Apple Loop: Surprise iPhone release, your next MacBook is missing, no more iPhone 14 Pro issues

Looking back on another week of news and headlines from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes a surprising new iPhone, iPhone 14 Plus production issues, iPhone 14 Pro SIM issues, new iPads , iPad Pro and Apple TV, the defunct MacBook Pro launch, macOS and iPadOS updates, iPad Mini price hike and Russian social media return to the App Store.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of some of the many, many discussions that have taken place around Apple over the past seven days (and you can read my weekly Android news roundup here on Forbes).

iPhone SE 4 suddenly appears

The iPhone 15 may not be the only new iPhone to launch in 2023. The iPhone SE, which seemed to have settled into a two-year update cycle, is being prepared not only for a release at the start of the second quarter, but also for a makeover that will see him move. towards the current design philosophy of the iPhone with a full front screen:

“…we can expect the iPhone SE 4 to feature a 6.1-inch screen WITH a notch and come in three colors: Midnight, Starlight, and Product RED. If you have eyes, you you may also have noticed that the new iPhone SE looks suspiciously similar to the iPhone XR…yes, that’s the point Apple tends to copy the design of the previous generation iPhone for its SE updates and c is exactly the case here.”

(FrontPageTech).

Stop production of the iPhone 14 Plus

Apple ditched the idea of ​​an iPhone 14 Mini, instead going the other way and reverting to the iPhone Plus design of a larger-screen model. It looks good on paper, but the sales aren’t there… so much so that production is reportedly halted and more effort is put into the “slightly more expensive” iPhone 14 Pro:

“Possible factors at play here include the rising cost of daily living due to inflation and a weaker than average global economy for a number of factors. Apple has also positioned the iPhone 14 Plus at a logical price point. but difficult; iPhone 14 is $799, and has a fairly large screen. iPhone 14 Plus for $899 has an even larger screen, but no other differences. This compares to iPhone 14 Pro and to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, priced at $999 and $1099 respectively, which feature more advanced camera systems and a revamped sensor layout.”

(9to5Mac).

New iPhone 14 Owners Have Huge SIM Card Problems

Users of new iPhone 14 family of handsets are reporting issues with their SIM cards, which are suddenly marked as “unsupported”; although hard resets solve the problem, this approach is not recommended. One of the potential causes for this may be the decision to support eSIM-only iPhones, but for now all we know is that Apple is aware of the problem, but there is no indication of a deadline for the fix:

“In a note sent to authorized resellers, first seen by MacRumors and later seen and verified by an Apple partner, Apple has acknowledged a widely reported bug with SIM cards. Affected iPhone 14 models display “SIM not supported” error message, then phones freeze, rendering them unusable until reset.”

(Forbes).

New iPads for many

The big news from Apple this week has been a flurry of press releases announcing new hardware, including the new tablets. The first is the iPad Pro, and Apple’s push to make the business tablet the equivalent of a laptop…after all, it sports the same M2 chipset as the new MacBook Air!

“The iPad Pro also got an update today, as the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models were replaced with the new M2 processor, which includes ProRes encoding and decoding accelerated by the hardware. Plus, they add support for the faster Wi-Fi 6E protocol and Bluetooth 5.3, plus a new “Apple Pencil hover” mode that can detect pencil height up to 12mm above of the screen, and allow the iPad to react accordingly.”

(Six colors).

An update to the standard iPad has also been launched. As with other iPads, the model used USB-C for connectivity (rather than Apple’s proprietary Lightning port) as well as camera resolution up to 4K with screen resolution. However, when it comes to the processor, it lags behind the A16 chipset of the iPhone Pro, instead rolling with the A14 of 20202. Good enough, but don’t expect miracles:

“At 10.9 inches, the iPad (10th generation) has the largest screen Apple has ever installed on a standard iPad. It’s the first time in three generations that Apple has upgraded the screen size. screen – the 7th, 8th, and 9th generation each came in at 10.2”. It’s also the first standard iPad to have a Liquid Retina display instead of a regular Retina display. That means higher resolutions, and it will be nearly impossible to see the separation between pixels on your screen.

(Initiated).

Apple TV has a new resolution

Also in the mix is ​​a new edition of Apple TV. Moving to the 4K offering, it provides access to Apple’s gated products, including Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple TV, and broader offerings such as Apple Music and several third-party online services:

“The new Apple TV 4K is available in two configurations: Apple TV 4K with Wi-Fi, which offers 64GB of storage and retails for $129, plus Apple TV 4K with Wi-Fi + Ethernet, which offers 128 GB of storage. and sells for $149. You can order both now from the Apple site with availability starting Friday, November 4.

(ZDNet).

One of our MacBooks is missing

A more interesting question after Apple’s “press release” day is what hasn’t been released. The expected update to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops was not featured. They’re likely moved elsewhere to give the desktop M2-powered iPad Pro some time in the spotlight. But where does that leave the history of these powerful macOS machines?

“It’s the Apple story to tell, and no doubt geekerati will take notice of the press releases when they appear in the Apple press room. Still, I can’t help but think that delivering “the best high-performance laptop in a way only Apple can” is a story that needs to be told far and wide and completes the end of the Mac Pro rather than hidden away to allow the Mac Pro to deliver a denouement quiet and niche.”

(Forbes).

New macOS and iPadOS versions coming

New versions of operating systems are expected on October 24. Given the non-appearance of the MacBook Pro, perhaps the hardware for the new software will arrive at the same time?

“The iPadOS 16 update works on all iPad Pro, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 5th generation and later, and iPad Air 3rd generation and later, removing the support for the venerable iPad Air 2 and a handful of other models (it will also ship on all new iPads announced by Apple today. macOS Ventura update generally requires a Mac released in 2017 or later later, dropping support for various models released between 2013 and 2016.”

(Ars Technica).

The price of the iPad Mini is skyrocketing

Its US base might not notice it, but Apple has hiked prices for the iPad Mini globally – to look at the UK, the 64GB model goes from £479 to £569, a rise of nearly by 20%. What’s going on? Officially, we do not know:

“Apple gave no reason for the price increases outside of the United States, but they could be related to the strength of the dollar combined with rising inflation and rising costs, although the price of most other latest-generation devices in Apple’s hardware lineup has remained consistent.”

(MacRumors).

And finally…

Previously, Apple removed social media apps from a number of key Russian networks. Gmail and Facebook equivalents disappeared three weeks ago, with nods to UK sanctions being the reason. Now, with little explanation, apps are back.

“It was not immediately clear why Apple restored the apps, as ownership of VKontake and Mail.ru has not changed since the apps were removed, and the management of Gazprombank and Sberbank remain under UK government sanction. However, it is possible that Apple’s decision was related to activists’ use of the two services.”

(MacRumors).

Apple Loop brings you seven days of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column Android Circuit is also available on Forbes.