Appleviews – 12th May 2023
iPad gets a reason
The big news of the week came on Tuesday when Apple casually announced via their press room that both Logic & Final Cut would be making their way to iPad.
As of Tuesday 23rd May, you’ll be able to start to edit your audio & video projects using Apple’s flagship professional-grade content creation tools. Final Cut will be compatible with M1 chip iPad models or later, and Logic Pro will be available on A12 Bionic chip iPad models or later. In both instances, you’ll need to be running iPadOS 16.4.
Being an Adobe boy, I won’t be at the front of the queue on 23rd May, but the price grabbed my attention. You can either pay £4.99 per month for each app or buy each outright for only £49 – and new subscribers will even get one month thrown in free too!
Full more details on FCP for iPad follow this link or for Logic check this link. I still can’t think of much worse than editing video or multitrack session projects on a 12-inch display – but hey, maybe I’m the odd one out! Wouldn’t be the first time…
Meta kills Messenger
If you enjoy being able to both read and reply to Facebook Messenger messages on your Apple Watch, make the most of it!
From 31st May, Messenger will be joining the long list of apps that are no longer available for Apple’s wearable device. Users over the last few days have been seeing an alert on the app which simply says – Changes to Messenger on Apple Watch.
From the 1st June, you’ll still get notifications on your watch but you’ll have to grab your iPhone or iPad to read & reply.
One for the collection
Recently I have told you about original, unopened iPhones and other rare Apple memorabilia coming up for auction. Well, this week I spotted another item that’s about to come under the hammer – and it’s even more desirable!
It’s a cheque from 1976, the year that Apple was started, and it’s signed by Jobs himself! The cheque for $175 is apparently in pristine condition and was made out to Crampton, Remke and Miller who were a management consultancy that Jobs had hired to help with the company’s launch.
RR Auctions had expected the cheque to fetch around $25,000 but the item finally sold for…$106,985! I wonder if Marques has been out spending again?
The cheque is made even more desirable by the fact that Jobs was famed for not signing anything. The address shown on the cheque shows Apple’s first official address, which was an answering and mail service that was used while the company was still operating out of Jobs’ family garage.
Watch this space
We keep on hearing that the star of the latest OS releases at this summer’s WWDC will be watchOS.
WatchOS 10 is rumoured to be returning to a more widget-based UI and along with that Apple Watch Series 9 looks like it’s about to get a new processor as well. It’ll be based on the A15 chip that was first used by Apple in iPhone 13.
Apple Watch Series 7 & 8 both merely used a re-hashed version of the age-old S6 chip from the 2020 Watch Series 6 and have offered little or no significant improvements to either battery life or performance.
But if the new chip rumours are proven true then the performance and efficiency of Apple Watch Series 9 should both witness worthwhile hikes. With no major new design features coming, a new chip that will offer quicker load times for apps and data, while also offering improved battery life may be enough for some to trade up.
Show your Pride
It’s that time of the year already – Apple this week showed off their latest Watch band to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
The release of the Pride Edition band has now become an annual event. The bands are historically based on the colours of the rainbow and its release coincides with Pride month. Pride bands date back to 2016 with a limited edition band that was only ever given to employees to mark thirty years of working for the company.
Along with this year’s Pride sport band, there is also a new wallpaper and watch face available too. In a newsroom release Apple announced;
“The new band showcases the original pride flag rainbow colours and five others — black and brown symbolise Black and Latin communities, in addition to those who have passed away from or are living with HIV/AIDS, while light blue, pink, and white represent transgender and non-binary individuals.”
The band’s shapes have been compression-molded into the final product with a forming process that creates slight variations in how they’re laid out, meaning each band is as unique. No two bands are exactly alike, which reflects the individuality of all members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Midas touch
Apple Savings is barely a month old, yet it seems folks are flocking to it.
Forbes has reported that in its first few weeks, Apple Savings may have already attracted more than $1 billion in deposits. Its growth has staggered Wall Street analysts as the savings account had $400 million deposited in it on the first day alone and $990 million worth of deposits in its first four days.
The savings account is only available to Apple Card holders and its attraction is the high interest rate it’s currently offering. While many traditional US banks are only offering less than one per cent interest rates, Apple Savings is giving its account holders a 4.15% yield.
As I mentioned, the account is only available to Apple Card holders, but even so, there were still 240,000 accounts opened in the first week alone which is a staggering achievement.
Imagine if Apple were to offer the savings account to all iPhone users!
Strike that
The Apple TV + smash hit, Severance has reportedly been impacted by its own behind-the-scenes production issues, but those woes have now been added to.
The Writers Guild of America is currently striking which is not only causing chaos for Hollywood but for Apple TV’s production schedule too.
Filming on the next series of Severance has ground to a complete halt as writers picketed the studio.
As the strike enters its second week, it’s not only Severance which is facing delays but also the next season of Loot as well. The WGA is striking over pay related to syndicated reruns and also the rise of the use of AI-generated content. They have concerns that Hollywood could use AI as a workaround as their members continue their strike action.
In the can
One production that was already finished and in the can was the long-anticipated, critically-acclaimed Michael J. Fox documentary ‘Still’ which premieres today worldwide on Apple TV+.
The film covers his career and long, yet optimistic battle with Parkinson’s Disease which he was diagnosed with at only 29 years of age.
The Davis Guggenheim directed documentary was premiered at SXSW earlier this year and was well-received by critics. Still skilfully combines scripted interviews along with archive footage with plenty of mentions, of course, for Back To The Future.
Natural Succession
I am obsessed with the HBO hit Succession.
Now in its fourth and final season, super-fans are looking for any tiny tell-tale signs about their character’s eventual fate.
For instance, Tom Wambsgans (played by British actor Matthew Macfadyen) is seen using an Android Samsung handset. The Roy family members are all seen using iPhone Pros and iPads, which makes Tom’s choice of a Samsung phone seem all the more jarring and obvious.
Meanwhile, fans on Reddit have theorised that Android phones may be company phones, whilst personal phones are iPhones.
We know Apple hold tight court over how its products are shown on-screen. Rian Johnson told Vanity Fair in a 2020 interview that Apple would not let ‘bad guys’ on-screen use iPhones.
So…in the remaining 4 episodes of Succession are we about to see a Machiavellian, dark and sinister side to Tom’s often limp weak character coming through? Could he yet turn out to be the dark horse?
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