News on the sidelines week February 28 - March 6

$14K Mac Studio, Apple explains the absence of the M4 Ultra, Why the iPhone 16e doesn't have MagSafe, iPhone 16e teardown to see the C1 up close, iOS 18.4 updates add amazing smart features to the Control Center, Skype says goodbye to the world, a new app for Vision Pro glasses, a major iOS 19 feature delay worries users, new iPhone 17 design leaks, and other exciting news in On the Sidelines...

Apple Explains Apple: Why the New Mac Studio Doesn't Have an M4 Ultra Chip

Apple has updated the Mac Studio with two different chip options: the M4 Max and the M3 Ultra. This has raised questions about why Apple chose the M3 Ultra instead of the M4 Ultra, and the company’s answer is interesting. Apple explained to Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham that “not every generation of M chips will include an Ultra chip,” suggesting that there may never be an M4 Ultra.

This clarification raises the question of which chip Apple will use in the next generation of Mac Pro. Both the Mac Studio and Mac Pro were updated with the M2 Ultra chip in June 2023, and many felt that the Mac Pro was not a good buy at the time due to its thousands of dollars higher price than the Mac Studio despite the few differences between them. There was hope that Apple would update the Mac Pro with the M4 Ultra chip to create more differentiation between the two machines, but Apple’s recent statement reduces the likelihood of that, meaning that the next generation of Mac Pro could only get the M3 Ultra chip, while still looking very similar to the Mac Studio.

The top-of-the-line Mac Studio M3 Ultra costs $14,099

When configured with the highest specs, the Mac Studio M3 Ultra costs $14,099, up $10,100 from the base price. The Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra starts at $3,999 and comes with a 28-core CPU, 60-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 96GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.

At full spec, the pricing breakdown is as follows: Add $1,500 to upgrade to the M3 Ultra chip with a 32-core CPU and 80-core GPU, add $4,000 to upgrade to 512GB of unified memory, and add $4,600 to upgrade to 16TB of storage. Customers can also purchase Final Cut Pro ($299.99) and/or Logic Pro ($199.99) at checkout, for a total of $14,598.98. 

iFixit teardowns iPhone 16e to identify C1 modem

iFixit has shared a traditional iPhone 16e teardown video to get a look at its internals. In short, the iPhone has the same quick-release battery adhesive found on other iPhone 16 models, and it packs a larger 15.55Wh battery than the previous model, as Apple was able to free up extra space thanks to the single-lens rear camera.

The teardown offered a detailed look at Apple’s new C1 modem on the underside of the RF board, which has the same architecture as Qualcomm’s X71M modem package, with a 4nm modem and DRAM. iFixit had some challenges with the design that made it difficult to repair, such as having to remove all the internal components to access the USB-C port, but it praised some improvements towards repairability such as undoing the iOS component pairing and adding a metal bracket to protect the flex cables.

iOS 18.4 Update Adds New, Easy Features to Control Center

Apple has released the second beta of iOS 18.4, which brings some minor and useful updates to the Control Center. This update adds new buttons that allow users to easily activate some smart features, such as talking to Siri or using the “Visual Intelligence” feature. There was also a previous option to type commands to Siri instead of speaking, and it has now been moved to the smart features section instead of the regular Siri section. These improvements make using the phone faster and more convenient.

These new features work on all iPhones that support Apple's AI, and as for the "Visual Intelligence" feature, it is new to the iPhone 15 Pro, while the iPhone 16 models got a dedicated button in the Control Center to easily activate it. Previously, you had to long-press the camera control button to activate this feature, but now there is an additional option via the phone's action button to make it easier to access on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. These changes make the experience smoother for everyone!

New Vision Pro App Available on iPhone with iOS 18.4 Beta

Apple has launched a new Vision Pro app for iPhone that will be automatically installed for Apple Watch owners when they update to iOS 18.4 beta 2. The app, which was announced two weeks ago, helps users easily search for and download content when they’re not in use, and features a “My Vision Pro” section that displays information like the serial number and software version, as well as a user guide and tips. It also offers a main section called “This Week” that showcases a variety of options, including immersive content from Apple, new apps and games, XNUMXD movie suggestions, and features like a virtual Mac screen, with the ability to download apps and add movies and shows to a watch list.

