Taking a look back at another week of news from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop covers the new MacBook Pro range, the potential 'loss' of sapphire in the iPhone 6, slowing down older handsets ahead of the iPhone 6 launch date, the next step for iBooks, market share numbers, the Beats acquisition, and mistaking the Casio F-91W for an Apple smartwatch. Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many things that have happened around Apple over the last seven days.
An Incremental Update To The MacBook Pro Range
At the start of the week, Apple updated the MacBook Pro range. The retina display MacBook Pros all picked up a small increase in processor speed and more memory in the basic configuration, while the non-retina laptops received a $100 price drop.
This is not the big refresh that many are waiting for in the MacBook Pro line, but it's likely that these models will see Apple through the upcoming holiday season. Expectations are high that the next major step will see the full MacBook using the Broadwell chip architecture from Intel. While hardware with Broadwell's Core-M design is expected before the end of the year, the higher specification chips that are likely bound for the MacBook Pros and Airs should be available in 2015.
Is Sapphire Still A Go For The iPhone 6?
It's Forbes' contributor Hayden Shaughnessy turn to look at the iPhone 6 runes this week, and he has turned his gaze to the screen. While there has been a lot of talk and discussion around Apple using a sapphire screen in the upcoming smartphones, there are few signs that the expected iPhone 6 with the 4.7 inch screen will have the strengthened sapphire screen.
Simply put, there does not seem to be the volume of orders in the supply chain that could match the volume of orders required for an iPhone launch. That could mean no sapphire screens, but it could also mean that there's another supply chain that is not being reported on. The former is more likely, especially as Corning is not reporting a drop in orders for the strengthened Gorilla Glass.
Apple Has Not Slowed Your iPhone Down To Make You Buy The New One
The idea that Apple is throttling back older iPhones as a new model is set to launch surfaced once more this week, thanks to discussions that started in the New York Times. Many people picked up on the meme, but few noted Sendhil Mullainathan's comments on why. Head back to the original story though, and the key paragraph and phrasing explains a more likely cause for this effect (with my emphasis):
Yet that’s all it shows: People suddenly feel that their phone is slowing down. It doesn’t show that our iPhones actually became slower. Imagine that someone points out a buzzing sound in your office. Until then, you hadn’t noticed it. But now you can’t hear anything else. Perhaps this is the digital equivalent of that experience: Hearing about a new release makes you contemplate getting a new and faster phone. And you suddenly notice how slow your old phone is.
Apple is not slowing down existing phones, people's brains are looking at the older phones and seeing it with new information... that the next model is on the way.
All The Books You Can Read On Your Device... Maybe
Apple's iBook system is one of the largest eBook retailers on the planet, and is rightly held up alongside both Amazon and Barns and Noble's Nook ecosystem as one of the key players in the eBook world (at which point it's worth noting that Apple has received a preliminary court approval for a settlement around eBook pricing). Jeremy Greenfield has been thinking about what happens next for iBooks in the wake of Apple's acquisition of BookLamp earlier this year:
As Andrew Rhomberg points out in this post, BookLamp would be a far more valuable pickup if it powered Apple’s ebook subscription service — think Oyster, Scribd or Amazon’s new Kindle Unlimited — rather than just an add-on to [improve recommendations in] iBooks.
Will Apple bring in a book subscription service to rival Amazon's new Kindle Unlimited program?
It Tells The Time And The Date On The Same Screen!
Pop an Apple sticker on the back of a $20 timepiece, and will people love the iWatch? They will if Jimmy Kimmel has a camera on them!
Let's be honest here, with a TV camera and loaded questions you are always going to get material for a late-night talk show, and anyone smart enough to spot the greatest watch in the world... the Casio F-91W. Still, a nice spot to keep the hype high around the potential iTime!
Three Billion Dollars Later, Meet Beats
Apple's deal to buy the audio company Beats for $3 billion has closed, and Apple has talked about the partnership online:
Today we are excited to officially welcome Beats Music and Beats Electronics to the Apple family. Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we’re thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do. Beats cofounders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have created beautiful products that have helped millions of people deepen their connection to music. We’re delighted to be working with the team to elevate that experience even further.
Expectations are high on the next move from Apple, how closely integrated Beats will be in Apple's corporate structure, and if any new headphones will drop the 3.5 mm stereo jack plug and exclusively use the lightning connector.
Apple Losing Market Share, Long Product Cycle Sacrifices Volume For Predictable Success
With growth in the world-wide smartphone market of 23% (reported by IDC and Strategy Analytics) both Samsung with Android and Apple with iOS are losing share to chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Huawei. Forbes' Chuck Jones:
Apple did not see much of a decline in year over year share going from 13% to 12% but it did have 18% share in the December quarter and 16% in the March quarter. This shows a combination of Apple’s product cycle dependence along with not playing in the lower price smartphone tiers.
It's worth pointing out that Apple may be dependant on a product cycle of the company's choosing, but it is still roving better results year on year. The same is not true of Samsung.
Will The iPhone 6 Go On Sale On A Tuesday?
UK site TechRadar is running a story that puts the iPhone 6 release date to consumers as October 14th. This certainly feels about the right length of time from an announcement in week two or three of September, but at the same time it is causing them to question one thing... Why is it a Tuesday?
Apple Loop brings you seven days worth 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, and don't forget this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is coming soon!
