LTA 129: May 2024

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots

This solo show starts with some followups from last month before diving into just a few regulatory and legal stories, some HR and acquisitions news, and a few highlights from Apple’s services and original content. The three main stories are some impressive up-coming accessibility features, Apple’s “Let Loose” iPad event, and Microsoft’s new Copilot+ PCs. The show finishes with a rundown of a few other quick Apple-related stories that made the news in May.

You’ll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar – the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!

Updates & Followup

Quick updates to long-running stories the show continues to track, and to stories covered in recent shows.

• Evidence in Epic Games’ complaint that Apple is not complying with the one small part of it’s US case against the company has revealed that just 0.1% of developers are choosing to use Apple’s new 3rd-party payment option in the US — www.macobserver.com/… (Also, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers seems sceptical about Apple’s motives, which might probe problematic as the case evolves)
• The Vision Pro continues to make ripples:
  • Marvel’s ‘What If…? – an Immersive Story’ coming to Apple Vision Pro on May 30 — appleinsider.com/…
    • Review: “What If?” shows off the Vision Pro’s strengths — sixcolors.com/…
  • Three VR game staples have arrived on Apple Vision Pro — appleinsider.com/… (Job Simulator, its follow-up Vacation Simulator, and tabletop survival RPG Demeo)
  • Apple Vision Pro earns prestigious Black Pencil design award — appleinsider.com/…
  • Apple’s 2024 Design Awards have a new Spatial Computing category — appleinsider.com/…
• The rise of the retro game emulators continues:
  • Original PlayStation games come to iPhone with new Gamma emulator — appleinsider.com/…
  • App Store emulator surge continues, this time for PlayStation Portable games — appleinsider.com/… (PPSSPP)
  • This new app on the App Store emulates 38 different retro game platforms — appleinsider.com/… (RetroArch)
    • RetroArch emulator adds support for DOS games, and more — appleinsider.com/…
    • RetroArch has also been released for Apple TV — arstechnica.com/…
    • But it seems more powerful emulators won’t follow RetroArch onto Apple TV: Apple TV hardware storage limits will keep most emulators away — appleinsider.com/…

Regulatory Rundown

• The UK passes its version of the EU’s Digital Markets Act — www.engadget.com/… (broadly similar, but named the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, AKA DMCC)
• Apple fires back at DOJ antitrust case, calls for immediate dismissal — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple takes EU to court over $2 billion Apple Music fine — appleinsider.com/…
• fallout from the Digital Markets Act (DMA) continues:
  • The Spotify-led trade group Digital Music Europe has written to the European Commission alleging that Apple is not complying with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) — appleinsider.com/… (somewhat ironically the group claims to be in favour of ‘light touch regulation’!)
  • First alternative to Apple Wallet is ready to launch in EU — appleinsider.com/… (UK firm Curve says it’s ready to go once Apple’s promised APIs arrive)
  • iOS 17.5 puts direct app distribution via the web live — appleinsider.com/…
• Related: Apple have released their latest App Store transparency report, touting the sheer volume of abuse they have stopped: App Store stopped over $7 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in four years — www.apple.com/…

Legal Latest

• Apple gets another App Store antitrust win, this time in China — appleinsider.com/… (a single developer sued Apple & lost)

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• Apple Retail in the US remains hostile to unions to the point of illegality:
  • US Labor Board rules Apple illegally interrogated retail staff in NYC — appleinsider.com/…
  • Maryland Apple Store employees to vote on strike, citing unmet demands — appleinsider.com/… (Towson Apple Store)
    • New video highlights ongoing struggles between Apple and union members — appleinsider.com/…
  • NJ Short Hills Apple Store votes down unionization effort — appleinsider.com/…
• Head of Apple TV+ marketing Ricky Strauss is leaving — appleinsider.com/… (Only at Apple since January 2023, previously at Disney & Hulu)
• Apple loses another designer who worked in Jony Ive’s core team — appleinsider.com/… (Duncan Kerr, with Apple since 1999. Likely simply aging out rather than some kind of problem, but notable that very few of the original Ive dream-team now remain)
• Apple’s new diversity exec hails from Bank of America — appleinsider.com/… (Cynthia Bowman)
• A notable job advert: Apple Seeks Android Engineers to Finally Bring Apple TV+ on Androids — www.macobserver.com/…

