I know. I'm going to sound like a crazy person. Apple spent a good hour getting us excited about their new product lineup earlier this week, starting with the HomePod Mini and the whole iPhone 12 family, and all I could think of the entire time I was watching that extremely well produced video was: "MagSafe !!!"

Apple spent quite some time talking about 5G connectivity, new glass, the A14 Bionic chip, new camera capabilities and so many other "significant" advances in technologies, and my mind was stuck on some sort of magnet.

What am I on about ? What is MagSafe ? Apple dusted off an old name for proprietary magnetically attached power connectors they used to equip older MacBook laptops with. Leaving aside the fact that the concept was pure genius, it didn't survive the move to USB-C. But earlier this week they told us we could now apply that name to another "magnetic" concept: what appears to be, at first, a means to charge your new iPhone 12 without plugging in a chord. It turns out it is much more than that. In essence the same built-in magnets that can charge your phone will also allow attaching cases, wallets or any other accessory you could dream up, easily and effortlessly. And of course Apple has already stacked (and stocked) their online and offline stores with cases, wallets, chargers, you name it. But why stop there. Assuming third party developers and designers get access to the specs, you could imagine holders, stands, car-mounts, camera gimbals, electronic door openers and who knows what else. An entire MagSafe industry could sprout around these new products Apple just introduced, and personally I can't wait to see what people are going to come up with. And, ultimately, I believe MagSafe on iPhone 12 models is the last step before Apple doing away with a charging and data connector of any kind on future iPhones, maybe as early as next year. Maybe by October of 2021 we'll start eulogising Lightning connectors and face a future where "plugging in" anything into our phone will sound "passé".

So yeah, I guess I am a little bit crazy.

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Posted
AuthorJehuda Saar

Talk about a symbiotic relationship: Apple benefits from banks getting in on the Apple Pay game which in return benefits those same banks. Now that sort of relationship might just create its own momentum and spin things up to an even higher level. 

Here is Bank Of America's contribution, though others including Wells Fargo, Citibank and Chase have their own campaigns going. Hopefully we'll see the service pretty soon outside the U.S. as well. 

When Apple introduced the iPad Mini last month, they of course ran an ad for the new machine. The ad was cute, it was the piano ad shown below.

But you knew more would come soon. And Apple did not disappoint. Two new ads were just issued. I find one of them much better than the other and I won't even force you to guess. I think the ad showing off iPhoto is a lot better than the one with iBooks, but judge for yourselves.

Posted
AuthorJehuda Saar

​Tomorrow Apple will holding what is expected to be the great iPad (mini) event. Just like with the introduction of the iPhone 5, a lot seems to be known about this new product. Spy photos of pretty much every part of this smaller iPad have been circulating around for weeks now, so not much is left to the imagination. And yet, some crucial things are not known yet:

  • What will be the product's name​ ?
  • What price points will it sell at ?
  • What sort of screen will it have ?
  • Will it have just WiFi or LTE as well ?

I won't speculate on much of the above. ​Others are much better equipped to do so. I will make one prediction though. No it won't be about the price. If Apple wanted to deal a death-blow to the rest of the industry, it would price the entry level model at $199. Even the Kindle Fire wouldn't survive that. But, hey, this is Apple we're talking about. Could they sell it at such a price and still make money ? I believe they could. Chances are the display will be non-retina. Apple have achieved economies of scale with the iPhone 3GS and the iPad2 that would enable them to go really low on this one. But they won't. We've heard rumors of prices hovering between $249 and $329. I have no doubt that even at those higher prices Apple will break sales records with these machines, but it won't be as "market-dominating" as pricing at below $200. 

No, my prediction is about something else entirely. Last January Apple took pains to unveil their iBooks strategy, and specifically the iBooks Author program that enables mere mortals to easily create beautiful textbooks for school and college going students. ​The main bottleneck for the success of that program was the price of the vehicle it required. Very few school districts could afford to buy large quantities of iPads for their students. So the tools were there, but the vehicle went missing. Until tomorrow. I believe that Apple will tout this new iPad category as the ideal school and college companion. I have a feeling much of tomorrow's presentation will focus on that particular function for this new device. Chances are they will introduce a new version of iBooks Author, and maybe even a new version of iBooks itself. 

Of course there will be other highlights: maybe a new retina 13 inch MacBook Pro, possibly a revamped Mac Mini, but in my opinion we should be paying attention to the iBooks move. Many people have had the vision of "a computer for every child"​ for years now, but this new iPad, whatever its name, could well bring this vision that much closer to reality.

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Posted
AuthorJehuda Saar
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Someone sure went through a lot of trouble to create this fake introduction video of the actual iPhone that will be introduced tomorrow. He refers to it as "The iPhone 5 with widescreen Retina Display", probably a very appropriate name. Some of the tech he describes in the video (fingerprint scanner button, new Mission Control function) ​is really cool and innovative, but I doubt we will see anything like it in tomorrow's product. Still, worth watching and appreciating the amazing work that went into creating it.

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AuthorJehuda Saar
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So now we know for a fact that the next iPhone is being introduced on September 12. But what about the people who claimed it was going to be called the "New iPhone" rather than the iPhone 5 ? Check out the shadow in the announcement graphic​. Either they are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the iPhone, or else this is it: the iPhone 5.

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AuthorJehuda Saar
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​A couple of hours into using the new Apple operating system and I can already tell you a few things. The first impression you will have after the update is that nothing changed. Everything pretty much looks the same. You'd think you just spent $20 on nothing. And then you start noticing little things. Suddenly Mission Control and Launchpad, both functions I had previously removed from the Dock, are back again. When you try dragging them off, nothing happens. They're stuck. Thanks to Jason Snell of Macworld for letting me know that I should right-click on the items to remove them. 

I dictated a few email messages in Mail. Worked flawlessly, although every once in a while the computer waits for the Apple servers to return the written sentence back (the process of transcribing your words to typed text does not happen on your computer). 

So far no complaints yet about Notifications. I like seeing new email message notifications appear at the top right of my screen. ​I am a bit peeved that my everyday computer, a late 2010 MacBook Air, will not support Airplay Mirroring. My video production machine, a more recent MacBook Pro, does show the Airplay icon in the menu bar, but that one rarely moves from its spot these days.

I am including two videos of short reviews that appeared today as soon as Mountain Lion hit the App Store. These are, in turn, from Macworld and Cult of Mac. Enjoy.​

Posted
AuthorJehuda Saar