Tag: apple

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s iPhone 13 could offer 1TB storage option

It looks like Apple could have plans to increase the iPhone’s highest tier storage option with the iPhone 13.

As first reported by 9to5Mac, renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max will be available in a 1TB storage option alongside 128GB, 256GB and 512GB options. Given the iPhone 12 Pro with 512GB of storage costs $1,809, this year’s 1TB storage option will likely cost in the range of $2,000.

Kuo says that the iPhone 13 and 13 mini will start at 128GB of storage instead of 64GB like the current iPhone 12 and 12 mini. The analyst also mentions that they expect the entry-level smartphones to be offered in a 512GB tier for the first time.

Finally, Kuo says that Apple’s 2nd-gen AirPods will stick around as a cheaper option despite the introduction of third-generation AirPods. It’s unclear if the 2nd-gen AirPods ($269) will receive a price drop or if the new AirPods will cost more money. Earlier leaks indicate that Apple’s new AirPods will look very similar to the current AirPods Pro, including shorter stems, an in-ear design and possibly even active noise-cancellation.

Apple’s September 14th hardware event is just around the corner. The tech giant is expected to reveal the iPhone 13 series, the Apple Watch Series 7 and new AirPods.

Source: 9to5Mac

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Mobile Syrup

Apple Maps workers walking around Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver

A recently promoted tweet from Apple caught my eye regarding the company’s digital mapping efforts in three major Canadian cities.

In an effort to boost the level of detail included in Apple Maps’ ‘Look Around’ feature to better compete with ‘Street View,’ Apple is sending teams of backpackers with what I assume are 360-degree camera rigs to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver to map out locations where cars can’t go.

The company doesn’t specifically say what these places are, but If I had to guess, I’d assume they’re mapping parks, trails and other public spaces around those cities.

If you click the link in the tweet, it takes you to an Apple website that clarifies that all the backpackers will be walking until the end of October. It also clarifies that Apple Maps has mapping cars roaming in all the Canadian provinces but not in the northern territories.

Source: Apple 

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Mobile Syrup

Judge rules Fortnite’s Peely doesn’t need clothes for court

The ongoing Epic v. Apple legal battle nearly wrapped up this week in a loss for both parties. Well, it depends who you ask — Epic painted it as a loss and announced plans to appeal, while Apple declared it a win without acknowledging the concessions imposed on it by the court.

One party definitely did win, however: Peely.

Peely is a recurring Fortnite character, a banana, and also the central figure in perhaps the weirdest moment of the trial. The Verge reflected on the Peely incident after Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers handed down her ruling on the lawsuit. The incident started as a joke about whether it was appropriate for Peely to appear naked in court.

Gonzalez Rogers officially noted in the ruling that “the Court agrees, Peely is ‘just a banana man,’ additional attire was not necessary but informative.”

Peely’s entrance into the trial came on day six, when Apple’s attorney cross-examined Epic’s VP of marketing, Matthew Weissinger, to learn more about how Fortnite worked. During the examination, Apple’s attorney noted that they chose to show Peely in his ‘Agent Peely‘ attire (above) since “We thought it better to go with the suit than the naked banana, since we are in federal court this morning.”

Although very clearly a joke — a fact reinforced by Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling — Epic doubled down on the banana after Apple criticized the company for hosting ‘Itch.io,’ a storefront with “so-called adult games.”

Epic’s attorney asked Weissinger about Peely, requesting a picture of Peely be put on screen.

“Is there anything inappropriate about Peely without clothes?” the attorney asked, to which Weissinger responded:

“It’s just a banana man.”

And so there you have it. A federal judge has officially ruled that a banana can appear naked in court, a win for Peely and his cohort. Perhaps, also, a loss for the rest of us, depending on your views on bananas.

Image credits: Anna Sullivan (Unsplash), Fortnite Wiki

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Apple fired Ashley Gjøvik for allegedly leaking information

Apple fired senior engineering program manager Ashley Gjøvik, alleging she violated the company’s rules against leaking confidential information.

However, the firing comes after Gjøvik spent months tweeting about allegations of harassment, surveillance and workplace safety. Gjøvik says she began raising concerns in March 2021 and faced “retaliation and intimidation” from Apple.

