Over the weekend, Apple released a touching new holiday ad called "The Song," focusing on a woman who found an old record of her grandmother singing a love song to her grandfather, which she then enhanced with her own vocals and musical accompaniments using Apple's tools.
Apple has now released a second video, which offers details on how the spot was created. As explained by the musician who starred the ad, Dana Williams, and vocalist Rhiannon Giddens, a series of recordings were made with a voice-o-graph, a 1940's booth for recording short spurts of audio directly onto a record.
The voice-o-graph used in the spot was supplied by Third Man Records, which is Jack White's indie label. Giddens, voicing the grandmother, sang the "Love Is Here to Stay" audio, and it was then transferred into GarageBand for editing by Williams, who says that she uses the app for recording "basically all of her music." "Anyone who's not tech savvy like myself can just kind of find their way around it," she explains.
"The Song," which highlights both GarageBand and the iPad mini, follows in the footsteps of last year's sentimental holiday ad, "Misunderstood,", which focused on the video recording capabilities of the iPhone.
Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025:
More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
Thursday January 9, 2025 3:42 pm PST by Juli Clover
If you've been hearing a chiming sound from your AirPods Pro 2 case when the AirPods are charging, it's a feature that Apple added with the launch of Hearing Health last year.
In a support guide, Apple says that the AirPods Pro may play a sound every so often while in the case to ensure the microphones and speakers are working as intended. From Apple:
To help ensure that your AirPods...
Friday January 10, 2025 3:14 am PST by Tim Hardwick
This year's iPhone 17 Pro models will feature a smaller main camera sensor than the one used in the Fusion camera currently found in iPhone 16 Pro models, according to Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station.
The Chinese leaker claims that Apple will adopt a 1/1.3" sensor for the 48MP main camera in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, down from the 1/1.28" sensor used in the iPhone 16...
Friday January 10, 2025 9:20 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is widely rumored to be planning a new iPhone SE, and multiple sources lately have commented on the device's launch timing.
The latest word comes from Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a blog post today, he said the device will be released around the middle of the first half of 2025. In other words, around the quarter mark of 2025. That means the next iPhone SE will likely be ...
Apple's slate of 2025 products look to be dominated by a large number of low-cost and entry-level devices. Here's what to expect.
With advancements like Apple Intelligence and all-new in-house chip designs, Apple is reportedly looking to enhance many of its budget-friendly offerings, ensuring they remain competitive in an increasingly crowded market. These updates also indicate a slight...
Sunday January 12, 2025 4:11 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently reported that Apple plans to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models this year, and now he has provided a more precise timeframe.
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said Apple is currently aiming to launch the new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year."
That timeframe suggests the devices will be released at some point...
Wednesday January 8, 2025 6:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
It was recently reported that new Apple TV and new HomePod mini models will launch this year, and the devices are expected to have one thing in common.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last month reported that the new Apple TV and the new HomePod mini will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip. Gurman said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, so that could end up being a key upgrade...
Wednesday January 8, 2025 6:33 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...
Friday January 10, 2025 2:17 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple Intelligence hasn't convinced people to buy an iPhone 16, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. According to Kuo, a supply chain survey suggests Apple Intelligence is not pushing people to upgrade their devices.
The delay between the Apple Intelligence introduction in June 2024 and a launch even after iPhone 16 models came out was a contributing factor, and Apple Intelligence "appeal...
I've come to the conclusion that everything good in the world is "hipster". The term is thrown around so often I really don't know what's not hipster anymore. But I guess if it replaces the offensive "That's gay" slur I can support the usage.
how about you lower the price to make it not such a hard decision to choose iphone over top line android competitors
Says the guy who spent $140 on Beats headphones when audio professionals I know say they aren't very good if you care about accurate sound. If you like a ton of bass, great. If you want to hear the music as it was intended, no.
Buy a used iPhone if you don't like the price of a new one.
1st of all you never mix using just one output medium. second of all i really dont think you've heard the beats solo 2. third, you can brand-name drop all you like but at the end of the day you have no idea what you're talking about. buddy.
yes, buddy is gender neutral, get your political correctness anal retention out of here.
Ok, I stand corrected. I figured if you were so worried about paying for an iPhone you probably weren't really at a professional level and buying a Beats headphone was an amateur move you should be encouraged to rethink.
P.S. Calling a woman "buddy" must be a Canadian thing because it just doesn't happen in the US, at least not in my 50 years. I'll have to ask my Canadian friend who is a professional audio engineer aboot that.
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In defense of the person replying to your message, it is not "stalking" when using the forum's tools to click on a user's name to see other posts. In fact, I believe it is a good idea to see who you are dealing with when posting a reply.
To get back on topic... I liked the ad, and I found the "making of" video pretty cool.
Thanks for the defense. Before responding, I pretty much always check a person's history of posts to assess their age, technical knowledge and how they tend to operate on the forums (trolling, non-Apple user just starting arguments, etc.). Then I decide whether I want to engage with them.
cool stalking there buddy. im a recording engineer. professional. I like the sound of the beats solo 2. it's one of the best if not the best on-ear headphones in existence.
look it up. inner fidelity, headfi, whathifi, whatever. if you actually know what you're talking about.
also, it's nice having earphones that everyone else will be listening on when you're mixing.
Ok, I went on Head-fi and someone asked in the forums what headphones professionals use in professional recording studios. No Beats were mentioned. Sony, Sennheiser, Beyer, AKG, others. No Beats. But if you like them, fine. As long as you never mix for cds or radio play, I'm sure that would be good enough. I would highly doubt a professional would want to mix to a distorted version of their music, burn it and then have it sound bad to someone not wearing the same headphones.
P.S. Did you assume I was a guy when you called me "buddy"? lol