Taking a look back at another week of news and headlines from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes the latest iPhone 15 disappointment, more iPhone 14 Pro problems, A16 Bionic chip struggles, iPhone 14 Plus review, disappearing lightning port, Apple’s patent challenge fails, and rather a lot of songs in Apple Music.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).
Rumors Of TouchID’s Return May Be Mistaken
It’s rare for Apple to bring back old technology (although we’re glad to see the return of the SD Card reader in the MacBook Pro), but will that change for TouchID on the iPhone? While the fingerprint recognition system remains on the iPhone SE, the larger handsets rely on FaceID. The iPhone 15 family was going to be the grand return, but that looks in doubt:
“In addition, [Bloomberg’s Mark] Gurman suggests Apple will not bring Touch ID back on the iPhone 15 or any of the upcoming flagship iPhones in the years to come. There is a chance we may see an iPhone SE with a side-mounted Touch ID scanner embedded in the power button down the line. “
(Power On via GSM Arena).
iPhone 14 Pro Max is seen in the store in Krakow, Poland on September 30, 2022. (Photo by Jakub … [+]
NurPhoto via Getty Images
iPhone 14 Pro Facing More Power Issues
Not content with having to deal with charging problems in software and grinding cogs and gears in the camera hardware, iPhone 14 Pro owners have a new problem to deal with… the camera bump is making wireless charging difficult if not impossible. By pushing the handset up and away from the charging plates, the resulting gap of few millimetres is enough to disrupt the Qi charging option. And with this being a physical problem, there’s no obvious fix through a software update:
“However, many owners of the new iPhone 14 Pro are reporting a big hassle related to the enlarged camera bump needed to make all of that happen. Not only did the camera have early trouble with physical vibration in third-party apps, but now owners are reporting their wireless chargers won’t work with the handset.”
(The Mac Observer).
Gaming Powerhouse Needs A Modifier
And the iPhone 14 Pro fun doesn’t end there. Apple is proud of the performance that the A16 Bionic chipset offers the handset, but they are proving temperamental under continued load. That typically happens on long gaming sessions, and as Nadeem Sarwar notes, the thermal capabilities of the new iPhone leave a bit to be desired:
“The iPhone 14 Pro has uncharacteristically bad thermal management hardware. Every single demanding game that I played for 30 minutes, or more, turned the phone into a piping-hot glass-and-metal sandwich. The heat is primarily localized to the area underneath the camera hump.”
(Digital Trends).
iPhone 14 Plus Reviewed
The first wave of reviews of the iPhone 14 Plus – the larger version of the regular iPhone – are coming through. With an incredibly similar feature set to the iPhone 14, it is pretty much all about the size. Allison Johnson starts the review with a look at the physical differences in the 14 Plus:
“This is probably an obvious point, but the feeling of having more visual space while using this phone — especially compared to a 6.1-inch model — is real. More text fits onto its screen, and games and videos are a little more immersive. But it also very much handles like a big phone. It’s a real struggle to use it one-handed, even with the iOS 16’s “reachability” UI controls. Lots of people get along with a big phone just fine, but the 6.1-inch 14 and 14 Pro feel much more comfortable in my hand.”
(The Verge).
USB-C Becomes A Bit More Universal
Following legislation passed by the European Parliament, USB-C has been adopted as a universal charging standard, with the relevant consumer electronics on sale in Europe having to use this standard to obtain certification. While Android manufacturers may not have too many issues here, Apple’s reliance on a proprietary connector in the lightning point is going to be the highest-profile case:
“In an industry-changing move, the European Parliament has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a new law which requires all consumer electronic devices to use the USB-C port by the end of 2024. And with rivals already onboard, the law’s primary target is Apple and its AirPods and iPhone ranges.
“Apple still has the option to retain Lightning ports outside the European Union. But the financial benefits of the proprietary port would likely be outweighed by the complexity split production would bring to Apple’s supply chain.”
(Forbes).
One person who does agree with this ruling is iPod designer Tony Fadell – although do note he is an investor in Nothing Tech:
“Fadell said that the regulation only happened because Apple is having a monopoly-like position. The engineer believes that some regulation and standardization in favor of consumers is necessary since companies are not always interested in doing the “right thing for society’s best interest.”
(@tfadell via 9to5Mac).
Qualcomm Patents Challenge Fails
The saga of smartphone patents held by Qualcomm and used by the industry, including Apple continues. Apple is seeking to negate some of the patents:
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday again declined to hear Apple Inc’s bid to revive an effort to cancel three Qualcomm Inc smartphone patents despite the settlement of the underlying dispute between the two tech giants… The companies settled their underlying fight in 2019, signing an agreement worth billions of dollars that let Apple continue using Qualcomm chips in iPhones. The settlement included an Apple license to thousands of Qualcomm patents, but allowed the patent-board proceedings to continue.”
(Reuters).
And Finally…
Apple is reporting that its streaming music service, Apple Music, is now listing one hundred million songs for people to listen to online. That’s the equivalent of a stack of seven-inch singles that towers 62 miles into the sky… which would be above the Karman Line and regarded as being “in space”.
Twenty-one years on from the invention of iTunes and the debut of the original iPod, we’ve gone from 1,000 songs in your pocket to 100,000x that on Apple Music. It’s phenomenal growth by any metric. The entire history, present, and future of music is at your fingertips or voice command.
More music than you can listen to in a lifetime, or several lifetimes. More music than any other platform. Simply the biggest collection of music, in any format, ever.”
What we don’t get is the track that was the 100 millionth song. Boo!
(Apple Newsroom).
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.