Apple Services & Original Content Highlights

• Apple Announces New and Updated Apple Arcade Games Coming in May and June — www.macstories.net/… (including VisionPro games for the first time!)
• Apple Music:
  • Apple Music Adds Shazam Radio Spins Charts and a New Industry Program — www.macstories.net/… (Playlist based on what the global top 200 radio stations are playing)
  • Apple Music 100 best albums countdown completes: 1 to 100 — www.cultofmac.com/… (Apple Press Release)
• Apple Pay:
  • Merchants in Japan can finally use Tap to Pay for iPhone — appleinsider.com/…
  • Canadian firms finally get Tap to Pay on iPhone — appleinsider.com/…
  • Apple Rolls out Support for Paris Transit Passes in Wallet Just in Time for the Olympics — www.macstories.net/… (Apple Press Release)

Main Stories

1. Apple Marks Global Accessibility Awareness Day with a Preview of OS Features Coming Later This Year — www.macstories.net/… (Apple Press Release)
   • Eye Tracking to move focus without the need for extra hardware
   • Vocal Shortcuts
   • Music haptics
   • Vision pro live captioning (add subtitles to the real world!)
   • Apple Announces New Feature to Combat Motion Sickness on Moving Vehicles — www.macobserver.com/…
2. Apple’s ‘Let Loose’ Event
   • Apple’s May 2024 Let Loose Event: Replay Today’s Keynote — www.macstories.net/…
   • Watch Apple’s ‘Let Loose’ event in just 90 seconds — www.cultofmac.com/…
   • Apple’s May 2024 Let Loose Event: By the Numbers — www.macstories.net/… (All the specs gathered together by John Voorhees)
   • New iPads
     • iPad Air gets a faster processor and a supersized 13-inch option — appleinsider.com/… (Apple Press Release)
       • Industrial design looks like previous generation iPad Pros
       • Apple’s new M2 iPad Air has a nine-core GPU, despite original claims to the contrary — appleinsider.com/…
       • iFixit’s Teardown Video Offers an Inside Peek at the New 13-Inch iPad Air — www.macobserver.com/…
       • Reviews:
         • 2024 iPad Air reviews roundup: Bigger, and probably ‘pro’ enough — www.cultofmac.com/…
         • M2 iPad Air review: The everything iPad — arstechnica.com
         • iPad Air hands on: A return to an affordable large-format iPad — appleinsider.com/…
     • Apple Announces New 11″ and 13″ iPad Pros — www.macstories.net/… (Apple Press Release)
       • New iPad Pro with beautiful OLED display and M4 chip is ‘thinnest Apple product ever’ — www.cultofmac.com/…
       • Apple Unveils M4 Chip, 1.5x Faster Than M2, 38 Trillion Operations per Second — www.macobserver.com/… (Apple Press release)
       • Apple’s new iPad Pro gets M4 power, advanced Tandem OLED screens — appleinsider.com/…
       • Refresh Rate on the New iPad Pros Can Go as Low as 10Hz — www.macobserver.com/…
       • First M4 iPad Pro benchmarks show 21% performance increase over M3 — www.cultofmac.com/…
       • Crazy-thin iPad Pro models hold up under early bend tests — www.cultofmac.com/…
       • M4 iPad Pro teardown finds easier-to-access battery, glimpses of Tandem OLED design — arstechnica.com
       • Confirmed: Redesign makes M4 iPad Pro incompatible with older cases, keyboards, styli — www.cultofmac.com/… & If you’re buying a new iPad Pro, your old magnetic stand won’t work — appleinsider.com/…
       • Reviews:
         • New iPad Pro review roundup: impressive performance held back by iPadOS — appleinsider.com/…
         • iPad Pro hands on: Luxury technology in an impossibly-thin package — appleinsider.com/…
         • M4 iPad Pro review: Well, now you’re just showing off — arstechnica.com
         • John Gruber — daringfireball.net/…
     • New iPads make it much easier to manage battery health — www.cultofmac.com/… (same features as newer iPhones have)
