen to music while still hearing the environment around them, which is particularly useful when listening to the traffic when you’re out for a jog or when waiting for an announcement for a train or flight during the morning commute. Apple is using a unique pressure-equalizing
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vent system and advanced software to ensure that the user’s voice sounds natural whilst allowing audio to play. Via iOS 13.2, users can switch between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency modes via the Control Center on the iPhone and iPad, and via the AirPlay icon on the Apple Watch.
MADE FOR PERFORMANCE Though slightly larger than the original AirPods thanks to new in-ear flexible silicone tips, the AirPods Pro retain their tiny form factor in every other way. That’s only possible because of a revolutionary system-in-package (SiP) design with an Apple-designed H1 chip, though some have criticized the company for the lack of recyclability and repairability of the tiny earbuds. Indeed, “even if you only own AirPods for a few years, the earth owns them forever. When you die, your bones will decompose in less than a century, but the plastic shell of AirPods won’t decompose for at least a millennia,” says a scathing report by VICE, demonstrating how far behind Apple is when it comes to the environment in this regard.
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Though Apple now accepts AirPods at its retail stores and online for recycling purposes, it does not pay users a bounty. Putting the environmental impact of the AirPods Pro to one side, the H1 features 10 audio cores and powers everything from sound to Siri, and because of the extremely low audio processing latency of the Apple-powered H1 chip, the company has been able to create a product that offers real-time noise cancellation, highquality sound using adaptive technology and the ability to respond to hands-free “Hey Siri� commands, which is truly remarkable. Hey Siri, for example, allows users to play a song, increase the volume, make a call or ask 198
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for directions without having to look at their iPhone, Apple Watch, or touch their AirPods Pro - perfect when you’re on the go and want to search for a new Podcast or ask for help getting to the coffee shop. And with Audio Sharing, released with iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, users can listen to the same song or watch the same movie from a single iPhone or iPad - perfect for flights and long car journeys. And Announce Messages, which was removed from iOS and reintroduced with iOS 13.2, users can have incoming messages read out to them via Siri on their AirPods Pro, so they can spend more time in the real world and less time staring at screens. What’s even more remarkable is that, despite being packed full of additional features over the previous generation, the AirPods Pro offers the same impressive battery life as the secondgeneration AirPods. That’s up to five hours of listening time, though that naturally drops when listening in Active Noise Cancellation mode when the AirPods can offer up to four and a half hours of listening. Featuring a wireless charging case (Apple only sells the Qi-wireless charging case with the AirPods Pro, and not a wired charging option) users can expect over 24 hours of listening time or over 18 hours of talk time on a single charge. With the AirPods Pro, Apple has taken everything that we love about the AirPods and added to it, introducing exciting functionality that will help us get more out of our lives. Whether you are a fitness fanatic and wear AirPods every day at the gym or a commuter and spend a lot of time listening to podcasts on the train, upgrading to the AirPods Pro is surely a no-brainer!
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With Apple lifting the lid on the new MacBook Pro with a stunning 16-inch Retina Display and an 80% performance boost over previous generations, we take a closer look and explore the firm’s ongoing push into empowering its professional user base with cutting-edge hardware.
THE WORLD’S BEST PROFESSIONAL NOTEBOOK First introduced back in 2006 by Steve Jobs, the MacBook Pro has become one of the world’s most iconic notebook brands, the compute power behind some of the biggest projects in history. From editing blockbuster movies and TV shows to writing chart topping books and mastering number-one singles, the MacBook Pro has been with its power users every step of the way, offering cutting-edge performance in a compact and portable device. With the allnew MacBook Pro, described by Apple as the “world’s best pro notebook,” the company takes everything you know to the next level. Indeed, Apple has built the new MacBook Pro around developers, photographers, filmmakers, scientists, music producers and anyone who relies on a Mac to create their life’s best work,
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and thanks to its impressive internals, it’s now more powerful than ever, offering unrivaled tools to empower the next generation of creatives. From a stunning 16-inch Retina Display with smaller bezels, through to 8-core processors, the MacBook Pro is a superhero. Speaking of the new machine, Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing, said: “Pro customers tell us they want their next MacBook Pro to have a larger display, blazing-fast performance, the biggest battery possible, the best notebook keyboard ever, awesome speakers and massive amounts of storage, and the 16-inch MacBook Pro delivers that and more.” Does it live up to the hype? Without further ado, let’s take a look…
Macworld San Francisco 2006 The MacBook Pro Introduction
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STUNNING NEW RETINA DISPLAY Perhaps one of the most striking things about the new MacBook Pro is its impressive Retina display, sporting a larger resolution than the previous 15-inch model, now discontinued. The display offers a stunning 500 nit, P3 wide color gamut, and it’s Apple’s largest Retina notebook display ever. With a resolution of 3072x1920 and a higher pixel density of 226 PPI, the new display offers an impressive 6 million pixels, which means a more immersive front-of-screen experience for everyday work and entertainment, whether playing a new game on Apple Arcade or watching your favorite Apple TV+ show. As with the new Pro Display XDR, coming with the Mac Pro next month, Apple has ensured that each machine has its display individually calibrated in the factory for accurate gamma, white point, and primary colors, guaranteeing the perfect color ratios for professional users, and making it easier for editors and photographers to get their work done just right on the go.
