receive to our weekend Apple Breakfast column , which include all of the Apple news you missed this week in a handy snack - sized roundup . We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it go slap-up with a morning cup of coffee bean or tea , but it ’s cool if you need to give it a read during lunch or dinner 60 minutes too .
What’s in a name?
It ’s thyroxin - minus four days forApple ’s Far Out upshot , and the last - minute rumour are number wooden-headed and fast . theory we ’ve see as settle facts for the best part of a year are suddenly crumble – such as the hole and pillactually being a legal profession , and the iPhone 14 Maxactually being the iPhone 14 Plus . Next affair you know they ’ll be telling us there ’s no iPhone and Craig Federighi has a reasonable haircut .
give enough clock time to get used to it , almost any theory depart to sound reasonable , which is why the later rumors create such cognitive racket . If pundits had betoken in late 2021 that the larger non - Pro French telephone would be branded as the iPhone 14 Plus , however , we ’d now see that as the logical selection . Which , on reflexion , it in all probability is .
Apple ’s brand crime syndicate are a mess . go are the sidereal day when Steve Jobs would plan out the Mac reach using a simpletwo - by - two gridwith background and portable on the Y axis and consumer and pro on the X ; for Apple , “ Pro ” now sometimes means designed for professional users , as in the Mac Pro and the 16 - inch MacBook Pro , and sometimes just stand for the more expensive version of a still obviously consumer - focused product , such as the AirPods Pro and the 13 - inch MacBook Pro .
bad still , Pro is n’t even the top alternative – or isn’talwaysthe top option . In ascending order of processing force , Apple ’s M1 cow chip variant are brand as measure , Pro , Max , and then Ultra ( with a further Extreme variant rumored to slot in at the top when the Mac Pro gets the Apple Silicon treatment ) . And if you object that “ Max ” is short for “ maximum ” and by definition ask to be the top selection , you ’re clearly not Apple management cloth .
you could see why Apple might view it as problematic for the iPhone 14 Max to be a lower - specced handset than the iPhone 14 Pro , throw that both the lexicon and the company ’s own processor arrangement understandably show it ought to be well . Hence the choice of iPhone 14 Plus to label a gimmick that is bigger , but not good :
But is this an appreciably less confusing system ? take the iPhone 13 miniskirt remains on sale , tech fledgeling who ’d like tobuy an iPhonethis drop will face a range that uses four different suffixes to indicate variants of size and specification : mini ( meaning small ) , Max ( mean large ) , Plus ( also meaning large ) , and Pro ( mean better and more expensive ) . It ’s reminiscent of 2000s - era observational drollery about Starbucks ( “ Why ca n’t I just take for a lowly coffee ? ! ” ) , and a recipe for bafflement .
Apple knows its merchandising , and I am reluctant to secondly - guess the company ’s denounce plan for what will clearly be another hideously successful mathematical product launch . But part of me does wonder if the complexity of the iPhone cooking stove might make this the here and now to get down using slightly more transparent words to describe its variations . If 2000s - comedian words like “ small ” and “ gravid ” are too unmagical , Apple could at least settle on a consistent pecking order of words used to denote processing magnate – rather one that does n’t station Max or so midway up – and simply name the screen sizes rather than bestow even more suffixes .
It bring for Macs . The 14 - inch MacBook Pro is really 14.2 inches and the 24 - inch iMac is in reality 23.5 inches . But no one complains or misunderstands . And funnily enough , this is pretty much how Apple trade iPhones when you visit itsonline store : you either dawn on the standard or Pro model , then opt a size . And I fail to see how anyone other than the marketing section benefits from the additional muddiness of words like miniskirt , Max and Plus .
But the marketing section does profit , of course . The extra words are not just there to tell you what sizing your phone is drop dead to be : they are miniature ad to reward the theme that it ’s portable , or large , or that using it makes you a professional . The words are n’t there to help us , but to sway us . And barring another last - minute of arc rumor , that ’s not something that ’s about to vary .
IDG
Thenew iPhone is comingand for Apple ’s sake , it hadbetter be a hit .
Apple ’s Far Out event might have aOne More Thing – butnot the one you require .
The iPhone 14 will bebrilliantly bore , cipher Jason Snell .
But could there be asurprise or two ? We ’ve rounded upfive truly Far Out productsApple could launch on September 7 .
There arefive featureswe want in the next bigMacBook Pro update – including , call us crazy , the return of the Touch Bar .
The rumor mill
Here arefive iPhone 14 rumorsthat you might have miss — butneed to know .
The iPhone 14 Pro will see theend of the notch , and the arrival of the … taproom ? There ’s asimple trickyou can apply to try this out right now .
September is cash in one’s chips to bemassive . The iPhone 14 is just the point of aniceberg of Apple releasesthis calendar month .
Apple ’s Far Out case may bring the iPhoneinto recondite blank – ifcarriers wreak chunk .
AnApple trademark filingpoints to anew ‘ Reality’ahead of the iPhone 14 event .
Thenext iPhone SEmight finallyditch the family buttonfor an ‘ all - concealment ’ design .
We labialize upevery raw Apple productcoming in theremainder of 2022 .
Podcast of the week
Apple ’s big“Far Out ” eventis coming ! What can we expect to see ? We make love we ’ll see theiPhone 14 , but what else?New Apple Watches ? How about an update to theAirPods Pro ? We talk about the approaching Far Out event in this episode of the Macworld Podcast !
you could get every episode of the Macworld Podcast onSpotify , thePodcasts app , orour own site .
Software updates, bugs & problems
If you ever boughtAppleCare , Apple mayowe you some money .
Avery authoritative iOS updatejust arrived for theiPhone 6 .
This week Apple issued a secondAugust Boot Camp updateforIntel - based Macs .
