MacMen

Lachlan Hamilton is joined by Nic Jeffries, Mike Pensini and Mitch Bruzzese for a special MacMen MEGAPOD! We comb through Apple's WWDC 2020 announcements, including iOS 14, iPad OS, watchOS 7, macOS Big Sur and ARM Macs!

Mitch is welcomed back to the show to talk about his Twitch streaming, replacing default apps, his Apple TV+ review, and of course, the NBN.

Lachlan Hamilton is joined by Patrick Muldrew to talk about the NBN, Covid Safe app, Spotify, and music streaming services.   Aussie Broadband Referral Code: 2501880

Lachlan Hamilton is joined by Nic Jeffries to talk about the Apple TV, Apple's rumoured over-ear headphones, AirPods Pro, and some positive and negative support experiences. Also, iPhone 12 and Apple Glasses.

Welcome back and happy new year to all! Today, Rob and Lachlan discuss the launch of the HomePod, Apple's admission that they are indeed throttling performance of older iPhones, and Apple's biggest financial quarter EVER!

There were rumours late last week that Amazon would launch in Australia on Friday 24th November, based off an email sent to sellers that were inviting them to a soft launch of the seller’s marketplace. [BLACK FRIDAY DISCUSSION] Shipping estimates for the iPhone X have improved to 1 to 2 weeks on Apple’s online store. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Quo puts this down to better than expected production, not weak demand.  After conducting an audit, Apple and iPhone assembler, Foxconn, have said that there are “confirmed instances of student interns working overtime” in Foxxconn’s Chinese factory. The students worked voluntarily, were compensated and provided benefits, but they should not have been allowed to work overtime,” the report added.   GADGET OF THE WEEK Sonos One

Apple has delayed their smart speaker, HomePod, until 2018, saying “We can't wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple's breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it's ready for our customers. We'll start shipping in the US, UK and Australia in early 2018.” Guardians of the Galaxy 2 has received a card within iTunes claiming that it is available to rent in 4K. Whilst the film is still only available in HD for now, this might indicate that Disney and Apple have come to an agreement to stream 4K content on iTunes.  iPhone X has been named one of the “25 Best Inventions of 2017” by TIME Magazine. Other products in the list include the Nintendo Switch, Tesla Model 3 and fidget spinners. RELATED LINKS: http://time.com/5023212/best-inventions-of-2017/

The iPhone X is here. One of the MacMen managed to get their hands on one on Day 1.

Apple and AT&T are teaming up to improve cellular service in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, with the activation of LTE Band 8.   Amid reports that say only 2 to 3 million iPhone X units will be available at launch, Apple Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Williams, will meet with Terry Gou, Chairman of Foxconn. Whilst it wasn’t revealed what topics would be discussed, they will presumably be looking at ways to deal with the manufacturing bottleneck the upcoming iPhone is facing.    Apple’s Craig Federighi has responded to a customer’s email that was asking whether or not we would see an October keynote event. Federighi simply said, “I think we’re all Keynoted out for the season!”   Apple is being sued by an app developer, Enrique Bonansea, who claims that he came up with the name “Animoji” in 2014, and registered it with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2015.

In an interview with Vogue, Tim Cook said that he sees Augmented Reality as being “as key as having a website” for brands.   In another interview with ”The Independent”, Tim Cook said that the technology doesn’t exist to do Augmented Reality Smart Glasses “In A Quality Way”.   Apple are partnering with LG to create a “foldable iPhone”, according to Korean site, “The Investor”.    A proof-of-concept phishing attack has been gaining traction online as it shows how developers can easily use Apple-style pop ups to gain access to a user’s Apple ID and password.   Woolworth's Everyday Rewards card will soon be added to Apple Wallet.

