Apple has only just announced the launch of its M2-based 15-inch MacBook Air, but the company is already working on the machine’s successor. A 15-inch Air with an M3 processor is expected to launch sometime in 2024, according to the prolific leaker Mark Gurman.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, the Bloomberg reporter responded to speculation about the choice of processor in the new Air. The M2 chip, after all, is a year old, first appearing in the 13-inch Pro and Air laptops announced at WWDC 2022. It seems like a strange choice for the machine Apple described this month as “the world’s best 15-inch laptop.”

Realistically it was always possible that WWDC 2023 would come too soon for the M3, given that the M2 arrived more than 18 months after the M1. (Some pundits predicted that the cycle would become annual, like the iPhone, but that supposition was evidently wrong.) But there have been plenty of smaller advances since last summer, including Pro, Max, and most recently Ultra editions of the M2 chip. The new 15-inch MacBook Air doesn’t get access to any of these, not even as a build-to-order option, and it may start to seem less of a future-proofed option once 2024 rolls around.

Expectations are high for Apple silicon’s M3 generation. Whereas M2 was a cautious and incremental upgrade on the M1, M3 will reportedly adopt the 3-nanometer chip process (in contrast to the M1 and M2’s 5-nanometer process) and thereby unlock reduced power consumption and increased speed. It’s less clear when the next generation will launch; given that the mighty and infrequently updated Mac Pro has just been equipped with M2-gen silicon, our best guess is that the M3 is still about a year away.

The chip probably won’t land on the MacBook Air first, however. Gurman says Apple is working on an M3-based iMac and 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the former will launch early in 2024, he says.

The M2 15-inch MacBook Air is available for preorder now and begins shipping on Tuesday, June 13.

MacBook

Apple has only just announced the launch of its M2-based 15-inch MacBook Air, but the company is already working on the machine’s successor. A 15-inch Air with an M3 processor is expected to launch sometime in 2024, according to the prolific leaker Mark Gurman.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, the Bloomberg reporter responded to speculation about the choice of processor in the new Air. The M2 chip, after all, is a year old, first appearing in the 13-inch Pro and Air laptops announced at WWDC 2022. It seems like a strange choice for the machine Apple described this month as “the world’s best 15-inch laptop.”

Realistically it was always possible that WWDC 2023 would come too soon for the M3, given that the M2 arrived more than 18 months after the M1. (Some pundits predicted that the cycle would become annual, like the iPhone, but that supposition was evidently wrong.) But there have been plenty of smaller advances since last summer, including Pro, Max, and most recently Ultra editions of the M2 chip. The new 15-inch MacBook Air doesn’t get access to any of these, not even as a build-to-order option, and it may start to seem less of a future-proofed option once 2024 rolls around.

Expectations are high for Apple silicon’s M3 generation. Whereas M2 was a cautious and incremental upgrade on the M1, M3 will reportedly adopt the 3-nanometer chip process (in contrast to the M1 and M2’s 5-nanometer process) and thereby unlock reduced power consumption and increased speed. It’s less clear when the next generation will launch; given that the mighty and infrequently updated Mac Pro has just been equipped with M2-gen silicon, our best guess is that the M3 is still about a year away.

The chip probably won’t land on the MacBook Air first, however. Gurman says Apple is working on an M3-based iMac and 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the former will launch early in 2024, he says.

The M2 15-inch MacBook Air is available for preorder now and begins shipping on Tuesday, June 13.

MacBook

Apple has only just announced the launch of its M2-based 15-inch MacBook Air, but the company is already working on the machine’s successor. A 15-inch Air with an M3 processor is expected to launch some time in 2024, according to the prolific leaker Mark Gurman.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, the Bloomberg reporter responded to speculation about the choice of processor in the new Air. The M2 chip, after all, is a year old, first appearing in the 13-inch Pro and Air laptops announced at WWDC 2022. It seems like a strange choice for the machine Apple described this month as “the world’s best 15-inch laptop.”

Realistically it was always possible that WWDC 2023 would come too soon for the M3, given that the M2 arrived more than 18 months after the M1. (Some pundits predicted that the cycle would become annual, like the iPhone, but that supposition was evidently wrong.) But there have been plenty of smaller advances since last summer, including Pro, Max, and most recently Ultra editions of the M2 chip. The new 15-inch MacBook Air doesn’t get access to any of these, not even as a build-to-order option, and it may start to seem less of a future-proofed option once 2024 rolls around.

