Well, this is delightful:
Category: Apple
We’re Going Matte to the Future
A pair of rumors are circulating about the screens on future Apple devices.
Up first, we have Chance Miller, writing at 9to5Mac:
A new rumor today says that Apple has invested billions in a new coating technology for future iPhone displays. This technology would allegedly make future iPhone displays “more scratch-resistant” and add a new anti-reflection layer, but it won’t be ready for the iPhone 16 this year.
The rumor comes from the account Instant Digital on Weibo, which has previously shared accurate information about upcoming iPhone announcements. Apple has reportedly developed equipment that adds a “super-hard” anti-reflective layer to the iPhone’s display, which is also more scratch-resistant than before.
This report notes that the work needed to create these displays at scale is just now underway, with the designs “only recently handed over to Apple’s supply chain partners,” hence the belief that this won’t be coming to the iPhone 16 line this fall.
Next, we have Hartley Charlton, writing at MacRumors on another report by Instant Digital that claims that the next iPad Pro will have a matte screen option. Charlton writes:
The Weibo user explained that the iPad Pro’s new matte display option will be offered in addition to the standard, glossy glass finish. It apparently features -4° to +29° of haze and may tout some kind of blue-light blocking technology to help protect the eyes. Matte screen protectors for the iPad have become popular, so it is possible that Apple is trying to offer such an option at the point of purchase for those who want it.
It is not known if the matte display option will be “nano-texture” glass like on the Pro Display XDR and Studio Display, but it seems plausible. Nano-texture glass is effectively a matte finish that scatters light to minimize glare, which is ideal in environments with bright light sources. While matte screen coatings effectively reduce reflections, they also make the image slightly more dull and hazy. Nano-texture glass features an etched surface to help preserve image quality.
I would expect that if these reports are true, these new matte screens would not be like the nano-texture glass used by Apple on the Pro Display XDR, Studio Display and the old 27-inch iMac. While its anti-glare properties seem very desirable in a mobile device like an iPad, it comes with a cost when it comes to keeping the screen clean. Here’s how Apple directs users to care of the screen:
If your Apple Studio Display, Apple Pro Display XDR, or iMac has nano-texture glass, follow these important guidelines to prevent damage when cleaning the screen.
To remove dust or smudges from the nano-texture glass screen, use only the polishing cloth that came with your Studio Display, Pro Display XDR, or iMac.
For infrequent cleaning of hard-to-remove smudges, you can moisten the cloth with a 70-percent isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution.
Never use any other cloth to clean the nano-texture glass. If you lose the included cloth, you can order a replacement polishing cloth.
That said, if the iPhone report is correct, whatever Apple has cooking up for the iPhone isn’t going to be ready for iPads that are due any time now. Maybe the company would apply its existing nano-texture glass to a high-end iPad Pro, despite its complexity, and wait for something that would theoretically be easier to care for to come along for the iPhone, which vastly outsells the iPad.
However this shakes out, I think making the iPad and iPhone less glossy is very interesting. Screen brightness can overcome a lot of glare, but if Apple can make its devices less reflective, without harming what makes its displays so great, I’m all for it.
Apple Style Guide: March 2024 →
Hot off the presses, a new PDF from Apple, complete with this silliness:
Apple Vision Pro: Always use the full name. In general references, don’t use the with Apple Vision Pro. It’s OK to use another article or a possessive adjective: Adjust the fit of your Apple Vision Pro.
You put on and take off Apple Vision Pro. When you have it on, you’re wearing it.
And this:
Don’t refer to Apple Vision Pro as a headset. In most cases, use the product name; in
content where the name is repeated frequently, you can use device.
What’s Next for the M3 →
Tim Hardwick rounded up what M2 Macs are still for sale after the MacBook Air’s update to the M3. Spoiler alert: it’s all desktops.
More of a Good Thing →
Jason Snell has spent some time with the new M3 MacBook Air, and his review says exactly what I hoped it would: that the Air continues to get better and better, and is the Mac for just about everyone.
A More Charitable Take on Apple’s Self-Driving Car Ambitions
I’m still reeling a bit from Bloomberg’s reporting on what Apple was hoping to achieve with its self-driving car project. Even though $1 billion a year isn’t much on Apple’s scale, it’s clear that a lot of time and energy went into this project over the last ten years.
Many of Apple’s ideas around the future of the car were just too far-fetched to ship anything in the near future. However, I think there are at least three benefits to what the company was working toward with Project Titan.
Consumer Safety
In the United States, car crashes are a leading non-natural cause of death for people up to the age of 54, and some 1.4 million people are killed on roadways around the world each year. Those numbers are staggering.
The promise of a self-driving future is that far fewer people will die in automobile accidents. Autonomous vehicles don’t fall asleep behind the wheel, get distracted by looking at their phones, run red lights, or drive while under the influence.
Reducing — or entirely eliminating — deaths caused by car crashes is a noble goal. It’s clear in both the “Bread Loaf” and “I-Beam” designs that Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett reported on that this was at the heart of Apple’s work.
