Updated on June 8 with details on Siri’s enhanced AI capabilities.
Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines from Apple, including the latest iPhone 16 Pro leaks, iPad Pro’s privacy hardware, Apple’s delayed AI rollout, the lack of hardware at WWDC, Apple’s hidden hardware, Android defeating Apple’s security promise, and “I’m A Mac” man returns.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes.
Customers look at an Apple iPad Pro M4 (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)
iPad Pro’s Hidden Feature
Tucked away in the iPad Pro is a new feature designed around user privacy. Apple devices, like many in the industry, indicate if a microphone or camera is active. With little fanfare, Apple has set this to be a feature powered by hardware rather than software, as Guilherme Rambo explains:
“Fun fact about the M4 iPad Pro: it’s the first device to support and use Apple’s new Secure Indicator Light (SIL) mechanism. When using the microphone or camera, the corresponding indicator dot is effectively rendered in hardware (using the display), making it a lot less likely that any malware or user space app would be able to access those sensors without the user’s knowledge.”
iPhone 16 Pro Display Size Leaks
Apple is set to increase the perceived screen size of the iPhone 16 Pro. The latest leaks around the design of the upcoming iOS-powered smartphone show the bezels around the screen are set to be shrunk. It’s something Apple has been hoping to achieve for some time:
“[Border Reduction Structure technology] was last rumored because it was said that Apple found this technology was creating problems in terms of yield. That’s because… BRS affects the build: “Wiring and circuitry near the edge of the panel has to be bent downwards to achieve this. This has reportedly caused some manufacturing challenges during the production ramp.”
(Forbes).
Apple’s Limited AI Rollout
The rush to AI by Google and its Android partners has pushed Apple to make the role of AI in iOS more visible than its current uses in Siri, typing, and image processing. Those changes will be previewed at WWDC next week, but the high demands placed on iPhone spec means not every handset will reap the benefits. While iOS 18 will be expected to run on devices reaching back to the iPhone XR, you’ll likely need an iPhone 15 Pro at worst to run AI:
“While it’s not entirely clear which hardware factor is the key requirement for Apple’s on-device AI, it’s worth noting that (non-supported) standard iPhone 15 models have 6GB of RAM, while the supported Pro models have 8GB of RAM. Likewise, all Apple Silicon iPads and Macs come with a minimum of 8GB. Even when scaled back for narrow use cases, LLMs require a lot of working memory due to the sheer number of parameters involved, so this could be where Apple is coming up against the hardware limitations of its own devices.”
(MacRumors).
No New Hardware At WWDC
It may have happened in previous years, but Apple is not expected to launch any new hardware at WWDC next week. While some product lines are in need of a mid-cycle refresh (most notably the lack of M4-powered Macs), Tim Cook and his team are likely going to focus on the future of AI as opposed to the future of retail shelves:
“”There’s no hardware slated to be announced at WWDC, unless Apple unexpectedly previews a new device launching later (to be clear: I don’t expect that),” said Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. Notably, Gurman now says a new Apple TV model “isn’t imminent,” despite previously reporting that Apple was aiming to release a new Apple TV in the first half of 2024. The current Apple TV was introduced in October 2022.”
Siri’s Enhanced AI
Updated June 8: One of the focus points of AI will be in Apple’s long-standing digital assistant Siri. Apple Insider’s Marko Zivkovic details which Siri functions throughout iOS will pick up AI support. The core proposition is that Siri will handle more natural language requests as opposed to formal and strictly defined commands:
“Instead of containing only direct commands like “Show me pictures of my cat,” the company’s testing prompts mention that the user wants to make a blog, or that they’re feeling lazy/nostalgic in some instances. In doing so, Apple wants to get its AI accustomed to natural language, speech patterns, sentence structures, and instruction types Siri is likely to receive from end users — some of whom may not be all that familiar with new technology.”
Hidden Hardware In Your New iPad And Mac
Apple has included support for the IEEE 802.15.4 transmitter function, essentially, the radio channels used by the royalty-free Matter standard for smart home communications. Apple has not made mention of its support, but the hardware is there, ready to be turned on when the time (and presumably the software) is right:
“While the company doesn’t list Thread on the specs of any of these products, FCC reports indicate that many of Apple’s latest devices have had Thread radios tested for compliance. Generally, you don’t test a radio that’s not there.”
(The Verge).
iPhone Loses To Android In Security Promise
Unlike Android manufacturers, who state up front how many years of software updates and security patches a new phone will receive, Apple has been a bit more circumspect on its support window. Following the introduction of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act in the United Kingdom, manufacturers of internet-connected devices must offer statements of compliance, which include software support windows:
“Since iPhones are internet-capable products, Apple is required to comply with the UK’s PSTI regulation. The company recently published its compliance statement for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, revealing that its “defined support period” is a “minimum five years from the first supply date.” The “first supply date” is listed as September 22, 2023, which is when the iPhone 15 series went on sale.”
And Finally…
Apple’s “I’m A Mac” actor from the classic American campaign had been hired by Qualcomm to promote its new Snapdragon X Elite chipset, with a direct line drawn from the innovation in Apple’s past to the current innovation in Windows.
“During Qualcomm’s Computex 2024 keynote today, Long appeared in a brief 30-second skit where he was bombarded by macOS notifications and nag screens causing him to start searching for a Snapdragon-powered PC instead… “Things change,” jokes Long to camera, after searching for a Windows on Arm PC following the pop-up notifications in macOS. The pop-ups include warnings about app compatibility, low disk space, battery, and more.”
(The Verge).
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.
