Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines from Apple and WWDC, including Apple’s AI fear, iPhone owners miss out on AI, Apple’s Private Cloud, a new Game Mode for iPhone, the iPad’s biggest change, and Apple blocks PC emulation.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes.
iPhone and iOS Updates From WWDC
Tim Cook’s team has taken the initiative this week at the annual Worldwide Developer Conference, with AI taking centre stage. Also up were the new versions of the operating systems Apple will release to the public in September. Until then, beta testing and developer releases will reveal the software that will power Apple’s iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro handsets, including new accessibility tools:
"Eye Tracking makes it possible for people to control iPhone with just their eyes.19 Music Haptics syncs the iPhone Taptic Engine with the rhythm of songs so those who are deaf or hard of hearing can enjoy the Apple Music catalog.20 And Vocal Shortcuts helps people with severe atypical speech record sounds that trigger specific actions on iPhone."
(Apple).
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Apple Intelligence’s Achilles Heel
The big ticket item was, of course, Apple introducing artificial intelligence (or, as the branding team has labelled it, Apple Intelligence) into the various operating systems. While Tim Cook believes it will benefit users by saving them time, in an interview with the Washington Post, Cook admitted to Apple's concern over AI:
"It’s not 100 percent. But I think we have done everything that we know to do, including thinking very deeply about the readiness of the technology in the areas that we’re using it in. So I am confident it will be very high quality. But I’d say in all honesty that’s short of 100 percent. I would never claim that it’s 100 percent.
Limited Intelligence For iPhone Owners
Apple’s artificial intelligence software has two core requirements for running on the iPhone. The first is iOS 18, which will be available late in Q3 and run on iPhones back to 2018’s iPhone XR. It will also require the latest A17 Pro chipset at a minimum. That rules out every current iPhone except for the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max:
"Apple said the is restriction is the result of the vast amounts of computing power required to run the artificial intelligence models that underpin the new features. “The core foundational models behind these experiences require a huge amount of compute,” said Apple’s senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, John Giannandrea. “It’s the amount of computer that they require that actually provides that limitation.”
More AI Support For iPad And MacBook
There’s less confusion and limitations around Apple’s artificial intelligence software on the iPad and Mac platforms. Essentially, any hardware that is running one of the Apple Silicon Mxx series will be able to access the features, which includes several iPad Air and iPad Pro models and every Mac going back to 2020’s MacBook Air:
"As far as the MacBook Air goes, it got the M1 chip in 2020. The M1 MacBook Air (2020), M2 MacBook Air (2022), M2 MacBook Air (2023), and M3 MacBook Air (2024) all get the Apple Intelligence goodies that have been showcased.
"With the MacBook Pro laptops, they too got the M1 upgrade in 2020: the 13-inch Touch Bar M1 MacBook Pro (2020) and M2 MacBook Pro (2022) qualify, as do the 14-inch and 16-inch sizes of the M1 MacBook Pro (2021), M2 MacBook Pro (2023), and M3 MacBook Pro (2023)."
(TechRadar).
Apple’s AI Server
In all the shiny AI tools, emoji creation, and text generation, perhaps the biggest announcement at WWDC belonged to the team behind Private Cloud Compute. This is Apple’s solution to processing user data in the cloud, balancing the need for off-device information processing and keeping that information private. The devil will be in the detail… and the code:
"But you don't just have to trust Apple on this score, Federighi claimed. That's because the server code used by Private Cloud Compute will be publicly accessible, meaning that "independent experts can inspect the code that runs on these servers to verify this privacy promise." The entire system has been set up cryptographically so that Apple devices "will refuse to talk to a server unless its software has been publicly logged for inspection." "
(Ars Technica).
A New iPhone Way To Game
Apple continues to push iOS as a gaming platform, and while the catalogue of leading titles is a fraction of other platforms, Tim Cook and his team are continuing to build the platform in the hope that they will come. Debuting in iOS 18 will be Game Mode... when your phone recognises a demanding game is running, it will kick into game mode and do the following:
"Minimize your iPhone’s background activity so it can sustain consistently high frame rates, even after hours of play; Massively reduce latency when using a Bluetooth game controller; Similarly reduce latency when using AirPods for audio."
(9to5Mac).
The iPad’s Biggest Change
It’s only taken fourteen years, but the iPad software suite is finally complete. Following the release of Weather in 2022, WWDC saw an update to iPadOS that includes a calculator. Did it really take that long to add stylus support?
"On its face, the app looks a lot like the calculator you might be familiar with from iOS. But it also supports Apple Pencil, meaning that you can write down math problems and the app will solve them thanks to a feature Apple calls Math Notes.
(The Verge).
And Finally...
While emulating a retro gaming system is now allowed in Apple’s App Store (and subsequent installation on your iPhone), emulating a retro PC system is still blocked. While developers of the Open Source app, UTM, will not be challenging the ruling (in part due to Apple’s refusal to allow JIT on iOS), many will be drawn to something a touch more subtle… Apple has also blocked the app from appearing in any third-party app stores:
"The open source app was submitted to the store, given the recent rule change that allows retro game console emulators, like Delta or Folium. App Review rejected UTM, deciding that a “PC is not a console”. What is more surprising, is the fact that UTM says that Apple is also blocking the app from being listed in third-party app stores in the EU."
(9to5Mac).
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.
