BMW Digital Key Plus Unlocks Car with Apple Gear’s Ultra Wideband
Image via YouTube
03 JUNE 2022 - BMW is letting users unlock their cars with iPhone or Apple Watch - almost without even trying. Used to be if you wanted to unlock your BMW, you had to use a key like a caveman. Then the company enabled an NFC app that let users ditch the key. Instead, they held their iPhone or Apple Watch close to the driver-side door to gain admittance.
But they had to hold something near the lock - like a caveman. “Nuts to that,” says BMW. According to a piece from MacRumors, the automaker’s new Digital Key Plus uses the Ultra Wideband tech in relatively recent phones and watches from Apple to know when a user is near the car, so they don’t have to reach for their phone the way a caveman would.
Good for such BMW models as the 2022 i4, 2022 iX, 2023 X1, and 2023 iX1, the feature requires an Apple Watch Series 6 or later on the watch side, or iPhone 11 or later for the phone. You can catch a demo video of the whole thing in action below. MacRumors says, “BMW also offers the standard NFC-based Digital Key feature on a wider range of 2021 and newer vehicles…” you know… if you’re driving around, talking on the phone, and telling time like a caveman.
Report: Apple Leases 380,000+ Square Foot Office Space in Sunnyvale, CA
Image via Apple Maps
03 JUNE 2022 - You know how some Apple employees have resisted heading back to the office in #TheseTimesInWhichWeLive? It looks like Apple is giving them more office to push back against. A piece from SiliconValley.com says the iPhone and other stuff maker:
…has leased a big office campus in Sunnyvale in a deal that widens the tech titan’s reach in Silicon Valley and suggests that companies are returning to the workplace to a significant extent.
That’s despite misgivings from some. And departures. And another back-to-work-at-work slowdown, driven by a resurgence in cases of COVID-19. Perhaps the company thinks this too shall pass, as the saying and songs go. Plenty of time for that, it seems. A quick check of Apple Maps shows the complex at 615 and 625 N. Mathilda Avenue very much under construction.
Apple has secured room enough for 1,900 employees, according to the report. The 382,500 square feet sound like a decent place to go, assuming people ever do go back. The SilliconValley site says:
Mathilda Commons also includes an on-site fitness center, a rooftop garden and extensive outdoor spaces and gathering areas.
No word in the piece on when the space will be move-in ready, nor on what people will do once they get there. Assuming they get there.
Apple TV+ Teases “Surface” Ahead of 29 July Premier
“Surface” premiers Friday 29 July 2022 on Apple TV+ - Image via Apple
03 JUNE 2022 - News of a new show for Apple TV+ that’s coming up pretty quick. The Cupertino-company issued a press release Thursday, teasing the psychological thriller “Surface” with a description and a premier date. “Set in high-end San Francisco,” the eight-episode series focuses on Sophie:
…a woman who has suffered a traumatic head injury that has left her with extreme memory loss, believed to be a result of a suicide attempt. As Sophie embarks on a quest to put the pieces of her life back together with the help of her husband and friends, she begins to question whether or not the truth she is told is in fact the truth she has lived.
Produced by Apple Studios and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw of “The Morning Show” and other shows will star as Sophie and executive produce. The first three-episodes of “Surface” will surface on Friday 29 July.
Another Ultra-Rare Apple-1 Computer Up for Auction
Schlumberger 2 Apple-1 - Image via eBay
03 JUNE 2022 - One of those ultra-rare things that almost never happens is happening again. MacRumors says there’s a working Apple-1 computer up for auction.
I know what you’re thinking. We talked about this last week. No, that was a different ultra-rare working Apple-1 computer. It’s going for sale through an auction house. The new one old one from this week is selling through the world’s auction house, by which I mean eBay. According to the piece:
The Schlumberger 2 Apple-1 is a second-batch Apple-1 computer that was originally purchased by an executive at oil services company Schlumberger Overseas in 1977. The Apple-1 is believed to be one of the last Apple-1 computers assembled in the Jobs family garage in late 1976 or early 1977.
