Apple Updates the iPad Mini, Apple Intelligence and Device Support, A Different Way to Think About Apple Intelligence
Hello everyone. On Wednesday, Apple unveiled an updated iPad mini. We will begin today’s email with my thoughts on the iPad mini and the update. The discussion will then evolve into a few thoughts regarding Apple Intelligence.
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Hodinkee Sells to British Retailer, Hodinkee and Apple Watch, The Luxury Watch Downturn
Happy Tuesday. It’s good to be back after a long weekend.
Today’s update will have a watch theme as we revisit some odd developments that have unfolded in the mechanical watch world. It’s difficult to not make some connections between the developments and Apple Watch momentum.
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Thoughts on Apple’s NBA All-Star Weekend Film in Apple Immersive Video, Apple Immersive Video and Sports Questions, The Big Picture
Hello everyone. For today’s special Friday edition of Above Avalon Daily, we are going to wrap up our Apple Immersive Video discussion.
We had very good reason to believe that Apple was going to release an Apple Immersive Video film for 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend. Here was a tweet of mine from February depicting Apple’s immersive cameras at the Slam Dunk contest.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had also dropped hints of the NBA working with Apple on such a project. Apple then included a few clips from the event in an Apple Immersive Video trailer.
Eight months later, timed to coincide with the start of the new NBA season, Apple will be releasing its 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend film in Apple Immersive Video to Apple Vision Pro wearers next Friday.
A few days ago, I received a pre-screening of the short film.
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Apple Releases First Scripted Film in Apple Immersive Video, Thoughts After Watching “Submerged,” The Future of Video
Happy Thursday.
Two hours ago, Apple released “Submerged,” its first scripted film captured in Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro. Earlier this week, I pre-screened “Submerged” along with a new Apple Immersive Video film of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend.
My initial impressions from “Submerged” will be found below. The plan is to talk about the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend film tomorrow.
Let’s jump right in.
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Meta Admits Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses Are Used to Train AI, Meta’s Achilles' Heel, Smart Glasses Used for Doxing
Following Monday's discussion regarding Vision Pro apps, we will stay in smart glasses / headsets / spatial computing land for today's update. A news story out of Harvard involving Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, face search engines, and large language models caught my attention over the weekend. Before we get to that, some disappointing news on the Meta smart glasses front as it pertains to data collection.
Let’s jump right in.
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Apple’s “Cozy” WWDC, Vision Pro Apps, Vision Pro and App Bridges
We will kick off a new week of updates with Apple Vision Pro and apps. The discussion looks at a small event Apple held at Apple Park last week for developers. We then look at Apple Vision Pro apps and the idea of app bridges.
Let’s jump right in.
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A Few Thoughts on Apple Vision Pro Passthrough, Google Has Juno Pulled From App Store, Microsoft Discontinues HoloLens 2
Hello everyone. Some follow-up to our Apple/OpenAI discussion from Monday. The Financial Times is reporting OpenAI asked companies investing in its latest capital raise to not back rival companies. If true, that could have played a role in Apple backing out of an OpenAI investment. It is not necessarily in Apple’s interest to see OpenAI exceed or excel while OpenAI competitors struggle. Apple Intelligence can benefit from integrating various third-party multimodal models.
Shifting to today’s update, there will be an Apple Vision Pro / headset theme to the discussion. We discuss why consensus is rushing to judgment by claiming that AR glasses with optically transparent projection is the way forward in spatial computing. The discussion then turns to Google going after the popular Juno app for Apple Vision Pro. We conclude with my thoughts on HoloLens 2 being discontinued.
Let’s jump in.
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Oura Talks Smart Ring Financials, Smart Ring Hesitation, The Button’s Resurgence in Tech
Welcome to October. We will kick off a new month by discussing Oura and smart rings.
We haven't talked much about smart rings in these daily updates. The most recent discussion was found in the February 27th update (Samsung's Galaxy Ring and sketchy Apple smart ring rumors).
We will conclude today's update with an interesting story on what feels like the button's resurgence in tech.
Let's jump in.
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Apple Reportedly Backs Out of OpenAI Investment, Apple Dials Back on Blockbusters, Silicon Valley vs. Hollywood Confusion
Hello everyone. Welcome to a new week. Today’s update will focus on two news items that came across my radar over the weekend. We look at my thoughts regarding the latest Apple / OpenAI investment rumors. The discussion then turn to movies and what appears to be some bad framing on the part of Bloomberg Businessweek as it pertains to Apple’s approach to movies and movie theaters.
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Meta Connect 2024, Meta’s Orion Prototype, Mark Zuckerberg Is Gaslighting Us
Hello everyone. My notes from Meta’s Connect 2024 came out to a few daily updates worth of discussion. After much editing, today’s update does a good job of capturing my views and perspective. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s jump right in.
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The Design Story Behind AirPods 4, Google Stresses Antitrust Long Game
Hello everyone. Tomorrow’s update will be dedicated to discussing Meta's Connect 2024 event. What took place at Menlo Park marked a new kind of low for the consumer tech industry. We will discuss it all tomorrow.
For today’s update, we are going to focus on AirPods. The discussion will then turn to a quick update on the Google antitrust front.
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The Sonos App Fiasco, Sonos Earnings, YouTube Premium Is Having A Moment
Hello everyone. We will begin today's update by focusing on the Sonos app fiasco. Our attention will then shift to Sonos earnings. The update concludes with an observation regarding YouTube Premium, YouTube's ad-free subscription offering.
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Unpacking and Decoding the NYT’s Jony Ive / LoveFrom Profile
Hello everyone.
This past Saturday, The New York Times published a profile on what Jony Ive has been up to since leaving Apple in 2019 and starting his LoveFrom design consultancy.
While a fair amount of the information found in the piece had been previously known, such as Airbnb and Ferrari being LoveFrom clients, there were new disclosures regarding some of Jony’s business dealings involving San Francisco real estate. The piece seemed to be timed with an upcoming fundraising effort for a new company Jony is involved in with OpenAI.
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Apple’s Philosophy on Photography, Why Memory Protection Is a Big Deal, Snap Unveils Spectacles 5.0
Hello everyone. We begin today's update with Apple drawing a line in the sand regarding photography and generative AI. It’s fascinating how much of a Big Tech outlier Apple is on this photography versus generative AI debate. We then turn to my thoughts on Snap unveiling its fifth edition of Spectacles smart glasses.
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Addressing iPhone Pessimism
In today’s update, we will take a closer look at some of the iPhone pessimism that materialized following Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event. Let’s jump right in.
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More on Apple’s New Devices, What’s Next for iPhone?, What’s Next for Apple Watch?
Hello everyone. Yesterday, we finished our review of Apple’s event. There are a few additional topics worth visiting that aren't so much about Apple's event but rather what comes next. Where does Apple take the iPhone and Apple Watch from here? Let’s discuss.
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Deconstructing Apple’s Product Event (iPhone)
Hello everyone. We will conclude our Apple event review, focusing on the iPhone segment of the presentation.
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Deconstructing Apple’s Product Event (AirPods)
Hello everyone. We will continue our Apple event review, focusing on the AirPods segment of the presentation. Yesterday’s update was focused on Apple Watch. Monday will be focused on everything iPhone.
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Deconstructing Apple’s Product Event (Apple Watch)
Hello everyone. We will continue our Apple event review.
Yesterday’s update was focused on the big picture.
My preference is to go deep into one section (Apple Watch, AirPods, iPhone) before moving on to the next section. For today, we will focus on the Apple Watch part of the presentation. Tomorrow, we will talk about AirPods. That discussion will end up including something of a State of AirPods section that extends behind just what was announced this week. There has been a lot going on with AirPods sales. Monday will be focused on everything iPhone.
Let’s jump in.
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Apple Just Held Its Strongest September Event in Years
Hello everyone. Today’s update will go over my initial impressions from Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event. The discussion will have more in the way of big picture takeaways. We will get to the specifics, including my thoughts on the features, on Wednesday and possibly Thursday.
Let’s jump right in.
Apple Just Held Its Strongest September Event in Years
Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event was jam-packed with HW updates.
The Apple Watch Series 10 marked one of the more significant year-over-year improvements for a flagship Apple Watch in years. We will likely see a bump up in the non-Ultra to Ultra sales ratio.
All four iPhone flagships contained notable upgrades including A18 (for non-Pro models) / A18 Pro (for Pro models), Camera Control (touch-capacitive area with sensors and haptic motors), and improved battery life across the line.
The entire AirPods line saw updates for the first time since the line expanded to three models, with AirPods receiving a H2 chip along with fit and comfort enhancements, AirPods Pro becoming a clinical-grade Hearing Aid, and AirPods Max receiving its first change in its four-year life (USB-C and new colors).
Apple sneaked in a non-HW Apple Intelligence feature, Visual Intelligence, tied into Camera Control. Visual Intelligence provides iPhone users context for their surroundings.
After looking back at prior September events, it’s fair to say yesterday’s event was the strongest Apple September event since at least 2017 (iPhone X unveiling). That is not meant to belittle or
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