This week on AI: Wireless charging for 'iPhone 8,' AirPods due date & more

AppleInsider

News quieted down in a bit in the wake of Apple's Oct. 27 MacBook Pro event, but as usual in the Apple world, there were still rumors about the company's plans -- among them talk about wireless charging in the "iPhone 8," and the unexpected delay of its AirPods.

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Everything you need to know:

• The 2017 iPhone might finally implement wireless charging > >
• Apple Music's prices might drop 20 percent > >
• Apple's AirPods should ship by the end of 2016 > >
• Logic Pro X should get Touch Bar support by early 2017 > >
• The new MacBook Pros aren't compatible with all Thunderbolt 3 devices > >
• A surprise iOS 10.1.1 patch fixed problems with Health > >
• Apple shareholders will vote on whether executive compensation should be independently monitored > >
• Apple cut the prices on USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 add-ons to keep the MacBook Pro crowd > >

For in-depth discussion of this week's hottest stories, listen to the AppleInsider podcast. Subscribe here, or stream the embed below:

A roundup of all of our hottest stories this week:

Watch: Hands-on with Apple's entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with USB-C

Foxconn working on wireless charging system for 'iPhone 8,' report says

Rumor: Apple mulls 20% Apple Music price decrease

After missing October debut, Apple's AirPods remain on track to launch this year, sources say

Apple exec confirms Logic Pro X getting Touch Bar support by 'early next year'

New MacBook Pro models reportedly incompatible with certain Thunderbolt 3 devices

Apple issues iOS 10.1.1 with fix for viewing data in Health app

Rare reports of poor image quality on iPhone 7 Plus circulate, no root cause known

Apple pushes Irish High Court to fast-track legal challenges to new datacenter

See the new & refreshed emoji in Apple's first public beta of iOS 10.2

Apple shareholder proposal for more executive compensation oversight coming to vote in 2017

New MacBook Pro drops optical audio out through headphone jack

Apple iPhone's global marketshare dips to 12.1 percent on problems in China & Africa

Apple activates single sign-on for tvOS and iOS beta testers

Apple cuts prices on USB-C & Thunderbolt 3 gear in response to MacBook Pro backlash

tyler82

Wireless charging is the biggest gimmick and a feature I could care less about. 

spice-boy

As a person that has been buying Apple products for nearly 25 years I have to say that I am not so thrilled with changing device due to port and cable "improvements" every few years. The speed bumps they promise are at a point where it is not distinguishable  outside of a testing laboratory and really show no real word benefits. It all just pisses people off and complicates using peripherals and adds yet another cost to using your devices.

Wireless charging means unless I'm wrong carrying around another gadget in the way of a charger with a surface area the size of the Apple Watch white doughnut instead of a thin cable? That is not progress, that is "look mom no hands". 

stantheman

I would like to see the next iteration of Touch Bar be deeper, where it would replace not only the row of function keys, but also the row of number keys plus 1/2" of the (enlarged) touchpad.  So, maybe 2.5" deep.  Number keys are not used as often as letter keys, and we seldom rest our fingers on them.  So their physical presence is less of an issue and after getting used to it we could function just as well with virtual keys. Taptic feedback could partly make up for the loss of physical number keys, too.  Finally, the ongoing implementation of Siri-voice inputs reduces the emphasis on keyboard inputs in general.<br><br>

With a larger pallet to work with, the Touch Bar metaphor could incorporate a wider range of on-screen activities, including pinches and scrolls, on-screen menus and forms, Pencil writing, photo mark-ups, and piano key playing.  <br><br>

We may have 13" and 15" computer screens, but most of the time our eyes focus on a far smaller area -- maybe as little as 1" to 3" across. Touch Bar can potentially display that entire "action area" and put it within easy reach of the keyboard home base, while switching automatically to number and function keys when circumstances call for them.  Touch Bar is not just a touchscreen: Touch Bar is an AI-touchscreen. 

macxpress

tyler82 said:

Wireless charging is the biggest gimmick and a feature I could care less about. 

It may seem like a gimmick but its one step closer to Apple not having any connections on its iPhone like it or not. I can see them getting rid of lightning down the road in its iOS devices. Charging is really the only sticking point to getting rid of the lightning connector. Everything else can go wireless. Its already eliminated the headphone port, and the lightning port is next to go. It may not be in 2017, but I wouldn't hold my breath to it sticking around any longer than that. 

Apple just needs to get wireless charging working properly without making the phone explode...

