News on the margin week 3 - November 9

X-rays reveal all the differences between the original and fake AirPods headphones, and Apple may acquire one of Disney’s valuable assets for $40 billion, and the iPhone 16 with exclusive artificial intelligence features, and the iPad Pro with an OLED screen soon, and other exciting news on the sidelines...

iPad Pro with OLED screen coming soon

LG and Samsung are said to be preparing to mass produce OLED displays for the upcoming iPad Pro, with production scheduled to begin around February 2024. According to sources, analyst Mark Gurman expects them to be 11-inch and 13-inch models with OLED displays, an M3 chip, and a Magic Keyboard, with a possible launch next year, perhaps in June or later. OLED display technology offers benefits such as a higher contrast ratio, deeper blacks, lower power consumption, and potentially a thinner design for iPad Pro models. Current iPad Pro devices are equipped with LCD screens. Other iPad models, including the iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad, are expected to continue with LCD screens. The iPad Pro was last updated in October 2022, bringing features like an M2 chip, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, Apple Pencil scrolling functionality, and ProRes video recording support.

WhatsApp allows you to hide your IP address during calls

WhatsApp has introduced a new privacy feature that allows users to hide their IP addresses during individual calls. Traditionally, such calls establish direct peer-to-peer connections, exposing IP addresses for optimal voice quality. However, the new privacy setting moves calls through WhatsApp servers to hide locations, preventing direct visibility of IP addresses between callers. This addresses concerns about privacy-conscious users disclosing geographic information or ISPs. Relay calls remain end-to-end encrypted, ensuring security.

It should be noted that enabling this feature may result in poor call quality.

To use the new feature: Update the WhatsApp app, go to Settings → Privacy → Advanced options, and toggle on “Protect IP address in calls.”

Group calls are automatically relayed through WhatsApp servers. In June, WhatsApp also introduced the Silence Unknown Callers feature to block spam and unknown calls to enhance protection.

Google and European telecom giants are calling on the European Union to force the unlocking of iMessage

Google and European telecoms groups are urging EU regulators to classify iMessage as an “essential” service, forcing Apple to make it interoperable with other chat services. They claim that users will benefit from interoperability instead of iMessage's special features being available only to Apple users. Although Apple declined to comment on the report, it confirms that iMessage is designed for personal use and falls outside the scope of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and should not be subject to certain rules. The EU investigation is ongoing, and a decision is expected by February.

8GB RAM on MacBook Pro M3 is equivalent to 16GB on PCs

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 chip starts at $1599 and comes with 8GB of unified memory. Some users have criticized this, arguing that 8GB may not be enough for professional work, and 16GB should be the minimum for a “Pro” device without additional costs. Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of product marketing, responded, highlighting Apple's memory efficiency, memory compression, and unified memory architecture. He points out that 8GB on the M3 MacBook Pro is equivalent to 16GB on other systems. Borchers encourages users to go beyond the specifications, look at the capabilities of the system, and review those who have already used the systems. The new MacBook Pro offers other improvements, including a better display, improved camera, additional ports, and an improved sound system.

Google is testing new AI features on YouTube

Google is testing two new artificial intelligence features on YouTube to improve the viewing experience for a select group of users. The first feature organizes comments on long-topic videos into sections or topics using AI, facilitating more meaningful conversations. Creators can use these comment summaries to engage and inspire content. The second feature introduces conversational AI that provides answers to questions related to the video being watched, provides background information, suggests relevant content, and even provides quizzes for academic videos. These features are experimental, and YouTube Premium subscribers can sign up to access them, with comment topics available now, and conversational AI will be rolled out in the coming weeks. Google acknowledges that these features may not be completely perfect if they are in the testing phase.

