Opinion pieces & commentary

Over the last week, we’ve gained a very clear picture of what to expect from the 2021 MacBook Pro update: a slight redesign, more IO ports, the end of the Touch Bar, and the return of MagSafe. Essentially, Apple is undoing the changes it introduced with the 2016 MacBook Pro, an update that proved to be controversial for multiple reasons.

With the Apple Silicon transition moving along swiftly and rumors of updates across the entire Mac lineup, it’s a good time to be a Mac fan. It’s also worth stepping back and questioning how we ended up here in the first place.

We’ve had a couple of reports today, each from solid sources, suggesting that we’ll see significant changes when the 2021 MacBook Pro models appear.

The two reports agree on most things, though there are some differences between them. Notably, Ming-Chi Kuo indicates that removal of the Touch Bar is a done deal, while Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman thinks it is merely being considered at this stage …

Alongside the Apple Watch Series 6, Apple announced a ton of new watch faces. One of those faces just so happened to be a collaboration with artist Geoff McFetridge. Apple had previously made a few watch faces in collaboration with Disney in the form of the Mickey and Mini Mouse face and the Toy Story face. But the Artist face is the first one that truly breaks the mold.

There has been much debate over the years about whether Apple should bring iMessage and FaceTime to Android.

I made the FaceTime case earlier in the year, arguing that the pandemic was the perfect time to do it. Apple didn’t heed that call, but I think there is now an equally compelling argument in favor of allowing iMessage on both Android and Windows …

Yesterday saw a new Kuo report which said that Apple plans to release its first AR device at some point this year. While it didn’t go into any detail, the analyst has previously suggested we can expect to see iPhone-powered Apple Glasses, at least for the first-generation of the company’s move into augmented reality.

Although there are pros and cons to having the iPhone do the heavy lifting, overall I think it’s an approach that makes sense …

It’s been a long wait, but the latest Apple headphones were finally unveiled yesterday. Nobody expected them to be cheap, of course – this is Apple – but the $549 price of AirPods Max has raised quite a few eyebrows.

That is $150 more than the excellent Bowers & Wilkins PX7, which is arguably the product to beat in the wireless over-ear ANC headphone category. It’s $200 more than the Sony WH-1000XM4, which have also been given rave reviews. It’s $250 more than the Bose QC35 II, which completes the set of the most popular premium headphones in this category …

Apple’s switch from Intel processors to Apple Silicon is the most significant change to the Mac lineup in many years, and yet the exterior design of M1 Macs has been left almost completely unchanged. A few function keys aside on the new MacBook Air, there is no clue that the new machines are radically different from the old ones.

Some believe this is a very deliberate move by the Cupertino company. I agree, but not for the reason that has mostly been suggested …

Yesterday’s Apple event was the latest in a series of much snappier, more focused, pre-recorded presentations. The new MacBook Air was the undisputed star of the show. If it lives up to the promises Apple made – and there is every reason to believe that it will – it’s all the Mac most people will need.

That’s long been true of the MacBook Air through the generations, of course. When the average Mac user does nothing more demanding than email, web-browsing, and word-processing, they don’t need much of a machine to do it. But the new MacBook Air takes us into whole new territory …

Delayed iPhone 12 sales meant that the fiscal Q4 earnings Apple reported yesterday were massively better than the headline number suggested.

Apple reported revenue of $64.7B, making it flat against the $64B the company brought in during the same quarter last year. But the delayed availability of this year’s flagship iPhones mean that the two quarters are not remotely comparable …

A report from a reliable leaker says Apple will launch a HomePod mini this year, with the announcement likely taking place during next week’s iPhone 12 keynote.

I think that’s the right move to boost sales of Apple’s smart speakers, but it’s essential for the company to get its marketing right – which is something it hasn’t really achieved with the existing model …

An iPad widgets concept perhaps provides the answer to why Apple didn’t do what many of us wanted: allow flexible positioning of widgets on the iPad, in the same way as on the iPhone.

I raised the issue as soon as iPadOS 14 was announced …

We’re seeing a growing number of face recognition bans introduced around the world as local and national legislators respond to growing public unease over the privacy implications.

We’ve seen bans on public agencies or police departments using face recognition technology, and now one US city has gone even further, extending a ban to private companies too …

All the signs now point to two Apple events in the near future: the now-announced one on September 15, and a second one in October for the delayed iPhone 12 keynote.

Some still believe that the September event will include the new iPhones, suggesting that the scheduled two-hour slot is too long for just the new iPad Air and Apple Watch models. But I think it’s pretty likely the September event will not include the new iPhones …

It was suggested earlier this week that we might see an Apple Silicon 12-inch MacBook before the end of the year, as one of Apple’s first ARM-powered Macs.

If the report is true, I’ve already talked myself into buying one, despite one rather awkward fact…

I argued recently that Apple is at far greater risk than Epic in the standoff between the two companies over Apple’s 30% cut of in-app purchases. One of the risks I outlined is that Apple wins the case, but the publicity prompts antitrust regulators to make legislative changes.

That risk just increased substantially …

Regardless of who you think is right in the Apple/Epic battle, it’s hard not to admire the planning that went into the Fortnite maker’s surprise attack on Apple.

The company clearly knew exactly what it was doing. For the game company, there was really very little to lose …

A report earlier today cited a potentially huge WeChat threat to the future of the iPhone in China. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is concerned that the Trump administration could force Apple to remove the WeChat app not just from the US App Store, but globally.

Kuo warned that this could see a massive 30% reduction in global iPhone sales, and if that sounds hyperbolic, it’s likely not …

We’ve now had a chance to see the antitrust argument Tim Cook will make in today’s hearing, and it essentially amounts to: there’s nothing to see here.

Apple is arguing that it has done nothing wrong in the past, is doing nothing wrong now and sees no need to change the way it works in the future …

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A new Kuo report suggests that Apple may for the first time sell an iPhone without a charger this year. It follows an earlier report that the iPhone 12 box will lack a second standard iPhone accessory: a pair of EarPods.

Both moves would save Apple money, and by more than the cost of the accessories themselves. As my colleague Benjamin Mayo noted, this would reduce the size and weight of the iPhone box, which would reduce Apple’s freight costs…

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I recently suggested that Apple’s antitrust issues aren’t going to go away, and that the company should start taking action to address them. With iOS 14, Apple is doing exactly that.

The company didn’t pitch things like that, of course, but we got five announcements that directly tackle some of the antitrust claims facing it…

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None of us were surprised by Apple yesterday announcing that it was beginning the transition to ARM: In future, Macs will be powered by Apple-designed chips based on ARM architecture. We’ve been predicting the move for many years now, and the fact that this would be the year it was announced was leaked in advance.

There was a little more surprise at the first model being promised later this year rather than early next. Some were skeptical when 2020 was first suggested, in 2018, but two things seemed clear to us…

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