512ke

I feels like so many of these developments are pushing us to a future in which you will have to pay Apple a monthly fee for iCloud. You won't be able to download your photos to your hard drive without running them through iCloud first. Etc.

macxpress

512ke said:

I feels like so many of these developments are pushing us to a future in which you will have to pay Apple a monthly fee for iCloud. You won't be able to download your photos to your hard drive without running them through iCloud first. Etc.

Ever hear of AirDrop? Cool feature! 

freethinking

complains about small SD card sticking out .... is fine with octopus of dongles.... LOL makes endless excuses for 16GB limit fails to realize dell xps 32Gb and ThinkPad with 64gb exist. LOL thanks for the podcast it always makes me laugh. keep up the work.

macxpress

freethinking said:

complains about small SD card sticking out .... is fine with octopus of dongles.... LOL makes endless excuses for 16GB limit fails to realize dell xps 32Gb and ThinkPad with 64gb exist. LOL thanks for the podcast it always makes me laugh. keep up the work.

Few things:

-The 15' MacBook Pro is way faster than the Dell XPS, its almost faster even on the slower end when its not clocking itself up. It also has the fastest fast storage money can buy vs the Dell XPS' SSD's (which is not standard BTW). 
-The MacBook Pro uses LPDDR RAM vs regular power hungry DDR RAM (Intel doesn't support LPDDR4 RAM in its current CPU offerings which is what's required for more than 16GB)
-Were in a transition period with USB-C so dongles are gonna happen until everything gets switched over. The same thing happened when Apple switched from its own old I/O to USB when the original iMac came out. Apple survived and the sun still rose the next day.

-The Dell uses last years graphics, while the MacBook Pro uses state of the art graphics. 
-The MacBook Pro support wide color gamut, the Dell XPS still relies on RGB gamut. 
-Sadly, the Dell XPS has a 5, maybe 6hr battery life vs the 15" MacBook Pro's 10hr battery life. 
-The Dell XPS is also larger and heavier than the 15" MacBook Pro (when you configure similar specs)

So the Dell isn't as great as you make it sound. I can't see a situation where you'd want the Dell XPS over the MacBook Pro. Why exactly do you need more than 16GB of RAM? What are you doing that uses more than 16GB? To further my point on the 16GB limitation:

https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=6355

The ThinkPads you're seeing are workstation laptops which aren't in the same category as the MacBook Pro. They have Xeon processors in them, are thick and heavy..not really made for massive mobile computing. This is like comparing apples to oranges. 


So keep laughing....

larz2112

macxpress said:

tyler82 said:

Wireless charging is the biggest gimmick and a feature I could care less about. 

It may seem like a gimmick but its one step closer to Apple not having any connections on its iPhone like it or not. I can see them getting rid of lightning down the road in its iOS devices. Charging is really the only sticking point to getting rid of the lightning connector. Everything else can go wireless. Its already eliminated the headphone port, and the lightning port is next to go. It may not be in 2017, but I wouldn't hold my breath to it sticking around any longer than that. 

Apple just needs to get wireless charging working properly without making the phone explode...

The problem I see with wireless charging is that wireless charging stations need to be ubiquitous and somewhat universal, or else you will still need to rely on wired charging when away from home, or as spice-boy mentioned, carry around a wireless charging base, which kind of defeats the purpose and convenience of wireless charging. If it's near-field charging, where the device automatically gets charged when it is within a certain radius that would be convenient, but if wireless charging involves placing my phone on a charging mat, I don't see how that is much different that being tethered to a wire in regards to convenience. 

nikon133

spice-boy said:

As a person that has been buying Apple products for nearly 25 years I have to say that I am not so thrilled with changing device due to port and cable "improvements" every few years. The speed bumps they promise are at a point where it is not distinguishable  outside of a testing laboratory and really show no real word benefits. It all just pisses people off and complicates using peripherals and adds yet another cost to using your devices.

Wireless charging means unless I'm wrong carrying around another gadget in the way of a charger with a surface area the size of the Apple Watch white doughnut instead of a thin cable? That is not progress, that is "look mom no hands". 

All the existing wireless charging enabled phones also charge the traditional way - through USB data cable.

This works well for me. I have wireless charger sitting on my night desk at home, where I always put phone over night, being a creature of habit (as I use it for wake up alarm). I'm finding it very handy. I almost don't think about charging these days, and chance of forgetting to plug phone to a charger over night is basically none. My wife starts day before me and often goes to sleep before me, so I don't have to look for charging cable in the dark (or risk waking her up by turning the light on), and finding reasonably large charging pad in the darkness is much easier.

When I travel, I carry just a common USB charger and cable.

I didn't think much of wireless charging before I got capable phone, but now it is one of my favorite, say, side features; probably THE favorite one. It is not life changing, it wouldn't change my phone purchase decision, but it is very convenient one to have.