“I’m disappointed that a company I have loved since I was a little girl would treat their employees this way,” Gjøvik told The Verge.

Gjøvik started by raising concerns about her office, located in an Apple building on a superfund site. That means it requires special oversight due to historical waste contamination. When Gjøvik raised those safety concerns, she said she faced harassment and bullying from her manager and other team members.

Recently, Gjøvik began raising concerns about Apple’s policies on how it can search and surveil employees’ work phones. That included an accusation that Apple previously forced her to hand over all her text messages, including “fully personal” items such as nude pictures. Gjøvik said that Apple stored those pictures in its “permanent evidence locker.”

Apple placed Gjøvik on administrative leave in early August while it investigated her concerns. Gjøvik says she requested leave only as a last resort.

The saga culminated on September 9th when a member of Apple’s employee relations team reached out to Gjøvik. The team member was looking into a sensitive intellectual property matter, according to The Verge, and wanted to speak with Gjøvik within the hour.

Gjøvik said she wanted to keep all communications in writing and noted she was forwarding the correspondence to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Gjøvik had recently filed a charge with the NLRB, citing harassment by a manager, reduced responsibilities and increased unfavourable work.

However, Apple’s employee relations team responded, saying that because Gjøvik had chosen not to participate in the discussion, they would move forward with the information they had. Further, Gjøvik’s access to Apple systems was suspended “given the seriousness of these allegations.”

Within hours, Gjøvik received an email informing her that Apple had terminated her employment.

Those curious can read through the entire saga on Gjøvik’s website, where she has extensively documented emails and communications with Apple alongside her own tweets about what was going on.

Apple, however, maintains that it takes concerns seriously, telling The Verge in a statement:

“We are and have always been deeply committed to creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive workplace. We take all concerns seriously and we thoroughly investigate whenever a concern is raised and, out of respect for the privacy of any individuals involved, we do not discuss specific employee matters.”

Source: Ashley Gjøvik Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

M1 MacBook Pro battery test, plus how to make a Dynamic Wallpaper (Video)

If you’ve ever wanted to make your own Dynamic Wallpaper, this video tells you how to put one together. There’s also a bit of a twist because, as I created the wallpaper, I also put Apple’s M1 MacBook Pro through its paces to see how long its battery would last.

If you want to see me and the MacBook both working away on the Toronto Islands, check out the video above.

You can download the app I used to make the wallpaper, and check out the photos I used to make mine.

Keep an eye on MobileSyrup’s YouTube channel for more random tech-related videos from myself and the team as we move to update our YouTube channel more frequently than we have in the past.

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Mobile Syrup

Epic Games will appeal the ruling in its lawsuit against Apple

If you thought the Epic Games vs. Apple saga was over, well, I’ve got some bad news for you.

An Epic spokesperson confirmed to The Verge that the company will appeal the court’s ruling. It’s not hard to see why.

The ruling handed down by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers only had one win for Epic, with Apple winning every other count. Although Apple’s one loss — the company is now legally required to let app developers to point to their own payment methods instead of limiting them to Apple’s in-app purchase system only — was significant, it’s also clearly less than Epic hoped for.

Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling determined that Apple won’t be forced to allow users to sideload apps or allow other app stores on iOS, nor will it need to lower its 30 percent App Store fee.

Moreover, the ruling found that Epic was on the hook for several million dollars (not a huge amount at the scale of these companies, but certainly not nothing), and that Apple wasn’t required to reinstate the Epic Games developer account. In other words, Epic can’t bring Fortnite back to the App Store even if it wanted to (and it clearly doesn’t want to).

In short, none of this comes off as a major win for Epic. Meanwhile, Apple is trumpeting the ruling as a victory, and has yet to acknowledge its new legal obligation to let developers point users to their own payment systems. It’s also worth noting that Apple had (sort of) already agreed to let developers point to other payment options, so to an extent, nothing has changed here.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the appeal, but I, unfortunately, don’t see Epic gaining much more ground.

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Here’s what to expect from Apple’s September 14th iPhone 13 reveal event

Like clockwork, Apple’s first of possibly many fall hardware events is just around the corner on September 14th at 1pm ET/10am PT.

