 M1 iMacs. Photographer: Nina Riggio/Bloomberg The most frequent question I get ahead of my weekly column is something along the lines of: When is a new iMac coming out? I can now share some good news. Apple Inc.'s next iMac desktop is at an advanced stage of development called engineering validation testing, or EVT, and the company is conducting production tests of the machine. The next iMac will continue to come in the same 24-inch screen size as the current model, which was announced in April 2021. The versions being tested also come in the same colors as the current iMac, a palette that includes blue, silver, pink and orange. The new iMacs will, of course, be more powerful — with a new M-series chip to replace the M1. There also will be some behind-the-scenes changes. The computer will see some of its internal components relocated and redesigned, and the manufacturing process for attaching the iMac's stand is different. While development of the new iMacs — codenamed J433 and J434 — has reached a late stage, it's not expected to go into mass production for at least three months. That means it won't ship until the second half of the year at the earliest. Still, this is a great development for anyone disappointed that Apple's all-in-one desktop hasn't been updated in nearly two years.  Apple's 2019 Mac Pro. Photographer: Brittany Hosea-Small/AFP Aside from the iMac, Apple is scheduled to launch about three new Macs between late spring and summer, I'm told. Those three models are likely to be the first 15-inch MacBook Air (codenamed J515), the first Mac Pro with homegrown Apple chips (J180) and an update to the 13-inch MacBook Air (J513). The big remaining question is which processors these new Macs will run on. We already know the Mac Pro will include the M2 Ultra, which will provide up to 24 CPU cores, 76 graphics cores and the ability to top out the machine with at least 192 gigabytes of memory. We also know that Apple has developed the next iMac on the same timeline as the M3 chip, so I'd expect it to be one of the company's first M3-based machines. But the chip destined for the new MacBook Air models is slightly less clear. If those machines launch in a few months with the M2 chip, they'll quickly become outdated. A 15-inch MacBook Air with an M2 chip may still excite consumers, but a new M2 13-inch MacBook Air is unlikely to be compelling.  M2 MacBook Air. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg So it's plausible that Apple is gearing up for at least the new 13-inch model to be an M3 machine. That would make a lot of sense: The M2 chip was always designed as a stopgap processor ahead of the M3, which will mark the first time Apple is moving from 5-nanometer chip process technology to a 3-nanometer design in the Mac. The shift will bring a major boost to performance and power efficiency. Having the new MacBook Air sport the M3 would also make sense from a timing perspective. Apple has been clear it wants to put its Mac-grade processors on an annual upgrade cycle like the A-series chips in the iPhone. Last year, Apple introduced the first M2 chip at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. If Apple were to stick to last year's schedule, an M3 chip alongside a new MacBook Air at WWDC 2023 would make sense. The company could then follow up with the M3 iMac later in the year and M3 Pro and M3 Max-based MacBook Pros in 2024. The M3 chip will also land in a revamped iPad Pro with OLED screens that I'm told is scheduled for the first half of 2024. And looking further into the future, even more exciting Mac upgrades will come as early as 2025. That likely includes the first MacBooks with OLED screens and touch support.  The iOS 16 lock screen. Source: Apple Inc. New operating systems are now in beta testing. Apple has rolled out the second beta of the upcoming iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 to developers. The first beta added some tweaks to Apple Music, Podcasts and web apps. Now this latest version builds on that with a few more changes: - A page-turn animation in Apple Books
- Apple Pay support in South Korea following an announcement from the company that this was coming
- Hints that Apple's much-delayed classical music service is still on its way
I'd expect the final release to arrive for consumers in April. There are also corresponding watchOS, tvOS and macOS updates in testing, with the latter beginning to build in support for some of the aforementioned new Macs.  Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer on an iPhone. Photographer: SOPA Images/LightRocket Apple gets a rare antitrust win, with the EU reducing the scope of its case against iPhone maker. The European Union has narrowed the scope of its antitrust case against Apple, paring back its concerns about a requirement that third-party apps use the company's in-app purchase system. The government is now targeting Apple rules that prevented developers from advertising cheaper prices for users who sign up for subscriptions outside of the App Store. The good news for Apple is the company already resolved that issue. As part of an agreement with the Japanese government, it allows developers to communicate with users about cheaper pricing. In arguing against stricter rules, the company pointed to the success of Spotify Technology SA, the Swedish streaming service that has thrived on Apple's platform. "The App Store has helped Spotify become the top music streaming service across Europe and we hope the European Commission will end its pursuit of a complaint that has no merit," Apple said in a statement. Apple also now allows some apps, including music services like Spotify, to steer users to the web to complete sign-ups. That circumvents Apple's in-app purchase system, which collects a commission of as much as 30%. The change follows the company's move to comply with Digital Markets Act requirements in Europe about allowing third-party app stores and sideloading next year.  Inside of an Apple retail store. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg An Apple store opened as normal on Wednesday morning and shut down forever on Wednesday afternoon. In a rare move, Apple abruptly and permanently closed a retail store this past week at the Northlake Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the mall suffered its third shooting in less than three months. It all happened fast. The latest shooting took place outside of the mall's Macy's on Tuesday night. The Apple retail store opened as normal on Wednesday morning, and employees were informed that afternoon that the store would immediately close forever. Apple told workers that they will be transferred to the nearby SouthPark site in Charlotte or to the online retail business. A new store to replace the Northlake location will open next year, but Apple hasn't said exactly when or where.  The Apple Park campus. Photographer: Sam Hall/Bloomberg In the latest high-profile departure, Apple's cloud chief Michael Abbott is leaving the company in April. Abbott oversees iCloud, the company's back-end infrastructure, and business and education software, as well as newer initiatives like iCloud Advanced Data Protection, Passkeys and Safety Check. Jeff Robbin, a longtime services engineering leader credited with creating iTunes, will take over, I'm told. The bigger picture is that Abbott's exit adds to an exodus of vice presidents. That includes the heads of industrial design, procurement, the online store and information systems, and aspects of both hardware and software engineering. Some new leaders are incoming though, including the company's new chief people officer, who is starting this month. It's also the second reshuffle to occur within Eddy Cue's services division in three months. Peter Stern, widely seen as Cue's heir apparent, left at the end of January. He oversaw the business side of most Apple services and marketing for all of them. His role was split up between Cue's deputies in charge of Apple Music and product design and the company's head of corporate development.  A cyclist rides by Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California. Photographer: Bloomberg March 10: Apple's annual shareholder meeting. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and lieutenants such as General Counsel Kate Adams will take the virtual stage to field carefully selected questions from shareholders and give some company updates. Major news rarely breaks at these conferences, but there will be shareholder votes on Apple's board, executive pay, labor and other matters. Q: Is there a big Apple Watch upgrade planned for this year?
Q: What's the latest on Apple's no-prick glucose project?
Q: Will the Dynamic Island be coming to regular iPhone 15 models? | 
No comments:
Post a Comment