Appleviews – 16th September 2022
It’s back!
My weekly Appleviews update and newsletter took a break last week as there was so much Apple news to catch-up on. With new iPhones, Apple Watches and the event itself to cover, Appleviews took a hiatus for one week.
Well, the good news is….it’s back. And as I am writing this on ‘iPhone’ day, let’s start this week’s Appleviews with news about iPhone 14, incase yours is landing today.
iMessage & FaceTime issues
iPhone 14 users may face an issue, today, when unboxing their new handsets. With the worst possible timing, it would seem that iOS 16, which was only released this week, had some new device set-up bugs.
With many receiving their new iPhone 14’s today, it is one headache that Apple could sure have done without. It seems, that due to activation issues, users may have found themselves unable to use iMessage & FaceTime as they’d wish.
Out of the box, your iMessage bubbles may be showing green, not blue, you may be unable to receive FaceTime calls and some iMessages may show up as coming from the wrong account to recipients.
The company, as you’d expect, are all over this one. As part of the new device set-up, you should be asked to upgrade to 16.0.1 which was pushed out yesterday. If you don’t see that prompt, then go to Settings > General > Software Update and update to the latest available version there.
This update will also fix a bug that caused some photos to appear soft when zooming in landscape orientation on iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Are you getting a new phone today? If so, what did you go for?
iPhone 14 Plus ready & waiting
This year, for the first time, the largest screen on an iPhone is available as a non-Pro version. This means that you can get the 6.7-inch screen, for a touch under a £1000.
iPhone 14 Plus had been expected to be the hot cake this year, with demand way out stripping supply. However, one week after pre-order day, there are no delays being reported. This would suggest that the uptake was not as high as anticipated. Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted this week, saying that demand is lower, for the iPhone 14 Plus, than it had been last year for the iPhone 13 mini.
The iPhone 14 Plus goes on sale from Friday 7th October.
But not so much luck for iPhone 14 Pro’s!
Generally, Apple is known to be conservative with their shipping dates for the new iPhones.
This year, though, many who were expecting their phones to be delivered today, have been let down. Pre-order day last Friday was beset with website issues. This led to some customers having multiple orders in their basket, whilst others had none. Now it looks as if delivery dates are widely being pushed back a week, and in the odd instance, a fortnight.
These delays are only affecting the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max phones, though. Looking at their online store a moment ago, a Pro Max with 1TB of storage is showing a delivery date of between 25th October – 1st November.
Passkeys are here
I wrote recently that Passwords will be making way for the far more secure Passkeys.
With iOS now on general release, some developers are already taking advantage of this new protocol. The travel app KAYAK was one of the first to update their app. Best Buy, eBay, CardPointers & WordPress are also onboard.
In simple terms, rather than creating a traditional, easily leaked password that is stored on servers etc, Passkeys create a unique on device key. That Passkey will then require biometric authentication for that service to be accessed.
Cleaner charging
As part of the iOS 16 release, there is now a Clean Energy Charging option. In an aim to decrease their carbon footprint, you can now optimise charging times for when the grid is using cleaner energy resources.
If you think this can’t possibly make that much difference, think again. Considering there are more than a billion iPhone users worldwide, the Clean Energy Charging option could have a notable impact collectively.
And more environmental news
Have you ever suffered from the back glass being cracked on your iPhone? For those running iPhone 11 or older, Apple-authorised technicians simply replace the entire device! On 12’s and 13’s, the procedure is not quite as Draconian, but still very labour-intensive. Service centres are required to work from the display side, and totally disassemble the device.
Well, now, with iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, the back glass is removable for quicker and easier repairs. This is the first time, since the iPhone 4S, that the device can easily be opened and repaired from the back of the phone.
Happy birthday
Do you realise that it is now the ten-year anniversary of the much maligned lightning cable?
Originally released on 12th September 2012, the connector was heralded as a replacement to the ageing 30-pin connector we had got so used to. The lightning port made its first appearance on iPhone 5. The only real user advantages were that it was reversible, and smaller than the 30-pin variant.
As we now know, though, the Lightning cable is ever so slow. We are creating bigger and larger files on iPhone now, such as ProRes and ProRaw images & video files, and transferring them to a Mac, is a painful experience. Hopefully, though, that is set to change.
Although iPhone 14 still has the Lightning port, it will be the last time that port is used on new iPhones. The European Union is on course to require all new smartphones and tablets to come with a USB-C port. Seeing the writing on the wall, Apple is allegedly preparing to drop Lightning in 2023 with the iPhone 15 and put in a USB-C port.
More Satellites
One of the highlights, for many, when iPhone 14 was released, was the Emergency SOS feature.
It allows you to call for help from emergency services in areas with no cellular reception. The feature is on all four models of this year’s iPhone, and on launch was only available in the US & Canada.
It appears that Apple have informed Swiss website MacPrime that the rollout to other countries is going to happen quicker than first anticipated. The service, which is free for the first two years, will see more countries able to use the satellite feature later this year, and more still next year.
MacRumors reached out to Apple, asking exactly when these extra countries would be added, but so far, without response.
Fun on the Lock Screen
If you read my blogs this week when I looked at iOS 16, you’ll know I wasted far too much time, playing and setting up my Lock Screens. It’s stupidly addictive and oddly pleasing.
They are totally customisable now, from fonts, & colours to widgets. You can remove the suggested widgets at the top of your screen by tapping the minus sign, and then replace them with ones of your choice. There are a whole host to choose from, and now, Snapchat is available as a widget too.
Snapchat has also introduced Chat Shortcuts which make it easier to filter unread messages, missed calls, and replies to stories within the app.
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Get in the vibe and listen along to today’s chosen soundtrack. I wrote this whilst listening to https://music.apple.com/gb/album/to-be-continued/1440940388
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