Expectations are high for Apple silicon’s M3 generation. Whereas M2 was a cautious and incremental upgrade on the M1, M3 will reportedly adopt the 3-nanometer chip process (in contrast to the M1 and M2’s 5-nanometer process) and thereby unlock reduced power consumption and increased speed. It’s less clear when the next generation will launch; given that the mighty and infrequently updated Mac Pro has just been equipped with M2-gen silicon, our best guess is that M3 is still some way off.

It probably won’t land on the MacBook Air first, however. Gurman says Apple is working on an M3-based iMac and 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the former will launch early in 2024, he says.

The M2 15-inch MacBook Air is available now.

MacBook

Apple has only just announced the launch of its M2-based 15-inch MacBook Air, but the company is already working on the machine’s successor. A 15-inch Air with an M3 processor is expected to launch some time in 2024, according to the prolific leaker Mark Gurman.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, the Bloomberg reporter responded to speculation about the choice of processor in the new Air. The M2 chip, after all, is a year old, first appearing in the 13-inch Pro and Air laptops announced at WWDC 2022. It seems like a strange choice for the machine Apple described this month as “the world’s best 15-inch laptop.”

Realistically it was always possible that WWDC 2023 would come too soon for the M3, given that the M2 arrived more than 18 months after the M1. (Some pundits predicted that the cycle would become annual, like the iPhone, but that supposition was evidently wrong.) But there have been plenty of smaller advances since last summer, including Pro, Max, and most recently Ultra editions of the M2 chip. The new 15-inch MacBook Air doesn’t get access to any of these, not even as a build-to-order option, and it may start to seem less of a future-proofed option once 2024 rolls around.

Expectations are high for Apple silicon’s M3 generation. Whereas M2 was a cautious and incremental upgrade on the M1, M3 will reportedly adopt the 3-nanometer chip process (in contrast to the M1 and M2’s 5-nanometer process) and thereby unlock reduced power consumption and increased speed. It’s less clear when the next generation will launch; given that the mighty and infrequently updated Mac Pro has just been equipped with M2-gen silicon, our best guess is that M3 is still some way off.

It probably won’t land on the MacBook Air first, however. Gurman says Apple is working on an M3-based iMac and 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the former will launch early in 2024, he says.

The M2 15-inch MacBook Air is available now.

MacBook

Apple pulled the covers back on the latest iteration of its Mac operating system at WWDC on 5 June 2023. Named macOS Sonoma after the city in Northern California known for its winemaking region, the new software has customization at its heart, with Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering stating, “We think users are going to love macOS Sonoma and the new ways it enables them to personalize with widgets and stunning new screen savers, see new levels of gaming performance, and gain powerful productivity for video conferencing and browsing with Safari.” Here are the headline features to look forward to in macOS Sonoma when it arrives in the fall.

Screensavers

Ok, this might seem like a blast from the past, but screensavers are still a thing and Apple has taken them up a level in macOS Sonoma. Rather than static images, the new screensaver mode has high-resolution videos, gently sweeping across areas of outstanding beauty around the world. Also, when you log in, the video slows to a paused image that instantly becomes your wallpaper.

Widgets

Widgets made their debut on Apple’s mobile devices with iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, and now in macOS 14 they come to the larger screens. It’s true that you already had them available in the Notifications Center, but now you’re able to drag them from that area onto your desktop. They won’t snap automatically to locations either, as they do on mobile devices, so you can place them where you choose, another sign of the personalization that macOS Sonoma offers.

Opening up an app will cause the widgets to fade into the background, matching whatever wallpaper color scheme is selected, making them non-intrusive. But, perhaps the most useful feature is that in macOS Sonoma you’ll be able to use existing widgets from your iPhone on the Mac. There’s no need to install them either, as the two devices will use Continuity to display them on your desktop. They remain fully interactive too, so you can use them just as you do on your iPhone.

Gaming

For many years, gaming was the preserve of Windows PCs, with the Mac often left out in the cold. With the performance gains Apple made with its M1 and M2 processors, it seems that the company is keen to make up this ground with the introduction of a new Game Mode. This essentially optimizes the system to give the highest priority to CPU and GPU demands while also lowering latency in controllers and AirPods by doubling the Bluetooth sampling rates. The model is compatible with all existing games on the Mac, so you won’t need special editions or new purchases to take advantage of the improved performance.

