News on the sidelines for the week of July 5-11

Apple is developing a new version of the plastic Watch SE, and there may be changes to the design of the facial fingerprint in the iPhone 16, and the iPhone 16 Pro will support 40-watt fast charging and 20-watt MagSafe, and Samsung launches the Galaxy Fold Z6 and Flip Z6 phones and headphones. Smart watches and more, Apple makes it easier to switch from Google Photos to iCloud Photos, and other exciting news on the sidelines...

Apple hopes that artificial intelligence features will increase iPhone sales

Apple seeks to ship at least 90 million iPhone 16 phones in 2024, targeting 10% growth over the previous year. All iPhone 16 models will support Apple's new artificial intelligence technologies, which may increase demand for them. Apple faces challenges in China, where it lags behind local competitors in developing artificial intelligence, as well as in the European Union, where the feature will not be available at launch. The feature will include “Apple intelligence“A wide range of new abilities, but they will be limited to English at first. AI features will include tools for writing and enhancing text, generating images, and creating custom emojis, with updates to Siri expected in 2025.

Apple hopes these improvements will increase sales, especially in key markets like China.

Apple makes it easier to switch from Google Photos to iCloud Photos

Apple and Google have teamed up to launch a new data transfer tool that allows users to transfer their photos from Google Photos directly to iCloud Photos. This step comes as part of an open source initiative that aims to easily transfer data between different electronic platforms. The service will be available in more than 240 countries and regions around the world, but it will not be available for children's accounts or Apple-managed accounts. The transfer process takes place directly from Google Photos to iCloud Photos without the need to download photos or videos, and may take from several hours to a few days depending on the size of the transferred data. To initiate the transfer process, users must visit the website Google Takeout Follow the instructions to start exporting, choosing “Apple – iCloud Photos” as the transfer destination and signing in with your Apple account. We will discuss this method in some detail in a separate article.

Apple launches a new campaign to promote the Apple Watch for children with cellular connectivity

Apple has launched a new campaign called “An Apple Watch for Your Kids” to encourage parents to buy a cellular Apple Watch for their children. This campaign is a rebrand of the Family Setup feature that has been around since 2020. A cellular Apple Watch can be added and managed through a parent's iPhone, providing kids with a wrist-worn device for phone calls, text messages and location tracking. Apple is promoting the “School Time” feature, which restricts notifications and apps during school hours, and also highlights the watch’s durability, water resistance, and built-in activity tracking options. This feature requires Apple Watch 4 or later with GPS + cellular and cellular Internet, iPhone 6s or later for parents, Family Sharing group setup, and Apple Accounts for both parent and child.

Apple Intelligence settings visible in iOS 18 beta XNUMX simulator

The latest beta version of the Xcode application development tool showed new settings for Apple Intelligence features that are not yet available. These settings were discovered when simulating an iPhone running the third beta version of iOS 18. Apple previously announced that some “Apple Intelligence” features will be available to try “this summer” in US English only, and will require an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, or Mac or iPad devices with an M1 processor or later.

This feature will be able to summarize texts, prioritize notifications and email, create emojis and custom images, and will also improve Siri with deeper language understanding capabilities, broader app controls, screen awareness, and other features. Apple said that some of these features, in addition to support for additional languages ​​and software platforms, will be added “over the next year.”

iOS 18 includes two new background sounds to help you focus or rest

The iOS 18 update includes two new background sounds: Night and Fire. The Background Sounds feature was introduced in iOS 15, and it allows users to play background sounds on their phones to help focus or relax. Other available sounds include balanced noise, bright noise, dark noise, ocean, rain, and a running stream. This feature is free and built into the iPhone and provides similar functionality to apps like Dark Noise.

‎Dark Noise: Ambient Sounds

Free⁺

Developer	Dark Noise LLC

Apple leads global PC growth with 21% increase in shipments

Apple saw a significant 21% increase in Mac shipments during the second quarter of 2024, making it the growth leader among global personal computer manufacturers. According to a report by research firm IDC, global shipments of desktop and laptop computers rose by 3% compared to the previous year. This increase is part of a recovery in the personal computer industry, driven by growing interest in AI-optimized computers and a cycle of commercial hardware renewals.

Apple achieved growth of 20.8% compared to the second quarter of 2023, followed by Acer with an increase of 13.7%. In contrast, Dell saw a decline of 2.4%. Lenovo maintained the highest market share at about 23%, while HP saw a 1.8% increase from the previous year.

According to market research firm Canalys, the global PC market grew by 3.4% year-on-year, with total shipments reaching 62.8 million units. Apple ranked fourth with 5.5 million units shipped, equivalent to 9% of the market share, an increase of 6% over the same period last year.

