Welcome to our weekend Apple Breakfast pillar , which includes all of the Apple news you miss this workweek in a ready to hand collation - sized roundup . We call it Apple Breakfast because we consider it goes great with a morning cupful of java or tea leaf , but it ’s nerveless if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too .
Welcome to the non-event
Apple is the king of press effect , and once held three in consecutive month to plunge a raft of products including the Apple Watch Series 6 , the iPhone 12 , and the first generation of Apple silicon Macs . There was plenty of excitation to go around , and the tech newsperson who had to encompass the effect did n’t even kvetch about it … all that much . But those were fully grown launches , well deserving extensive phase time , and this week we saw Apple ’s glide path when it is n’t quite so sure of itself .
On Tuesday ( at an uncomfortably early hour for U.S.-based journalist , who I ’ll repeat are absolutely the last to complain about their sorrows ) , the company unveiled thelatest version of the Mac miniskirt , equip with the M2 and brand - novel M2 Pro processor , and updated14- and 16 - inch MacBook Pro modelswith the M2 Pro andsuper - fast M2 Max . Early on Wednesday , it announced the confoundingreturn of the full - size of it HomePod . But none of these things was deem desirable of an actual event , instead plopping into inboxes in the ego - deprecating form of a public press release .
Now , I ’m the first to admit that these were n’t blockbusting reveals . None of the newfangled Macs develop a physical redesign , and the gains offered by the M2 chip over the M1 are understandably more reiterative than rotatory . It is n’t straight off obvious , meanwhile , how the second - gen HomePod address the limitations that lead to its predecessor being break off , and it even looks the same . ( This does n’t stop me from wanting to strain it out , mind you . For all its faults , I ’m a sucker for the HomePod . ) But it ’s peculiar all the same that Apple choose not to make this an appointment to view .
orchard apple tree
One suspects that there was discrepancy about this very question at Cupertino because the caller appears to have compromised by fundamentally making a virtual event and then hiding it on the internet site instead of sending out invite . This is no ordinary product demo TV : it ’s closely 20 minutes of announcements , and features all the hallmarks of an Apple practical event , from the bourdon soar into Apple Park to the handy flash card summarize the specs and key feature article . ( Go to Apple.com and dawn “ Watch the proclamation ” to see what I mean . ) Apple put in almost all the body of work of organizing an event but then decided to scrap it . I ’ve write before about thepros and bunco of muffled events , so I wo n’t rehearse all the arguments again . But this is curious behavior , to say the least .
Perhaps the answer lie in the future . It ’s potential that Apple is acting coy because it wants to keep its pulverization ironic ahead of the main outcome in March or April when we ’ll get our first glimpse of the AR headset . act as the vanguard of an entire ecosystem of new products , the bruit Reality Pro could signal a change of focus for Apple that will last for class to come , and it ’s understandable that the company would desire all eyes on that , rather than getting cark by minor ironware update .
But get on , lads . January is tiresome as heck , and we really would n’t have envy you a bit of razzle - dazzle .
metalworks
Thethrill of Apple siliconis already gone , lament David Price .
The2nd - gen HomePodis atruly unusual Cartesian product .
Michael Simon asksthe $ 50,000 interrogative sentence : When will Apple complete itsMac chip modulation ?
The “ touch ” part of atouchscreen Macis a delicate task , theMacalope discovers .
TheHomePod mini’ssecret temperature sensorisn’t so secret any longer .
The rumor mill
Apple is reportedlyno longer developing AR glassesdue to‘technical challenge ’ .
As part of amajor smart - home push , Apple is developing amagnetic iPad - like display , smart presentation , and a faster Apple TV .
Podcast of the week
In the late chronicle of Apple , January is often a placid month for product release . But not this year!We’ve mother new MacBook Pros , newfangled Mac minis , and new M2 chips , and we ’re talking about them all on this installment of the Macworld Podcast !
you’re able to captivate every sequence of the Macworld Podcast onSpotify , Soundcloud , thePodcasts app , orour own site .
Software updates, bugs & problems
Apple has acknowledged acrash detection bugcausing skiing falls to be reported ascar accident .
Thenext iOS 16 updatewill includetwo big iPhone fixes .
YourHomePodis catch amajor updatenext workweek .