The company’s invite that prominently features the words “California Streaming” doesn’t reveal much regarding what we’ll see during the presentation beyond possible news related to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, but that hasn’t stopped leakers from churning the rumour mill.

While we’ll almost certainly see a mildly upgraded successor to the iPhone 12 that likely won’t actually be called the iPhone 13, a 3rd-gen pair of AirPods, and the first full redesign to Apple’s smartwatch with the Apple Watch Series 7, there are still several questions.

Will Apple also drop its often-rumoured MacBook Pro redesign, a new iPad and a refreshed iPad mini at its September 14th event? My guess is the tech giant is saving those devices for reveals in October and November, but in the pandemic era of tech reveals, anything is possible.

Below is everything we expect to see at Apple’s upcoming fall hardware event:

iPhone 13

Apple’s next iPhone — commonly referred to by bloggers, YouTubers and journalists alike as the iPhone 13 — is one of the few devices we know for certain will appear at the tech giant’s event.

First off, it’s unlikely the smartphone will actually be called the iPhone 13 given it’s expected to be a relatively minor upgrade to the iPhone 12. Will this year’s iPhone mark Apple’s return to the ‘s’ naming scheme and be called the iPhone 12s? Only time will tell.

Regarding new features, several leakers, including analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, YouTuber Jon Prosser and Max Weinbach state that the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max will feature an LTPO 120Hz display, a smaller notch and the same overall squared-off design as the iPhone 12 series.

Other rumours point to the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s DSLR-like sensor-shift technology making its way to the entire iPhone 13 lineup, overall larger batteries, stronger MagSafe technology and possibly– though I think this is unlikely — an in-display fingerprint sensor. Most reports point to the iPhone 13 series measuring in at the same size as the iPhone 12 series, including the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

On the camera side, rumours point to improved ultra-wide camera performance across the entire lineup, a new portrait video mode and possibly even an astrophotography feature. There are also rumours surrounding the ability to make emergency calls via a satellite connection when you’re in an area with no cellular coverage.

Apple Watch Series 7

Not to be outdone by the iPhone 13 series, the Apple Watch Series 7 is rumoured to include the most significant redesign to the smartwatch in several years. Instead of the usual curved sides, the Series 7 will reportedly include squared-off edges, moving its look more in-line with the iPhone 12, iPad Pro and iPad Air.

Along with the expected additional Watch Faces, new 41mm and 45mm sizes, and reduced bezels, Bloomberg’s often-reliable Mark Gurman says that both display resolutions have increased by 16 percent to 396 x 484 and 368 x 448 pixels, respectively.

While there’s been speculation surrounding the Series 7 potentially being delayed due to manufacturing issues, recent reports indicate it’s still set to arrive towards the end of September.

3rd-gen AirPods

Given the last AirPods refresh was way back in 2019, it makes sense that Apple is finally planning to release a new pair of its popular wireless earbuds.

The new AirPods are expected to look more like the AirPods Pro and possibly include an in-ear design. There will also likely be other improvements like better audio quality and longer battery life, according to PineLeaks, a Twitter account run by Max Weinbach.

Though unlikely given this would make the 3rd-gen AirPods identical to the AirPods Pro, some rumours are hinting that this refresh will include noise-cancellation and Spatial Audio.

New iPad, iPad Mini and MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro

We likely won’t see any of the above devices at this event, but anything could happen.

Apple’s new entry-level iPad will reportedly look nearly identical to its predecessor’s already outdated line, only slightly thinner. The only other rumoured upgrade for the iPad is a more powerful processor.

The refreshed 7.9-inch iPad Mini, on the other hand, will reportedly get the iPad Pro/iPad Air treatment and ditch the home button in favour of a fingerprint sensor on its side, along with reduced bezels and squared-off sides.

And finally, we have the MacBook Pro. While we likely won’t catch our first glimpse of the MacBook Pro’s fabled redesign until late October or November, rumours point to the new 14-inch and 16-inch version of the laptop featuring the first complete redesign since 2016.

According to Mark Gurman, rumoured features include the return of an HDMI port, MagSafe, and possibly even an SD card slot. Finally, the refreshed laptop will also reportedly include an upgraded version of Apple’s M1 chip possibly called the M1x.

Keep an eye on MobileSyrup on September 14th for all the news direct from Apple’s big event.

