In the News

I’ve been a fan of the screen on the 27″ iMac for many years.  Yes, it would be even better if it supported HDR like the LG OLED C1 television that I love, but it is still a fantastic 5K screen.  Since it is the basis for the new 27″ Apple Studio Display, I expected the reviews of that new monitor to be very positive.  And they mostly were when it came to the screen itself.  For example, attorney Nilay Patel of The Verge wrote in his review that it is the only decent 5K monitor on the market.  But Patel and many others, such as Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal, have reported that the built-in webcam does a poor job, with lots of noise in the video.  Apple has responded that an update is coming, and John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes that he is told that this is actually something that Apple can fix in software.  Hopefully, it won’t be long before the webcam in the Apple Studio Display works as it should.  But I mention it today because I find it so strange that Apple would ship a monitor that has these problems, and would even provide pre-release units to reporters, without realizing that the webcam was going to result in poor reviews for what otherwise should be a great product.  I’ll be curious to watch out for further developments.  Mistakes like this from Apple are not unheard of, but they are fairly rare.  And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:

• Virginia attorney Sharon Nelson of Sensei Enterprises warns of a sharp increase in phishing attacks aimed at folks checking email on their smartphones.  Be careful about what you click—and if you do click, be careful about what information you provide!
• Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories discusses the new Universal Control feature of the Mac and iPad.
• When I reported on Apple’s announcement of the 2022 version of the iPad Air, I said that it seems to be so good that it will be the best iPad for many attorneys and others.  The initial reviews are now out, and it seems others agree.  One of the reviews I found informative was this one by John Gruber of Daring Fireball.
• My recommendation is that the new iPad Air is a better purchase for most attorneys than the 11″ iPad Pro, but that is based on the assumption that the best capacity for most attorneys is 256GB.  Dan Moren of Six Colors discusses his decision to instead get the iPad Pro.  A big reason for his decision was that 128GB was the right capacity for him, and he liked some of the unique features of the iPad Pro.  It is an interesting article if you are similarly trying to decide between the two models.
• For a power user’s perspective on the new iPad Air, Federico Viticci of MacStories wrote a review.
• Viticci also wrote a good article on the top new features in iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4.
• There are also now a number of reviews of the new iPhone SE.  Once again, I enjoyed reading John Gruber’s take.  He concludes: “There is a profound thoughtfulness and longevity to this design. Like an all-time great athlete, years past their prime, but still pulling their weight on the team, contributing something essential. This is backward compatibility Apple-style—not technical compatibility, but experience compatibility. The iPhone SE is the comfort iPhone.”
• Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch also wrote a good review of the iPhone SE.
• If you want to see the new green versions of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, Marques Brownlee shows them off in a 59-second video.
• Now that we have seen the new iPhone SE, when do we get to see the next iPhone?  I presume Apple will introduce it this Fall as it normally does, but I see a report by Tiffany May of the New York Times that Foxconn (who manufactures the iPhone) has temporarily shut down its factory in Shenzhen, China due to COVID.  On this week’s episode of the Mac Break Weekly podcast, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg predicted that this hopefully will not delay the introduction of the next version of the iPhone because most iPhones are made in other Foxconn factories in China.  But you never know.
• Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac explains how you can now use an Apple Watch to authorize purchases on an Apple TV. 
• You can currently get a 41mm Apple Watch for only $339 on Amazon, a $60 discount.
• You can now use an Apple TV or HomePod when you are on a captive Wi-Fi network, one that requires using a webpage to start access—such as what you often see at hotels.  José Adorno of 9to5Mac notes how it works.
• Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reports that the show Severance on Apple TV+ became one of the most-streamed TV shows.  I’ve been enjoying that quirky show very much.
• For fans of Severance, today Apple is releasing a free e-book about Lumon, the company that is the focus of the TV show.
• Julie Strietelmeier of The Gadgeteer discusses an interesting product called the Emerald Adjustable TV Clip Mount Holder.  It is only $10 on Amazon, and it creates a shelf at the top of your TV so that you can place an Apple TV there.
• William Gallagher of AppleInsider reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been speaking out against legislation such as the despicable “Don’t Say Gay” bill that is awaiting signature by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—legislation that will discourage Florida teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with their students who are at very age at which many are most in need of information on this topic.  Chance Miller of 9to5Mac discusses this topic as well.  The societal progress on LGBTQ+ over the last two decades has been refreshing, but bills like this are designed to reverse course and bring back discrimination.  I’m glad that many companies like Apple are trying to do something.  Hopefully, it will have an impact.
• And finally, after the original iPad was introduced in 2010 but before it went on sale to the public, David Letterman had a Top 10 List of Questions to Ask  Yourself Before Waiting in Line for the iPad.  It’s a very funny segment, and you can watch it here on YouTube.  The pre-release iPad was provided to Letterman by Andy Ihnatko—who was at the time the technology reporter for the Chicago Sun Times—and he wrote a very funny story about the experience five years later.  Twelve years later, Letterman is still using an iPad, and in a video released on his YouTube channel this week, longtime Letterman producer Barbara Gaines sat down with Letterman to discuss some funny photos taken by Letterman that are on his iPad.  There are not quite as many laughs as the segment from his show 12 years ago, but I still enjoyed watching this: