Opinion pieces & commentary

Apple’s Reality Vision Pro was in some ways one of the company’s worst-kept secrets. We’ve known for years that Apple was working on AR/VR devices, and our renders were close enough to give us a decent preview of the design.

But Apple still knocked it out of the park yesterday! What we witnessed was the most impressive implementation of mixed reality that’s ever been seen, and also the most persuasive (partial) answer so far to the question, Why would anyone use this tech? …

The iPad lineup has grown considerably in recent years. If you go to an Apple Store (or just open Apple’s website) now, you’ll find six different models available, ranging from the entry-level 9th generation iPad to the expensive 12.9-inch iPad Pro. I have two iPads: the latest M2 11-inch iPad Pro and the iPad mini 6. And the more I use both models, the more I’m sure the iPad mini is my favorite – here’s why.

I won’t be buying Reality Pro. That’s partly down to the anticipated price, but also because I haven’t yet found either augmented or virtual reality to be in any way compelling.

Cute, yes. Impressive, also yes. But I can’t remember the last time I used an AR app, and while I did buy a VR headset, I also can’t remember the last time I dug it out of the back of a drawer …

Whether or not we expect to buy, I suspect most of us would like to at least try Apple’s upcoming AR/VR headset. But the availability of Reality Pro demos is likely to be limited, even after the product goes on sale toward the end of the year.

It may even be that Apple takes a similar approach to the original gold Apple Watch – where you not only had to make an appointment, but one that took place off the main sales floor …

There’s been a lot of speculation lately about Apple’s Reality Pro launch plans, and also about the pricing of the device.

The consensus view so far has been that Apple will announce the Reality Pro AR/VR headset at WWDC on June 5, and that pricing will be around $3,000. But some are questioning both …

Apple introduced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models earlier this year. While these laptops maintain the same design as the previous generation, they come with faster M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. I’ve been an M1 MacBook Air user for over two years, but I decided to try the new MacBook Pro. And while it’s undeniably a great laptop, there’s one thing I don’t like about it.

The number of Apple service outages lately seems to have risen to the point where they’ve become almost routine.

This isn’t great for any tech giant, but when the ecosystem is such a huge part of the appeal of Apple products, it becomes a far bigger deal …

It’s almost a decade since I first suggested that we might one day see an Apple Bank. Given that not even Apple Pay existed back then, I’ll be the first to admit that it seemed a pretty out-there idea at the time.

By 2015, it seemed significantly less of a stretch, and yesterday’s billion dollar news brought us even closer …

Apple put up a lengthy fight against being forced to allow iPhone sideloading – the ability for owners to install apps directly from a developer’s website, in the same way we can a Mac app.

The company even went as far as arguing that Macs weren’t safe from malware because users can download apps directly. But ultimately the battle was pointless, and may even have been harmful …

The launch of Apple Silicon Macs back in 2020 was one of the longest-awaited developments in the history of Macs. The rumors date back to at least 2014, and with hindsight, the writing was already on the wall when Apple developed its own chip for the first-gen iPad and iPhone 4 back in 2010.

Apple’s hardware chief, Johny Srouji, said last year that the company itself had been working on the project for 14 years …

Some people can already use Apple Pay Later, with the company promising that it will come to “all eligible users” in the next few months. But while you will be able to use it soon, the question is: Should you?

On the surface, it seems like a decent option. It’s interest-free, there’s no application form to fill out, there’s no impact on your credit rating, and you’re dealing with Apple rather than a bank or finance company. But there are a few things to consider …

Artificial intelligence has been with us for years, even in the little things like identifying the faces in a picture to the recommendations we see in our favorite apps. But more recently, we’ve seen new types of AI capable of doing things unimaginable years ago. This new type of AI is changing how people interact with technology. But at the same time, Apple is clearly falling behind its competitors.

After years of speculation, Apple’s Reality Pro headset is expected to debut at WWDC in June. But an Apple Glasses launch is likely still years away, and the Xiaomi Wireless AR Smart Glasses have just given us a very good understanding of the reason for this.

While the role expected to be performed by Apple Glasses is technically achievable today, we’re nowhere near the kind of form factor we’d expect from an Apple product …

The MacBook Air has been sold as a single 13-inch option for years, while customers who want a larger-screen laptop have to opt for the MacBook Pro. This makes sense from a certain point of view since most users who prioritize having a large screen are professionals. However, a lot has changed since then, and now it seems that Apple may introduce a 15-inch MacBook Air. Here’s why this is a good idea.

9to5Mac yesterday gave an exclusive first look at the iPhone 15 design, based on CAD drawings provided to a reliable casemaker.

It appears to be a truly beautiful evolution of the flat-sided form factor first seen in the iPhone 4, revisited in the original iPhone SE, and then revived for the iPhone 12 to iPhone 14 …

We first heard reports about a 15-inch MacBook Air almost a year ago now, and I noted at the time that it could be the perfect machine for many users.

A report yesterday indicated that the machine may be arriving early in April, and while customers have had a long wait, I suspect that the timing is not coincidental …

Chat AI tech is without a doubt the most exciting thing to have happened in the world of technology for quite some time – providing answers to questions, writing essays, generating working code, or even passing an MBA exam through a conversational UI.

Microsoft announced that a version of ChatGPT will power a conversational search feature within its Bing search engine. Google has been quick to announce that it, too, will use its own AI chatbot, Bard, for searches. Does all this mean that Apple too will climb aboard this next-generation chat AI tech to finally make Siri smarter … ?

When Apple announced the transition of Macs powered by Intel processors to its own Apple Silicon in 2020, the company said it would complete the transition of the entire lineup in two years. However, that timeline has passed, and Apple still has one Intel Mac available in its lineup: the Mac Pro. Did Apple overestimate its ability to build a Mac Pro with an Apple Silicon chip?

Could Apple be planning a new iPhone Ultra, costing even more than the Pro Max? That’s the suggestion of a report over the weekend, and it may be backed by a hint dropped by CEO Tim Cook in last week’s earnings call.

Asked about the company’s continued push to drive up the average selling price (ASP), Cook said:

The iPhone has become so integral into people’s lives. It contains their contacts and their health information and their banking information and their smart home and so many different parts of their lives, their payment vehicle and – for many people. And so I think people are willing to really stretch to get the best they can afford in that category …

It has been quite a while since we started hearing rumors about Apple’s mixed-reality headset. In recent months, a lot of extra details about the product have leaked out on the internet, as it is expected to be introduced sometime this year. Interestingly, one of these reports pointed out that Apple has been investing in an immersive Apple Store experience. But if the company wants the headset to become a hit, it will need more than just an Apple Store app in VR.

Activation Lock is condemning even 2020 Macs to a future as spare parts and landfill, by making it impossible for them to be restored to use.

To be fair to Apple, the technology is only part of the problem – the other half is corporate policy in many companies that issue MacBooks to their employees – but it is an issue that only the Cupertino company can solve …