Apple’s Sept. 7 Event

[rdrr]

So that's that then? They should start having these every few years, I get why they do these incremental updates annually but every 12 months we hear how the new one is the greatest thing since sliced bread compared that shitty modely they just sold you a few months ago. I was really anticipating it and was pretty much a letdown, I fall for it every year!

Well I hope that every year they can claim "this is the best iPhone we have ever created." Otherwise why waste my hour+ of my attention?

 

[Citysnaps]

Now THAT's the MR that we know and love.

Kind of the tip of the iceberg.

Was also a race to the bottom with inane juvenile comments when menstrual tracking for women was featured on the Watch. And criticizing Apple presenters about their weight and appearance.

 

[Colstan]

I didn't watch, because there were no Mac announcements. I hope everyone enjoyed it, though. I saw that the A16 is on 4nm, which is interesting, considering that M2 was on 5NP. I wonder if this lends credence to M2 Pro/Max/Ultra/Extreme/Bodacious being 3nm? I know TSMC couldn't handle A-series volume on the rumored early 3nm process, but perhaps a lower volume product like high-end Macs are something TSMC could manage?

 

[Nycturne]

Someone on MR asked: "Guys, serious question: where are white, normal looking men in Apple's photos during presentations?"

I stayed away from the politics section on MR, but there’s still a good reason why I’ve backed away after registering in 2003.

Out of the announcements, the Apple Watch Ultra is the most interesting for me (hiking/etc, Garmin Oregon user for the longest time). I just worry about the fit, as the current Apple Watches are not fun to wear for long periods of time for me.

I was having a discussion with family back in June about rumors related to satellite capabilities for upcoming iPhones. Commentators like Bob Cringely seemed to think that Apple is aiming for some sort of Starlink-esque bypass of cellular providers. I was skeptical because of the sheer physics and limitations of current antenna tech, but I commented that using it for SOS would be very useful. Oh hey, look at what Apple is using it for.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Nice to see they're addressing low light, so far, even on the 13 pro max it's pretty bad with all the noise and detail loss. A higher MP count will help but being only on the wide camera will have limitations. I've tested extensively with it and rarely get real keepers on serious shoots.

They're trying to market it as pro photography equipment but it's still a long way from a real Mirrorless or DSLR CMOS sensor, considering it's size it will always be limited this way. Great for point and shoot photographers though.

There's probably some settings I could fuss around with, but there are times when I want low lighting with clarity but it also makes the overall picture way too bright, think dusk or dawn photos.

 

[Herdfan]

I normally upgrade for the camera. But I’m not upgrading until we get USB-C.

I would like USB-C simply for travel. At home I use wireless so it is almost never plugged in.

We have a mesh bag we travel with that has all our cables. 2 each of Lightning, USB-C, Micro USB, and 1 each of USB-HDMI and Lightning-HDMI. Plus 2 wall ports and a dual car port.

 

[Andropov]

The Dynamic Island is one of the smartest design choices I have seen announced in a keynote. They really managed to turn a hardware limitation into a feature. Cool.

 

[Nycturne]

The Dynamic Island is one of the smartest design choices I have seen announced in a keynote. They really managed to turn a hardware limitation into a feature. Cool.

Have to agree that they did a good job there. It’s taking over certain UI cues that have been there for years, but making it more clear. Then add more cues into it now that you have this flexible framework for doing so. Neat.

Hmm, well, with the return period, I decided to give the Ultra a try. Turns out the Trail Loop isn’t going to be available until October. The other two are available on 9/23 though. Odd, since the Trail Loop is probably the simplest of the three.

 

[Cmaier]

The Dynamic Island is one of the smartest design choices I have seen announced in a keynote. They really managed to turn a hardware limitation into a feature. Cool.

Yeah, I have to admit, I think that the dynamic island is what is going to push me to buy this thing.

 

[Renzatic]

Someone on MR asked: "Guys, serious question: where are white, normal looking men in Apple's photos during presentations?"

IF THIS COMMERCIAL DOESN'T HAVE LEROY DRIVING UP IN HIS BIG ASS TRUCK BLASTING SOME ALAN JACKSON ON HIS NEW IPHONE, I SWEAR AFORE GOD IMMA KILL ALL YALL!

 

[Pumbaa]

The Dynamic Island is one of the smartest design choices I have seen announced in a keynote. They really managed to turn a hardware limitation into a feature. Cool.

Agreed. Looked really smooth and something they should try to backport some version of (fat chance).

