Forget M3, Apple is Going for M4

and it's not for speed.

Author

Brandon Butch
May 03, 2024

Welcome back! šŸŽ
Hereā€™s the latest with Apple.

  • Apple could be skipping M3 for M4

  • Several iOS 18 leaks & rumors

  • Apple in talks (again) with OpenAI

  • EU Changes to iPadOS

  • & more!

šŸ“– Read time: 3.6 minutes

šŸ“Š Poll

Last week, I asked: Do you think the Apple Vision Pro will succeed long-term? Why or why not?

Here are some of my favorite replies:

Yes - ā€œIt's a pretty decent product, but boy does it need some improvements. The possibilities for a product like that are incredible. If Apple were to play their cards right (i.g. lowering the price, making it lighter, making it more versatile, having more apps, and making it just overall a better product). Right now the Apple Vision Pro is sort of a beta product. It's far from perfect, but it could be a very compelling product in like 5 years. (Especially if they lower the price!)ā€

Yes - ā€œI think it's the typical product launch for Apple. Everybody complains about how bad the product is - has happened with almost every product that Apple has launched. Then, slowly, all the critical self-proclaimed pundits will see how popular the product is by users. That said, due to the price, I think this realization process will take much longer. I don't think anyone has the full overview of its potential and of what Vision Pro can become. I don't have a Vision Pro and am not going to purchase the first version, but I am intrigued and excited on what is to come. I simply don't understand this critical approach to a new product. I think Apple did something groundbreaking.ā€

No - ā€œI think the concept of ā€˜spatial computingā€™ is interesting, but Iā€™m an engineer. I donā€™t see the majority of people wearing an uncomfortable headset to do the things most people use their computers to do. This is 3D TV all over again.ā€

This week: Will you be watching Appleā€™s event on Tuesday? What are you hoping to see?

Will you be watching the Apple Event?

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šŸ—žļø The Latest

āš™ļø M4 Chips Already?

Although Apple just debuted its M3 chip six months ago, they might be planning to show off the ultra-powerful M4 chip next week at the Let Loose event.

  • Appleā€™s next iPad Pro & iPad Air models are set to be announced on May 7th.

  • According to Bloomberg, the iPad Pro is ā€œlikelyā€ to be shipping with the M4 chip, not M3!

  • Apple will position this tablet as its first truly AI-powered device, thanks in part to the M4 chipā€™s upgraded Neural Engine.

  • These iPad Pro models will also feature "by far the best OLED tablet panels on the market."

  • The next-gen Apple Pencil is expected at this event and weā€™re hearing that it will feature haptic feedback for the first time.

Apple might give us a sneak peek at the AI features theyā€™ve been working on, but Iā€™d expect 95% of the AI talk to be saved for WWDC on June 10th.

ā€œWe continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI. We believe in the transformative power and promise of AI and we believe we have advantages that will differentiate us in this new era, including Apple's unique combination of seamless hardware, software and services integration, groundbreaking Apple silicon, with our industry-leading neural engines, and our unwavering focus on privacy, which underpins everything we create."

Tim Cook (via CNBC)

šŸ“² iOS 18 = A Big Deal

Speaking of WWDC, iOS 18 will be the star of the show and now we have even more potential features to expect. Spoilers ahead

  • iOS 18 is said to "overhaul" many of Apple's built-in apps, including Mail, Notes, Photos, and Fitness.

  • iOS 18 is also set to streamline task management by allowing the Calendar and Reminders applications to talk to each other. So youā€™ll be able to manage your events & reminders from the Calendar app.

  • Safari will be getting several interesting changes:

    • Intelligent Search with AI-enhanced browsing and text summarization features

    • Web Eraser for better content-blocking

    • Updated UI will move key tools into one easy location

    • AI-enhanced Visual Lookup (later in 2025)

OpenAI & Google Partnerships

  • Apple and OpenAI are once again negotiating terms for a potential partnership that would see OpenAIā€™s features - such as ChatGPT - integrated into iOS 18.

  • Apple is also exploring a deal with Google to license Gemini.

  • The report suggests that they could partner with both Google and OpenAI, or pick another provider entirely.

  • The iOS 18 features set to be highlighted at WWDC are based on the in-house model. The talks with OpenAI and Google are for a chatbot/search component, which is coming later.

On a related note, Apple recently hired dozens of AI experts from Google for a secretive Zurich research lab where they will be building new AI models and products.

iOS 18 is shaping up to be a big deal and we are just over a month away from seeing what Apple has been cooking up!

šŸ“‘ EU Forces More Changes

Sideloading was one of the biggest changes to come to the iPhone, but many were disappointed that it was for iOS only (and not iPadOS). Well, now thatā€™s changing.

  • Earlier this week, the EU designated iPadOS as a ā€œgatekeeper platformā€ under the Digital Markets Act.

  • Acting quickly, Apple announced that theyā€™ll bring sideloading (and all of the other iOS changes for apps) to iPadOS later this fall.

  • All of these changes are still only available in the EU.

Big Change to CTF

In March, Apple announced a Core Technology Fee (CTF) of ā‚¬0.50 per annual install per year, after the free 1M threshold. Now, Apple is tweaking this.

  • Apple has adjusted the CTF to better protect small developers from bankruptcy if their app goes viral.

  • First, no CTF is required if a developer has no revenue whatsoever.

  • Second, small developers (less than ā‚¬10 million annual revenue) will not have to pay the CTF for the first 3 years.

It's surprising that Apple didn't just go with this fee setup from the start. If they did, AltStore would possibly be a free download.

šŸ“° Quick News Bites

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Until next week, āœŒļø

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