Taking a look back at another week of news and headlines from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes the iPhone SE reviews, s
les of the new iPhone, a dangerous iOS bug, Xcode coming to mobile, iPad Pro Magic keyboard review, death of innovative apps in the App Store, and the most expensive wheels in the world…
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).
The iPhone SE Is Here
Friday morning saw the iPhone SE going on sale. Earlier in the week, the first reviews were published by those hand-picked by Apple to have an early look at the handsets. From the design, through the specs, to the support, the iPhone SE is shaping up to be Apple’s key handset for 2020 and into 2021:
"But the biggest element that is not typical of Apple is the price. At $399 for the entry-level 64 GB model (which frankly is likely more than enough storage for the target audience), Tim Cook has handed the market the cheap iPhone it has demanded. That alone should make the iPhone SE a hit, and I would expect the SE to be Apple’s biggest selling phone of 2020.”
More iPhone SE reviews here on Forbes. It’s also worth taking some time to go through John Gruber’s in-depth look at the smartphone. The long-time Apple commentator received an early review unit of the SE, and found one of the biggest changes was the impact of the home button and the lack of gestures:
"I’ve used it exclusively for hours at a stretch and I never stopped expecting it to act like a post-iPhone-X device. I swipe up from the bottom to go home or multitask. I expect it to wake up just by tapping anywhere on the display. I pull down from the top right corner expecting to see Control Center.
"…Once you get used to the post-iPhone-X interaction model, there’s no going back. A week with the new SE has not shaken my belief that the X-style interaction design is superior. Not one iota.”
Apple's iPhone SE (2020)
iPhone SE Sales Hit iPhone 12 Demand
The launch of the iPhone SE saw a rush of pre-orders for the smaller and cheaper devices. that’s great news for the debut handset, but it could hit the numbers of the flagship iPhone 12 later this year:
"It starts with the new iPhone SE (2020), pre-orders for which started a couple of days ago and which saw delivery dates slip into May, due to higher than expected demand. The analyst expects 12-14 million SE phones to ship this quarter followed by 10 million in Q3. However, Kuo warns that this will be at the expense of the more premium iPhone 11 models – in times of financial uncertainty, consumers prefer the more affordable product.”
Dangerous iPhone Flaw Threatens Millions Of Handsets
A massive security hole in iOS has been reported by ZecOps, A remote attack using Apple’s own Mail client would allow an attacker to control the user’s inbox. The flaw has been present from iOS 6. Forbes’ Gordon Kelly reports:
"That said, none of this hides the fact that a serious exploit running through eight iOS generations (iOS 6 was released in September 2012) is eye-opening. It also means that almost every iPhone in use today (Apple claims 1.5 billion active devices of which iPhones make up the majority) is impacted. This is because iOS 6 was released for all iPhones other than the original (released 2007) and its successor, the iPhone 3G.”
Apple has a planned fix in police with iOS 13.4.5, although it has not found evidence that the exploit has been used. It is recommended that you disable the Mail app. Users can switch to Gmail or Outlook clients, both of which are not affected. More on Forbes.
Xcode Prepares Jump To Mobile
Prolific Apple commentator Jon Prosser appeared on a YouTube lifestream this week, talking about many leaks and details from the upcoming portfolio. One that is getting many developers excited is the inclusion of Xcode in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14:
I’m not gonna say that Final Cut is coming to iPad… But Xcode is present on iOS / iPad OS 14. The implications there are huge.Opens the door for “Pro” applications to come to iPad.
With a virtual WWDC 2020 happening this summer, Apple has the perfect launchpad to announce this addition, and open up coding directly on the iPhone or iPad.
An iPad Pro and a Macbook Pro are displayed an Apple store Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, in suburban ... [+]
Reviewing The iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard
March saw the launch of the Magic Keyboard case for the iPad Pro. By handing the table a keyboard broadly similar to the new MacBook laptops, a touch pad, and new UI controls for a mouse pointer, is the iPad Pro ready to be a laptop replacement? Dieter Hohn reviews the new accessory:
"It’s a well-made, beautiful keyboard case that’s nice to type on and makes lots of work on the iPad much more convenient — or at least familiar. It’s also expensive, starting at $299 for the 11-inch version and $349 for the 12.9-inch version. (An entry-level iPad — yes, a complete iPad — will run you $329 before any discounts, for reference.)
"So yes, finally, the Magic Keyboard lets you use your iPad Pro like a traditional clamshell laptop. It does exactly what it was designed to do, and it does it very well. I’m just not sure that it’s the right design in the first place.”
Killing Innovative Software
What happens when you have a new way of doing things, such as a messaging app, and you submit it to the App Store? Developer Martin Otoyeka has been working on a messaging app that relayed messages between two people via an intermediate mutual contact. The guardians of the app store decided the app did not confirm to Apple’s view of a messaging system, and refused to publish the app:
"In other words, don’t innovate — just conform to existing paradigms. This hurts coming from Apple, the company whose innovations have led to the decimation of many old paradigms. I was also told that whoever delivers the message should also be the “original author of the message,” seemingly invalidating content sharing and messaging forwarding, features that are present in all messaging apps including iMessage”.
Filipe Espósito looks at the case:
" Even if you think Facecharm wouldn’t be a hit, Martin Otyeka, as well as other developers, didn’t even get a chance to reach iOS users on the App Store. Again, that is not the first report of this kind, and it probably won’t be the last.”
And Finally…
How much would you pay for a set of castor wheels for your computer? Remember these are stainless steel castors, with small rubber tyres over then. Now the Mac Pro wheels are on sale, we have our answer. $700.
"The price of this accessory seems to have been designed around the high price. I’m trying to work out if Apple is trying to create a halo effect around the Mac Pro. ‘if the wheels are that expensive’ thinks a potential buyer, ‘it must be a good product.'
"If that were the case and Apple is looking to make a statement with the price, then it has failed. Maybe the company is trying to promote opulence, maybe it’s playing on the image of being a status symbol, but the package itself is fundamentally a bad product for consumers.”
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.
