Opinion pieces & commentary

Ok, the pedants among us will argue that today isn’t the end of the decade – that’s really a year from now – but it seems as good a time as any to look back at my favorite Apple products over the years.

For some of us, of course, Apple products have been part of our lives for far longer than one decade. In my case, the first product to make my list dates back more than three decades…

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It’s coming up to the end of the year, and it’s time for me to write my take on Apple’s report card 2019.

Just as I’ve done for 2016, 2017 and 2018, I’m taking a look back at what the company has achieved during the year, focusing this year on its rather extensive number of product launches.

These started with a whimper – a new iPad mini which looked exactly like the old iPad mini – and ended with a bang, the release of the much-hyped all-new Mac Pro…

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Not quite a feature request, but a small favor I’d ask of Apple and third-party app developers alike: please set aside some time to fix your small but annoying bugs.

It’s the thing that would probably make the biggest difference to my day-to-day experience of Apple devices. Not because any of the bugs I’m discussing are major ones, but because they cause me minor but persistent irritation for months or even years …

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Apple yesterday announced the long-rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro — but what I really want now is a widescreen MacBook Pro.

The machine the company did launch is an appealing one if you’re upgrading from a pre-2016 model. You get a lot of bang for your buck, especially when it comes to SSD storage, which is now more sensibly priced given the ultrafast spec you’re getting…

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A report yesterday suggested that anyone eager to get their hands on the long-rumored Apple Glasses might have to wait a while. An internal presentation reportedly said that we won’t see third-party devices until 2022, and Apple Glasses until 2023.

But what was perhaps most interesting was the claim that Apple believes its glasses product will replace the iPhone within a decade…

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An iPhone subscription would once have sounded like a bad joke. But these days it’s a growing reality.

Apple has long faced a problem. Its biggest cash cow is the iPhone, historically generating the majority of the company’s revenues. But where people once bought a new iPhone every couple of years on average, that upgrade cycle has been gradually lengthening. It’s now in the 3-4 year range for the average buyer…

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There’s a new report today suggesting that we may be seeing Apple-branded HomeKit accessories as the company explores ways to boost the popularity of smart home technology.

According to a new report by Bloomberg, Apple is investing heavily in its smart home division in an attempt to grow the company’s presence in the smart home market.

Whilst HomeKit has grown significantly in the last few years, it trails Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa platforms in terms of the sheer number of compatible devices. The company is apparently looking at ways to encourage more manufacturers to make HomeKit accessories, and may even release smart home accessories of its own, following the HomePod’s muted reception.

From one perspective, that makes no sense…

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Apple’s relationship with China has never been an easy one. Indeed, I wrote a piece a couple of years ago arguing that the company was in a no-win position in the country.

Apple’s only option of taking the moral high ground would be to pull out of the country altogether – as Google did for a time, after refusing to allow its search results to be censored by the government.

But Apple is in a very different position today than was Google in 2010. While Google had big ambitions within the country, it was not dependent on the market. Apple very much is. Not just because China is the largest smartphone market in the world – and as important to Apple as the whole of Europe – but because it is the iPhone maker’s key manufacturing base. Without China, it literally couldn’t make its products.

Things today are even worse…

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Today’s news brings another report on ‘the iPhone SE 2,’ expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year.

It’s not, though.

I mean, yes, I absolutely believe Kuo that Apple is launching a new, budget-focused iPhone model early next year, and I accept that this is intended by Apple to fill the hole left by the removal of the iPhone SE. But it’s not an SE 2…

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Apple has so far made one move designed to help it sell more HomePods: a price drop from $350 to $300 back in the spring. Indications are that this didn’t really help.

Other efforts seem… limited. Click the Search button on Apple’s website and AirPods – and even iPod – come up as Quick Links; HomePod doesn’t. Even on the Music page, HomePod gets second billing after Apple Music.

Part of the challenge for Apple is that decent-quality audio is one of those product categories that has to be experienced before you appreciate the value. Sonos, which faces the same problem, appears to be testing a possible solution: one I suspect will prove successful…

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Apple this week very quietly launched another new Services product: an AppleCare+ subscription. It’s a move that could see the company doubling its money on what is likely to be a very profitable product.

