Technology - Google News

ARM-based MacBook, Apple game controller coming soon says leaker - AppleInsider
Apple And Google Major Contact-Tracing Surprise: 2.5 Billion Users Lose Out - Forbes
Apple’s Magic Keyboard Review: Laptop class typing comes to iPad Pro - TechCrunch

ARM-based MacBook, Apple game controller coming soon says leaker - AppleInsider

Posted: 20 Apr 2020 04:12 AM PDT

A series of tweets from an anonymous Twitter account has allegedly leaked details about future products that are still being worked on by Apple, including claims of an ARM-based 12-inch MacBook and an Apple game controller.

The recent collection of Twitter-based rumors and leaks surrounding Apple's products that were found to be highly accurate has prompted further examination of other Twitter leaker accounts, in the search for new information. One account, @L0vetodream, has been found to include a number of leaks that surfaced long before they were discussed by other parties, one which also offers supposed insight into other unreleased products.

The account is relatively new to Twitter, having joined in February 2020, and operates quite anonymously with its biography claiming it is operated by an "iPhone repairer." Despite its young age, the account has made many bold claims in a short timespan that have only recently become prominent.

In tweets dating back to early March, the account made claims Apple is working on its own game controller, while a mention of "AirPods X" headphones were made on March 12, seemingly corroborating a rumor tweeted by Jon Prosser, another prominent leaker, about the rumored over-ear headphones.

Another tweet on March 10 goes into detail about a new iPad Air model that includes a mini LED display. Despite having a full-screen design, the tweeter says it won't have a notch nor Face ID, but instead will rely on Touch ID that functions under the display.

the new iPad Air will be using the mini led screen, comes with full screen with no notch, not Face IDbut Touch ID under the screen
— (@L0vetodream) March 10, 2020

A longer March 12 tweet spotted by MacRumors lists off many other products rumored to be in development, including a 12-inch ARM-based MacBook, "AirPods X," "AirPods 3 Lite," the "HomePod Lite," "AirTag," and four "iPhone 12" models including Lite and Pro versions with 5G support and a new "Navy blue" color.

The tweet simultaneously mentions the iPad Pro having "TOF," referencing the LiDAR sensor on the rear ahead of the model's release, while its mentions of items like the "HomePod Lite" predate other rumors and speculation. The account also mentions delays in a new iMac's launch, as well as holdups surrounding TSMC's production of the A14 chip expected in the fall iPhone releases.

The A14, expected to be used in the fall iPhone releases, are currently tipped to be the first to cross the 3.0GHz barrier, making them the fastest version of the chip line ever created. While this will chiefly improve the performance of the iPhone with regard to complex tasks like AR rendering, it also gives it the potential to be used in an ARM-based Mac.

Production of the A14 was supposed to start in the second quarter, but conflicting analyst notes and supply chain reports in late March suggested a delay in manufacturing by TSMC could impact production schedules for related Apple products.

While there are some mistakes made by the account, such as the release date of iOS 13.4 off by one day, the accuracy of confirmed products suggests the account's rumors may be genuine. Even so, there is no guarantee that all items mentioned by a Twitter leaker could be taken as completely true, as other factors could affect Apple's production intentions, as demonstrated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic impacts.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Apple And Google Major Contact-Tracing Surprise: 2.5 Billion Users Lose Out - Forbes

Posted: 20 Apr 2020 06:53 AM PDT

Daily life in Warsaw — Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto

Just over a week ago, Apple and Google announced a joint contact-tracing program "to harness the power of technology to help countries slow the spread of COVID-19." It was widely welcomed. The privacy-first approach was designed to prevent governments from collecting data on their citizens. And, technically, the U.S. firms behind the world's leading operating systems resolved issues with getting Bluetooth proximity sensing and anonymized identifiers working in tandem.

The decision to opt for Bluetooth over GPS or cell tracking was broadly made before Apple and Google stepped into the ring. If it works—and this has not yet been deployed at the tens of millions scale—it promises a near real-time reporting and alert system that cannot be achieved with manual contact-tracing options. The issue, as I've reported before, is the 60% take-up across smartphone users needed.

We already know that Android smartphones in China will not be eligible for the new technology framework. Google's software and services are banned in the country, and this will be deployed as an update to Google's Play Services. Android predominates across China's more than 700 million smartphone users, with a 75% to 80% market share, impacting 500 million users. We also know that Huawei phones released post the U.S. blacklist last year will also be ineligible for the same reason—and this impacts users outside China who have bought Mate 30s and P40s.