iPhone 16 with exclusive artificial intelligence features in iOS 18

Exciting rumors are swirling about Apple's plans for Siri and AI features in iOS 18 and iPhone 16. The new Siri, powered by Large Language Models (LLMs), is expected to debut with advanced generative AI features. While the iOS 18 update will bring LLM to existing devices via cloud-based AI, exclusive on-device AI features may be reserved for the iPhone 16. Expected iOS 18 features include improved interaction between Siri, the Messages app, and automatically generated Apple Music playlists. Run and integrate with productivity apps for AI-powered tasks. The iPhone 16 lineup is rumored to come with improved 3nm processors that provide efficiency and performance improvements for AI applications. The iPhone 16 may also include a mysterious “capture button” with an undisclosed function, raising curiosity about potential practical AI applications. Apple's significant investment in artificial intelligence research underscores the company's commitment to developing artificial intelligence technologies.

North Korean hackers are targeting MacOS with new malware

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new macOS malware called ObjCShellz, attributed to North Korean threat actor BlueNoroff. The malware is designed to execute shell commands sent from the attacker's server on compromised endpoints. While the distribution method is still unknown, the campaign is in line with a previous campaign called Rustbucket. Described as a financially motivated hacking group, BlueNoroff is known for targeting cryptocurrency exchanges, financial institutions and banks globally. ObjCShellz is a fairly simple but effective malware, which is consistent with the group's recent malware patterns. The Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-sponsored threat actor responsible for major cryptocurrency thefts, includes BlueNoroff as one of its divisions. The malware is suspected to be part of a multi-stage delivery process via social engineering. BlueNoroff was last mentioned in July, with a new version of Rustbucket targeting macOS endpoints.

A senior analyst suggests that Apple may acquire one of Disney's valuable assets for $40 billion

It seems that Disney may be considering selling a stake in ESPN, short for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, a popular American sports network that provides coverage of various sporting events, news and analysis. Owned by The Walt Disney Company, it is famous for its extensive coverage of major sports tournaments. The network offers a variety of channels, digital platforms and streaming services to provide sports content to a wide audience. It has been a significant player in the sports media industry for decades, and its programming includes live sports broadcasts, talk shows, documentaries and analysis.

There is speculation that Apple might be interested. According to Wedbush Securities managing director Dan Ives, ESPN could be the asset that Apple eventually buys, as he expects an asking price of "$35 to $40 billion." Ives points to Apple's early success with its exclusive deal with Major League Soccer as a sign that the tech giant sees potential in live sports streaming.

X-rays reveal all the differences between original and fake AirPods

Counterfeit Apple products have long been a big problem, and a recent x-ray comparison conducted by Jon Bruner at Lumafield highlighted significant differences between the original and fake AirPods Pro. The X-rays highlighted the differences in batteries, circuitry and build quality.

As shown in the image above, the real AirPods Pro 2 are on the left with the replicas in the middle and on the right.

Original AirPods have precisely engineered button cell batteries in each earbud, designed to fit comfortably into a compact form factor, delivering optimal power efficiency. In contrast, both fake AirPods samples contain lithium-ion case cell batteries, which are not only less complex to build, but also potentially less safe. Rectangular bags are crammed into circular spaces instead of being properly designed.

The X-rays also showed the precise engineering in the original AirPods' circuitry, using a combination of rigid and flexible printed circuit boards. In contrast, counterfeit AirPods offered simpler, less functional electronics made from off-the-shelf components. Differences in build quality have been described as dramatic, with counterfeit products resorting to deceptive tactics such as adding internal weights to mimic the heaviness of the originals. These knock-offs may visually mimic the originals but compromise materials, functionality, and overall lifespan. Counterfeiting is a concern, and Apple has dedicated teams to combat such illegal counterfeit products.

Miscellaneous news

◉ Apple has released macOS Sonoma 14.1.1 update to resolve the software update issue in M3 Macs and Adobe Photoshop error.

◉ The latest 3-inch M16 MacBook Pro models are capable of 140W fast charging through the USB-C port using a 240W USB-C cable, according Apple support document.

◉ Along with the iOS 17.1.1 update, Apple released the HomePod 17.1.1 update to fix a bug that could cause some HomePod speakers to respond slowly or fail to complete requests.

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