Apple delays announcement of major iOS 19 feature

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was working on a new, more intuitive version of Siri for iOS 19.4, using new technologies that would make it more like a chatbot. But he said the project has been facing delays within the company, meaning the new version of Siri won’t be ready on time. Instead of being announced at WWDC 2025 in June, or launched with iOS 19.4 in March or April of next year, some Apple engineers believe it could be delayed until iOS 20.

For now, Apple is still planning to add some improvements to Siri in iOS 19, which will make it able to handle more complex questions. But the delay shows that Apple is struggling to keep up with other companies like OpenAI in the field of artificial intelligence. While users wait for the new version, Apple added the ability to link Siri with ChatGPT in iOS 18.2, and a link with Gemini is expected to come later. The iOS 18.5 update, scheduled for May, will also bring features that will make Siri understand what is displayed on the iPhone screen and give answers that better suit the user’s needs.

iPhone 16e shines in Apple's latest ads

Apple has released a new ad to promote the iPhone 16e alongside the launch of the iPhone 16e. The short ad features an inflatable air dancer holding an iPhone 16e, and is designed for social media and quick ads, with Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s “Talk” as the background music. The ad focuses on the phone’s attractive design, which features a full screen with Face ID, and a high-resolution single-lens rear camera. The iPhone 599e starts at $3, which is slightly more expensive than the iPhone SE 18 it replaced, but it comes with a powerful A48 processor that supports Apple’s intelligence technologies, a powerful modem, a 16-megapixel camera, and other features that make it a great option compared to the rest of the iPhone XNUMX models.

Skype Says Goodbye to the World in May 2025

Microsoft has announced that it will permanently shut down Skype on May 5, 2025, ending its 14-year run as the owner of the app that pioneered internet calling and messaging. Microsoft bought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, and at its peak, it had more than 300 million monthly users, making it the first name that came to mind when talking about online voice and video calls. But over time, its popularity has declined, and its user base has fallen to around 36 million by 2023, due to the emergence of stronger competitors such as Zoom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft’s own Teams app.

Teams now has 320 million monthly users, far outpacing Skype, and the company has decided to shut down Skype to focus on developing artificial intelligence features in Teams. Skype employees will not be laid off, but will instead move on to other projects. Skype played a major role in popularizing online calling technology, helping people and businesses communicate globally at a low cost, and it also offered an early experiment in language translation with the help of artificial intelligence in 2014. But its repeated design changes, performance issues, attempts to turn it into a social platform, and its failure to keep up with competitors during the Corona pandemic have made it lose its position, with users having the opportunity to transfer their data to Teams or find an alternative by May 2025.

Apple explains the absence of MagSafe in the iPhone 16e

Apple explained why it wouldn’t include MagSafe on the new low-cost iPhone 16e, saying that most of its target users charge their phones with a regular cable and don’t care about wireless charging. It noted that the slow 7.5W charging speed of the Qi standard is enough for them, making MagSafe, which offers faster charging using magnets, unnecessary for this audience. MagSafe, which debuted with the iPhone 12 in 2020, supports up to 25W charging and various accessories, but the iPhone 16e is the first major Apple phone to lack it since then.

Apple has dismissed the idea that the new C1 modem is incompatible with MagSafe, and case companies have said the technology doesn’t affect its performance. To display the phone in stores, Apple designed a special charging stand that holds the phone upright, since it falls over if placed horizontally. The exclusion of MagSafe appears to be a cost-cutting decision, but Apple believes it understands its audience’s needs well, focusing on what works for them rather than features they may not use, while offering solutions like magnetic cases from other companies without speeding up charging.

New images confirm iPhone 17 design changes

Apple is preparing to change the camera design on some iPhone 17 models, and the latest CAD images, published by leaker Sonny Dickson on the X platform, appear to be in line with the circulating rumors. Among them is the design of the very thin iPhone 17 Air, which will replace the Plus model, with a long horizontal rear camera containing a single 48-megapixel lens, similar to the iPhone 16, but may not support spatial video recording due to its thin size.

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max will get a wide aluminum camera bar that runs across the device, with three lenses on the left and a flash and LiDAR sensor on the right, in a new design that could be for practical or aesthetic reasons.

In contrast, the base iPhone 17 model retains the familiar dual-camera design, which may be comforting for those who don't like the new look. The rumors are supported by multiple sources, and point to Apple using a new technology that combines glass and metal to seamlessly integrate the camera with the back cover.