Google has announced a range of new products at a press conference last week, including the Pixel 2, featuring a single rear camera lens, no headphone jack and “active edge” technology that lets users squeeze the phone to activate Google Assistant.    Also announced were two new smart speakers, the Google Home mini, and the Google Home Max, bluetooth ear phones called Pixel Buds, and a new high end laptop, the Pixelbook.   Some iPhone 8 devices are bursting open due to a possible battery failure.   And Apple’s digital assistant, Siri,  turned 6 years old last week.

Apple finally confirmed all the circulating rumours by announcing the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple Watch Series 3 and 4K Apple TV. Face ID, Portrait Lighting, Dual Optical Image Stabilisation and Apple Heart Study were some of our favourite features. The pricing was not one of them. The MacMen run down all of the details for you.

Rob and Lachlan present a leaky lineup (as opposed to a rumour roundup) as we hear new details of the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the new Apple Watch and 4K Apple TV with HDR. Also, Face ID details.

Apple has sent invites for their September iPhone event to members of the press. The event is to be held on 10am, Tuesday September 12 PDT. For our listeners in Australia, this equates to 3am Wednesday 13th September Australian Eastern Standard Time. The event will be the first held at Apple’s new campus, in the Steve Jobs Theatre. Gestures are set to change the way we interact with our iPhones, according to a report from Bloomberg. With the rumoured absence of a home button, the report states that a user will unlock the phone by swiping up a thin bar from the bottom of the screen.  Apple may release a “Galaxy Note 8” sized iPhone with 6.4” OLED display next year, if a new report from South Korea’s ETNews is to believed. The phone would be even larger than the Galaxy Note 8, but with almost no bezels, the physical size of the device would be similar to the current iPhone 7 Plus. Apple is pushing for $20 4K movies in iTunes, whilst film studios are pushing for $25 - $30. In the lead up to the rumoured 4K APPle TV announcement, Apple are said to be scrambling to strike deals with movie studios regarding the pricing of 4K movies. Apple wants to continue charging $19.99 for 4K movies, which is the same price currently charged for HD films. Gadget of the Week: Sphero's R2D2 and BB-9

Rob has returned from his time overseas, just in time to record a new episode of MacMen! An eagle-eyed resident of California has spotted one of Apple’s Lexus SUVs recently, sporting a brand new LIDAR set up. The  LIDAR systems on the car are designed to send out laser beams to allow the car to accurately detect its surroundings, essentially creating a 3D map of the environment around the vehicle. GPS, wheel sensors, and cameras are all used to assist in the self-driving functionality.  Samsung mobile president, DJ Koh, has told CNBC last week that Samsung is working on a smart speaker. "Maybe soon we will announce it. I am already working on it," Koh said. He went on to say, "As I mentioned I wanted to provide a fruitful user experience at home with Samsung devices, and I want to be moving quite heavily on it." Google Assistant has been launched on iOS in Australia, Germany, France and the UK. The Google Assistant is 137 megabytes in size and requires iOS 9.1 or later. It is compatible with iPad, along with the iPhone and iPod Touch. Samsung has announced its Galaxy Note 8 at an event in New York last week. It features a 6.3” AMOLED display, with no side bezels, though it does have small bezels at the top and bottom. It features a dual-12MP camera set up, with one wide angle and one telephoto lens. Like the S8, it will have facial recognition, and Iris Scanning as ways to unlock the phone. A fingerprint scanner remains on the back of the phone.

