What’s new with Safari?
21st February – 25th February 2022
Apple is in the modem market
That’s right. It has not been the best kept secret ever, that Apple were keen to ditch Qualcomm as their modem supplier. A fresh report this week is suggesting that the switch could happen as early as 2023, and are in talks with a company to assist them with this project. Relationships soured a few years back between Apple & Qualcomm (over the ‘double-dipping’ incident). Until this latest development though, Apple heavily relied upon Qualcomm and Samsung modems to provide mobile data functionality, alongside Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in their devices. Is 5G really the future?
Browsing ain’t what it used to be
The competition to win you over to a new browser is as fierce as ever. Chrome, despite being so power hungry, is still massively dominant in the browser marketplace with an astonishing 65.38% market share. Safari is currently in second place, but only just. With a 9.84% share, Microsoft Edge is hot on its heels with 9.54% and Firefox, making good gains during last year, and now at a healthy 8.1%. It’s all to play for Safari….
How low can you go?
Do you recall the famous Steve Jobs keynote speech when unveiling the Mac Mini? He used the acronym of BYODKM, which stood for Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse. Well, a patent application this week from Cupertino looks to suggest that they are aiming to pair that down even further. If this patent is to be believed, then Apple are aiming for you to only bring your display, as the entire computer, could soon be within a thicker Magic Keyboard. That is certainly ticking my minimalist box – and I love the sound of it.
iPhone 14 rumours
For years now, Android phones have smoked iPhones with the amount of RAM packed within. Numbers don’t always tell the truth, and it is entirely possible that Androids are just not as efficient in processing data. But even with the A15 Bionic chip, Apple is to up iPhone 14 Pro range of RAM to 8 GB. The rumours, found this week on a Korean blogging site, could very well be true, as the phones set to be released in the autumn of this year will be boasting its highest megapixel camera sensor ever.
And in other iPhone 14 related news, its release looks to be bang on schedule, as this week it entered in to a stage known as trial production. For the first time, production units will be checked over, looking for any production issues. They also look to improve production efficiency and verify how many units per hour can be produced.
And more on the Headset too
In the same week as the above production tests, Apple’s VR headset moved in to its next stage of development. Sources reliably inform us that the headset has moved on from the prototype stage and is now at EVT2 (Engineering Validation Test 2). After this, it will pass to DVT (Design Validation Test), where 50–100 units will be produced. Finally, it then passes to PVT (Production Validation Test) to ensure all rigours of quality control can be met in full production. Demand is yet again going to be high. Order early!
Hey Siri
In this week’s iOS 15.4 beta release, for the first time in approximately two years, a new English speaking, American voice is among Siri’s options. Known simply as ‘Voice 5’ in the settings menu, all Apple would reveal, was that it was ‘recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+ community’.
Images of the new exotic store
Recently, I brought to you news of the new Al Maryah Island store in Abu Dhabi. Until this week, little was known about the look of the store, that is, until images showcasing design elements never seen before at Apple stores could be viewed online. They include promenades and ramps crafted from Absolute Black granite. It’s the first use of this granite at any Apple Store. The retail location opens today, (Friday), at 5 p.m. United Arab Emirates time. If it was going to be anywhere, it was going to be in Abu Dhabi, right?
Amsterdam Siege
Earlier this week, the Apple Store in Amsterdam was under siege for a good few hours, with police in attendance. At its height, dozens of people inside the store at the time of the siege were in hiding. They were allowed to leave with no one being harmed. Amsterdam Police added that it is “not able to share information about the situation and/or actions taken by the police”. Apple has not commented on the situation. On its website, Apple indicates the store will be closed until at least today (Friday). https://youtu.be/cbFzcjvgFRc
Fairer working conditions
Many of Apple’s retail workers have been complaining about conditions in store for the longest time. Now, Apple have‘dramatically upped worker benefits’ with a focus on part-time workers. Full & part-time employees now seem set to enjoy more days leave. They will now number 12 days, and included in the allowable reasons for leave are both family and mental health. More days leave will now be added after three years of service, rather than the current five years. Discounted emergency back-up care for children and elderly relatives will also be taken in to consideration. It seems a fairer deal for our favourite team.
Roll up, roll up
If you own an Apple Watch and fancy trading up, well, you have just got lucky. Apple is offering all customers who trade in an Apple Watch this month up to $235 in extra trade-in savings to encourage owners of older Apple Watch models to upgrade to the latest model. The extra trade-in values apply to Apple Watch Series 6, SE, Series 5, Series 4, Series 3 and Series 2, and require purchase of a new Apple Watch Series 7, subject to availability and limits. The limited-time offer is valid until February 28 in the US, Canada, the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the UAE. Time is running out – hurry!
The bullying continues
Do you recall the whole news story on teenagers in the US actually being bullied for not having an iPhone and thus not able to use iMessage, with the resulting blue bubble? Well, it transpires, even the rich and famous are not exempt. This week, NBA star Jarrett Allen ditched his Android as his teammates couldn’t include him on the group iMessage chat. My heart truly bleeds!
Forget it….
Forget what? The idea of Apple ever making a foldable phone. The screen analyst, Ross Young, this week reported that the phone was due for release next year in 2023. Apple seems in no hurry whatsoever to join the foldable brigade, with a tentative prediction of 2025 now being toted about. Apple, never like to be the poor relation, and I honestly can’t see them releasing a foldable phone some 7 or 8 years after their main competitors. Not something I am really missing anyway.
That’s all I have this week. Make sure to follow me for more news next week! Have you thought about subscribing to Medium? I do and it is such great value too.
Before you go
Join my behind-the-scenes mailing list
Originally published at https://www.talkingtechandaudio.com/blog on February 25, 2022.
Check and subscribe to my Minus Sixteen podcasts. New episodes fortnightly, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts too. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-minus-sixteen-podcast/id1608899642?i=1000550310853