Previously, you could choose between a one-off upfront payment for your AppleCare+ policy or a monthly one, but either way, it ran for a fixed period of either two or three years, depending on the product. Two years in the case of an iPhone.

Now, however, it runs indefinitely – for an indefinite payment…

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It’s the morning after, and time to provide my take on everything Apple announced in yesterday’s keynote. Some of it was as expected, some of it was a surprise – and some of it was notable by what the company didn’t announce.

The stars of the show were, of course, the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and the ridiculously-named iPhone 11 Pro Max…

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A new report today, from two reliable sources, suggests that the anticipated ‘reverse charging’ feature – allowing an iPhone to charge AirPods – has now been abandoned by Apple, at least for this year’s models.

If true, this will add to the embarrassment of Apple’s track-record on wireless charging…

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In-screen Touch ID could be appearing in iPhones as early as next year, according to a new report today. But while the current report suggests that both Touch ID and Face ID fans will be catered for, that may not remain the case for long.

The debate between the respective fans of Touch ID and Face ID began when Apple launched the iPhone X, the first iPhone to be launched without the fingerprint reader since it made its debut on the iPhone 5S in 2013.

With the iPhone X launch, Apple seemed pretty clear that Face ID was the future of iPhone authentication. It is, says Apple, faster, easier, and more secure than Touch ID…

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The iPhone SE 2 — or whatever Apple would call a successor to the SE — has provoked more comment than any iPhone that doesn’t yet, and likely never will, exist.

Regular readers will know that I’m a great fan of the size and slab-sided design of the iPhone SE. I welcomed its introduction in 2016, “downgraded” to it shortly afterwards, and quickly knew it was the right decision. It was only a desire to experience the next generation of iPhones that had me move on from it.

I’ve also expressed both hope and despair at the idea of an iPhone SE 2…

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Prior to the iPhone XS, Apple had a simple approach to its iPhone lineup. You could either buy the shiny new model, or you could buy any one of a range of older models — including last year’s flagship. (The iPhone SE temporarily complicated things, but no more, sadly.)

That changed last year. The iPhone X disappeared, and customers were left with a choice of three things…

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Apple TV+ pricing is still an unknown at this point. Apple itself has been silent on price, but a recent Bloomberg report suggested that Apple is considering charging $10 per month.

Following a report from The Financial Times earlier today, Bloomberg has now published its own report detailing certain aspects of Apple TV+. According to the report, Apple is targeting a November launch of Apple TV+ and “weighing” a price of $9.99 per month.

Apple itself has not yet offered any details on price, and this Bloomberg report is the first we’ve heard of a $9.99 price point.

That pricing doesn’t look completely impossible …

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Whether the Apple Card benefits justify the hype has been a hotly-debated topic ever since the card was launched. Never before has a mainstream credit card attracted so much media attention and generated so much discussion.

There are those who have been as excited about receiving the card as you’d expect them to be about a new iPhone or Mac. And there are others saying the Apple Card really is nothing special…

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I wrote recently that while I tend to believe reports that Apple is planning to launch this year’s flagship iPhones as the iPhone 11 Pro (and Pro Max), I did so reluctantly.

Just the idea of a ‘Pro’ iPhone is a little annoying.

Don’t misunderstand me. Modern iPhones are amazing devices. There was a time when such a powerful and flexible pocket computer would have stretched the credibility of science fiction stories, yet we now take them totally for granted.

And they are sometimes used for professional purposes. There are, for example, all those ‘Shot on iPhone’ movies and ads. But let’s not kid ourselves about those. The reasons for shooting on iPhone have little to do with it being a ‘pro’ device.

However, if the latest reports are to be believed, Apple does seem to be working hard to justify the label…

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We’ve heard two credible reports now that this year’s successor to the iPhone XS will be named the iPhone 11 Pro. Today’s report suggests that the successors to the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max will be, respectively:

• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max

I think it’s a fairly horrible idea, but I do tend to believe it…

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A new report today suggests that Apple is bringing back Touch ID to iPhones. Unlike a sketchier report last month, this one says that under-display Touch ID will not replace Face ID, but rather supplement it, with 2021 iPhones able to be unlocked using either method.

The report certainly cannot be dismissed out of hand. While analyst Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t have a perfect track-record, he has a far better one than most. Deep dives into Apple’s supply-chain means that he often has visibility on upcoming developments…

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