Apple has had a class action complaint filed against them in January, and appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday to argue that it shouldn’t be held liable for iPhone related distracted driving accidents. Julio Ceja, a resident of California, filed the complaint after being involved in an accident where the another driver was texting on an iPhone. Ceja complained that Apple should lock drivers out of their device completely whilst the vehicle is in motion.    Apple have shared a new video series, highlighting the iPad and iOS 11. The promotional series of videos covers features such as multi-tasking, the new dock, the new Files app, signing documents, and mark up with the Apple Pencil. iOS 11 is expected to be released within the next month, shortly prior to the upcoming iPhone launch.   A new feature discovered in the latest version of iOS 11 beta features the ability to disable Touch ID through the SOS feature. By pressing the sleep/wake button five times on an iPhone, the SOS screen appears, where you can see your Medical ID, or make a call to emergency services. If you cancel out of that screen, your passcode is needed to reactivate Touch ID. The feature is not advertised, and is being called by some the “Cop Button”, in response to authorities using force to unlock iPhones using a suspect’s fingerprint.    Apple have set aside a ONE BILLION DOLLAR War Chest for Hollywood programming, according to the Wall Street Journal last Wednesday. This amount should see Apple produce as many as 10 television shows over the next year. Hollywood veterans Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, who used to preside over Sony Pictures Television, are supposedly in control of the budget. Currently, Apple have released two television shows through Apple Music: Carpool Karaoke and Planet of The Apps.

Lachlan flies solo today, and discusses the dummy models of the iPhone 8 that have been circulating, how the Home Button might work on a Home Buttton-less iPhone, and an unusual song climbing the iTunes Charts.   SHOW NOTES: With the launch of the next wave of iPhones expected next month, dummy models made of leaked design information have begun circulating amongst YouTubers and media outlets. MacRumors made a hands on video of the iPhone 8, highlighting features such as the edge to edge screen, vertical camera layout, and glass back, which will help to enable wireless charging. Whilst the look and features of the phone are not confirmed, they do line up with leaked specifications, CAD drawings, and information pulled from the HomePod firmware.   More information gained from the HomePod firmware includes a feature that will see the Home Button on the iPhone 8 be resizable, and the ability to be completely hidden. The iPhone 8 is expected to lose any sort of physical home button, and it would make sense that Apple would make the virtual home button contextual.   An unusual song is climbing the charts on iTunes currently. Titled, “a a a a a very good song”, the track is completely silent. Created by Samir Mezrahi, the track is being used for people that have their car autoplay their Music library alphabetically. The track goes for 10mins, and reached #44 on the US iTunes charts

Apple last week seeded an over-the-air firmware file for the HomePod, revealing that it will run essentially a full version of iOS, albeit slightly modified. Within this, developers have discovered references to many features that seem to correlate to unreleased devices, such as the iPhone 8 and upcoming Apple TV.   Some of the iPhone 8 features within the leaked file include the ability to record video in 4K at 60 frames per second, information about the use of facial recognition, and an icon of the iPhone 8, revealing the look of the device. The unreleased Apple TV is said to be able to play movies in 4K, and both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. It’s unlikely that Apple intended this information to be released, even to developers, before they had made any announcements about these features themselves.   John Gruber, of “Daring Fireball”, reports that the Apple Watch will have an “All-New Form Factor” this year, though he clarifies this this information comes from “an unconfirmed little birdie, though, so I wouldn’t bet the house on it.”   Bloomberg reports that the third generation Apple Watch will include its own LTE, meaning that it can be untethered from the iPhone. This will allow the Apple Watch to send messages, stream music, download apps and generally connect to the internet without the need for an iPhone.   Apple’s stock opened at an all-time high of $159.52 last Wednesday, and a market cap of nearly $830 billion, moving closer to becoming a trillion dollar company.   South Australia have agreed to Elon Musk’s offer of building the world’s biggest lithium ion battery, including the condition of having it built in 100 days, or it’s free. The array will be capable of an output of 100 megawatts of power at a time, and the battery will be able to store 129 MW hours of energy. If used at full capacity, it would be able to provide its maxiumum output for more than an hour.  

On this episode of MacMen, Rob and Lachlan discuss PayPal’s CEO saying Apple will struggle with Apple Pay person to person payments, Dexcom CEO says watchOS 4 is a game changer for diabetes management devices, Scott Forstall speaks publicly about Apple for the first time since he was ousted from the company, and Malcolm Turnbull wants big tech companies to co-operate to fight terrorism.  This week’s “Gadget of the Week” is Acorns Investment

Apple presented plenty of new features at their WWDC conference in June, but we have the scoop on some features they didn't mention!