It’s a pandemic outside, many of us are working from home, and I found myself buying a webcam for the first time since the last century. I was not the only one.
The webcams out there today, they do the job. You just plug them in and get a pretty nice video feed. But they’re not exactly design icons. I thought that, maybe, we can do a little better.
Category: Apple
Apple Marina Bay Sands⇢
Apple’s newest store is breathtaking:
The rumours are indeed true! Apple Marina Bay Sands, the first Apple store in the world that floats on the water, is opening soon in Singapore. #AppleMarinaBaySands #Singapore #SingapoRediscovers #cityscape #architecture @Apple @marinabaysands @AP_Magazine @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/Awbgzo2qtO
— Javan Ng (@javanng) August 24, 2020
According to Michael Steeber, this is the first Apple Store to be built with a spherical design, and the first to be set above a body of water. He’s got additional photos on Twitter
Apple Hits $2 Trillion in Market Value⇢
I don’t really care much about this sort of story, but it is wild to think about how far the company has come since the dark days.
Apple Threatens to Remove Epic from Apple Developer Program by August 28⇢
Jacob Kastrenakes at The Verge:
Epic says that Apple has threatened to cut off its access to all iOS and Mac developer tools as retaliation for sneaking a new payment option into Fortnite last week — a stunt that ended in the app being banned from the App Store and Epic filing a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple, claiming it places illegal restrictions on the distribution of iOS apps.
Apple will terminate Epic’s inclusion in the Apple Developer Program, a membership that’s necessary to distribute apps on iOS devices or use Apple developer tools, if the company does not “cure your breaches” to the agreement within two weeks, according to a letter from Apple that was shared by Epic. Epic won’t be able to notarize Mac apps either, a process that could make installing Epic’s software more difficult or block it altogether. Apple requires that all apps are notarized before they can be run on newer versions of macOS, even if they’re distributed outside the App Store.
Apple Extending AppleCare Purchase Window⇢
Apple Inc. on Monday told retail and customer-support employees that the company is expanding the time period when customers can subscribe to its AppleCare+ service.
Consumers currently have a chance to sign up to the warranty-and-support program within 60 days of buying an Apple product. This subscription window is increasing to up to a year now in the U.S. and Canada.
“This gives customers another opportunity to protect their device and have access to all the AppleCare+ benefits,” Apple wrote in a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. The company told employees the offer is available to customers who pay for AppleCare+ in full versus monthly payments, or for those that subscribe via installments on the Apple Card credit card.
The Top Secret iPod⇢
David Shayer, writing at TidBITS:
It was a gray day in late 2005. I was sitting at my desk, writing code for the next year’s iPod. Without knocking, the director of iPod Software—my boss’s boss—abruptly entered and closed the door behind him. He cut to the chase. “I have a special assignment for you. Your boss doesn’t know about it. You’ll help two engineers from the US Department of Energy build a special iPod. Report only to me.”
Epic Games Suing Apple Over App Store Policies⇢
I was offline for much of the day, re-opened Twitter and saw that all hell had broken loose.
iOS 13.6.1 Released, Fixing Green Tint on Some Devices⇢
Some notable fixes in the update:
- Addresses an issue where unneeded system data files might not be automatically deleted when available storage is low
- Fixes a thermal management issue that caused some displays to exhibit a green tint
- Fixes an issue where Exposure Notifications could be disabled for some users
That second note is important to me. I’ve been talking about this on Connected for a while, and my two co-hosts refused to agree it was a real issue.
Apple Releases macOS Catalina 10.15.6 Supplemental Update
This update is in Software Update now:
macOS Catalina 10.15.6 supplemental update includes bug fixes for your Mac.
- Fixes a stability issue that could occur when running virtualization apps
- Resolves an issue where an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) may appear washed out after waking from sleep
Big Sur Enters Public Beta⇢
Jason Snell has an in-depth look at what you can expect from macOS 11.
I’ve been running it on my secondary Mac, and while there are rough edges, overall, I’ve been spending most of my time with it considering the design. This has caused me to re-read my review of OS X Yosemite, which was the first release with the “flatter” design we still see today in Catalina. In it, I wrote:
OWC Rover Pro Wheels⇢
Pre-ordered. Look for a video from me on these when they ship.
Phil Schiller Named Apple Fellow⇢
Apple today announced that Phil Schiller will become an Apple Fellow, continuing a storied career that began at Apple in 1987. In this role, which reports to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Schiller will continue to lead the App Store and Apple Events. Greg (Joz) Joswiak, a longtime leader within the Product Marketing organization, will join the executive team as senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
While I can’t help but think his oversight of the App Store and the company’s events won’t last for long, I think the marketing group is in good hands with Joz. I’ve always enjoyed his presentation style and he’s been at the company for two decades.