The series is expected to launch in September 2025, and as the date approaches, these changes seem almost certain, reflecting Apple's vision to renew its phone line.

Rare Auction of Historic Apple Products

RR Auction today launched an auction of a rare collection of early Apple products, including early devices and documents signed by Steve Jobs, items that often fetch thousands of dollars. The highlight is the Apple-1, the first computer sold by Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, known as the “Bayville” Apple-1, which is number 91 in the Apple-1 registry. The device is in mint condition with a manual containing a handwritten note from Daniel Kottke, Apple’s 12th employee, and is expected to fetch up to $300 due to its rarity.

The auction also includes two checks signed by Steve Jobs that could fetch more than $25, and a rare Apple II with a ventless design that could fetch around $30. It also includes early computers like the Macintosh Portable with a transparent case, Apple’s first battery-powered portable computer, released in 1989. The device was not a huge success because of its heavy weight (more than 16 pounds) and high cost, making the transparent model extremely rare, and could fetch more than $50.

Other items include prototypes of devices such as the iPod Classic, iMac G3, Power Mac G4 Cube, Power Macintosh, and Macintosh TV, all of which could sell for thousands of dollars. These devices represent engineering development (EVT) or pre-production (PVT) stages, making them valuable to tech enthusiasts and collectors. This auction reflects the passion of those interested in Apple history, as the items combine rarity with historical significance for the company that changed the world of technology.

Miscellaneous news

◉ Qualcomm announced its new X2025 modem at MWC 85 in Barcelona, ​​which it claims delivers a “massive difference” in performance between flagship Android phones and iPhones, thanks to AI features. The X85 supports 5G mmWave technology, 400MHz bandwidth in the Sub-6GHz range, along with download speeds of up to 12.5Gbps and upload speeds of up to 3.7Gbps. It can also combine different frequencies to boost performance. The modem’s AI is said to reduce latency and improve speed, allowing it to better handle weak signals. 

◉ None of the current iPhones or iPads come with 64GB of storage anymore, with all new models starting at 128GB or more. The last devices to come with this capacity were the iPhone SE3 and the 16th-generation iPad, but they have been replaced by the iPhone 16e and the new iPad with the A128 chip, both of which come with a minimum of 16GB. This isn’t the first time Apple has broken a technical era, as all Macs since October have come with at least 8GB of RAM, down from 64GB. It’s worth noting that the first iPhones with 8GB were the iPhone 2017 and iPhone X in XNUMX, as well as the first iPad Pro with this capacity that same year.

◉ Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is planning to launch a standalone AI app in the second quarter of 2025 to compete with products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Microsoft’s Copilot. The app will join Meta’s suite of apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and will offer a deeper user experience than the AI ​​feature currently built into its search apps. While Meta AI will remain free, the company plans to test a paid subscription service with advanced features, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg aims to make Meta a leader in AI by the end of the year.

◉ OpenAI has announced the launch of GPT-4.5, its latest intelligent model, which it described as “the best model yet” for conversations, outperforming GPT-4o in most areas such as everyday and professional questions and creativity. It features improved self-learning that helps it understand patterns and formulate new ideas, with a more natural personality and the ability to guide users smoothly, in addition to a broader knowledge base and a deeper understanding of human intentions, which reduces errors and makes it ideal for writing, programming and problem solving. However, it is not intended for deep thinking like the o1 or o3-mini models, but rather for general use, and it is available today for professional subscribers, then for Plus users next week, with support for uploading files and images, but it does not support audio, video or screen sharing.

◉ Apple is facing a new lawsuit claiming that Apple misled them when it said that the Apple Watch 9, SE, and Ultra 2 were environmentally friendly. They claim that Apple used projects in Kenya and China to reduce the environmental damage caused by manufacturing its watch. These projects were supposed to make the air cleaner to compensate for any pollution caused by the production of the watch. But the problem is that the lands in Kenya and China were originally nature reserves full of trees long ago, meaning that they were environmentally clean before Apple intervened. So these projects did not add any real improvement to the environment, because the pollution was not there to be reduced in the first place. For this reason, people see Apple’s claim as false. Is it clear now? They say that they would not have bought the watch if they knew the truth, and they are demanding compensation and to prevent Apple from saying this again, especially since Apple began using this slogan in 2023 and wants to be a “green” company by 2030.

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