Wonder how they deal with landscape mode…

 

[Andropov]

I think I’m gonna pass on the iPhone this time. But I’m super curious whether the temperature sensor on the new Apple Watch works for tracking fever. Almost tempted to buy it.

I’m glad they added the Crash Detection feature too, I wonder if it could end up saving more lives than the atrial fibrillation detection. Anyhow it’s cool watching the Apple Watch slowly turning into a small lab-on-the-wrist. Hope they get non-invasive glucose monitoring next

 

[Renzatic]

IF THIS COMMERCIAL DOESN'T HAVE LEROY DRIVING UP IN HIS BIG ASS TRUCK BLASTING SOME ALAN JACKSON ON HIS NEW IPHONE, I SWEAR AFORE GOD IMMA KILL ALL YALL!

This is why I keep getting banned from Facebook, by the way.

 

[Deleted member 215]

Hmm. No WiFi 6E and no Bluetooth 5.2 I wonder what's holding up the adoption of those standards.

 

[Cmaier]

I think I’m gonna pass on the iPhone this time. But I’m super curious whether the temperature sensor on the new Apple Watch works for tracking fever. Almost tempted to buy it.

I’m glad they added the Crash Detection feature too, I wonder if it could end up saving more lives than the atrial fibrillation detection. Anyhow it’s cool watching the Apple Watch slowly turning into a small lab-on-the-wrist. Hope they get non-invasive glucose monitoring next

I had heard rumors that the temperature sensor is very good at measuring delta temps but not so good at correlating to “body temp” you’d get from under your tongue. And given that Apple didn’t talk about fever detection, catching onsets of covid, etc., I’m guessing it just isn’t set up to do that.

 

[Andropov]

I had heard rumors that the temperature sensor is very good at measuring delta temps but not so good at correlating to “body temp” you’d get from under your tongue. And given that Apple didn’t talk about fever detection, catching onsets of covid, etc., I’m guessing it just isn’t set up to do that.

I was surprised when they said the word 'fever' (once) in the keynote, as all rumors pointed to that feature being exclusively for cycle tracking. But AFAIK they only mentioned it once, and it's nowhere to be found in the marketing material. It's likely that the approach is fundamentally limited, since the watch is worn on the wrist, so even if it measures the temperature accurately at that point, it would be different from the core body temp by a huge (variable) amount.

I would be interested in seeing the measurements during a fever spike nonetheless. I bet you *can* see the fever spike clearly when comparing the temperature under the same circumstances (like while sleeping), even if during the day it can't be clearly discerned from the background measurement noise.

 

[DT]

The Dynamic Island is one of the smartest design choices I have seen announced in a keynote. They really managed to turn a hardware limitation into a feature. Cool.

It's super clever. It makes use of the space in a way that makes the pill/cutout seem completely integrated into the user experience (while it's really just an engineering necessity).

We talked (here) about making use of the space around the cutout, but it was still excluding it from the UI elements, where this effectively makes it disappear. I love how in the presentation, once they got past the "We did this and that and the camera/sensors area is smaller" talking point, they never mentioned it again - it just disappeared into part of the UX.

Looking forward to next month when Samsung announces new phones and introduces Active Archipelago ...

 

[DT]

Kind of the tip of the iceberg.

Was also a race to the bottom with inane juvenile comments when menstrual tracking for women was featured on the Watch. And criticizing Apple presenters about their weight and appearance.

I'd like to drag a few MR folks out back ...

 

[Andropov]

But AFAIK they only mentioned it once, and it's nowhere to be found in the marketing material.

Whoa, scratch that! The US page of the Apple Watch Series 8 says this:

Understand your cycle like never before. Apple Watch Series 8 has an innovative new sensor that tracks your temperature while you sleep, so you can see changes over time. Cycle Tracking uses this data to provide a retrospective estimate of when you likely ovulated, which can be helpful for family planning. When combined with your heart rate and logged cycle data, you’ll get a detailed view of your menstrual cycle.

While the ES (Spain) website says something completely different! (Rough translation back to english):

More data about your general well-being. Apple Watch Series 8 has an innovative new sensor that tracks your temperature while you sleep. Changes in body temperature, which are sometimes related with factors like alcohol, exercise or even health problems, can be an important source of information about your general well-being.

Maybe the marketing material differs because they can't legally promote its temperature sensor as a medical device in the US? I hadn't noticed seen this kind of changes in marketing materials at all in any other Apple product release. The Spanish website doesn't even mention cycle tracking.

EDIT: Weirdly, every other country matches the USA version, so not a Europe vs US thing. Hm.

 

[DT]

For the wife