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- Monday October 14
- 1 hour agoAfter years of no’s, Apple needs to start saying yes more
Macworld Apple has lots of sayings. “It’s better to be a pirate than join the navy.” “Think different.” “Don’t hold it that way.” And, perhaps most grammatically divisive, “A thousand no’s for every yes.” Some of them are just marketing spiels, but that last one is key to understanding the company’s approach to product development. And the areas where it is at risk of going astray. Now, I will concede that Apple is good at the first part of the equation—it says no a lot. It said no to cars. It said no to TVs. It said no to overheating multi-device chargers (eventually). It said no to foldable smartphones, I would imagine, roughly 10 times per quarter. About the only thing it says yes to is “another smartphone/smartwatch/tablet/laptop that’s just like the last one, only with an extra button.” And Vision Pro, I suppose. That was a fairly big yes. Still, I worry that worthwhile product launches are getting lost in the deluge of noes. (Please note the absence of an apostrophe in that plural.) Earlier this month it emerged that, according to Mark Gurman’s sources, Apple now has no plans to make the smart ring it was understood to be working on earlier this year. Maybe that’s the right decision; after all, the smart ring market hasn’t taken off yet, and the classic Cupertino stratagem is to wait for other companies to lead the way before swooping in and grabbing the revenue. But all the ingredients are there, and surely it would be worth a try? I speak, as you may have guessed, as someone who has written an opinion piece on this subject and been roundly ignored. I argued back in February that a smart ring is an uncannily natural fit for the Apple ecosystem. It could be an additional controller for Vision Pro, a biometric unlock key for the Mac, or a data source for Health and Fitness+. And it could offer the same proposition as the Apple Watch—a miniature connection to your other Apple products–on a still smaller scale. It’s the logical extrapolation of the Apple Watch concept: the smallest possible device with which to access notifications and gather health, fitness, and sleep data. But now it seems the Apple Ring won’t happen. Well, fair enough. But what happens if—and this is starting to look a bit more likely—the smart ring market does take off? As we’ve seen with AI, it’s not always straightforward to sit back and then join the party later. And as we’ve seen with foldables, sometimes Apple sits back for so long that it has to accept it can no longer catch up. Better hope that foldables and smart rings don’t turn out to be the next big things. Focus is good. Focus makes sense in the world of technology, where projects cost a fortune to develop and the price of failure is steep. But it’s possible to go too far the other way and lock yourself out of markets whose future value isn’t yet apparent. Not every project absolutely has to involve millions of dollars of ad spend and a dedicated area in the Apple Store. You could always roll out a smart ring as an experimental beta product to a select user base and see how it gets on. You could always try to leave your options open for the future. So sure, I can see why Apple believes in saying no a thousand times for every time it says yes. But if you do that, you’d better be sure that when the right opportunity comes along, you answer correctly. How confident are you, Tim Cook, that mixed reality is going to be a hit, and smart rings are not? That people are going to buy premium tablets, and not foldable smartphones? Because your devotion to focus means the stakes are horrifyingly high. And if you get the question wrong, the cost will be Apple’s relevance in the technology landscape of the future. Foundry Foundry Foundry Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too. Trending: Top stories Annual updates are killing the iPhone, reckons Mahmoud Itani. I upgraded to the iPhone 16 Plus–and I have thoughts. A riddle from the Macalope: Is it really a wearable if you shouldn’t be wearing it? If iMessage is so great, ponders Jason Snell, why is the Messages experience so terrible? The M4 MacBook Pro may be the entry-level laptop that gets everything right. Apple’s iPad Pro troubles return as demand for OLED panels craters. Podcast of the week We review the new Apple Watch Series 10 and the AirPods 4. Are these new devices worth your money? We talk about what we like, dislike, and more! You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site. Reviews corner Apple Watch Series 10 review: Modest improvements to a proven formula. AirPods vs AirPods Pro: How they compare. Best antivirus for Mac 2024: Top security software compared. The rumor mill Get ready! The M4 Mac era starts on November 1. Report: Apple Intelligence to finally arrive on October 28. Apple is reportedly moving away from annual launches. Software updates, bugs, and problems macOS Sequoia’s iPhone mirroring feature could expose personal data at work. And with that, we’re done for this week’s Apple Breakfast. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, or Twitter for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.09:55 amScammers use AI to create scarily convincing phishing calls
