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Apple Products Are Evolving
It's deeper than just the iPhone.
Good morning! āļø *Tim Cook voice*
Apple is essentially a bank now, sideloading is coming with iOS 17, Angry Birds bought for $700+ Million, the HomePod is evolving, and much more.
Estimated reading time: 4.3 minutes
š Poll
Last week I asked if youād take $10k to never buy an Apple product again..
Here were some of my favorite replies:
ā10,000 will buy the wife and I a nice vacationā Fair enough! Hope you have an iPhone 14 Pro Max since youāll never be able to buy another iPhone to take vacation pics with š¤£
āI can make $10,000 disappear within minutes with paying things off like school loans. My apple products can help me make $10,000 and use that to pay off things over time. Iāll take long term gratification vs instant gratificationā Donāt even get me started on student loans.. what a joke. Anyways, good thinking!
āI thought long and hard about this. Thing is my Apple gear is very old, iPhone 8, MacBook from 2017. I'm hard pressed for cash right now. And at my age I don't see my chances improving much, so reluctantly I'd have to take the cash.ā Yep. The correct answer to this question is based on personal circumstance. Bravo for not living beyond your means & being responsible.
āApple products improve our workflow every day. I think I can save more than 10k every year because of our apple ecosystem in our company. We started in 2020 with one MacBook Pro (intel) and now everything including many smartphones are from Apple. Not cheap but the update and app deployment is so much easier.ā This is a common theme: continuity in the workplace, and Apple crushes with this!
This week: How long is your iPhone passcode? More on why this matters later.
How long is your iPhone passcode? |
š² Quick Tip
Crop Image to Wallpaper
One of the wallpapers included at the end of this issue was too big, so I used this trick.
Once on a photo, tap Edit
Tap the Crop button
Tap the Square button in the top right (next to the markup pen)
Select Wallpaper
Position the image to your liking
š° Apple Savings is Here
Yeah, I buy a lot of Apple products with my Apple Card
Apple announced this high-yield savings account feature back in October, and now itās finally available in the US for Apple Card holders!
4.15% interest rate (APY) - compounds daily
No fees, No minimum balance requirements
All Daily Cash earned automatically deposits into the account
Can deposit money from an external account
Instant access to the cash
$250k maximum. FDIC insured
Setup process took less than 2 minutes - just had to verify SSN & agree to terms
Iām impressed with this. The UI is amazing, 4.15% APY is competitive, itās easy to check your balance/graph, and itās FDIC insured. Not much more you can ask for!
Fun fact: Deposit $25k into this account and youāll get a free iPhone every year, just from the interest youāll receive!
Will you be opening an Apple Savings Account? |
š HomePod is Evolving
After being announced a while back, the HomePodās Sound Recognition feature is finally here!
Detects the sound of smoke & carbon monoxide alarms
Sends you a notification when detected, so you can be aware even if you are away from home
Tap the notification to check in and hear whatās going on and ask if everything is okay. Siri also announces to those at home that a Home member is checking in
If there is a HomeKit camera in the same space, the video feed is also included in the notification
Requires iOS 16.4 & HomePod Version 16.4 (works with all HomePod models)
You know how many people have had their house burn down while they were out getting groceries? All because nobody was home and there was no way to notify then that the smoke alarm was going off.
Well now, with this new feature, your home might get saved since you can call emergency services immediately after getting notified. That alone is worth the sub-$90 price tag for a HomePod mini imo!
š² Sideloading on the iPhone
The EU law is forcing Apple to adapt and change, and sideloading will be our first taste of it.
According to Bloomberg, iOS 17 will allow iPhone users to download apps from 3rd party sources, and not just the official App Store!
This is something weāve been able to do on the Mac for a long time and honestly, some of my favorite apps on macOS are not on the official App Store, so Iām ready for this.
Iād expect Apple to do something similar with iOS - where thereās a warning that the app is from a 3rd party & ensures you want to run the app. I can also see Apple adding some sort of verification/vetting process for apps downloaded from 3rd parties so that itās not the Wild Wild West.
And while this is cool for us normal users who download apps, it is a far bigger deal for developers, since they wonāt need to pay Apple's egregious 15-30% fees any longer. In theory, of course, because Apple could easily find a loophole to still get their cut. Regardless, itāll be less than what it is now and thatās a win!
š Update Your iPhone Passcode
WSJ
Back in February, The Wall Street Journal shared a shocking iPhone theft story that caused much concern.. but now, weāre hearing that itās even worse than expected.
To catch you up:
Thieves are spying on iPhone user's passcodes in public and then stealing their devices, sometimes after befriending them at a bar
The thieves access financial apps, where they transfer the money to themselves
They then reset the victim's Apple ID password in the Settings app, disable Find My, and wipe the device. All from simply knowing the device passcode
Now, WSJ reports this:
Some thieves are using Apple's recovery key security option to permanently lock out iPhone users from their Apple ID account after stealing their phones
Without this recovery key (that the thieves generate), you will lose access to your Apple ID account, meaning all photos, videos, contacts, etc.. GONE
How do you protect yourself? Well, first off, try to always use Face ID or Touch ID while out in public. The passcode is the weak link, not the biometrics.
The report also recommends for users to switch from a 4-digit passcode to an alphanumeric passcode, which would be more difficult for thieves to spy on & remember.
And lastly, donāt store important passwords in your iPhoneās password manager. Use a 3rd party password manager with its own, separate passcode to get in.
āļø High Expectations for watchOS 10
iMore
Although iOS 17 isnāt expected to be anything too crazy, watchOS 10 is!
watchOS 10 will be a major update with bigger enhancements, including an "updated interface." -Mark Gurman (Bloomberg)
Will have a redesigned home screen layout/grid, folders, and will act similarly to iOS. -analyst941 (leaker)
Last week, Gurman said that watchOS 10 will be the Apple Watch's ābiggest software update since 2015.ā And now that we have more rumors pointing to big changes, I am officially excited!
š° Quick News Bites
Netflix to Expand Password Crackdown to U.S. in Q2 With Paid-Sharing Plans
Apple's Upcoming Beats Studio Buds+ Earbuds Spotted in FCC Database
Hands-on with the new Multiview feature for Apple TV sports streams
Rumor: iPhone 15 to use āfrosted glassā finish, new ācyanā color option
Kroger now rolling out Apple Pay support to stores across the United States
š¶ Now Playing
Foo Fighters - Rescued (single, rock)
Daniel Caesar - Always (single, R&B)
Kane Brown & blackbear - Memory (single, pop)
Every week I share some podcast episodes & music Iāve been listening to. Feel free to reply with the music/podcasts youāve been listening to!
š«¶ Reader Love
This makes me so happy to hear! Appreciate it Francee!
Hope this week was just as enjoyable as the last!
Until next week, āļø
- Brandon
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