Now we are being told that a large number of older phones outside China do not have the type of Bluetooth chip to enable the system to operate without running down the device's battery, in addition to those phones that have the right hardware but do not run an updated version of the OS and will not apply the new technology.

The Financial Times estimates that this impacts as many as 500 million phones—a quarter of the smartphones in use today. Counterpoint analyst Neil Shah told the newspaper that "most of these users with the incompatible devices hail from the lower-income segment or from the senior segment which actually are more vulnerable to the virus."

Taking the 500 million outdated phones and the 500 million Chinese phones together gives a billion users set to miss out—and that doesn't include the 1.5 billion people still using basic phones that do not run iOS or Android at all, or have the technology required to make such a system work. That means 2.5 billion users around the world will not have access to this new contact-tracing solution.

For those that are eligible, there's also now a fight brewing between governments electing to go their own way, exploring centralized systems, and academics and researchers who want all such centralized systems prohibited. In an open letter published today, April 20, dozens of academics from around the world warn "we are concerned that some 'solutions' to the crisis may, via mission creep, result in systems which would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large."

The academics caution that if deployment of such apps is seen as a surveillance move, trust will be broken and uptake will be low: "It is crucial that citizens trust the applications in order to produce sufficient uptake to make a difference in tackling the crisis." If the apps are not installed, the program does not work. The letter warns that surveillance mission creep would "catastrophically hamper trust in and acceptance of such an application by society at large."

UCL's Michael Veale, a signatory to the letter, told me that Apple and Google had drawn the same conclusions as the academics on privacy protections, although "we can certainly be concerned about the network power they have to push code across the world." That said, he is far more worried about governments tempted to overstep, risking "consequences from the huge mission and function creep potential on our democratic society and liberties."

We are all set to be inundated with government messages to download these apps—some may even be linked to the lifting of restrictions and the right to travel and work. The issue with take-up, though, is that the technology required is a step too far for many of the less affluent, older and more vulnerable members of society—exactly the people most in need of protection. As ever with schemes like this, the devil is in the detail and there remain many questions yet to be addressed.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Apple’s Magic Keyboard Review: Laptop class typing comes to iPad Pro - TechCrunch

Posted: 20 Apr 2020 06:18 AM PDT

Over the past two years, I've typed nearly every word I've written while traveling on the iPad Pro's Smart Keyboard Folio. For more on why, you can see my iPad Pro review here.

For the purposes of this look at the new Magic Keyboard, though, you should probably just know two things about the old Keyboard Folio:

It was reliable, incredibly durable and never once failed me.
It kind of stunk in every other way.

The Keyboard Folio's plastic coated surface made it impervious to spills, but it also made the keys much less responsive. It rendered them unable to give your fingers the feedback necessary to confirm that a key had been struck, leading me to adopt a technique where I just hit every key with maximum strength at all times.

The new Magic Keyboard is as different from that device as the new MacBook Pro keyboards are from the low profile ones that dominated headlines over the last couple of years. It's a huge jump forward in usability for the iPad Pro — and for last year's model, too.

I am very relieved I don't have to slam my fingers onto the plastic keyboard anymore. Over long and fast typing sessions I could feel a numbness that would begin to radiate from the tips of my fingers a bit. An enervation of sorts. It wasn't precisely painful, but it was noticeable.

The Magic Keyboard offers a lovely, backlit deck that holds its own against the 16" MacBook Pro and the new MacBook Air for best portable keyboards. The key travel is excellent — in between the two laptops in my opinion — and the feel is tight, responsive and precise. This is a first class typing experience, full stop.

I've been testing the three keyboards alongside one another for the past few days, and I can't stress enough how stable the keys are. Even the MacBook Air allows a tiny bit of key shift if you touch your finger to it and gently circle it — though the MacBook Pro is better. There's such a small amount of that here that it's almost imperceptible.

It's a tad spongier than the 16" MBP but more firm than the MacBook Air, which has a bit more return and travel. In my opinion, this keyboard is "louder" (due to the plastic casing being more resonant than the aluminum) than the 16" MBP, but about the same as the MacBook Air. The throw feels similar to the 16" though, with the Air being slightly deeper but "sloppier."

So a hybrid between those two keyboards as far as feel goes, but a clear descendant of the work that was done to turn those offerings around.

