Get smart about all things Apple
Welcome to issue 24 of AppleUnboxed, your one-stop shop for everything Apple.
Like last week, it’s put together on a whole new software system, which I hope will mean greater versatility and flexibility in the future.
It’ll still be stuffed with Apple-related goodness and enough to keep you intrigued, I hope. If not, please let me know what I can do better by emailing me a message at: AppleUnboxed@forbes.com.
You're already emailing me with suggestions, requests and other thoughts. Please keep them coming—this is a two-way conversation.
This week: first, in Front and Center, there’s the latest news, including rumors about Apple Watch Series 7 suddenly seeming much more real thanks to the leaking of model numbers in a database.
This Changes Everything looks at a technology which really could be revolutionary, 5G, and what it means to Apple.
Next up, there's a selection of links to Forbes and beyond, curating some of the best things the web has had to offer this week.
In Things Nobody Told You, we look at how to make the most of your Mac. There’s also a round-up of some of the coolest tech stories online, from Forbes and beyond.
We’ll finish up with a gaming focus, beginning with a one-minute review of one of the newest games in Apple Arcade, and one of my favorites, Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City. After that, in One More Thing: a gentle saunter through Apple Arcade itself. Two years in, is it worth $4.99 a month and if so, which titles are worth your time?
Settle down, and I hope you’ll have a great time.
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Please let me know what you think at AppleUnboxed@forbes.com.
AppleUnboxed is not affiliated with Apple Inc.
Front and Center: The Latest Apple News
New Macs, Apple Watch Series 7 confirmed
About this time of year, it’s worth checking out what the Eurasian Economic Commission is saying. That’s because any new electronic products which are to be released in relevant countries have to be announced first. Those countries, by the way, are the Republics of Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation. To sell its products there, Apple has to register model numbers in advance.
Usually, the data appears in the EEC listings days or at most weeks before release.
So, the new information displayed in the database is especially interesting. It includes six devices assumed to be new Apple Watch models and two new Macs.
I’ll be discussing the implications for the Apple Watch in more detail over at Forbes.com, but the revelations for the Mac are just as intriguing.
There are two new models listed, among a list that includes familiar Mac devices, updated to work with the upcoming macOS Monterey.
These, it seems, could tally with recent rumors like those from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg who says that new Macs with an updated Apple Silicon processor, likely called M1, are still on track for release this year.
Which means that these two code names could refer to two new MacBook Pro models, probably one 14-inch and one 16-inch laptop.
There are lots of thoughts about what will be in these laptops—and what won’t. For instance, it’s believed the controversial Touch Bar will be ditched in favor of a return to a conventional function keys row. Personally, I love the Touch Bar, but there we are.
It’s also thought, and I’m all for this, that MagSafe connectivity will return to the new laptops.
Don't Miss This: Cool Stuff from Forbes and beyond
A new patent just revealed the ultimate iPhone upgrade Read all the details here.
How do you feel about your home broadband? Dwight Silverman has been looking into it. Details here on Forbes.
AirPods 3 will be the biggest change to Apple's earbuds yet according to the latest report: read all about it here.
Is the hard drive era almost over? Barry Collins thinks it could be. Read about it here.
Apple could be about to cancel an Apple Watch That's a new rumor—and here's why I don't believe it.
How to send WhatsApp photos and videos that vanish Maggie Tillman at Pocket-lint has a useful guide, here.
Apple just let slip more than it meant to about the future of iPhone and Apple Watch Details here.
New Apple Watch software is out and Apple warns you need to update your Watch right now. Here's why.
Is your Kindle about to expire? Some models of Amazon's ebook reader are going to change their functionality in coming months. Check out if yours is among them, here.
And how about an alternative to AirPods Pro? Read my review of the cool NuraTrue.
This Changes Everything: An In-Depth Look at Apple’s innovations
Apple and 5G
Apple wasn’t the first to introduce a gadget that was compatible with 5G. But, see, here’s the thing, that’s not Apple’s concern. “Don’t do it first, do it right,” I have been told by Apple executives over the years.