It was also signed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. That was recent though. There’s even video of him signing it below. With 57 bids so far, as of this writing the price is up to $66,100.00. It’s expected to go for somewhere in the neighborhood of $485,000, according to MacRumors.
IDC: Smartphone Sales to Shrink with iPhone Least Affected
02 JUNE 2022 - In news that’ll shock no one, shipments of phones are expected to fall this year. That is the prediction of market tracker IDC, according to a piece from CNET. The report says shipments will only hit 1.31 billion units in 2022, a decline of 3.5%.
Apple’s virtual assistant (you know the one) tells me that as of April 2019, the population of the planet was 7.7 billion people. You’re telling me that we’re going to make enough phones for one-out-of-seven people… and that’s too few? I mean, at some point…
An IDC analyst is quoted in the piece, saying:
The smartphone industry is facing increasing headwinds from many fronts: weakening demand, inflation, continued geo-political tensions and ongoing supply chain constraints. However, the impact of the China lockdowns -- which have no clear end in sight -- are far greater…
What does this mean for Apple? Oh, Apple will be fine. Better than others, anyway. Earlier this week we heard from its primary manufacturing partner, Foxconn, that they’re still running full tilt, expecting a better year now than they had previously. While CNET doesn’t comment on Foxconn specifically, the piece does have IDC indicating that:
iPhones will be least affected by the shortage (…) due to Apple having “greater control over its supply chain” and because its higher-end phone customers are less affected by inflation.
IDC’s prediction seems a bit more gloomy than one of its cohorts. Back in April, Strategy Analytics said it also expected smartphone shipments to shrink, but only by 2%. That was before Shanghai’s seemingly endless series of lockdowns. Reasons cited by Strategy Analytics included “geopolitical issues, component shortages, price inflation, exchange rate volatility and COVID disruption,” according to the report.
Counterpoint: Apple Watch Still Tops in Growing Smartwatch Space
02 JUNE 2022 - Apple’s still tops in smartwatches - even more so than last year, according to new numbers from Counterpoint Research. For the March-quarter, smartwatch shipments across the board grew 13% versus the same quarter a year earlier. That growth came primarily from three manufacturers - fourth-place Xiaomi which grew its smartwatch shipments by 69%, second-place Samsung which grew its shipments by 46%, and first-place Apple which grew its shipments by 14%.
While that growth may not sound as good for Apple as for the others, one should bear in mind how huge the share for Apple Watch was. Growing a little was still growing a lot, according to Counterpoint Associate Director Sujeong Lim. According to the director:
Apple accounted for more than a third of the total shipments last year, and it is further increasing its influence with a market share of 36% in the first quarter of this year. The high brand loyalty of iPhone users is one of the success factors of the Apple Watch. This popularity appears to be higher among the younger generation, making Apple an irreplaceable market leader.
The analyst says Counterpoint believes that the market share for Apple Watch “is likely to rise further by the end of this year.”
Report: Some iPad Production Moving to Vietnam
02 JUNE 2022 - Apple is working to get iPad production in gear, perhaps by moving it to another country. Business Insider highlights a Nikkei report, saying iPad assembler BYD will move some of that assembly to Vietnam. If so, it’ll be the first time iPad’s been made outside of China, according to the piece.
The news comes just a couple of weeks after an interesting exchange between Apple CEO Tim Cook and the Prime Minister of Vietnam. In mid-May, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Apple Park. There, the PM prodded Cook to “step up [Apple’s] business activities” in the country. Cook prodded back, urging the PM to adopt “even more favorable policies” to attract more U.S. tech investment.
That said, Vietnam is not likely to be iPad Central anytime soon. BYD will start with “a small number of the tablets in Vietnam,” according to the report.
Piling Up the Parts?
There was another really interesting bit in the Business Insider report on the Nikkei report. We’ll want to go back about a month first, though. On Apple’s March-quarter earnings call, Citigroup analyst “Gentleman” Jim Suva asked wether all of the disruption in the supply chain had Apple rethinking the supply chain. Like, when there are enough components to stockpile, will Apple stockpile? Or stick with just-in-time inventory? “In this business,” replied Cook, “you don’t want to hold a ton of inventory.”