To encourage publishers to use Game Mode, Apple also announced its new Game Porting Kit which it claims will drastically reduce the amount of work needed to bring titles across to the Mac from other platforms. And there’s a new title coming to macOS later this year to take advantage of it all: Death Stranding.

Video conferencing

macOS Sonoma aims to make video conferencing smarter, with tools for hosts and those watching. A new Presenter Overlay feature allows the host to remain in view at all times, either in a small circular window that can be moved around the screen to stop it from obscuring the information being shared. Alternatively, switching to the larger mode triggers some clever work from the Neural Engine, which places the presenter in a bigger space with the shared information behind them but still visible. The most impressive part is that the background in the room is then layered behind both, making it seem like the data being presented is floating in the room.

Other callers can also respond with reactions that display balloons, fireworks, and other celebratory animations over their video. For even more fun, these can be triggered by physical gestures, such as a double thumbs-up. Should make those long conference calls a little more interesting. As the effects are all done in macOS, Apple says that they will work across any video conferencing software.

Safari improvements

macOS Sonoma brings some extra security capabilities to the Safari browser. These include locking browsing windows when you’re not using them, blocking trackers from loading on pages, and removing trackers from URLs when in Private browsing mode.

Passkeys get some attention too, as you’ll now be able to securely share passkeys and passwords with family and friends, with the ability for anyone in the group to update them or add new ones. It’s all worked through iCloud Keychain, so the data remains encrypted at all points. Another useful addition is Profiles, which allows you to create multiple instances of Safari, with one maybe focussed on work, with all the favorites, bookmarks, and things related to that, but also another for home where you have a completely different collection of information.

Web apps

Yes, you read that right, web apps on Mac. If you use a website regularly, with macOS Sonoma you can create an icon in the dock that will take you straight to that site. But Safari recognizes that you’ve chosen it as a web app, and instead of simply opening up the main browser window it instead shows a simplified one that acts more like an app. It’s all handled by Safari, so doesn’t require the websites to have any additional coding or special modes themselves. It also supports notifications, so you can see when an order is on its way or when the latest stories are posted.

When can you get macOS Sonoma?

Apple uses WWDC to highlight the features that will appear in its software lineup, but you won’t be able to get your hands on it until the fall. In the meantime, if you can’t wait that long, you can sign up for the Apple Beta Software program and try it out early. Just be aware that the software is still in the development stage, so it won’t run as smoothly as it will if you hold back until the full version becomes available later this year.

Personal Software

Multiple iPhone and iPad owners have complained that Apple’s latest mobile software updates, iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5, render their devices incompatible with Apple’s Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter.

The accessory, which costs $39 from Apple’s store (or £45 from the U.K. store) was designed with older Lightning iPad Pro models in mind, enabling owners to transfer photos from a digital camera to their tablet for editing and sharing; more recent iPads are equipped with USB-C ports and consequently have less need for an adapter. But it’s compatible, in theory, with pretty much any Lightning iPhone or iPad, going back all the way to the iPhone 5 from 2012 and the original iPad mini.

I say “in theory” because, according to MacRumors, a lot of owners are currently finding that in practice the accessory only works with iPhones and iPads that have not yet installed the version 16.5 editions of their respective operating systems. The issue, specifically, appears related to charging: because the adapter has both female USB-A and female Lightning ports, it should be possible to charge the iPad or iPhone while it’s connected to another device via the USB-A port. If the device has iOS 16.5, however, charging no longer works, and this in turn seems to cause wider issues with communicating between the connected devices. A “draws too much power” error message has been reported by multiple users on Reddit and Apple’s support forums.

“This has to be an issue with iOS 16.5, and I hope it’s resolved quickly,” commented the Apple support user fifanatic. “Seems like a very bad look for an official Apple accessory to be rendered inoperable by a step update of iOS.”

It’s clearly a software issue, too. One user on the MacRumors forums reports testing with multiple adapters and multiple USB cables, and further notes that the adapter worked fine with other devices still on iOS 16.4.1.

