charlesn

M4 MacBook Air review: More power than ever, at a lower price point

charlesn

March 21

I would have upgraded both my M1 iMac and M2 MBA this year, but it's a pass until Apple supports Wifi 7. Bizarre to me that iPhones which launched in Sept support it, but other hardware launched after iPhone don't. Longer upgrade cycles pose a real challenge for Apple as it is, and not supporting the latest standards for Wifi and bluetooth protocols when introducing new models sure doesn't help.

John Giannandrea out as Siri chief, Apple Vision Pro lead in

charlesn

March 21

mpantone said:

However it's also important to point out that Siri is not a P&L center unlike Apple TV+ or iCloud or Fitness+ or the Apple Watch hardware division.

Technically true, but,,, how does an all-in Apple guy like myself end up with Alexa and 3 Echo Dots in my home? Simple: Alexa has always worked much better as a voice assistant than Siri, plus there's an entire world of products with voice-control capability that support Alexa but don't support Siri. The most glaring for me is probably my Sonos system, but I have a long list of others in my home. So in the ongoing battle for control of the home, I don't know how Apple wins without a more capable and reliable Siri.

iPhone 17 Pro dummies show where glass ends and metal begins

charlesn

March 21

kmarei said:

mpantone said:

Joe Consumer cares more about having a great camera module in their phone over having a handset that has uniform thickness across its entire construction. That's why phones with camera bumps sell well.

There's very little demand for perfectly flat phones. Doing so requires far more compromises in optical quality and performance.

The thinness will have a different feel in the hand. The bump itself isn't felt since no one holds their phone touching the camera module. Nothing new about this.

I think the last phone I owned with flush camera optics was the original iPhone SE. That ship sailed a long time ago, it is unlikely that people will ever see another iPhone with flush camera optics given the progression of digital photography and videography. Today's smartphones are far more capable at both compared to their predecessors from ten years ago. However there's no way to dodge physics, the sensors and lenses take some space for satisfactory performance.

At some point in the not too distant future, we should expect an iPhone to start offering 8K video at 60fps. This won't be done with a smaller camera module, that I can guarantee you. Note that Japanese television has been doing 8K terrestrial broadcasts for a couple of years now. It's already here -- not a fanciful imaginary scenario in some egghead dreamworld.

In the end, these are just silly rumors. Let us not forget that most rumors posted here (or other similar news sites) end up being wrong. The rumor mill is highly inaccurate. It's not gospel until Apple ships product.
the issue is this apple obsession with making the phones thinner and thinner

You realize this is not true, right? Except for the somewhat thicker 3 and 4 models, iPhone thickness has stayed between about 7-8mm, with no trend toward thinness at all. In fact, for the thinnest iPhone to date, you'd have to go back to the iPhone 6 at 6.9mm. The iPhone 17 Slim would be the first genuinely thinner phone since the transition from the 4 to the 5 series. Always funny how people can get themselves worked up over they think Apple is doing when it's completely at odds with what Apple is doing.

Apple TV+ is losing billions of dollars -- as planned and expected

charlesn

March 20

Superb analysis, William! Having spent my career producing television I'd say you hit all the key points. Of course, some people will never get it, but it has always been that way with Apple.

John Giannandrea out as Siri chief, Apple Vision Pro lead in

charlesn

March 20

Totally not surprised this happened although I didn't expect it to take this long. Tim Cook is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. It's worth recounting this tale from an urgent meeting Cook had called:

"One day back then, he convened a meeting with his team, and the discussion turned to a particular problem in Asia. “This is really bad,” Cook told the group. “Someone should be in China driving this.” Thirty minutes into that meeting Cook looked at Sabih Khan, a key operations executive, and abruptly asked, without a trace of emotion, “Why are you still here?”

Khan, who remains one of Cook’s top lieutenants to this day, immediately stood up, drove to San Francisco International Airport, and, without a change of clothes, booked a flight to China with no return date, according to people familiar with the episode. The story is vintage Cook: demanding and unemotional."