REDESIGNED KEYBOARD Apple’s power users have criticized the company in recent years for its butterfly keyboard design. First introduced in 2015, butterfly keyboards have seen a whole host of problems, including debris being caught under the keys, causing the keys not to work or the computer registering a double press when keys are pressed once. Earlier in the year, a free service program was introduced, with all MacBook models eligible for a repair or replacement. 206
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Image: Sarah Tew
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Apple has effectively admitted it was wrong with the butterfly keyboard and with the new 16inch MacBook Pro, is introducing a new Magic Keyboard with a refined scissor mechanism that delivers 1mm of key travel and a stable key feel, alongside a new Apple-designed rubber dome that stores more potential energy for a responsive key press. Apple says that the new keyboard design is the result of “extensive research and user studies focused on human factors and key design,” allowing them to create a keyboard with a “comfortable, satisfying and quiet typing experience.” What’s more, as well as featuring the controversial Touch Bar, Apple has introduced a physical Escape key and an inverted-“T” arrangement for the arrow keys, offering the very best typing experience on a MacBook.
MORE POWERFUL, FOR LONGER Apple is taking its commitment to its power users seriously with the 16-inch MacBook Pro, offering the most advanced thermal architecture ever in a Mac notebook, which allows the system to run at higher power for sustained periods of time - great for editing and exporting video content, for example. The new MacBook Pro features a sophisticated fan design with a larger impeller with extended blades along with bigger vents, resulting in a 28 percent increase in airflow over the previous 15-inch Macbook Pro, offering a 35 percent larger heat sink, meaning significantly more heat dissipation than in previous models. When combined, these new advancements mean that the 16-inch MacBook Pro can sustain up to 12 more watts 209
during intensive workloads, allowing them to be used for longer and for high-end tasks. Apple has promised its pro-level customers the compute power they need for on-the-go, and the 16-inch MacBook Pro delivers. Featuring the latest 6- and 8-core 9th-generation processors with Turbo Boost speeds up to 5.0 GHz, the new machines offer up to 2.1 times faster performance than the quad-core 15-inch MacBook Pro. And with powerful CPUs and faster memory up to 64GB for the first time, the device enables pro workflows never before possible on a MacBook. When comparing the device to the fastest quad-core 15-inch MacBook Pro, the new 16-inch MacBook Pro allows music producers to playback massive multitrack projects with up to 2.1 times more Amp Designer plug-ins in Logic Pro X, and scientists can benefit from 2.1 times faster simulation of dynamical systems in MATLAB.
INCREDIBLE GRAPHICS PERFORMANCE For professional users, graphics performance is essential, whether developing a new game or rendering a 3D scene. Apple has included new AMD Radeon Pro 5000M series graphics, the first 7nm mobile discrete GPUs for pro users. When paired with GDDR6 video memory and with an 8GB VRAM option for the first time, pro users can run complex GPU-intensive tasks faster than ever before. Apple has said that the standard configuration offers 2.1 times faster graphics performance than the previous standard configuration, whilst maxing out the available graphics options will offer up to 80% faster performance than the previous models.
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Indeed, when Apple compares the new model to the previous-generation 8-core 15inch MacBook Pro with the highest graphics options, video editors using DaVinci Resolve will see up to 1.8 times faster effects rendering when color grading and gamers will enjoy smoother gameplay with up to 1.6 times faster performance when battling in games such as Fornite. And to power the huge increase in performance, Apple is compensating with a bigger battery pack - 100Wh of power. That’s the largest battery ever included in a MacBook and offers up to 11 hours of wireless web browsing or Apple TV video playback, allowing for all-day use.