What’s more, it’s not yet clear that the bug is limited to this adapter. “My Lighting to HDMI adapter also died after this update,” complains the Redditor d1v1d38Yz3r0. Another MacRumors forum user, however, reports that their Lightning to VGA Adapter works fine with iOS 16.5 devices. I tested with a 2022 iPad Air running iPadOS 16.5 and the HDMI adapter, and that setup worked fine.

iOS 16.5 is a minor update in terms of features (although it does introduce 21 new emoji), but it does patch several critical vulnerabilities. For this reason, we advise against holding off on the update until Apple patches this bug, unless use of the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter (and charging while doing so) is absolutely critical to your workflow. Apple will presumably roll out a fix in the near future: as MacRumors notes, this could form the basis for a stopgap iOS 16.5.1 update, as iOS 16.6 is only just on its first beta and is likely some weeks from launch.

iOS

Dockcase sells SSD, smart enclosures, and dock stations in response to lessened ports on laptops and tablets. Including a 16-bit LCD screen on its products helps communicate essential information for users wanting more technical details. To switch menus, hold down on the black button on the side of the enclosure and release it to select a menu. Double-tapping this button also rotates the screen 90 degrees.The 6-in-1 Smart USB Hub comes in regular and Pro editions, with the Pro having a Gigabit Ethernet port and one less USB-A port than the regular Dockcase. However, they share USB 3.2 for both types A and C, an HDMI port supporting 4K at 60Hz, and a detachable data cable.

Read more…

]]> https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/05/18/dockcase-explorer-edition-smart-usb-c-hub-review-streamlined-and-informative-2/ Thu, 18 May 2023 10:35:57 +0000 https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/05/18/dockcase-explorer-edition-smart-usb-c-hub-review-streamlined-and-informative?utm_medium=rss The Dockcase Explorer Edition Smart USB-C Hub is an efficient 6-in-1 hub that features a handy LCD readout.

Dockcase sells SSD, smart enclosures, and dock stations in response to lessened ports on laptops and tablets. Including a 16-bit LCD screen on its products helps communicate essential information for users wanting more technical details. To switch menus, hold down on the black button on the side of the enclosure and release it to select a menu. Double-tapping this button also rotates the screen 90 degrees.The 6-in-1 Smart USB Hub comes in regular and Pro editions, with the Pro having a Gigabit Ethernet port and one less USB-A port than the regular Dockcase. However, they share USB 3.2 for both types A and C, an HDMI port supporting 4K at 60Hz, and a detachable data cable.

Read more…

]]> https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/05/18/dockcase-explorer-edition-smart-usb-c-hub-review-streamlined-and-informative-3/ Thu, 18 May 2023 10:35:57 +0000 https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/05/18/dockcase-explorer-edition-smart-usb-c-hub-review-streamlined-and-informative?utm_medium=rss The Dockcase Explorer Edition Smart USB-C Hub is an efficient 6-in-1 hub that features a handy LCD readout.

Dockcase sells SSD, smart enclosures, and dock stations in response to lessened ports on laptops and tablets. Including a 16-bit LCD screen on its products helps communicate essential information for users wanting more technical details. To switch menus, hold down on the black button on the side of the enclosure and release it to select a menu. Double-tapping this button also rotates the screen 90 degrees.The 6-in-1 Smart USB Hub comes in regular and Pro editions, with the Pro having a Gigabit Ethernet port and one less USB-A port than the regular Dockcase. However, they share USB 3.2 for both types A and C, an HDMI port supporting 4K at 60Hz, and a detachable data cable.

Read more…

]]> https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/05/18/dockcase-explorer-edition-smart-usb-c-hub-review-streamlined-and-informative-4/ Thu, 18 May 2023 10:35:57 +0000 https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/05/18/dockcase-explorer-edition-smart-usb-c-hub-review-streamlined-and-informative?utm_medium=rss The Dockcase Explorer Edition Smart USB-C Hub is an efficient 6-in-1 hub that features a handy LCD readout.

Dockcase sells SSD, smart enclosures, and dock stations in response to lessened ports on laptops and tablets. Including a 16-bit LCD screen on its products helps communicate essential information for users wanting more technical details. To switch menus, hold down on the black button on the side of the enclosure and release it to select a menu. Double-tapping this button also rotates the screen 90 degrees.The 6-in-1 Smart USB Hub comes in regular and Pro editions, with the Pro having a Gigabit Ethernet port and one less USB-A port than the regular Dockcase. However, they share USB 3.2 for both types A and C, an HDMI port supporting 4K at 60Hz, and a detachable data cable.

Read more…

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