So, it’s only last Fall that the first iPhones with 5G connectivity appeared, in the form of the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Then, this Spring, the newest iPad Pro arrived with 5G on board those models with cellular connectivity. So, what are the ramifications for adding 5G to phones, tablets and beyond, and did Apple miss the boat with its late entry to the world of super-fast connections?
Apple takes its time, that’s for sure. I can’t tell you how many phones I tested with NFC (all Android or Windows Phone) which never, literally never, made decent use of the technology on board. Apple only introduced NFC when it had a killer application—Apple Pay—and it transformed NFC usage as a result.
Will 5G be the same game-changer? Well, it’s certainly true that the first handsets with 5G capability didn’t use them that much. The networks were at an early stage and the speeds were fast, but not super-fast.
As I commented last September, getting 5G is a Very Big Deal for Apple, but getting Apple is also a Very Big Deal for 5G. I’d stand by that, even if there still hasn’t been the killer app for 5G.
When 4G launched, we suddenly had Netflix, Uber and Deliveroo taking advantage of the upgrade, but so far the 5G-only essential has been hard to pin down. I have no doubt it will come, and Apple’s late entry to 5G may mean it will come soon. Actually, maybe the killer app has been video calls like Zoom, Google Meet and, soon with the release of iOS 15, FaceTime.
Beyond that, though, the significantly greater speeds are enjoyable, as are more resilient signals (for me the most important part of 5G) and superbly reduced latency.
The increased speed has been important in one surprising way, too: until I upgraded to gigabit, 5G was outstripping the speed of my home broadband easily.
For many people, the only downside to 5G will be the lack of unlimited data, something we’re so used to for home broadband. Yesterday, I had an important briefing from a leading tech company while I was away from home (you’ll read about it on Forbes.com tomorrow) and I tested the line twice with the brand to ensure a smooth connection. My 5G iPhone connection was way faster than my local broadband.
The extra real estate the iPad offered was useful to see my interlocutor and their products up close.
But 5G is only part of the equation. Apple has been careful to match 5G with incredibly fast processors, like the A14 Bionic chip in the iPhones and the M1 processor on the iPad Pro.
We’re still waiting for those amazing killer apps, but Apple’s deployment of 5G may have been perfectly timed.
Things Nobody Told You #24
The Mac is a brilliant computer, but we most of us barely scratch the surface. Read on for tips to make it more appealing and easy to use.
Where’s the cursor?
You may know this one, but I just love it. Sometimes you can’t quite see where the cursor is hiding. The most natural thing in the world is to wiggle the mouse. Apple realized this and fixed it so that a mouse wiggle makes the pointer swell up so you really can’t miss it.
Use Spotlight for more
Did you know that Spotlight is quite clever? Call it up, eight by clicking on the magnifying glass in the Menu Bar or pressing Command + Space Bar, and then enter something. For instance, you can convert units. Type in $30 and press Return to see the value in UK£, Euros and more. Similarly, you can enter a number of miles to see what it is in meters, kilometers and more.
Screenshot
This is one of the most underrated apps on the Mac. Not only can you capture the entire screen of your Mac with a keyboard shortcut, but you can also grab just one window or a customized area. It’s also the app that will record video, again for the whole display or a selected portion. You can add a timer to what you grab or record. Screenshot is found in the Utilities folder in Applications.
Cut and paste from iPhone, for instance
This is one of the coolest things about Apple’s tight integration. If there’s a web address or a code or a, well, any text really on your iPhone or iPad, just copy it. Then go to your Mac and type Command + V where you want the original to go. A message will appear onscreen saying “Pasting from iPhone 12” or whatever and the text will be pasted. Works in the other direction, too.
Preview
This is another underrated Mac feature, for instance when it comes to manipulating images. It’s very easy to crop, resize and combine images. It’s much simpler than something like Photoshop for straightforward changes but includes sophisticated features.
