Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has a long record of reporting on unannounced Apple products. Sometimes, the things that he predicts do not come to pass, perhaps because his source gave him bad information or perhaps because Apple changed its mind about a product. But sometimes, the rumors that he reports on turn out to be incredibly accurate. There have long been rumors that Apple is working on some sort of headset that would be used for augmented reality (AR) and/or virtual reality (VR), and this week, Gurman reported that this product is far enough along that it was previewed for members of Apple's Board of Directors last week. Gurman reports that the headset will run a version of iOS, the iPhone operating system, and that it could debut "within the next several months" and go on sale in 2023. Gurman says that the headset "represents the company's first major new product category since the Apple Watch in 2015." I would argue that the HomePod was also a new product category, and it was announced in 2017 (and went on sale in 2018). Regardless, it is always interesting to see Apple launch a new product category, however one defines that. But again, these are all rumors for now, so even if this product is the subject of R&D, that doesn't mean that it will ever see the light of day. I still have lots of questions about how useful a product like this would actually be—concerns that John Gruber of Daring Fireball also noted yesterday—but it will be interesting to see what it is. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Apple will announce many of the new features in iOS 16 at its WWDC Keynote address scheduled for June 6. But this week, in connection with Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple announced many accessibility features that will soon come to the iPhone and other Apple products. Illinois attorney John Voornees of MacStories has a report on these interesting new features. For example, folks who are blind or low vision can use an iPhone to navigate the last few steps to a door, and the iPhone will even advise whether the door opens by pushing or pulling and will read signs and symbols on or near the door. Apple will also add Live Captions to just about any video on the iPhone, including video calling apps like Facetime and streaming video services. Accessibility feature may be designed for folks with specific needs, but they are often useful for everyone. To pick one old example, closed captions on TV shows may have originally been created for the hearing impaired, but I frequently turn on captions when I am watching shows and I have trouble following the dialogue. It will be interesting to see all of these new accessibility features come to Apple products over the next year.
- Two weeks ago, I noted that AT&T will raise the price on some of its cellphone plans. Allison Johnson of The Verge reports that Verizon will also raise rates in a few weeks.
- Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac discusses the new Eve Outdoor Cam, which he says is the first-ever floodlight for a home that supports HomeKit Secure Video.
- José Adorno of 9to5Mac discusses a new report from Ookla (maker of Speedtest.net and the Speedtest app) of the airports with the fastest free Wi-Fi in the world. San Francisco was #1, followed by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The best ones outside of the United States are in Dubai and Amsterdam.
- V. Palladino of Engadget reports that 1Password is on sale for 50% off right now. I'm a big fan of password managers, and I've been a happy user of 1Password for many years.
- Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that you can now purchase subscriptions to Apple TV+, Apple News+, or Apple Arcade at a discount through Costco. If you want all of those services, you are probably better of purchasing an Apple One subscription, which I discussed last year.
- If you are a fan of Apple TV+ shows and you live in the Los Angeles area, you should check out the Apple Store at The Grove, where Apple has lots of fun displays associated with many of its shows. If you can't make it to that store, Filipe Espósito of 9tor5Mac shared some great photographs that are worth checking out.
- Speaking of which, this week Apple released a trailer for Season 3 of For All Mankind, one of my very favorite shows on Apple TV+. The new season debuts on June 10, and I can't wait.
- While you are watching videos, you may want to watch this video for UserWay, a service that makes websites more accessible—not so much because of the service, but because someone whose voice you know very well makes a surprising appearance.
- And finally, Apple debuted a new video this week to highlight several iPhone features designed to protect your privacy. The video, titled Data Auction, is funny and a good follow-up to the excellent privacy-focused video called Tracked that Apple debuted this time last year.
