MacRumors

Apple in iPadOS introduced some performance improvements between the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil, cutting latency from 20ms to 9ms with the new software.

Third-party developers who make apps that use the ‌Apple Pencil‌ will also be able to take advantage of some of these latency improvements, Apple software development chief Craig Federighi confirmed last week.

Federighi shared the information in a response to an email sent by Artstudio Pro developer Cladio Juliano, who tweeted what Federighi had to say last week. The info was highlighted today in a tweet by developer Steve Troughton-Smith.

In the email, Federighi explains that third-party developers have had access to predicted touches via UIKit since iOS 9, and with iOS 13, developers will receive the "latest and greatest" touch prediction advancements in minimizing PencilKit drawing latency.

Federighi explains just how Apple introduced the latency improvements, and he points out that there's a small gap of 4ms that developers won't have access to at the current time because Apple didn't have a way to safely expose the capability to developers. From Federighi's email:

Note that we achieve low latency through a combination of several techniques: Metal rendering optimizations, touch prediction, and mid-frame event processing. Third-party developers can achieve similar low-latency drawing experiences by taking advantage of Metal rendering and touch prediction best practices covered in the WWDC Sessions I've referenced below.

With these you can achieve nearly all of the improvements you've seen in PencilKit drawing with your own renderer. (There does remain a small gap: 4 ms of our improvement comes from a technique called mid-frame event processing; we are looking for ways to expose this capability to third party engines in the future, but for this year this one was only safely achievable through tight integration within our frameworks).

For developers, the WWDC sessions Federighi suggests include PencilKit, Adopting Predicted Touches, and Metal Performance Optimization.

In a nutshell, the information shared by Federighi confirms that third-party apps that take advantage of the ‌Apple Pencil‌ will be getting some of the same latency improvements that we'll be seeing when using the ‌Apple Pencil‌ within native functions like Markup.

The ‌Apple Pencil‌ latency improvements are built into iPadOS, the version of iOS 13 that is designed to run on the iPad. All of Apple's current iPads support the ‌Apple Pencil‌. ‌iPad Pro‌ models work with the ‌Apple Pencil‌ 2, while the 6th-generation ‌iPad‌, iPad mini, and iPad Air work with the original ‌Apple Pencil‌.

Samsung is the exclusive supplier of OLED displays for the iPhone X and newer, as part of a supply agreement with Apple. Due to fewer iPhone sales than anticipated in recent quarters, however, Apple has reportedly ordered fewer OLED displays from Samsung than both companies initially expected.

Due to the shortfall, Korea's ETNews reports that Apple now owes Samsung a penalty in the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars. Instead of paying cash, however, the report claims Apple has offered multiple options, including committing to OLED display orders for future products like "tablets and notebooks."

This aligns with a recent report from Korean site The Elec that claimed Samsung is in talks with Apple about supplying OLED displays for an all-new 16-inch MacBook Pro and future iPad Pro models.

We first heard about a potential 16-inch to 16.5-inch MacBook Pro from well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said the notebook will launch at some point in 2019 with an "all-new design," but he did not comment on which display technology the notebook will use or share any other details.

Kuo has also previously claimed that two new iPad Pro models will enter mass production between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, but again, he did not say which display technology the tablets will use.

Beyond that, Kuo expects Apple to launch several new products with Mini-LED backlights over the next two years, including a 10-inch to 12-inch iPad in late 2020 or early 2021 and a 15-inch to 17-inch MacBook in the first half of 2021, so it's unclear exactly how far away we are from the first OLED-based iPads and Macs.

Apple's transition to OLED started with the Apple Watch, followed by the ‌iPhone‌ X, so the iPad Pro and ‌MacBook Pro‌ would continue that natural progression of the technology from smaller to larger displays.

OLED displays could have several benefits for future ‌iPad Pro‌ and ‌MacBook Pro‌ models, including lower power consumption, increased brightness, sharper colors, and faster response times compared to LCDs. OLED panels are often thinner, too, which could lead to slimmer and lighter product designs.

AT&T is the fastest mobile network in the United States according to PCMag's latest annual mobile network comparison, which was released this morning.

For the test, PCMag employees drove through 30 cities and 25 states across the U.S. and ran more than 60,000 mobile speed tests to determine the speediest mobile network. The tests were conducted using Samsung Galaxy S10 devices on networks from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint.

This year, AT&T edged out Verizon, the winner for the past five years, thanks to AT&T's focus on improving its LTE network in preparation for 5G technology. While all four networks improved overall on both speed and reliability compared to last year, AT&T improved a bit more than the others.

AT&T won or tied for first place in 15 of the 30 cities tested, and it tied or came out on top in all rural regions. AT&T was on top overall in the northwest, southwest, north central, and northeast, while Verizon won in the south central region and T-Mobile came out ahead in the southeast.