Samsung launches Galaxy Fold Z 6 and Flip Z 6 phones, headphones, smart watches, and more

The Galaxy Fold 6Z features a 6.3-inch external screen and a 7.6-inch internal screen, with a thinner and lighter design. The hinge and edges have been improved and durability increased, with the use of Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The phone has a 10-megapixel selfie camera, a 4-megapixel under-screen camera, and three rear cameras. The device works with a third-generation Snapdragon 8 processor, optimized for artificial intelligence processing.

The Galaxy Flip 6Z features a 3.4-inch external screen that opens to a 6.7-inch screen, with improvements in durability and performance.

The artificial intelligence features in both phones include the improved Notes application and the Composer feature for the keyboard. This feature is part of the artificial intelligence functions that Samsung has added to its new phones, and aims to facilitate and speed up the writing process for users by providing smart suggestions that suit their personal writing style.

As well as advanced image editing tools. The Google Gemini application has also been integrated into the new phones.

Samsung also launched the Buds3 and Buds3 Pro headphones with a new design similar to the AirPods, with noise cancellation features and touch control.

Two new smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra, have been unveiled, with a new sleep apnea detection feature and an improved BioActive sensor to measure heart rate and other health indicators.

The company also provided more details about the Galaxy Ring, a smart ring that can be used instead of a smart watch to track sleep and health indicators.

The new products will go on sale on July 24, with special pre-order offers including deep discounts on trade-in old devices and free upgrades to storage and additional accessories.

Google Advanced Protection adds the option to set up a single passkey

Google has a program called “Advanced Protection“For people who need additional protection for their accounts. Previously, this program required the use of physical security keys, which is a security key inserted into a USB port.

Now, Google has added a new option called “passkeys.” These secure keys allow users to access their accounts using their fingerprint, facial recognition, or device passcode on their phone, rather than physical keys.

This change makes the software easier and safer for users to use. It is also more resistant to cyber attacks such as phishing.

iPhone 16 Pro will support 40W fast charging and 20W MagSafe

New rumors from China indicate that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will support 40-watt wired fast charging and 20-watt MagSafe wireless charging. Currently, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro support fast charging of up to 27 watts wired and 15 watts wirelessly.

According to the ITHome website, this change aims to “balance and improve the problem of increased charging time caused by increased battery capacity.” This links to another rumor that all iPhone 16 models, except for the iPhone 16 Plus, will have larger batteries than their predecessors.

These rumors highlight previous claims about the adoption of stacked battery technology in the iPhone 16 series, along with fast charging.

The iPhone 16 models are rumored to contain design changes related to Face ID

Recent reports indicate the possibility of design changes related to the Face ID system in the iPhone 16 models. According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, Coherent, a supplier of Face ID components, is considering selling or reallocating a manufacturing facility in England after losing a supply deal with a customer. Big is believed to be Apple.

However, the details of these changes are still unclear. There were previous rumors about the possibility of integrating facial recognition under the screen, but reliable sources indicated that this step has been postponed until at least next year.

Apple may make other tweaks to the Face ID system, but it's uncertain whether they'll lead to noticeable improvements like faster authentication. The company usually makes internal changes in new generations of iPhone without necessarily leading to obvious new features for users.

Miscellaneous news

◉ Apple launches public beta versions of iOS 17.6 and MacOS Sonoma 14.6 updates.

◉ Apple launched a second beta program for AirPods Pro 2, including Lightning and USB-C versions. The updated firmware is available to developers right now.

◉ TSMC, Apple's chip factory, will begin trial production of 2nm chips next week, in preparation for implementing this technology in Apple's processors next year, which will provide 10-15% performance improvements and reduce power consumption by up to 30%. TSMC plans to begin mass production of 2nm chips next year, and they may first appear in the iPhone 17 series in 2025.

◉ Apple announced that its next quarterly earnings conference will be held on Thursday, August 1, at 12 midnight Cairo time and 2 pm Pacific time. CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri will discuss the company's earnings results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024. During this quarter, Apple released new models of the iPad Pro with an M4 processor, the iPad Air with an M2 processor, and the Apple Pencil Pro. It also began selling Vision Pro glasses in eight new countries. Analysts expect revenue for the quarter to reach $77.2 billion, compared to $81.8 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

◉ Apple is developing a new version of the Watch SE with a plastic cover. It is believed that this change aims to reduce the cost of the watch, which is currently sold at $249, compared to its cheaper competitor, the Samsung FE Watch, priced at $199.

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