BETTER THAN EVER Whilst cloud computing has changed the way everyday users interact with their machines, professional users with tonnes of assets need more storage than ever. The new MacBook Pro doubles the SSD storage to 512GB and 1TB on standard configurations, and for the very first time, consumers can opt for a staggering 8TB storage configuration, the largest SSD ever in a notebook, though this will set you back an additional $2,400, bringing the price to $4,799.00 before any other upgrades such as memory or processor upgrades.
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Apple didn’t forget about sound quality, either. Despite the introduction of the AirPods Pro and rumors of an Apple-branded headphone product coming as soon as early 2020, the company has introduced a redesigned six-speaker, high-fidelity sound system for the new MacBook Pro, offering musicians, podcasters and video editors the advanced audio playback experience ever in a notebook. Apple has patented a new force-canceling woofer technology, which uses dual opposed speaker drivers to reduce unwanted vibrations that distort the sound. That creates clearer and more natural sounds than ever before, with a 40 percent reduction in hiss and an improved signal-to-noise ratio. And let’s not forget about macOS, Apple’s proprietary operating system that takes full advantage of Mac hardware to deliver robust features with the highest possible performance and work seamlessly with other Apple devices. From Dark Mode to SideCar, Apple has transformed the Mac experience in recent years, whilst apps such as Safari, Mail, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, and Xcode create an impressive offering. There’s no denying that Apple has taken a different direction with its latest MacBook Pro refresh, and whilst the features and price tag certainly aren’t for everyone, the company has built a portable machine that rivals a high-end iMac Pro. With the new MacBook Pro as well as the Mac Pro coming next month, the future of Apple-powered pro computing has never looked brighter, and we can’t wait to see what the company has planned for us next…
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With Apple announcing an overhaul to its Everyone Can Code curriculum, we take a closer look, explore the exciting sessions coming to Apple Stores to celebrate Computer Science Education Week, and discuss how the firm holds the keys to a brighter education system…
EVERYONE CAN CODE Last week, Apple lifted the lid on an all-new Everyone Can Code curriculum, designed to get more students into coding. It’s a bold move for one of the world’s biggest technology firms, but as it makes millions a year from iPad sales to the world’s educational establishments and even more in revenue from the App Store, it’s in Apple’s best interests to give everyone the skills they need to code and create the Next Big Thing in apps. The redesigned curriculum is focused on introducing elementary and middle school students to coding and offers new resources for teachers, a refreshed Swift Coding Club, and a new student guide. Combined, these enhancements breathe life into one of Apple’s most successful ventures into education to date, and it’s combined with free coding sessions at Apple Stores, taking place this December to celebrate Computer Science Education Week. What’s perhaps most important about the redesigned curriculum is that it’s been developed to make coding approachable, offering activities that are more closely connected to students’ everyday lives. What’s more, the program includes a guide to Swift Playgrounds called Everyone Can Code Puzzles, which is available for free for anyone 218
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with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, allowing readers to experiment with new coding concepts and apply their understanding across over 40 hours of activities. The new coding guide also comes with a companion for teachers to download and use, with no registration required, offering the solutions, strategies, and accessibility resources, perfect for the classroom or even for home learning environments, allowing parents to ‘mark’ their children’s coding projects. Hot off the heels of new accessibility features introduced with macOS Catalina, Apple has also optimized the curriculum for VoiceOver, with closed-captioned videos, and videos in American Sign Language, making the program more accessible than ever before. That’s on top of integrating Everyone Can Create project guides into the curriculum. These books launched last year on Apple Books, allowing teachers to integrate things like drawing, music, filmmaking, and photography into their classroom, using Apple’s technology. “The Everyone Can Code curriculum builds on existing interactive puzzles, guides, and activities to make learning to code even more approachable and connected to students’ everyday lives,” an Apple spokesperson said of the project. “Everyone Can Code Puzzles is an all-new student guide to Swift Playgrounds where each chapter helps students build on what they already know, experiment with new coding concepts and creatively communicate how coding impacts their lives,” the firm added, before promising more enhancements were on their way. 221