AT&T has been making improvements to its 4G network and has been labeling those 4G enhancements as "5GE," but really it's the same 4G LTE technology offered by other wireless companies as well. Still, these efforts to improve the 4G network ahead of 5G have led to overall speed boosts for AT&T customers.

The full results of PCMag's 2019 mobile carrier speed testing can be found over on the PCMag website.

Google has no future plans to release additional tablet devices and has even canceled two models that were in development, the company confirmed to Computerworld today.

Google has not released a tablet in 2019, but did come out with the Pixel Slate in 2018. Google was working on two smaller tablets, but ultimately decided to stop focusing on the tablet form factor in favor of laptops.

The Pixel Slate was Google's first Pixel-branded tablet offering, and as Computerworld clarifies, Google considers a tablet to be a device that detaches completely from a keyboard base or has no physical keyboard at all. Google considers its two-in-one convertible devices like the Pixelbook to be laptops, not tablets.

Google announced its plans to discontinue work on tablets to employees yesterday, and those working on tablet-related projects will be reassigned.

A Google spokesperson directly confirmed all of these details to me. The news was revealed at an internal company meeting on Wednesday, and Google is currently working to reassign employees who were focused on the abandoned projects onto other areas. Many of them, I'm told, have already shifted over to the laptop side of that same self-made hardware division.

It's not clear why Google has ultimately decided not to pursue the tablet form factor, but the company may be finding it difficult to compete with Apple and Samsung, the top two tablet vendors worldwide.

Apple's iPad is responsible for the most worldwide shipments, and over the course of the last few years, Apple has been aiming to hit all price points with the 6th-generation ‌iPad‌, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro models.

Google plans to continue offering support and updates for the Pixel Slate until June 2024, and the Chrome OS team will continue to focus on tablets and laptops in its software development. Though Google is discontinuing its own tablets, there are other manufacturers who produce Chrome-based tablets.

Google will be shifting focus to laptops, with a laptop-oriented Pixelbook product planned before the end of the year, and will also continue focusing on its Pixel line of phones.

Apple today announced the launch of a voluntary recall and replacement program for 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Retina display sold between September 2015 and February 2017 due to battery failure issues. Affected batteries may overheat and pose a fire safety risk.

Customers are being asked to stop using affected ‌MacBook Pro‌ units until they can take steps to have their batteries replaced following Apple's instructions. Apple says affected units in need of replacement can be identified by entering a Mac's serial number in the recall program page.

The recall affects just the 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ from 2015 and does not impact later models released in 2016 and beyond. Those with 15-inch 2015 machines are instructed to find an Apple authorized service provider, make an appointment at an Apple retail store, or contact Apple's support staff to arrange a mail-in repair.

Apple warns that the ‌MacBook Pro‌ will be sent to an Apple Repair Center for service in all cases and that service could take one to two weeks to be completed. Batteries will be replaced free of charge.

Earlier this year, a video of a ‌MacBook Pro‌ that caught on fire and produced copious amounts of smoke made the rounds on Twitter and Reddit. The machine in question was a 2015 ‌MacBook Pro‌ with a 15-inch Retina display, and it could potentially be linked to the recall.

Given that affected 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models are in danger of overheating and catching on fire, those with machines that need a replacement battery should be sure to visit an Apple retail store or get in contact with Apple support before continuing to use their Macs.

Apple has urged the Trump administration not to proceed with tariffs of up to 25 percent on a fourth set of goods imported from China, which would impact nearly all of its products, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, AirPods, Beats, HomePod, batteries, repair parts, and more.

In a letter sent to United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer [PDF] this week, Apple warned that the tariffs would reduce the company's contributions to the U.S. economy and weigh on its global competitiveness:

U.S. tariffs on Apple's products would result in a reduction of Apple's U.S. economic contribution.

U.S. tariffs would also weigh on Apple's global competitiveness. The Chinese producers we compete with in global markets do not have a significant presence in the U.S. market, and so would not be impacted by U.S. tariffs. Neither would our other major non-U.S. competitors. A U.S. tariff would, therefore, tilt the playing field in favor of our global competitors.

We urge you not to proceed with these tariffs. Thank you for your consideration of our comments.

Apple outlined many of its economic contributions in the letter, referring to itself as a "proud U.S. company" that is both the largest corporate taxpayer and one of the largest job creators in the country:

Apple is a proud U.S. company and one of the largest job creators in the United States. We are responsible for over 2 million jobs across all 50 states, including Apple's direct employees, employees at our manufacturing and retail partners, and Americans who make their living in the vibrant and growing app economy.