Well, maybe half-a-ton then. According to the Business Insider piece:
Apple also asked several China-based manufacturers to stockpile components parts such as circuit boards and chips to safeguard against future supply disruptions and ease disruptions caused by ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns, Nikkei reported.
“Gentleman” Jim Suva, everybody. Apple and BYD declined to comment for the Business Insider piece.
Apple Sends Developers “Beyond WWDC”
02 JUNE 2022 - If Apple’s week of WWDC is not enough WWDC for you, the Cupertino-company has even more suggestions. Apple Insider says the folks at Apple Park have launched a webpage “highlighting a number of community-hosted events that are taking place during or after WWDC 2022.” According to the piece:
The “Beyond WWDC” page specifically lists a number of events and gatherings related to the developer conference. Many of them are sponsored or led by developer organizations, and Apple says they're a good opportunity for “learning, networking, and fun.”
Most are online, though at least a few are scheduled as in-person events. More info is available on Apple’s WWDC22 site.
Next Round of Beta Builds Out to Public Testers
02 JUNE 2022 - Just as the ancients foretold, the second round of betas for Apple’s next operating system updates went out to public testers on Wednesday. Just a day after landing in the gear of developers, a piece from 9 to 5 Mac says the second betas of iOS/iPadOS/tvOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, and macOS 12.5 made it out to Apple’s public beta program.
Latest iOS Beta Puts Apple Music in Its Place
While the updates aren’t likely to have much in the way of new features, should be a lot like a KFC meal - complete with all the fixin’s. Par example, remember that bug that was automatically putting Apple Music in the dock after reinstalling the app? Another piece from 9 to 5 Mac says the second beta of iOS 15.6 fixes that.
Twitter Axing TweetDeck for Mac on 1 July
02 JUNE 2022 - If you’re a TweetDeck for Mac user - not for long. According to a piece from CNET:
TweetDeck for Mac will no longer be available after July 1, Twitter tweeted Wednesday. The popular app for Mac computers allows Twitter users to view multiple columns of tweets on a single screen.
In a Twitter post from the TweetDeck account the company said:
We're saying goodbye to TweetDeck for the Mac app to focus on making TweetDeck even better and testing our new Preview. July 1 is the last day it'll be available.
You can still use TweetDeck on web and more invites to try the Preview will be rolling out over the next few months!
I will say, killing the Mac app I’ve used for Twitter for years will go a long way to limiting my time on Twitter… so… thanks, I guess.
Google TV Lands in App Store for iOS
02 JUNE 2022 - If you live your life split between Apple and Google, your worlds got a bit closer this week. A piece from The Mac Observer says the search and ads behemoth has made the Google TV app available in the App Store for iOS. According to the piece:
Users will be able to let the Google TV app know which streaming apps they subscribe to. This enables the chance for suggestions all in one place. This will be based on what users have watched and what interests them to make finding content easier.
Information Google will simply delete? Sounds kind of ghastly to me, but - if you’re into it, the app is available now in the App Store [link].
Apple Hires Juan Paz to Head Latin Music Business
02 JUNE 2022 - Apple Music is operating with a seriously global view. We heard earlier this week about the promotional push for the Korean pop band BTS on the radio station Apple Music 1. Now, the company is increasing its focus on Latin music. According to a piece from Apple Insider:
Apple has created — and filled — a new executive position overseeing Latin music business on Apple Music, suggesting that the company is looking to gain a stronger foothold in the market.
Of course they’d want someone with experience - someone like record executive Juan Paz. Paz will serve as global head of Apple’s Latin music business, overseeing partnerships and working with new talent, “media companies, creative agencies, and other industry players,” according to the report. Cruising the CV, the piece says:
…Paz served as a digital executive at record label ADA, where he launched the company's Latin division and was named managing director in 2020. Before that, Paz worked in digital marketing for Sony's U.S. Latin and Latin-Iberia regions.
