Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) - @bbusschots
• Adam Christianson from The Mac Cast - @maccast
• Patrick Beja from French Spin - @notpatrick
• Simon Parnell from the Essential Apple Podcast - @serenak
• Dr. Robert Carter from the Tech Doctor Podcast - @robert_carter

The show starts with some quick followup before moving on to look at a few staffing changes at Apple that made the news in September. The four main stories for the month were Apple's new hardware, Apple's new software, the controversy around Safari's new privacy features, and the hardware released by Sonos, Amazon, and Google. The show finishes with a quick rundown of some shorter Apple-related stories that made the news in September.

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!

[audio mp3=”http://www.mymac.com/podcast/lta/LetsTalkApple-EP49-September2017.mp3”]

Followups

• Imagination Technologies has been sold to a Chinese investment company for £550M (~$750M) - uk.businessinsider.com/…
• Toshiba has agreed to sell it’s Flash Memory business to the so-called Bain Consortium which includes Apple for $18Bn. A sale had previously been agreed with Toshiba, but that fell through. Toshiba are not happy about how things have panned out, and are trying to get this new deal overturned in court, so this is not quite over yet - www.macobserver.com/…
• Qualcomm has lost two rulings in it’s on-going battle with Apple - “First, it has failed to force Apple’s manufacturing partners to make royalty payments prior to a determination of what the total disputed royalties should be, and second it lost an effort to stop Apple from pursing antitrust cases against it in other countries” - appleinsider.com/…
• Apple continue their push into education with The Digital Flagship University, a program with Ohio State University that will give students an iPad Pro with and Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard and access to a bunch of software - www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple have made it easier to find AR apps by adding a dedicated section to the App Store - www.macobserver.com/…
• The EU continues it’s campaign against US tech companies and small European nations with attractive tax arrangements:
  • EU takes Ireland to court for not claiming Apple tax windfall - www.reuters.com/…
  • Luxembourg ordered to collect and extra €250M ($290M) from Amazon - arstechnica.com/…

Notable Staffing Changes

• Apple has hired three more former Sony TV execs - former head of current programming Kim Rozenfeld, former vice president of drama development Max Aronson, and former director of creative affairs Ali Woodruff - www.macobserver.com/…
• Long-time Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell is to retire later this year, and former Supreme Court Clerk Katherine Adams has been taken on to replace him - www.macobserver.com/… & www.imore.com/…