Better Cities
Some people pitch their vision of the future as one defined by robotaxis. Hail a car, hop in, and the computer will take you where you need to go, without human intervention or interaction. While I think that is an exciting possibility, it seems to me that it is merely a stepping stone toward something bigger.
If cars are autonomously delivering people to work, school, and more, people can begin to rethink infrastructure on a broader level. Mass transit could become more easily accessible to everyone, with cities like mine embracing it for the first time in a meaningful way. It may start with replacing human-driven vehicles with computer-controlled ones, but it doesn’t have to stop there.
Services
Lastly, we come to services. I am sure Apple wants to be a player in the robotaxi future comes, if it comes to fruition, but the opportunities are more fundamental than that. A car that doesn’t need a driver can become anything ranging from a mobile office to a rolling movie theater. Apple already offers services — and devices — that serve those markets, and could continue to expand its ecosystem in new and interesting ways.
Granted, this more of a benefit to Apple than society, but I’m sure folks at the company were thinking about what they could do.
Ahead of its Time
As I wrote earlier today, much of what Apple was hoping to accomplish with its car project was just out of reach of what is possible today. Honestly, if Apple couldn’t pull this off, I am not sure who else can at this point. Part of me feels disappointed at that, but it doesn’t mean Apple’s work here was completely in vain. I have no doubt their work in some of the areas required to build a self-driving car will (or already have) proved to be beneficial to products like the iPhone or Vision Pro.
Should Apple have pulled the plug on the car project years ago? Probably, but sometimes barely-kept-secret projects are not just about the destination.
Apple’s Car Project Was Far More Bonkers than We Ever Knew →
For a decade, we’ve all wondered what an Apple-designed car would be like. Thanks to Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett, we now have an idea:
Around the beginning of 2020, Apple Inc.’s top executives gathered at a former Chrysler testing track in Wittmann, Arizona, to try out the latest incarnation of the car the technology giant had been trying for years to make. The prototype, a white minivan with rounded sides, an all-glass roof, sliding doors and whitewall tires, was designed to comfortably seat four people and inspired by the classic flower-power Volkswagen microbus. The design was referred to within Apple, not always affectionately, as the Bread Loaf. The plan was for the vehicle to hit the market some five years later with a giant TV screen, a powerful audio system and windows that adjusted their own tint. The cabin would have club seating like a private plane, and passengers would be able to turn some of the seats into recliners and footrests.
The Bread Loaf, so far, sounds very much like something Jony Ive would be into, at least in terms of looks… but then things get weird:
Most important, the Bread Loaf would have what’s known in the industry as Level 5 autonomy, driving entirely on its own using a revolutionary onboard computer, a new operating system and cloud software developed in-house. There would be no steering wheel and no pedals, just a video-game-style controller or iPhone app for driving at low speed as a backup. Alternately, if the car found itself in a situation that it was unable to navigate, passengers would phone in to an Apple command center and ask to be driven remotely.
I read that last part about four times before it truly sank in. Pushing self-driving technology forward was clearly important to Apple, but this sounds like the company was reaching for pure science fiction, with a 1-800 number as a safety net.
According to this reporting, Tim Cook and Jeff Williams rode in the Bread Loaf and liked where things were heading, but after Doug Field left Apple for Ford, things got weirder still:
Under Field’s successor, Kevin Lynch, who also runs Apple’s smartwatch software group, the car’s design continued to evolve. It had become pod-shaped, with curved glass sides that doubled as gull-wing doors, and the company considered including ramps that would automatically fold out to make heavy cargo easier to load. The front and the back were identical, and the only windows were on the sides, a design choice with potentially dire consequences in the event that a human needed to do any driving. (Front and rear windows were later added.) Some people on the project called it the I-Beam.
It’s clear Apple thought it could pull off self-driving at a level that no one on Earth has been able to do so. It’s also clear that there was a staggering lack of decisive decision making concerning how the technology should be turned into a product.
There’s inherent tension in product design. If people can’t imagine the future, they can’t build it. With the car project, Apple’s dreams seem to have been too big, and its vast resources let work carry on far too long.
True self-driving cars will be here one day, and maybe Apple’s work will make them possible sooner than otherwise possible. However, at the end the day, companies like Apple have to ship products. It seems that someone at Apple finally remembered that real artists ship.
Update: Don’t miss my follow-up post discussing this in more detail.
14-inch M3 MacBook Pro to Receive Multi-Monitor Support →
Zac Hall, writing at 9to5Mac:
Apple introduced the M3 MacBook Air with a headlining new feature. For the first time, the Apple silicon MacBook Air will be able to simultaneously drive two external monitors. The only compromise is that the MacBook Air lid must be closed. Still, that’s a big win for users who appreciate portability on-the-go and large displays at the office.
The new feature also raises an interesting question: will the M3 MacBook Pro that was introduced in October also gain multi-display support in the same way? It shares the same version of Apple silicon and has Pro in the name, after all.