Apple Orders Third and Fourth Seasons of “Slow Horses”
02 JUNE 2022 - We knew about a second season of “Slow Horses,” but it turns out there are at least two more in the offing as well. The finale of season one ended with a trailer for season two. Now, Apple has issued a press release announcing orders for seasons three and four. Describing the series, Apple says:
“Slow Horses” is a darkly humorous espionage drama that follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping-ground department of MI5 known un-affectionately as Slough House.
Based on a series of novels by Mick Herron, the release says season three will see the:
…disgraced spies work together to foil a rogue agent when one of their own is kidnapped. Season four opens with a bombing that detonates personal secrets, rocking the already unstable foundations of Slough House.
No word on when any of the next three seasons will hit the screen.
Foxconn Offers Improved Outlook for 2022
01 JUNE 2022 - A positive sign from the supply chain. A piece from the Japanese business publication Nikkei has Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn hinting at a better year than previously expected. Speaking with shareholders on Tuesday, Foxconn chairman Young Liu said:
We previously forecast this year we would maintain a similar level from last year, after factoring in inflation, war [in Ukraine] and other uncertainties, but now we think the full year will be better than our estimate…
The chairman was also quoted, saying:
The overall lockdown impact on Foxconn is rather limited. You can tell from our revenues in April, and May's performance is also better than we estimated…
“rather limited” is an interesting term. Nikkei had Foxconn recording revenue in April of US$16.76 billion. That was down just over 4% from March. Not great, until you hear that other iPhone maker Pegatron saw its revenue drop 35%, while MacBook maker Quanta saw revenue drop 40%. That does make Foxconn’s 4% hit seem “rather limited.”
As for how they did it, they did it by employing a closed-loop system that has workers going from work to work-owned dorms to work to work-owned dorms and nowhere else. The piece has Liu indicating that that’s kept Foxconn's “important manufacturing facilities (…) operating at normal levels…” Meanwhile, the piece says “Product development, known as new product introduction in the industry, is proceeding as normal…” According to Nikkei:
Foxconn will continue to closely monitor the COVID situation in China and enhance its closed-loop management to lower risks of any possible supply chain disruptions, [the chairman] said. "We think such COVID controls will continue to happen, and it is our operational focus to make sure the facilities can keep operating.”
NewZoo: Apple Third in Games Revenue in 2021
01 JUNE 2022 - Here’s something that sounds insane: The games analytics group NewZoo says Apple was third in terms of gaming revenue in 2021. “Behind Nintendo and Microsoft?” you ask. No, ahead of them. Highlighting the NewZoo numbers, a piece from Apple Insider says “League of Legends” and “PUBG” publisher Tencent was tops. The Chinese firm took in $32.2 billion in games revenue. Sony was second, taking in $18.2 billion in games-related revenue. Apple was third, taking in an estimated “$15.3 billion in total games revenue throughout 2021, according to the report.
Can Apple Arcade really be that big? That seems unlikely. Apple Insider figures most of Apple’s gaming money came from commissions on App Store sales. As for what happened to Mario and Mr. Softy:
The report notes that hardware-centric [providers] like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo did not grow as much as expected. Pressures on the supply chain hampered all three.
Kuo and Gurman Not Expecting MR-Headset Demo at WWDC22
01 JUNE 2022 - An expectation from TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo to set our thoughts-a-whirring. The analyst hit Twitter with a couple of messages on Tuesday saying he does not expect to see an AR/VR headset from Apple during next week’s WWDC keynote. In the first, the analyst said:
It still takes some time before Apple AR/MR headset enters mass production, so I don't think Apple will release AR/MR headset and rumored realityOS at WWDC this year. Apple's competitors worldwide can't wait to see the hardware spec and OS design for Apple's AR/MR headset.
While the second post to Twitter read:
I'm sure that if Apple announces AR/MR headset and its OS at WWDC, competitors will immediately kick off copycat projects and happily copy Apple's excellent ideas, and hit the store shelves before Apple launches in 2023.