Main Stories

1. New Hardware Annouced & Released
   • 4K Apple TV
     • Apple TV 4K review: Come for the 4K, stay for the HDR - www.imore.com/…
     • arstechnica.com/…
   • Apple Watch Series 3
     • The LTE version of the Apple Watch got off to a bumpy start with a bug that affected a lot of people. Apple addressed it quite quickly with a watchOS update - arstechnica.com/… & tidbits.com/…
     • How to roam with your Apple Watch and use LTE data in a foreign country - www.imore.com/… - “The Apple Watch can’t roam. But if you have the right hardware and are willing to pay, you can set it up in a different country with little difficulty”
     • What’s the difference between Apple Watch Series 0, Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3? - www.imore.com/…
     • Apple Watch Series 3 Cellular vs GPS-only: What’s the difference? - www.imore.com/…
     • What the Apple Watch Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 can do without an iPhone - www.imore.com/…
     • Apple Watch Series 3 LTE Review: Small, flawed, and mighty - www.imore.com/…
     • What’s new with Apple’s Watch bands? - www.imore.com/…
     • Apple Watch Sport Loop Hands On: A runner’s new best friend - www.imore.com/…
   • iPhone 8 & iPhone 8 Plus
     • One of the stand-out features of the iPhone 8 is definitely it’s very impressive brain:
       • iPhone 8 Is World’s Fastest Phone (It’s Not Even Close) - www.tomsguide.com/…
       • Inside iPhone 8: Apple’s A11 Bionic introduces 5 new custom silicon engines - appleinsider.com/…
       • The inside story of the iPhone X ‘brain,’ the A11 Bionic chip - mashable.com/…
       • Why are Apple’s chips faster than Qualcomm’s? – Gary explains - www.androidauthority.com/…
       • Closer Look at Apple’s Image Chip and Portrait Lighting in New iPhones - www.macobserver.com/…
     • iPhone 8 review: The upgrade many people will be looking for - www.imore.com/…
     • A very small percentage of iPhone 8 Pluses have developed a problem where the battery swells and literally bursts open the casing - so far the problem seems very rare, but it’s one to keep an eye on:
       • iPhone 8 Plus Battery Swelling Problem Crops Up in Taiwan - www.macobserver.com/…
       • Chinese state media report bloated battery in Apple’s iPhone 8 - www.reuters.com/…
       • iPhone 8, ‘swollen batteries’, and what you really need to know - www.imore.com/…
   • iPhone X (not yet released)
     • iPhone X FAQ: Everything you need to know! - www.imore.com/…
     • iPhone X vs. iPhone 8: What’s the difference? - www.imore.com/…
     • The biggest new feature is FaceID (replacing TouchID)
       • Face ID: Everything you need to know! - www.imore.com/…
       • Apple’s Face ID Security White Paper Should Allay Fears - www.macobserver.com/…
       • What you should know about privacy and Apple’s FaceID on iOS 11 - arstechnica.com/…
       • Apple explains how Face ID learns from its mistakes - www.theverge.com/…
       • Apple says Face ID didn’t actually fail during its iPhone X event - arstechnica.com/…
       • What We Know About iPhone X Accessibility Features and Face ID - www.macobserver.com/…
       • iPhone X: Face ID Works with Sunglasses - www.macobserver.com/…
       • Here’s How to Temporarily Disable Face ID - www.macobserver.com/…
       • iPhone X: Hands on with Face ID, Portrait Lighting, and Animoji! - www.imore.com/…
     • How the Home ‘button’ works on iPhone X - www.imore.com/…
     • Hands on with the iPhone X: OLED and HDR outshine the other features - arstechnica.com/…
     • You Can Double-Tap to Obscure the Notch While Playing Video on iPhone X - daringfireball.net/…
   • Wireless Charging, AirPower & Apple Charging Mat
     • AirPower, wireless Qi charging, and Apple: Everything you need to know! - www.imore.com/…
     • Here’s What You Need to Know About the iPhone and Wireless Charging - www.macobserver.com/…
     • Apple Watch Support in Apple’s Upcoming AirPower Mat Limited to Series 3 Models - www.macrumors.com/…
     • IKEA shows off wireless charging furniture for iPhone 8, iPhone X - www.imore.com/…
2. New OSes Released
   • macOS 10.13 High Sierra
     • macOS High Sierra: You’ll Hardly Notice You’ve Upgraded - www.macobserver.com/…
     • What’s new in macOS High Sierra - www.imore.com/…
     • macOS High Sierra: How to Stop Videos from Auto-Playing in Safari - www.macobserver.com/…
     • APFS, Apple’s new file system, is shipped as part of High Sierra, but it’s still a bit rough around the edges:
       • New Apple File System Coming in macOS High Sierra Won’t Work With Fusion Drives - www.macrumors.com/…
       • Apple’s new file system will eventually support Fusion Drive machines - arstechnica.com/…
       • Time Machine and APFS: What You Need to Know - www.macobserver.com/…
       • An APFS FAQ: Partitions, Volumes, and AFPS Containers - www.macobserver.com/…
