Stunning iPhone 15 Pro Details, Apple Music Defeated, Future Mac Plans

Apple Vision Pro launch updated July 8th: article originally posted July 7th.

Taking a look back at another week of news and headlines from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes the disappointing iPhone 15 Pro specs, Apple’s ambitious iPhone 15 plans, Apple Vision Pro production cut, new Macs and Smart Homes, the dream of macOS gaming, Apple Music defeated, and designing the first Apple Mac.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).

The Complexity Of The Apple Vision Pro

As expected, Apple’s pre-recorded CGI presentation of the Apple Vision Pro caught the attention of many, but it was also clear that many challenges remained. Now that the device has been uncovered, it’s becoming clear that the complexity will not make this a smooth launch. This week reports that Apple has cut back on the initial order:

“Two people close to Apple and Luxshare, the Chinese contract manufacturer that will initially assemble the device, said it was preparing to make fewer than 400,000 units in 2024. Multiple industry sources said Luxshare was currently Apple’s only assembler of the device. Separately, two China-based sole suppliers of certain components for the Vision Pro said Apple was only asking them for enough for 130,000 to 150,000 units in the first year.

(Financial Times).

Update: Saturday July 8th:

When Apple does launch the Apple Vision Pro, anyone looking to buy the mixed reality headset will need to do it the old-fashioned way and head to a retail store. Apple is planning to have ‘fitting rooms’ for the new technology to ensure the correct fit, perform an introduction to the software, and presumably upsell consumers with the various peripherals and accessories that will be offered at launch:

“The company will designate special areas in the stores with seating, headset demo units and tools to size accessories for buyers. While the device will be sold at all of Apple’s roughly 270 US locations, the company is planning the sections for the Vision Pro initially at stores in major areas — such as New York and Los Angeles — before rolling them out nationwide, according to people with knowledge of the plans. “

(Bloomberg).

iPhone 15 Battery Surprise

Lots of talk earlier this week on a potential increase in battery capacity on the upcoming iPhone 15 family, with an increase on the order of twenty percent. The truth is closer to the iPhone 14. While there may be a few mAh differences, the battery technology in the iPhone 15 will be consistent with the iPhone 14:

“So what upgrades will we get? In terms of consensus, the most likely upgrades are the transition from Lightning to USB-C wired charging (for all models), while the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will adopt the iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island design, as well as their A16 chip and 48-megapixel primary rear camera.”

(Forbes).

iPhone 15 Production

One thing that is climbing is the expected production run. Haitong International Tech Research’s Jeff Pu has indicated that Apple will not only be starting production in August, but is aiming to manufacture 84 million units:

“This is up about 12% compared to the iPhone 14 builds last year, suggesting Apple thinks demand will be strong. However, Pu warns that he believes the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be priced higher than the $1,099 starting price of iPhone 14 Pro Max. Unlike last year, we expect the iPhone 15 Pro Max to have exclusive features not found on the 6.1-inch Pro.”

(9to5Mac).

When The Lights Go Off

What happens when your device goes into standby? For your smartphone, the ‘always on display’ continues to offer information while sensors can record movement. Apple is exploring how to do this on the desktop and turn the Mac display into a smart display:

“Like the Studio Display, a new monitor with smart home capabilities would run on a chip first seen in the iPhone. The Studio Display contains Apple’s A13 chip—the same seen in the iPhone 11 line of smartphones. The upcoming smart display could potentially run on the A16 seen in the iPhone 14 Pro, since that device introduced a similar always-on display feature to Apple’s smartphone lineup.”

(Power On, via Ars Technica).

The Grail Of MacOS Gaming

This is the year for the Mac platform to break through in the gaming world. Just as 2022 was. Just as 2021. And 2020. and so on. But this year is going to be different, argues Oliver Mackenzie:

“Apple recently released a tool called the Game Porting Toolkit (GPT), which simulates a Windows environment and translates DirectX API calls to Apple’s own Metal API, all the while translating x86 instructions to Apple Silicon’s ARM instruction set. It’s effectively a translation layer, like Valve’s Proton on Steam Deck, with the same capability to run high-end games at playable frame-rates. But how good is GPT – and are we really on the verge of a Mac gaming revolution?”

(Eurogamer)

Apple Music Takes Second Place

Details on the subscriber count of the various streaming services in the US show Apple Music is comfortably ahead of Amazon but still has some way to go if it is going to overtake Spotify and take the number one spot:

“[Spotify] takes the crown with 44.4 million paying customers, according to the data. For comparison, Apple Music accounts for 32.6 million paid music subscription customers in the US… While Spotify leads Apple Music by nearly 12 million paid customers, Amazon Music lags behind Apple Music by a mere 3.3 million subscribers. Our take? Either the NMPA data isn’t very representative, or Amazon Prime is doing a lot of heavy lifting.”

(9to5Mac).

And Finally…

What did it take to design the first Apple Macintosh computer? Fred Guterl decides to find out as he talks to the designers and engineers who many believe changed the future of computing:

“Essentially a slimmed-down version of the Lisa workstation with many of its software features, the Macintosh sold for $2495 at its introduction in early 1984; the Lisa initially sold for $10,000. Despite criticism of the Macintosh—that it lacks networking capabilities adequate for business applications and is awkward to use for some tasks—the computer is considered by Apple to be its most important weapon in the war with IBM for survival in the personal-computer business.”

(IEEE).

Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.

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