The period from now through the end of the year is when Apple sells more products than ever as a result of the holiday buying season. But a few days ago, Apple released a press release to warn Apple investors and others that the facility in Zhengzhou, China that assembles the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is “operating at significantly reduced capacity” due to COVID. As Tripp Mickle of the New York Times reports, Zhengzhou is known as “iPhone City” because Apple’s presence is so dominant, and the Foxconn facility in that city can produce 500,000 iPhones a day—Apple’s largest single plant, producing about 80% of all iPhones. But when it cannot produce those 500,000 iPhones, day after day, that has a significant impact on the ability to purchase a new iPhone. China has a “Zero COVID” policy which results in strict quarantines whenever there is a breakout. If you are thinking about buying an iPhone for someone this season, I recommend that you order immediately. For example, I see that if you order an iPhone 14 Pro using Apple’s website right now, the current delivery date is Dec 13 – Dec 19, which is cutting it very close for Christmas and Hanukkah. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- A quick programming note: Brett Burney and I are not recording an episode of the In the News podcast this week because Brett is “on assignment,” testing out his new Apple Watch Ultra as he hikes through Texas. Brett, if you are reading this, good luck with the hike, and remember that Apple’s new satellite SOS feature isn’t turned on yet so be safe out there.
- One more programming note: if you subscribe to iPhone J.D. via an RSS reader, the feed stopped working for a few days, but it seems to be working again now. If your RSS reader is still not seeing new posts, switch to this updated link instead. Similarly, if you receive new posts from iPhone J.D. via email, I know that newsletter stopped working for a short while, but it started working again this week. If you still are not receiving those emails, check your spam filter to see if you need to teach your email provider that the newsletter is not spam. Or, if you want to subscribe from another email account, you can click here to do so.
- Indiana attorney Seth Wilson wrote a good article for The Indiana Lawyer about using the new Continuity Camera feature to use your iPhone as a webcam. He found that it works well but you need some sort of stand for your iPhone. I’ve had similar experiences. The quality of the video is fantastic; my iPhone camera is far better quality than any built-in webcam. But the makeshift system that I worked up to prop my iPhone on the top of my iMac worked well for about half of a videoconference this past week and then the iPhone started to shift its position. Fortunately, I wasn’t speaking at the time, so I could quickly disable the camera feature of Microsoft Teams so that I could adjust the iPhone and then turn my camera back on. I really need a clip that fits well on the top of my iMac and holds the iPhone steady. I’m sure that in a few months we will see tons of products like this on Amazon.
- Attorney John Voorhees of MacStories discusses a new announcement from Apple about its Emergency SOS service for the newest iPhones and Apple Watch models. The service will launch later this month and will use 24 low-earth orbit satellites operated by Globalstar—located in Covington, LA, not far from where I live—to relay messages to emergency services. Additionally, iPhone 14 users will be able to send their location via satellite using the Find My app.
- Michael Simon of Macworld reports that Apple released iOS 16.1.1 this week, and similar updates for other devices, to patch some bugs and install critical security updates. Update when you can.
- The Wallet app on the iPhone can store your driver’s license or state ID, but only if you live in Arizona or Maryland … or, starting this week, if you live in Colorado, according to a report by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac. Although I don’t use Apple’s wallet app, I do have my driver’s license on my iPhone thanks to a special app, and I find it very useful to be able to jump in the car with just my iPhone, without needing to grab my wallet. If you live in a state that supports a digital license, whether it be via the Wallet app or another app, I encourage you to use it.
- You may not feel like you are ready for Christmas yet, but Philips is. As Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports, a new product available for this season is the Philips Hue Festavia string lights, featuring 250 smart LED lights on a 20-meter cord. They work with HomeKit, and cost $159.99.
- Deborah Choe of Fox 35 shares the story of a woman in Orlando, Florida who was reunited with her lost dog because the dog was wearing an Apple AirTag.
- If you are looking for a good movie to watch on Apple TV+, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Causeway, which debuted last week. It stars Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry, both of whom are excellent.
- And finally, Apple released a new video this week called Testing Action Mode which, sure enough, shows off the new Action Mode using an iPhone 14 Pro to stabilize video even during extreme shots.