A security expert has recounted how close he came to being fooled by a new AI-based scam call that aimed to get his Gmail account details.Scammers tried to gain control of a security expert's Gmail accountThere were already scam ChatGPT apps on the App Store, but now artificial intelligence has been deployed by scammers in what expert Sam Mitrovic describes as "super realistic.""People are busy and this scam sounded and looked legitimate enough that I would give them an A for their effort," wrote Mitrovic in a blog post. "Many people are likely to fall for it." Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums09:00 amApple cancels permit for company’s self-driving car testing process
Apple’s self-driving car project may be coming to an end. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has canceled the company’s permit for self-driving vehicles. The move comes at Apple’s request, and could indicate that its years-long effort to create a self-driving car may be in doubt. Apple had a permit for testing autonomous vehicles on […] SourceSunday October 1309:48 pmStudy Done By Apple AI Scientists Proves LLMs Have No Ability to Reason
Slashdot reader Rick Schumann shared this report from the blog AppleInsider: A new paper from Apple's artificial intelligence scientists has found that engines based on large language models, such as those from Meta and OpenAI, still lack basic reasoning skills. The group has proposed a new benchmark, GSM-Symbolic, to help others measure the reasoning capabilities of various large language models (LLMs). Their initial testing reveals that slight changes in the wording of queries can result in significantly different answers, undermining the reliability of the models. The group investigated the "fragility" of mathematical reasoning by adding contextual information to their queries that a human could understand, but which should not affect the fundamental mathematics of the solution. This resulted in varying answers, which shouldn't happen... The study found that adding even a single sentence that appears to offer relevant information to a given math question can reduce the accuracy of the final answer by up to 65 percent. "There is just no way you can build reliable agents on this foundation, where changing a word or two in irrelevant ways or adding a few bit of irrelevant info can give you a different answer," the study concluded... "We found no evidence of formal reasoning in language models," the new study concluded. The behavior of LLMS "is better explained by sophisticated pattern matching" which the study found to be "so fragile, in fact, that [simply] changing names can alter results." Read more of this story at Slashdot.06:36 pmApple likely to unveil these four products later this month
Apple is expected to hold their next keynote in October, probably towards the end of the month. Theres four major products we’re expecting to see this time around, and they’re expected to be released on November 1st. more…05:23 pmCrime blotter: Ferrari thief busted by AirPods, Oklahoma iPhone porch pirates, more
In the latest Apple Crime roundup, thieves steal from a Canadian Apple Store, a man uses an AirTag to bust tool thieves, and a woman chases an iPhone thief and posts about it on TikTok.The Mapleview Shopping Centre Apple Store in Ontario The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, exploring the world of Apple-related crime. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums05:05 pmToday in Apple history: Bono’s (Product) Red iPod nano fights HIV/AIDS
On October 13, 2006, Apple teamed with U2 singer Bono to launch a (Product) Red Special Edition iPod nano to help fight AIDS in Africa. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)04:50 pmWhat to expect from the speedy M4 MacBook Pro
Get ready for the MacBook Pro with upgraded Apple M4 processor. Find out what to expect from this highly anticipated macOS notebook. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)02:05 pmApple’s cheaper Vision Pro might remain out of budget for most
Apple's cheaper Vision Pro might arrive as soon as next year for around $2,000. The second-gen headset will only arrive in 2027. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)01:35 pmCheaper Apple Vision headset rumored to cost $2000, arriving in 2026