EXCITING NEW SESSIONS Alongside an all-new Everyone Can Code initiative, Apple has announced plans to increase the number of Today at Apple coding sessions from December 1 through 15, 2019 in order to celebrate Computer Science Education Week. These free sessions provide opportunities for participants at a variety of skill levels to get started with coding. Aspiring coders will be able to learn using block-based coding with robots, and those with prior coding knowledge can use Swift Playgrounds to learn coding concepts or code augmented reality apps. What’s more, select stores will also offer special sessions for coders of all ages. For pre-schoolers, Apple will be offering coding activities in its new Coding Lab under its new Helpsters branding, a new live-action preschool series, available now on Apple TV+ from the makers of Sesame Street. Apple decided to include an element of code in its new series to “foster collaboration [and] critical thinking skills” amongst its preschool viewers, introducing coding via the ‘Cody’ Helpster. Cody is a friendly-sounding name and it’s easy to remember, so when preschoolers think of Cody, they will think of Helpsters which will then resonate with Sesame Street which will then resonate with Apple. It’s a clever move for one of the world’s biggest technology companies and will no doubt inspire the next generation of coders around the world though it’ll be a few years before their creations end up on the App Store, as users must be eighteen or over to submit apps! 222
Helpsters — Official Teaser Trailer | Apple TV+
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On top of the new Helpsters-branded coding classes, Apple is sending Apple Distinguished Educators to some of its stores, as well as access to Apple Entrepreneur Camp innovators, developers, and artists. Those who are interested in visiting an Apple Store for a coding class should register online to avoid disappointment; Apple’s most highprofile coding program to date is expected to be popular. Apple will back up its in-store experiences with an all-new Hour of Code Facilitator Guide, in celebration of the seventh annual Hour of Code. In a unique Hour of Code experience, participants will be able to explore a modified lesson from the new Everyone Can Code curriculum, learning not just how to code, but also how code is used in everyday life. Apple’s support of the nationwide Hour to Code is in collaboration with Computer Science Education Week and code.org. As part of its involvement, Apple is offering teachers and parents access to a record 200,000 educational apps from the App Store for their lesson plans, all inside of Swift Playgrounds.
COLLEGE KIDS CAN CODE Apple has not forgotten about high school and college students with its latest Everyone Can Code program. Develop in Swift is designed to offer students more of the practical tools and techniques they need to qualify for highdemand and high-skill jobs in the world of computer programming and coding. There’s a huge skills gap in the coding industry, and schemes like Apple’s will hopefully encourage more students to enter into the field. 225
Perfect for students who are new to code and those advancing their knowledge who have prior experience, Develop in Swift helps students prepare for a career in programming with a free AP Computer Science Principles course and the opportunity to earn industry-recognized certification, which will look great on their resume and give them an edge over competitors. The Cupertino company has been kind to college students this year, offering them the tools they need to become brighter talents and meet the changing demands of the world. As well as offering discounted Apple Music membership at just $4.99 in the US and free Apple TV+ membership to keep students entertained when they need to take a break from studying, the company now offers a budget-friendly tablet in the form of the iPad, released in September. That’s on top of regular back to school promotions, where students can save money on a new MacBook or iMac and get a free pair of Beats Wireless Headphones to help them in their studies.
CHANGING STRATEGIES Everyone Can Code is Apple’s first foray into education, and every major player from Amazon to Google is getting in on the action to add a new revenue stream to their bow and lock students into their ecosystems, encouraging them to become brand loyal. In recent years, Google focused on knowledge (encouraging students to develop their researching reporting, and spreadsheet skills) whereas Apple places greater value on creativity (photo editing, augmented reality, music creation, podcasting, video creation, and more). Both of these options 226
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offer great value, but it’s a mix of the two that will create the next generation of developers, engineers, musicians, and technicians who change our world for the better. Apple took a unique approach at this year’s International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference, showing off its iPad and the Everyone Can Code Program, taking over multiple rooms in a connecting hotel to create a pop-up classroom experience. It was the clearest sign yet that the company was committed to education, and that it had the tools and the bright ideas to change the way educators deliver their classes. And with hyper-aggressive iPad pricing to compete with Google and its Chromebook, which is the market leader with more than 30 million Chromebooks in use in classrooms around the world, the company should be onto a winner. It’s a wise move for Apple to pay closer attention to the education sector, as putting an iMac and an iPad in every classroom will not only allow teachers to improve lessons but give students a reason to go home and ask mommy for the latest iPad. Tim Cook sure has a long way to go if he wants to become the clear leader in the education sector, but there is no denying iPadOS is head and shoulders above ChromeOS. With the right app ecosystem and hardware to compete, Apple is on the right track. The firm finally has a vision of where it wants to be, moving away from knowledge and empowering users with powerful creative tools, like the Apple Pencil and now Photoshop on the iPad, but there are still lessons to be learned. Only time will tell whether Apple will score Top Marks… 229