In 2018, after the passage of tax reform in the U.S., we announced our intention to make a total direct contribution to the U.S. economy of over $350 billion over 5 years and we are pleased to report that we are on track to achieve this contribution. We are opening several new sites and adding new jobs to our U.S. employee base.

Apple is also the largest U.S. corporate taxpayer to the U.S. Treasury and pays billions more each year in local property, sales, and employee taxes.

Finally, Apple's products are used by American families, students, businesses, government agencies, schools, and hospitals to communicate, teach, improve health outcomes, and enhance creativity and enterprise.

Last month, analysts at investment bank J.P. Morgan estimated that the tariffs could result in a 14 percent increase in the retail price of an iPhone XS, pushing the cost of the device from $999 to $1,142. However, the company could also choose to absorb the impact of the tariffs on a temporary basis.

The letter was earlier reported by CNBC.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

At WWDC 2018, Apple introduced a redesigned Mac App Store alongside changes to sandboxing parameters on macOS Mojave. Since then, several well-known apps have launched on or returned to the ‌Mac App Store‌, including the Microsoft Office suite, Microsoft To-Do, BBEdit, Transmit, and others.

Next up is Adobe Lightroom CC, which is available on the Mac App Store as of today. The professional photo editing software is free to download, but requires a $9.99 monthly subscription via Apple's in-app purchase system after a one-week trial. 1TB of cloud storage is included with a subscription.

As noted by The Verge, Lightroom was previously available on the ‌Mac App Store‌ for a one-time purchase of $149.99 in 2012:

This isn't the first time that you've been able to get Lightroom in the Mac App Store. Back in 2012, when Adobe sold its apps as standalone purchases before starting to push Creative Cloud subscriptions, Lightroom 4 was available for $149.99. Lightroom 5 never came to Apple's store, however, and even Adobe itself doesn't sell standalone versions of Lightroom today.

This news is a win-win for Apple and Adobe. Apple has landed another major app on the ‌Mac App Store‌, which faced years of criticism, and will generate revenue from its split of in-app purchases. Adobe, meanwhile, has made Lightroom available to a very broad audience of potential customers.

Lightroom CC remains available outside of the Mac App Store as well, with subscription pricing starting at the same $9.99 per month. One benefit of switching to the ‌Mac App Store‌ version is a more streamlined update process.

Apple and enterprise company Jamf recently teamed up to take a look at the drivers behind Mac adoption in the enterprise and the impact of device choice programs for employees on attracting talent.

For the survey, 1,285 employees from various-sized companies across the world were asked a series of questions about Macs in the workplace, with the results suggesting high levels of employee satisfaction from Mac users.

97 percent of survey respondents said that using a Mac increased their productivity, while 95 percent said their creativity levels were up. 94 percent said they were more self-sufficient, and 91 percent said collaboration was up.

According to the survey, 79 percent of respondents said that they would not be able to do their jobs as effectively without a Mac.

On the topic of self-sufficiency, 40 percent of respondents had no issues with their Mac over the course of the last 12 months, and 70 percent experienced two or fewer issues. Of those who did have issues, the leading problem was related to the network, rather than the device itself. 74% who previously used a PC said they have fewer issues now that they use a Mac.

When asked why they chose a Mac over a PC, most respondents cited a preference for Apple products, the ease of use and reliability of the Mac, and integration with the necessary apps needed for work. Design, familiarity, collaboration, and continuity between Mac, iPhone, and iPad were also cited as reasons.

89 percent overall said that Mac applications are easier to use than other computer devices, while 94 percent said that it's easy to find Mac applications and other resources on the Mac. 65 percent of employees say they go through the App Store to locate work-related applications.

97 percent of workers who have a choice of which device to use said it's important to their organization that an employee choice program exists. When asked why, employees cited productivity, creativity, and feeling valued by their employer as the top three reasons. 94 percent of all respondents said they're more likely to choose or stay with a company that offers a choice between Mac and PC.

Jamf's full survey results are available in an eBook downloadable from the Jamf website.

Apple appears to be working on full Project Catalyst versions of Messages and Shortcuts for Mac, according to hints of the new apps found by developer Steve Troughton-Smith.

Last, Troughton-Smith found that the Project Catalyst software on macOS Catalina includes Shortcuts frameworks suggesting a future Shortcuts for Mac app, and now it appears Apple is also working on a Catalyst version of the Messages app.

Much of the UIKit Messages app is functional on macOS, using the native Catalyst UI from the macOS Catalina system frameworks. iMessage Effects, for example, are functional.

Apple made no mention of an overhauled Messages app or bringing Shortcuts to Mac when introducing macOS Catalina, so these features could be reserved for a future Catalina release that's perhaps coming later in the year.