A new report claims that both a successor to the Apple Vision Pro and a different, less expensive Apple Vision headset are likely to launch within the next two years.Work continues on a successor to the Apple Vision Pro, alongside a less-expensive version.Rumors suggest that the lower-end Apple Vision headset would likely cost around $2,000, compared to the $3,499 Apple Vision Pro. It would allegedly use a less-powerful chip and lower-resolution screens than the higher-end model.Bloomberg's report suggests the lower-end headset would drop some technology seen in the Apple Vision Pro, such as the Eyesight feature. That required a lenticular display on the outside of the headset, allowing others to "see" the wearer's eyes. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums01:30 pmGet the newest iPad mini for cheaper than Apple’s website
Cult of Mac Deals has a refurbished iPad mini 6 for $429.99 that's even less than Apple’s certified refurbished store. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)01:24 pmApple Smart Glasses, AirPods with cameras could finally arrive in 2027
Apple's fabled smart glasses may still be on the way, with a launch in 2027 on the cards alongside AirPods with added cameras.A visualisation of Apple GlassThe Apple Vision Pro is not the company's ultimate vision for the future of head-mounted displays or spatial computing. While there has been talk about smart glasses in the past, we may actually see a pair come out from Cupertino in a few years time.The Vision Project Group, which is currently developing new headset products along the lines of the Apple Vision Pro, is apparently considering bringing out smart glasses. Sunday's newsletter from Bloomberg claims the team are planning a launch for the device in 2027. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums12:38 pmGurman: Apple smart glasses and AirPods with cameras possibly launching in 2027
Apple is preparing some additional vision based products, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. We’re expecting smart glasses, similar to Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban, as well as AirPods with cameras. These products won’t launch until at least 2027, if they do at all. more…12:14 pmReport: Cheaper ‘Apple Vision’ headset to cost around $2000; drop EyeSight
According to the latest edition of Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, Apple is still on track to launch the lower end Apple Vision headset as early as next year. He says it’ll cost around $2000. more…02:53 amApple made a huge macOS security promise four years ago, but it’s still unfulfilled
Shortly after the release of macOS Big Sur back in 2020, Apple faced widespread server outages. The outage affected macOS installations, iMessage, Apple Pay, and most notably: the notarization service. This meant that users had major issues opening apps, revealing a flaw in how Apple handles app verification on the Mac.1 more…02:20 amCode references to new Apple Intelligence features appear as Apple prepares iOS 18.2 beta | 9 to 5 MacCode references to new Apple Intelligence features appear as Apple prepares iOS 18.2 beta
Apple is preparing to ship two new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.2 beta shortly, at least according to two new backend references spotted by Aaron Perris on X. more…02:06 amThe Apple Watch Ultra 2 is $70 Off
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a modern smartwatch equipped with the latest features. Today, the Black Ultra 2 49mm GPS+Cellular variant is down to just $729.99 from its original price of $800 on Amazon. Made for adventure and built tough, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has a titanium case that stands the test of […] The post appeared first on iLounge.02:05 amNew ‘Goalie Masks Made on iPad’ video released
A new video, titled ‘Goalie Masks Made on iPad’ has made it online and Apple’s official YouTube channel. The new ad highlights the Apple Pencil Pro and iPad Pro and how they’re used to design NHL goalie masks for the 24-25 season. Personalized artworks are sketched onto the tablet, which is then translated to the […] The post appeared first on iLounge.02:04 amApple SuperDrive officially out of stock
The SuperDrive ran out of stock on the online US Apple store and is listed as ‘sold out’ in all other countries. With its status as officially out, it’s unlikely that Apple will bring the 16-year-old accessory back in stock, or if the company will produce a new one for sale. The SuperDrive is an […] The post appeared first on iLounge.02:02 amApple builds new Shenzen research lab
Apple recently opened a research lab in Shenzen, China, which started operating on Thursday. The applied research laboratory is situated at the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong tech cooperation zone. The Cupertino-based company announced the decision back in March this year, saying that the facility will be used for research and enhance the testing of flagship products […] The post appeared first on iLounge.