       • Apple fixes the Disk Utility APFS bug: What you need to know! - www.imore.com/…
     • How to share your iCloud storage with your family - www.imore.com/…
     • macOS High Sierra: How to Enable Type to Siri - www.macobserver.com/…
     • macOS High Sierra: Security and Privacy Features Overview - www.intego.com/…
     • macOS High Sierra drops support for older Final Cut Studio, Logic Studio apps - www.imore.com/…
   • watchOS 4
     • watchOS 4 review: Refinements and smarts paint a bright picture for Apple Watch - www.imore.com/…
     • watchOS 4: How to Enable Elevated Heart Rate Alerts - www.macobserver.com/…
     • Original Apple Watch Doesn’t Support watchOS 4 Heart Rate Features - www.macobserver.com/…
     • Getting Rid of the ‘Now Playing’ Screen on watchOS 4 - www.macobserver.com/…
   • iOS 11
     • iOS 11: Apple’s Big Productivity Upgrade - www.macobserver.com/…
     • While the new Control Center adds a lot of much loved new functionality and customisability, it also comes with some controversy:
       • How to customize Control Center in iOS 11 - www.imore.com/…
       • Use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in Control Center with iOS 11 - support.apple.com/…
       • Why your iPhone and iPad don’t fully disconnect from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11 - www.imore.com/…
       • Control Center’s New Networking States: On, Off, and In Between - tidbits.com/…
       • iOS 11’s Misleading “Off-ish” Setting for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is Bad for User Security - www.eff.org/…
     • How to use Instant Notes on iPad Pro with Apple Pencil in iOS 11 - www.imore.com/…
     • How to use Instant Markup in iOS 11 - www.imore.com/…
     • How to use the document scanner on iPhone and iPad - www.imore.com/…
     • How to use Do Not Disturb While Driving in iOS 11 - www.imore.com/…
     • iOS 11: How to Type to Siri - www.macobserver.com/…
     • iOS 11: A Complete Guide to iOS Security and Privacy - www.intego.com/…
     • Which iPhones and iPads will (and won’t) work with iOS 11? - www.imore.com/…
     • How to use the Dock in iOS 11 - www.imore.com/…
     • How to use Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and other could storage services with the Files app on iPhone and iPad - www.imore.com/…
     • How to use Automatic Setup in iOS 11 - www.imore.com/…
     • How to Use iOS 11 Screen Recording - www.macobserver.com/…
     • How to sync your Health data in iOS 11 (and how it works) - www.imore.com/…
     • What’s new with Accessibility in iOS 11? - www.imore.com/…
     • 3D Touch Multitasking Coming Back in Future iOS 11 Update - www.macobserver.com/…
3. Apple anger the ad industry by improving privacy in Safari 11
   • Apple’s new tracking protection is “sabotage”, claims ad industry - nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
   • Apple responds to ad group’s criticism of Safari cookie blocking - www.loopinsight.com/…
   • Preventing cross-site tracking and web cookie sharing - www.loopinsight.com/…
   • Apple isn’t collecting user data in Safari, it’s collecting crappy website trends - www.imore.com/…
4. Product announcements from Sonos, Amazon & Google
   • Sonos announced their new Sonos One - the big new feature is built-in Alexa - www.macobserver.com/…
   • Amazon - tidbits.com/… & www.imore.com/…
     • New Fire TV - HDR 4K and just $69.99
     • 2nd Gen Amazon Echo - starting price dropped to just $99.99
     • Echo Plus - serves as hub for some home automation products (no HomeKit support), starts at $149.99
     • Echo Spot - a smaller version of the Echo Show starting at $129.99
     • Echo buttons - tiny accessories for playing Echo games, just $20 for a starter pack
     • Echo Connect - ties Amazon Echo into your landline phone
   • Google
     • Two new Google Home devices - the Google Home Mini ($49) and the Google Home Max ($399) - www.blog.google/…
     • The Google Pixel 2 - www.blog.google/…

Quick Stories

• Apple has updated iTunes to version 12.7, and removed or hidden lot of features to tighten its focus on music - www.macstories.net/…, www.macobserver.com/…, www.loopinsight.com/… & www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web searches in iOS 11 & MacOS 10.13 High Sierra - social.techcrunch.com/… & www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple bumps up iPad Pro prices, launches 32GB Jet Black iPhone 7 and new Siri Remote - www.imore.com/…
• Apple update their privacy page - www.imore.com/…
• iTunes movie rentals, in the US at least, now give you twice as long to finish a movie after you start it - 48 hours - www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple, Fitbit, others work with FDA to pilot digital health software - arstechnica.com/…
• Apple Q4 2017 Earnings Report Set for November 2 - www.macobserver.com/…