It turns out the answer is yes! Apple has confirmed to 9to5Mac that a software update for the 14-inch MacBook Pro will gain the ability to drive two external displays with the lid closed. The feature will work identically to how it works with the new M3 MacBook Air.
No details yet on which software update, although macOS Sonoma 14.4 is still in developer and public beta. The M3 MacBook Air in 13- and 15-inch sizes hits stores on Friday.
Federico Viticci: ‘I Created the Hybrid Mac-iPad Laptop and Tablet That Apple Won’t Make’ →
We all know Federico as the iPad guy, but the truth is that he experiments with tons of different hardware. He has spent time with convertible PCs, iPads, Macs, and most recently, the Vision Pro.
But today he has truly outdone himself:
For the past three weeks, I’ve been using something I call a “MacPad” as my new laptop. The MacPad is a hybrid device that serves multiple purposes:
- It’s a keyboard and trackpad for my Vision Pro;
- It’s a Mac with a detachable display;
- It’s an iPad Pro with an external keyboard and trackpad.
You know where this is going. These aren’t three separate devices: it’s one computer made of, well, two computers working together thanks to the magic of Apple’s ecosystem. It’s a Mac with an iPad display that I can detach and use as a tablet whenever I want; it’s an iPad that transforms into a Mac when docked. And, it’s the ideal keyboard and trackpad accessory for the Vision Pro.
In researching keyboard options for the Vision Pro, I ended up building the convertible Apple laptop-tablet that I so desperately want the company to make.
Let me explain how.
When I read a draft of this article last week, I laughed and gasped several times. What’s he been able to pull off — both on the hardware and software fronts — is breathtaking. Do not miss this article.
EU Fines Apple $2 Billion →
The Verge’s Jon Porter and Jess Weatherbed:
In a press release on Monday, the EU Commission said its investigation found that “Apple bans music streaming app developers from fully informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app,” in addition to preventing app providers from sharing instructions on how to subscribe to such offers.
“For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store,” said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy. “They did so by restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules, so today we have fined Apple over €1.8 billion.”
Apple issued a statement this morning, right before releasing new notebooks:
Despite that success, and the App Store’s role in making it possible, Spotify pays Apple nothing. That’s because Spotify — like many developers on the App Store — made a choice. Instead of selling subscriptions in their app, they sell them on their website. And Apple doesn’t collect a commission on those purchases.
All told, the Spotify app has been downloaded, redownloaded, or updated more than 119 billion times on Apple devices. It’s available on the App Store in over 160 countries spanning the globe.
Apple goes on to list a bunch of ways it says they have helped Spotify achieve success, including features like CarPlay, access to Apple’s APIs, and fast App Store Review times. No one should have expected Apple to take this without a fight.
Apple Updates Watch Bands, iPhone Cases for Spring →
If you are surprised there are no new FineWoven options, you haven’t been paying attention.
MacBook Air Updated with M3 →
Apple today announced the new MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip, taking its incredible combination of power-efficient performance and portability to a new level. With M3, MacBook Air is up to 60 percent faster than the model with the M1 chip and up to 13x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air. And with a faster and more efficient Neural Engine in M3, MacBook Air continues to be the world’s best consumer laptop for AI. The 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air both feature a strikingly thin and light design, up to 18 hours of battery life,1 a stunning Liquid Retina display, and new capabilities, including support for up to two external displays and up to 2x faster Wi-Fi than the previous generation. With its durable aluminum unibody enclosure that’s built to last, the new MacBook Air is available in four gorgeous colors: midnight, which features a breakthrough anodization seal to reduce fingerprints; starlight; space gray; and silver. Combined with its world-class camera, mics, and speakers; MagSafe charging; its silent, fanless design; and macOS, MacBook Air delivers an unrivaled experience — making the 13-inch model the world’s bestselling laptop and the 15-inch model the world’s bestselling 15-inch laptop. Customers can order starting today, with availability beginning Friday, March 8.
A few quick things that jumped out at me reading all of this:
- It sounds like the fingerprint-happy Midnight finish is now getting the same coating the Space Black MacBook Pro gets to help reduce smudges.
- Don’t miss the entire section dedicated to how the new machine performs at AI-related tasks. I did have a chuckle at Apple boasting the notebook “supports cloud-based solutions.” Ah yes, browsers.
- There’s a business push in this press release too. Apple boasts how fast this new notebook is for “working in Excel spreadsheets,” whatever that means.
- Wi-Fi 6E support is sweet.
Additionally, the new MacBook Air bring good news on the display support front:
MacBook Air with M3 now supports up to two external displays when the laptop lid is closed — perfect for business users, or anyone who requires multiple displays for multitasking across apps or spreading out documents at the same time.
That is going to make a bunch of people happy.
The M3 MacBook Air goes on sale today and the M2 13-inch Air now anchors the bottom of Apple’s notebook line, starting at $999. Both the 15-inch M2 and 13-inch M1 MacBook Air models are gone.