I know I said earlier this week that I want to believe - and I do. Trying to figure out when the whole thing will happen is tricky, though. Apple will want to give developers time to develop for the headset, so you’ve gotta figure they’ll show off the hardware and operating system months ahead of availability. They did that with Apple Watch, announcing the device in September 2014 ahead of an April 2015 release. They did something similar with iPad, announcing the first one in January 2010 ahead of an April 2010 release. Even iPhone got a January 2007 announcement ahead of a late-June 2007 release, though that had nothing to do with developers.
Of those three - Apple Watch, iPad, and iPhone, the watch may give us the best guide. Like the iPad release, the watch release took third-party developers into account. Additionally, like the headset will be, it represented a whole new product category for Apple.
Kuo's not the only one tapping the brakes on headset expectations. MacRumors points to part of Mark Gruman’s most recent "Power On" newsletter. In that, Gurman said:
In terms of new hardware... though Apple's upcoming mixed-reality headset is full steam ahead — underscored by the recent demonstration of the device to the company's board — I'd be wary of expecting a full-blown presentation for developers and consumers next week.
WWDC Events Page Has Apple Playing AR Games
01 JUNE 2022 - While Gurman and Kuo and common sense may be waving people off of an AR/VR headset demo next week, Apple is playing games with our brains. For quite a while now, Apple has slipped an augmented reality element into upcoming product events and it has done it again. Highlighted by a piece from MacRumors, if you go to Apple’s events page on your iPhone then tap the art on the page, that launches a pack of AR trading cards. You open the pack and sort through them by tapping the pack and then the cards. There are only three presented per-pack, though it’s not the same three every time.
Does this mean that Apple will show off realityOS and some sort of headset at WWDC22? Well, it hasn’t for the last several events for which Apple has offered an AR element. My head says “no,” but the heart wants what it wants.
YouTube Page Set for Monday's WWDC22 Keynote
Image via YouTube
01 JUNE 2022 - In case you’ve forgotten (and if you’re here, it’s hard to imagine how you could), WWDC22 starts next Monday 6 June. That kicks off with the keynote presentation. Someone in Cupertino will push play on that at 10AM Pacific/1PM Eastern/other times other places. You can watch that through Apple’s Events page, though that’s been buggy for me in years past. I’ve had more luck with YouTube, where Apple is simulcasting again.
A piece from MacRumors says the Cupertino-company has set a placeholder on YouTube for the event. You can also set an alert there, in case you live more on the streaming video service than in the Apple ecosystem.
Next Round of Beta Builds Out to Apple Developers
01 JUNE 2022 - The Big, Bam, Beta roll continues. Apple Insider ran a piece Tuesday saying that the second betas for iOS and iPadOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, and tvOS 15.6 were out to developers. Meanwhile, a piece from MacRumors said developers had also gained access to the second beta of macOS Monterey 12.5. Release today to Apple’s public beta program seems likely, if not 100% certain.
JustWatch: Dinosaurs Score Big for Apple TV+
01 JUNE 2022 - The viewing public seems to have been down for Apple’s dinosaur week. A piece from Cult of Mac says “Apple’s five-episode dinosaur documentary Prehistoric Planet” was number-five out of ten according to the streaming trackers at JustWatch. In case you haven’t heard, Apple says:
[Prehistoric Planet] combines award-winning wildlife filmmaking, the latest paleontology learnings and state-of-the-art technology to unveil the spectacular habitats and inhabitants of ancient Earth for a one-of-a-kind immersive experience…
It’s also got a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, so - not too shabby. While no streaming service divulges actual numbers, Cult of Mac says:
JustWatch runs a video recommendation service so they know what people are looking for. That lets them estimate the popularity of films and series.
As informative as the dino-news is, the most interesting item on last week’s JustWatch top-ten may have to do with “Severance.” Though that show ended it’s first-season run nearly two-months ago, it showed up on the JustWatch top-ten at number 10 last week. Cult of Mac says the show “has stayed on the viewership charts for months, even long after its season finale.”
