Appleviews – 14th October 2022
We may be getting a new Apple TV – reasons to smile!
I hope your week was not spoiled by the various reports almost confirming that there will be no more Apple keynotes this year. Whatever goodies Tim and the boys have left for us this year, they will now be revealed by press releases. How dull!
Still, to brighten your day, here is this week’s Appleviews.
Apple Card
Apple’s own credit card received some love this week. Yesterday, Apple announced that Apple Card users will be able to open a high-yield savings account. The benefit will be that their daily cash ‘kickbacks’ will be deposited in to their designated account automatically. There would seem to be no fees, minimum deposits or even minimum balance requirements on the Goldman Sachs backed account.
There was not an exact launch date given, as far as I could tell, but it is set to launch in the coming months. The interest rate is also to be confirmed. The account, as you’d expect, will be managed through your Wallet app. Once you’ve set up a deposit account, all daily cash received from then on will be automatically deposited in your chosen account, unless a user opts to add it to their Apple Cash card.
The card, launched in 2019, currently remains exclusively available in the States, and offers users some other clear benefits. These include 3% daily cash on Apple Card purchases made using Apple Pay with Apple and select merchants. Thos merchants include Uber and Uber Eats, Nike, T-Mobile, and ExxonMobil. Apple Card users will also receive 2% daily cash when they use Apple Pay at other merchants, and 1% on all other purchases.
A new Apple TV is coming
Since spring of this year, we have heard rumours that a new Apple TV could be coming in the last quarter of the year. Both Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman have lent their weight to these stories, which, for my mind, seems to make it a fairly likely proposition.
The improvements to the existing Apple TV 4K box, look to be in four key areas;
- A faster chip
- More RAM
- A new remote
- and a lower price
The chip in the latest Apple TV is likely to be the one found in iPhone 12 – the A14 Bionic chip, which will mean a faster experience across apps and whilst playing games. The RAM is set to get a boost from the current 3GB to 4GB. Again, this would contribute to faster performance and responsiveness in Apple TV.
Buried deep within the coding of iOS 16 were some references to a new, unreleased version of the Siri Remote. My guess, would be that it would be upgraded to include the U1 chip, as used in AirPods Pro 2.
As to the price, Kuo seems to think we may see lowering of the price of Apple TV due to an ’improved cost structure’. Presently, the 4K 32GB set-top box costs £169, and its 63GB bigger brother will set you back £189. For some odd reason, the HD (non 4K version) is still available for £139.
I love Apple TV, and think, for the quality, it represents pretty good value for money. There are of course far cheaper options for streaming sticks from Chromecast & Roku, but would they offer the stunning picture & audio quality delivered by the Apple TV box?
A new iPhone SE?
Ross Young, a guest on my podcast, Minus Sixteen earlier this year thinks we will see the fourth generation of an iPhone SE early next year.
The ever reliable Young, thinks the next SE will be launched with a 6.1-inch LCD screen, and a notch cutout, which will house the front-facing camera. By 2024, he is expecting all iPhones to feature Dynamic Island as standard.
The SE4 will resemble iPhone XR according to MacRumors.
Apple getting a Brazilian
For the longest while now, Brazil have been hammering Apple with fines for the lack of including a DC charger with their devices.
In the latest instalment this week, Brazil have levied a $19 million dollar fine on the Cupertino company, as they continue selling phones with only the cable supplied in the box. This fine, mirrors one from September of a mere $2.3 million over the same issue. In that instance, the Brazilian government halted all further iPhone 12 sales until the company included the charger.
It was in 2012 that Apple stopped including both chargers & earbuds with iPhone. At the time, they said that the move was better for the environment. Apple has had a long-term goal of having a 100% carbon-neutral footprint by 2030.
The statement issued from the court was;
”It is evident that, under the justification of a green initiative, the defendant imposes on the consumer a required purchase of charger adaptors that were previously supplied along with the product.”
Headset news
In the much anticipated mixed-reality headset, that is expected to finally be launched next year, there will be an innovative way to make payments – iris scanning!
This leak, came from developers who have been helping Apple in the development of the headset. Iris scanning will be used to log in to accounts, and make payments, much as you use Touch ID on iPhone currently. If this rumour turns out to be true, it will certainly set it apart from the offering from Meta.
This tech goes all the way back to 2017, and Apple’s purchase of the German start-up company, SensoMotric.
The report I found these stories in goes on to confirm that the headset will resemble a pair of ski-goggles, and will be made from mesh, aluminium & glass. It says the headset will weigh 772 grams, making it considerably lighter than the Quest Pro from Meta. The headset will feature 14 cameras and also facilitate those who wear glasses, allowing them to magnetically clip on prescription lenses.
Craig & Greg speak out
It looks very likely, that iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura & may be even some iPads may be coming our way 25th October.
Why am I thinking that? Well, Craig Federighi (head of software engineering) and Greg Joswiak (chief of marketing), will be two of the speakers at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live event. The pair will be speaking from 7.35pm Pacific Time. The event will be hosted by the hugely respected journalist, Joanna Stern.
Well, it is a sort of press release, I guess.
Notflix…
Netflix, which has been haemorrhaging subscriber losses this past year, has now introduced a cheaper, ad-supported membership level.
The ‘Basics with ads’ plan will cost $6.99, giving it a $3 saving over the full-fat version. The cheaper plan will stream at a 720p resolution. When the ad plan launches, the Basic plan will also have support for 720p too.
The content itself, will be very similar to the more expensive tiers, but viewers will see ads for around 4 or 5 minutes per hour. Ads will be around 15 seconds in duration and will run as pre & mid-roll. One restriction of the cheaper plan will be that you’ll not be able to download content for offline viewing.
The new plan will launch 3rd November in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK, and the US.
That’s all folks
So, there are this week’s highlights for ya folks. As ever, if you think there are any stories that I’ve overlooked…get in touch.
And with that, I will be putting my feet up and watching the final episode of Bad Sisters later tonight on Apple TV. If you’ve not watched this dark-comedy drama, based in Ireland, I promise you, it’s worth a binge-watch. It’s been brilliant. Where would I be without my Apple TV huh?
Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you all bright and early Monday!
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