Construction

Among my biggest concerns was that Apple would get overly clever with the hinge design, making the typing an exercise in wobble. Happy to say here that they took the clear path here and made it as sturdy as possible, even if that was at the cost of variability.

The hinge is a simple limit stop design that opens far less than you'd expect and then allows a second hinge to engage to open in an arc between the 80 and 130 degrees. The 90 degree and fully open positions basically mimic the angles that were offered by the grooves of the Keyboard Folio — but now you can choose any in-between position that feels natural to you.

Apple has obviously put this hard stop fold out limit in place to maintain balance on tables and laps, and its clever use of counter opposing forces with the second hinge combines to limit tipping and to make typing on a lap finally a completely viable thing to do. The fact that you don't have to hammer the keyboard to type also makes this a better proposition.

For typing, these positions should be just fine for the vast majority of users. And the solid (very high friction) hinge means that the whole thing is very sturdy feeling, even with more moving parts. I have been quite comfortable grabbing the whole assembly of the 12.9" iPad Pro plus Magic Keyboard by the deck of the keyboard and carrying it around, much in the way I'd carry a laptop. No worries about accidental floppiness or detachment.

At the same time, the new design that floats the iPad in the air allows you to quickly pop it off with little effort by either your left or right hand. This makes the Magic Keyboard take on the use case of a desktop-based dock, something that never felt right with the Keyboard Folio.

The touchpad physically moves here, and is not a haptic pad, but it is clickable across its entire surface. It's also a laptop-class trackpad, proving that Apple's engineering teams still have a better idea about how to make a trackpad that works crisply and as expected than any other hardware team out there.

I do love the soft touch coating of the case itself, but I believe it will wear in a similar fashion to these kinds of surfaces on other devices. It will likely develop shiny spots on either side of the trackpad on the hand rest areas.

The responsive half arrow keys are extremely welcome.

Some other details, quirks and upper limits

The camera placement situation is much improved here, as you're less likely to hold the left side of the iPad to keep it stable. The lift of the keyboard (at times about an inch and a bit) means that the eye line, while still not ideal, is improved for zoom calls and the like. Less double chin up the nose action. Apple should still move the iPad Pro's camera on future versions.

The keyboard's backlight brightness is decent and adjustable in the settings pane once it's attached to iPad Pro. The unit did use more battery in my tests, though I haven't had it long enough to assign any numbers to it. I did notice during a recent Facetime call that the battery was draining faster than it could charge, but that is so far anecdotal, and I haven't had the time to reproduce it in testing. The charging port does put power through to the device at full speed though, according to some early testing.

This is not the case that artists have been waiting for. This case does not rotate around backwards like the keyboard folio, meaning that you're going to be popping it off the case if you're going to draw on it at all. In some ways the ease of removal feels like an Apple concession: "Hey, we couldn't fit all this in and a way to position it at a drawing angle, so we made it really easy to get it loose." It works, but I hope that more magic happens between now and the next iteration to find a way to serve both typing and drawing in one protected configuration.

A little quirk: when it's tilted super far back to the full stop I sometimes nick the bottom edge of the iPad with my fingers when hitting numbers — could be my typing form or bigger hands but I thought it was worth mentioning.

It's a bit heavy. At 700g for the 12.9" keyboard, it more than doubles the weight of the whole package. The larger iPad Pro and keyboard is basically the weight of a MacBook Air. Get the 11" if weight is a concern. This keyboard makes the iPad 12.9″ package feel very chunky. The

The fact that this keyboard works on the older iPad Pro (the camera just floats inside the cutout) means that this is a fantastic upgrade for existing users. It really makes the device feel like it got a huge upgrade without having to buy a new core unit, which fits with Apple's modular approach to iPad Pro and also stands out as pretty rare in a world where the coolest new features are often hardware related and new device limited.

At $300 and $350 for each size of Magic Keyboard, the price is something you must think about up front. Given that it is now easily the best keyboard available for these devices, I think you need to consider it a part of the package price of the device. If you can't swing that, consider another option — it's that good.

I'd love more angles of use here and I'm hoping that they include more — that said! If you work seriously with the iPad and that work is based on typing, the Magic Keyboard is essentially mandatory. It's the dream keyboard for all of us who found ourselves crossing the Rubicon into iPad as primary computer over the past couple of years. It's not without its caveats, but it is a refreshingly straightforward and well executed accessory that makes even older iPads feel like better laptops than laptops.

Let's block ads! (Why?)