How to get rid of the Blang
That’s the start-up noise on the Mac and it returned in Big Sur. But not everybody wants to hear it (for instance, if you’ve ever started your Mac early in the morning while your significant other is still slumbering, or rather was until the noise sounded). To quell it, click on the speaker icon in the Menu Bar and chose Sound Preferences. A menu will drop down including a box marked Play sound on startup. Untick the box and you’re done.
Keychain Access
I love that the Mac will save my passwords securely so I don’t have to remember them all. In almost every case, when I need to type them in, it’ll do it for me—and it’ll save the passwords across Mac, iPhone and iPad. When it doesn’t or when you want to see the password separately, open Keychain Access (find it through Spotlight) and choose the item you’re after. Once you’ve double-clicked it, you can tick the box marked Show password. You’ll need to enter your master password but then the missing item will be revealed.
Check out all your open Safari tabs
In the top right of the Safari window are three icons. The Share button and the Plus that opens a new tab, but there’s also the two squares in front of each other. Click that and all your open tabs will appear, along with a search box. But scroll down and you’ll also find all the tabs open on your other devices, Mac and iOS. You can click on a tab that’s open on your iPhone, for instance, to open it here, or close them on your iPhone from your Mac.
The 1-minute review
Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City
First came Alto’s Adventure, essentially a downhill endless snowboarding quest. Backflip to build speed, ropes, rails and more to grind and—above all, for the love of all that’s holy—don’t trip up on a rock in your way. Then Alto’s Odyssey added more locations and this new episode, The Lost City, takes things to the next level.
The Lost City is an Apple Arcade exclusive and it means this fantastic, deeply immersive game, is available in its most advanced form to Apple subscribers only. The same joys that have accompanied the game from day one are here: dexterous backflipping to help you along, the need to avoid the unwelcome attentions of local wildlife which can prove rather, er, bitey and canyons that can undo the most advanced of players.
But there’s more. The Lost City gives you secret map pieces to find. While the landscape of Alto games is constantly changing, these map locations are constant: miss the exact jump needed one time through and you’ll recognize it the next go.
Once found, a new world, with new challenges, opens up.
It’s not perfect. In the iOS game, there are challenges which you have to achieve to move on, where the Android game was more forgiving. And if you’ve played the game before, you need to go through all those achievements again to advance. But this is easily the best version of the game yet, and it’s included in your subscription.
One more thing
Apple Arcade: Is it Worth It?
When Apple Arcade launched, the subscription service had a lot of games. And there are many more now. All for $4.99 a month. That’s a great price, unless there are no games worth having. Thankfully, there are titles which will likely intrigue you. Best of all, there are no in-app purchases or other ways you might find yourself spending more money. No, $4.99 is the most you’ll ever pay.
Of course, with an umbrella subscription, Apple is trying to be all things to all gamers. But it mostly meets that high bar easily. And more recently alongside its own original games, there are classics gently tweaked to offer something new, whether that’s the lack of a price or extra levels.
Here’s a selection of my all-time favorite Arcade titles.
Stela
Okay, first tip: do not play this on a plane, with headphones and the volume up. It will scare you, potentially so much that the person next to you will be covered by your complimentary beverage as you jump. It’s brilliant, but a bit scary.
Assemble with Care
This is such a beautiful game, perhaps not surprising as it came from usTwo, creators of Monument Valley. It’s a puzzle game where you take things apart and put them together, told with brilliant visuals and a charming story. Note that Monument Valley+ is now in Apple Arcade, too.
Manifold Garden
Stunning graphics and impressive geometric elements combine in a highly immersive game that’s rewarding, engaging and even slightly trippy.
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Speaking of trippy, things are quite intense as you zoom through multiple remarkable locations at speed and with a fantastic pop soundtrack.
Shinsekai: Into The Depths
Explore and survive an undersea world, peppered with enemies, goodies and more. It’s amazing-looking and seductively enjoyable.
SpellTower+
This is another classic suddenly available on Arcade. It is a word game where each word you find takes the letters off the board. Which is great, because the rows of letters pile up faster than you’d like.
Comments, questions or complaints? All are welcome, well, maybe the complaints not so much, but try me. Drop me a line at appleunboxed@forbes.com.
See you next Wednesday.