     • 2024 iPad Pro and iPad Air ditch the physical SIM slot for good — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • Apple makes breaking your new iPad’s screen a little less painful — appleinsider.com/… ($29 screen replacement with Apple Care+, down from $49)
     • Opinion: Does the iPad lineup make sense now? Yes and no — sixcolors.com/…
     • Related:
       • Apple drops the price of its 10th generation iPad to $349 — appleinsider.com/… (↓$100)
       • Apple kills $329 iPad with home button, Lightning port — arstechnica.com
       • Apple’s iPad upgrades march Lightning one step closer to death — appleinsider.com/…
   • Apple Pencil Pro adds ‘squeeze’ gesture, haptic feedback, Find My and more — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • This Apple Pencil Pro feature surprises and delights users — www.cultofmac.com/… (Tool shadow)
     • Apple Pencil Pro Packaging Arrives in Five Different Flavors — www.macobserver.com/…
     • Bummer! New iPads won’t work with old Apple Pencil. — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • Related & Useful: Which Apple Pencil works with my iPad? — www.intego.com/… (New Pencil Pro only works on new M2 iPad Airs & M4 iPad Pros)
   • New Keyboards
     • New Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro features a bigger glass trackpad with haptic feedback — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • New Apple aluminum Magic Keyboard introduces backlit keys & function bar — appleinsider.com/…
   • Not in Keynote: The Smart Folio also got redesigned to support a range of angles instead of a single angle — sixcolors.com/…
   • Final Cut Pro adds live multi-camera recording on iPad and AI on Mac — www.cultofmac.com/… (Apple Press Release)
     • Related: The ‘Let Loose’ event was the first to be edited on iPad using Final Cut Pro — appleinsider.com/…
   • Logic Pro updates bring powerful new tools for music-makers — www.cultofmac.com/… (Apple Press Release)
     • Mostly AI features
     • Cross-platform update for Mac & iPad
   • Apple’s plastic-free packaging means pack-in logo stickers are going away — arstechnica.com (stores will have some stickers on hand for customers who complain)
3. Microsoft launches first and third-party Arm-based laptops with dedicated AI processors branded Copilot+ PCs — blogs.microsoft.com/…
   • Recall feature stores screenshots of everything you do and uses those to train Copilot on everything you’ve been doing so you can ask it questions about your past actions (it’s a privacy nightmare!)
   • Microsoft Claims the New Surface Pro is Faster Than the 15” M3 MacBook Pro — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Related Opinion:
     • John Gruber’s initial take — daringfireball.net/…
     • Taking Aim at Apple’s Fanless MacBook Airs With Fans — daringfireball.net/…
     • Why Apple should steal Microsoft’s Flex keyboard design for iPad — www.cultofmac.com/…

Quick Stories

• Apple and Google deliver support for unwanted tracking alerts in iOS and Android — www.apple.com/…
• Apple have launched their Pride 2024 line with just one new Solo Loop band and some wallpapers — www.apple.com/…
• Reminder: WWDC is rapidly approaching, and the keynote will be at 10am Pacific on the 10th of June, with the Platforms State of the Union at 1pm — www.apple.com/…
  • 2024 ADA Finalists Announced — www.macstories.net/…
  • Related: Dive into app & game development with new ‘Apple Pathways’ hub — appleinsider.com/…

Legend

Note: When the textual description of a link is part of the link it is the title of the page being linked to, when the text describing a link is not part of the link it is a description written by Bart.