We are just a few days away from Apple's biggest presentation of 2023: the introduction of the 2023 versions of the iPhone along with other new hardware and software such as, I presume a new Apple Watch and a final sneak peek at what is coming in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. Apple already has a placeholder on YouTube and an animated page on Apple's own website. Some years, the new iPhone comes with more new and interesting features than other years, and I'm very curious to see what Apple will have in store for us in a few days. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and your donation can do so much good in the fight against childhood cancer. Simply click here and donate any amount. For those of you who donate, I really appreciate you taking the time to do so. It makes a difference.
- Apple released an important security update yesterday. It is iOS 16.6.1 on the iPhone, and it patches a flaw that was actively exploited--always the worst kind of security flaw. The Citizen Lab discovered the exploit while checking the iPhone of a person who works with a civil rights organization based in Washington, DC. It appears that the iPhone was targeted by someone using the Pegasus spyware software sold by NSO Group in Israel. Supposedly, NSO Group only sells their software to governments. What is scary is that this exploit worked without any interaction at all from the victim. The Pegasus software simply had to send certain pictures to the iPhone using iMessage. If you want to protect your own iPhone from this security flaw, update your iPhone now.
- Back in 2021, I discussed an announcement that Apple was going to be expanding protection for children on the iPhone by searching for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) before any photo was uploaded to Apple's servers. It is now two years later, and Apple has announced that it changed its mind. As reported by Lily Hay Newman of Wired, Apple was concerned that if it started to search for one type of content, it might be forced by certain governments around the world to search for and report about other content that a government deems objectionable. One can imagine a government hostile to LGBTQ+ rights asking Apple to tattle on iPhones containing certain LGBTQ+ information. One can also see this being used against civil rights activists. As Eric Neuenschwander of Apple explained: "We concluded it was not practically possible to implement without ultimately imperiling the security and privacy of our users."
- Yoko Kubota of the Wall Street Journal reports that China has banned iPhone use for government officials. This includes even bringing an iPhone to the office. This is part of a campaign to cut reliance on foreign technology, and the Chinese government asserts that this move will enhance cybersecurity.
- In light of the rumors that the 2023 version of the iPhone, being announced next week, will replace the Lightning port with USB-C, Dan Moren writes a eulogy for the Lightning port in his column for Macworld.
- John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote an interesting post in which he commented upon an article by Horace Dediu of Asymco. Dediu's article addresses how Apple has managed to not only attract a bunch of customers, but also the best type of customers because they are the ones who are willing to spend more money on things that they value. Gruber has an interesting analysis of the formula: find something people care deeply about, make the best version of the thing that people care deeply about, and improve that thing every year. "Don’t prioritize being first or being cheapest. Prioritize being the best." That's good advice for folks in many different fields.
- Felipe Espósito of 9to5Mac says that he loves his HomePod 2, and his only regret is that AirPlay is far from perfect. I feel the same way about my HomePod minis. I love them and use them frequently, but there are sometimes strange issues, like when they randomly stop playing songs. It doesn't happen often, but the fact that it happens at all is annoying and means that Apple still has some work to do.
- William Gallagher of AppleInsider reports that it was seven years ago this week that Apple announced the first generation AirPods. They didn't become available until mid-December of 2016, and they were extremely hard to find at first. I ordered a pair online as soon as they were announced and I didn't receive mine until January 5, 2017. They quickly became one of Apple's most beloved products. I use my AirPods Pro every single day.
- Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch reports that Apple expanded its Apple Music Classical service by purchasing BIS, a classical music label based in Sweden that is celebrating its 50th year. BIS's founder, Robert von Bahr, said that he was impressed by Apple’s “fundamental belief in the importance of preserving audio quality." So if you already using the Apple Music Classical app, there will soon be even more to like.
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac discusses an interesting CarPlay feature coming soon in iOS 17: SharePlay. This means that people in different cars can play the same playlist at the same time. If one person adds a song, it gets added for the other CarPlay unit too. If you have a long road trip with folks in different cars, this could be an interesting way to build a sense of community.
- Globalstar, a company based in Covington, LA (very close to where I live in New Orleans) works with Apple to provide the satellites that are used by the iPhone Emergency SOS feature. Robert Stewart of the local New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune, and the online version, Nola.com, reports that Globalstar is going to work with SpaceX so that in 2025 they will be able to launch additional satellites that work with this feature.
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that the crash detection feature on an Apple Watch was life-saving when a car flipped upside down and landed 100 feet off of the road at night. The Apple Watch called emergency services and provided an exact location, and the Fire and Rescue Department was able to get the person to the hospital. The Fire Chief said that if it was not for the Apple Watch, it probably would have taken an additional two hours to locate the car, and at that point, it may have been too late for the injured and unconscious driver.
- Malcolm Owen of AppleInsider reports that a man traveling in Belgium had his backpack stolen at a train station. He was able to track the bag for a while thanks to an AirTag, but that only worked for a few hours because the thieves got rid of the AirTag. But he was able to use Find My to track his MacBook in the backpack, and after doing some self-sleuthing (which is always dangerous so be careful!) he finally had enough information to get the police involved. The police finally made an arrest, the man got his computer back, and the police discovered a huge organized theft network with hundreds of stolen devices.
- I'm interested in using an external video camera with my iPad, a feature of the upcoming iPadOS 17. My thought was to use a better quality camera that is located at the top of my iPad instead of on the side with my iPad is in landscape mode. But the feature means that other approaches are also possible including, apparently, using a Game Boy camera for FaceTime video calls, as reported by Federico Viticci of MacStories.
- And finally, about a month ago, I linked to a cute Apple video called Captcha, a video designed to show how much easier and safer it is to pay for items using Apple Pay. Here is another funny video in that series called The Dance:
