Welcome to our Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in one handy roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, but it’s cool if you want to read it during lunch or dinner hours as well.
Creep function
What is Apple’s most important product? Financially, of course, it’s the iPhone, which makes more money than all of the other product categories — the Mac, the iPad, and all of the wearables and services divisions — combined. But in terms of retaining customers who buy these iPhones, there’s an argument to be made that iOS is even more important. People don’t buy an iPhone because it has the best specs or the most innovative design (which is debatable to say the least), but because it offers the most user-friendly and smooth experience, which which is largely due to the operating system.
With that in mind, the annual launch of a new comprehensive iOS update should be even more anticipated than the rollout of some new iPhone handsets that are likely similar to the previous generation. Well, yes and no. The software announcements at WWDC are worth watching, and one particularly tasty iOS update can make it look like you’ve got a new iPhone without spending a dime. But there’s a difference between important and interesting, and boring software updates are just as essential to Apple’s health as shiny ones. iOS is like indoor plumbing or a cricket umpire: at its best when invisible. If I’m forced to think about sewage or LBW or my security settings, then you haven’t done your job of getting things done quietly in the background.
This week, a credible report claimed that Apple had changed its strategy for iOS 17, this year’s update, from fixing bugs to adding features. What experts previously expected to be a performance-focused “maintenance update” will now apparently introduce several “interesting” features, including several of the most frequently requested ones. Queue cheers, general merriment, ticker parade, etc.
Far be it from me to rain on anyone’s parade, but I’m not entirely convinced that’s a good idea. I’d much rather Apple focus their energies on making sure everything works as it should than add a bunch of extra stuff that can creatively go wrong. Not that iOS is particularly error-prone in its current form. While “it works” is now mostly quoted satirically, Apple products still lead the market in simple reliability. But there are problems, and I wish there were fewer of them. (Or less. See how important it is to master the basics?) Take Siri. Would you rather Siri have the ability to answer a wider range of queries or answer current queries more reliably? That’s what I thought.
The problem is that by unveiling a new version of iOS, Apple is trying to please two different audiences at the same time: iPhone owners who will end up using the software every day for a year without necessarily knowing anything, and those sages like the current writer who pontificate, analyze and obsess over everything that has changed. The phrase “maintenance update” is mostly used pejoratively, and an update without flagship functionality would be met by the editorial equivalent of a raspberry on all major tech sites. But I argue that the average new flagship feature, such as the much-hyped personalized lock screen in iOS 16, does less to increase the world’s happiness than a simple tweak like SMS passcodes automatically appearing above the keyboard. The former tries to change the way you use your iPhone, and the latter tries to make your life easier.
With that in mind, I’m ready to make a promise. If iOS 17 happens to be a maintenance update, I’ll refrain from writing a hot plug to complain about it. Who is with me?
Foundry
Trending: Top Stories
Welp, everyone hates Apple’s AR headset and it hasn’t even been shipped yet.
The Apple Watch Ultras Action button is exactly what the iPhone 15 lacks.
You can now download Apple Music Classical, but there are a few unexpected limits.
Apple pay later is finally available, but only to “randomly selected” users in the United States
Apple has acquired a startup specializing in “content-aware” AI video compression.
The rumor mill
Are we about to meet B1 chip? A leak claims that Apple’s next chip will be dedicated to the buttons of the iPhone 15 Pro.
Podcast of the week
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Software updates, bugs and issues
iOS 16.4 is now available with new emojis and critical security updates. We have 3 reasons to upgrade now, plus some awesome hidden features.
the scary Malware “MacStealer” went after iCloud passwords and credit card data.
Apple has finally patched an actively mined asset Default WebKit in older iPhones.
Perfect timing, with iOS17 imminent: it is now easier to install Apple’s betas.
Apple has already started testing macOS Ventura 13.4.
The first one iOS 16.5 beta arrived with “minor” changes as the launch of iOS 17 approached.
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you want to receive regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Twitter or on Facebook to discuss the latest news from Apple. See you next Saturday, enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay Appley.
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