Looking back on another week of Cupertino news and headlines, this week’s Apple Loop features the leak of iPhone 15 Pro specs, Apple confirms the future of USB-C, the launch of MacOS 13, the surprising 16-inch iPad Pro, Apple Music prices soar and Apple unveils stunning Q4 numbers.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of some of the many discussions surrounding Apple over the past seven days (and you can read my weekly digest of Android news right here on Forbes).
iPhone 15 Pro specs set to improve
With the long lead time of consumer electronics manufacturing, it shouldn’t be surprising that details about the next iPhone are available. It should also come as no surprise that the specs are being increased. And it’s no surprise, either, that the iPhone 14 Pro’s tight 6GB limits are extended to 8GB:
“TrendForce predicts that the 15 Pro models will come with 8 GB of RAM in addition to the A17 chip, compared to 6 GB for the iPhone 14 Pro models. The standard models will likely continue to have 6 GB of RAM.”
(MacRumors).
September 22, 2021, Lower Saxony, Oldenburg: A Lightning charging plug is inserted into an Apple . stabbed … [+]
The USB-C future of the iPhone
This may not be the only big change coming to the iPhone 15. Under European Union legislation, Apple will be forced to ship at least one version of the iPhone 15 with USB-C instead of the lightning port so they can be sold in Europe… although that may not force a portfolio-wide switch. :
“…Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of global marketing, confirmed that Apple will follow the new European Union law mandating the use of USB-C on all smartphones sold in member states from autumn 2024 But that may not be the end of the Lighting port on iPhones.”
(Forbes).
Here comes Apple’s MacOS 13
We may not have a new MacBook Pro (yet), but MacBook owners will get an upgrade with the launch of the next version of macOS, ready to be installed around the world, after the usual post-WWDC testing period. What’s worth noting are not the leaps forward, but the steps taken to homogenize the Apple ecosystem:
Overwhelmingly, new features for macOS only help it keep up with what’s happening on the iPhone and iPad. That feels doubly true in Ventura, where a core system app has been rewritten from the ground up to mirror its iOS counterpart, where a new window management feature is implemented in the same way on the iPad, and where new apps and updates to old apps are increasingly just iPad apps running in macOS windows.”
(Ars Technica).
Go big and go iPad
Will Apple increase the iPad Pro range and ship a 16-inch tablet by the end of next year? There are certainly indications that such a device is in the pipeline. As with any device, there are many iterations, and not all of them make it to the market, but if Apple wants your next computer to be not a computer but an iPad, having a really big screen would be a nice (if expensive) choice:
Samsung dazzled the industry earlier this year by announcing the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, a 14.6-inch tablet. It would have served as an ideal laptop replacement had it not used One UI, an operating system designed for smartphones. a- Samsung to market and introduce an even bigger iPad next year. According to a report from The Information, a 16-inch iPad will be launched sometime in the fourth quarter of 2023. .”
Apple subscription prices are rising
Apple has announced a price increase for Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple One users, citing licensing fees to be paid to rights holders. Still, you have all your playlists, your mood charts, and your favorite artists locked in Apple Music. You’re not going to leave your curated lists for a small price hike, are you?
Apple mentioned the recent increase in license fees. Apple Music and its competitors will have to pay 15.35 percent of music revenues to songwriters and publishing rights holders starting next year, an increase of 0.25 percent from the current rate and nearly 5 percent more than the old one. But at $10.99, Apple’s service is now more expensive than Amazon Music, which is $8.99 per month, and Spotify, which has been stuck at $9.99 per month for over a decade.”
And finally…
Apple’s fourth quarter revenue report is here. It shows an eight percent year-over-year revenue increase to $90 billion, with a net profit of 1 percent to $20.7 billion. Unlike other results in Silicon Valley, Apple is keeping its ship steady:
“Apple isn’t getting hurt as much as we were initially concerned about in terms of consumer demand,” said Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Co., which has Apple among its top interests. “You could argue that consumer demand is healthy based on these growth rates.”
Apple Loop brings you seven days of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any news in the future. Read last week’s Apple Loop hereor This week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.