Source: Jon Prosser, MacRumors, (2), (3), Apple Insider, Bloomberg, (2), (3) @PineLeaks, Digitimes

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Mobile Syrup

Epic v. Apple judge rules Apple must allow other forms of in-app purchases

U.S. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers issued a permanent injunction in the Epic Games v. Apple case on September 10th. Under the ruling, Apple must allow other forms of in-app purchases:

“Apple Inc. [is]… permanently restrained and enjoined from prohibiting developers from including in their apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to In-App Purchasing and (ii) communicating with customers through points of contact obtained voluntarily from customers through account registration within the app.”

The injunction concludes a lengthy and bitter court battle between the companies. Epic argued that Apple’s App Store fees were a monopolistic tax, while the iPhone-maker said the fees were a necessary operating cost. However, Gonzalez-Rogers explained in the full ruling that neither company was entirely correct.

“The relevant market here is digital mobile gaming transactions, not gaming generally and not Apple’s own internal operating systems related to the App Store,” wrote Gonzalez-Rogers. Going by that definition, “the court cannot ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under either federal or state antitrust laws. Nonetheless, the trial did show that Apple is engaging in anti-competitive conduct under California’s competition laws.”

In other words, Apple’s effort to block alternate payment methods in apps was anti-competitive. Going forward, Apple will need to allow developers to offer other forms of in-app purchases if they choose.

The Verge notes that these new restrictions echo some provisional anti-steering restrictions placed on Apple outside the U.S. For example, Apple recently allowed app developers to offer alternate payment methods over email, agreed to allow outside signup links for ‘reader’ apps like Netflix and Spotify following a Japanese regulatory investigation. Moreover, a recent South Korean law also opened the door for alternate payment systems in the app store.

The ruling will likely have significant impacts beyond Apple and its App Store. Epic sued Google for similar reasons, and the search giant is also battling an antitrust suit filed by several U.S. state attorneys general.

However, it remains to be seen how much the ruling will impact developers and users on Apple’s platform.

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Apple Watch Series 7 is reportedly ready for mass manufacturing

Apple’s upcoming Watch Series 7 is apparently back on schedule, after the tech giant allegedly resolved some rumoured manufacturing issues that could have significantly delayed the smartwatch’s release.

The production snags — first reported on August 31st and supposedly tied to the Series 7’s new design — have been overcome, according to an article by The Verge referencing an analyst’s report seen by MacRumors.

The trouble-making design in question reportedly features a larger display screen with a new accompanying watchface and a boxy case with squared-off edges.

The Series 7 is also rumoured to include 41mm and 45mm band sizes (with support for older bands), but will likely lack a blood pressure measurement feature.

Mass manufacturing of the watches is scheduled to kick-off mid-September, just in time for Apple’s next hardware launch event scheduled for September 14th, 2021.

Source: MacRumors Via: The Verge

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Potins

Gwyneth Paltrow is an ‘a**hole’ over homework

Gwyneth Paltrow turns into an ‘a**hole’ when trying to help her children do their homework.
The 43-year-old actress – who has daughter Apple, 11, and son Moses, nine, with former husband Chris Martin – finds her usual patient and calm demeanour disappears when it’s time for her offspring to do their after-school assignments.
During an interview on KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O Show yesterday (22.03.16), Gwyneth said: "Honestly, it is when the worst of my personality comes out. I’m pretty much calm and normal and patient and a nice person but at homework time, I’m such an a**hole."
And Gwyneth finds it particularly tricky getting her son to knuckle down – especially as she doesn’t always understand the work he is set.
She said: "It’s a combination of their frustration about not wanting to do it but having to do it, especially my son. My daughter is very responsible and she’ll just do it but he, there’s just a whole process that he goes through. And I don’t even understand his maths homework."
Though the ‘Iron Man 3’ actress – who runs her own lifestyle blog, Goop – was previously known for her macrobiotic diet, she admitted she has relaxed her healthy eating rules now her children are older.
She said: "Luckily they serve lunch at school so that is one thing that is off my plate, thank God. When they go on a field trip, when they were younger it was like ‘Oh I’m going to make a little Soba noodle salad and a little wrap’ and now, literally, I’m like ‘here’s a Nutella sandwich’."