Updated June 2 with Apple’s upcoming special offers across the Mac family
Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines from Apple, including the latest iPhone 16 Pro specs, iOS 18 details, Apple’s AI marketing plans, an OLED MacBook Pro, iPhone 14 Pro special offer, Apple TV for Android, and a crucial iPad Pro change.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes.
An attendee looks at the brand new Apple iPhone 15 Pro (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
iPhone 16 Pro Details
More details on the specifications of the iPhone 16 cameras have come to light. As well as every iPhone 16 model picking up a 48-megapixel main camera, the Pro models are seeing resolution increases in the secondary cameras as well:
“…there’s another change which will apply to both sizes of Pro iPhone, and that’s the Ultra Wide camera which, it’s predicted, will leap from 12 megapixels to 48 megapixels. As always with phone cameras, the intended benefit is mostly to improve performance in low light, where smaller sensors with smaller pixels usually struggle.”
(Forbes).
Apple’s AI Plans For iOS 18
A few weeks after the iPhone 15 launch, Google fired the starting gun on consumer AI for smartphones with the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Apple has been watching the competition pull ahead with AI since then, and it is unable or unwilling to react until next month’s WWDC. What does it have planned?
“People familiar with the matter have told us that Apple has been working on AI-powered summarization and greatly enhanced audio transcription for several of its next-gen operating systems. The new features are expected to enable significant improvements in efficiency for users of its staple Notes, Voice Memos, and other apps. Apple is currently testing the capabilities as feature additions to several app updates scheduled to arrive with the release of iOS 18 later in 2024.”
Marketing Apple’s AI Service As Secure
Apple loves to talk about privacy and security of user data throughout it’s online cloud services, and it will come as no surprise that it will attempt to promte the privacy of AI data processed in the cloud:
“What The Information claims is Apple has found a way to process user data in such a way that it remains private throughout. It says Apple has upscaled its Secure Enclave designs to enable such a programming model… However, the exact details of how this will work are still murky. The Information said it remains unclear how Apple will be able to preserve the security model, when a singular chip in a data center is (naturally) running requests from many users simultaneously.”
(The Information, via 9to5Mac).
An OLED MacBook Pro Is Coming
Demand for OLED displays points to Apple’s adoption of OLED for the MacBook Pro platform in 2026, writes Omdia’s Display Senior Analyst Ricky Park. With the iPad Pro already making the jump, Apple’s laptops won’t be too far behind.
“According to Omdia’s Display long-term demand forecast tracker, demand for OLED displays in mobile devices is projected to grow by 37 percent from 2023 to 2031. This substantial growth reflects a significant shift as many tech companies, including Apple, are increasingly incorporating OLED panels into their high-end notebooks and tablets.”
(MacRumors).
Apple Offers New Pricing Deal For iPhone 14 Pro
While Apple regularly sells refurbished iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, it has been reluctant to do the same with the iPhone Pro family. That changed this week with the appearance of the 14 Pro”
“Apple has a clear policy for its Pro iPhone models: they’re on sale for a year and then retired when the next Pro comes along. Regular iPhones stay in the mix for longer and you can still buy the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 alongside the latest iPhone 15. Now, in a rare move, Apple has suddenly restored the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to its refurbished store.”
(Forbes).
Updated: Apple Prepares Mac Offers
Apple’s special offers—such as placing an iPhone Pro in the Apple Refurb store—are not as prevalent as you see with the Android-powered competition. What Apple does bring out with regularity is the “Back To School” promotion, as well as attractive offers to bring new users into Apple’s cloud and to work on existing hardware inventory at the end of their retail life.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has the first details on this year’s offer, which focuses heavily on the Mac family:
“It’s an important one for Apple, which needs to work through its inventory of old Macs before an end-to-end overhaul of the lineup debuts with M4 chips. The new releases will kick off this fall with the MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac. The back-to-school promotion also could help attract attention to the iPad, which was revamped in May.”
(Bloomberg).
Customers are shopping for Apple workstations (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Apple TV for Android
Why would Apple be looking for a Senior Engineer to build “a television and sports app?” Mark Gurman picks out Apple TV+ and a potential appearance on Android as the space is in need of a new hire.
“The move suggests that the company is looking to gain market share in video streaming — and is setting aside its rivalry with Android in order to chase additional users. It’s rare for Apple to develop software for Google’s Android, which competes with its iOS platform.”
(Bloomberg).
And Finally…
Stop the press; the greatest change to ever come to the iPad will happen. It will revolutionise tablet computing in a way that only Apple can. Are you ready for this?
“With landscape usage becoming increasingly popular, Apple product designer Molly Anderson said a landscape Apple logo is a possibility on future iPads- “We are thinking about it. The iPad has long been a product that is used in portrait mode, but we are using it more and more in landscape mode.”
(MacRumors).
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.