iPhone 16 Pro details leak, hidden iPad hardware, Android’s latest victory over Apple

Updated June 8 with details on Siri’s improved AI capabilities.

A look back at this week’s news and headlines from Apple, including the latest iPhone 16 Pro leaks, iPad Pro privacy hardware, Apple’s delayed AI rollout, hardware shortages at WWDC, Apple’s hidden hardware, Android breaking company’s security promise Apple and “I’m A Mac” the man returns.

The Apple Loop is here to remind you of some of the many discussions surrounding Apple over the past seven days. You can also read my weekly roundup of Android news here on Forbes.

Customers look at the Apple iPad Pro M4 (Photo: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

A hidden feature of the iPad Pro

Hidden in the iPad Pro is a new feature designed to protect user privacy. Apple devices, like many others in the industry, indicate whether the microphone or camera is active. With little fanfare, Apple has made this a hardware-driven feature rather than a software one, as Guilherme Rambo explains:

“Fun fact about the M4 iPad Pro: it’s the first device to support and use Apple’s new Secure Indicator Light (SIL) mechanism. When using a microphone or camera, the corresponding indication point is effectively rendered in hardware (using the display), making it much less likely that any malware or user-space application will be able to access these sensors without the user’s knowledge.”

(Mastodon, via Forbes).

iPhone 16 Pro display size leaked

Apple is set to increase the perceived screen size of the iPhone 16 Pro. The latest leaks surrounding the design of the upcoming iOS smartphone show that the bezels around the screen are set to shrink. It’s something Apple has been hoping for for some time:

“[Border Reduction Structure technology] was last rumored, as Apple was said to have found the technology to create yield issues. That’s because… BRS affects construction: “The wiring and circuitry near the edge of the panel must be bent down to achieve this. This reportedly caused some production issues during the ramp-up.”

(Forbes).

Apple’s limited introduction of AI

The rush from Google and its Android partners has prompted Apple to make the role of artificial intelligence in iOS more visible than its current use in Siri, typing and image processing. These changes will be unveiled at WWDC next week, but the high demands placed on the iPhone’s specifications mean that not every phone will benefit. While iOS 18 is expected to run on devices dating back to the iPhone XR, you’ll probably need an iPhone 15 Pro at worst to run the AI:

“While it’s not entirely clear which hardware factor is the key requirement for AI on Apple devices, it’s worth noting that the (unsupported) standard iPhone 15 models have 6GB of RAM, while the supported Pro models have 8GB of RAM. all Apple Silicon iPads and Macs come with a minimum of 8GB Even though LLMs are scaled down for narrow use cases, they require a lot of working memory due to the large number of parameters involved, so this could be where Apple hits the hardware. the limitations of his own devices.”

(MacRumors).

No new hardware at WWDC

It may have happened in past years, but Apple isn’t expected to launch any new hardware at WWDC next week. While some product lines need a mid-cycle refresh (notably the lack of M4 Macs), Tim Cook and his team are likely to focus on the future of AI, not the future of retail shelves:

“No hardware is planned for WWDC, unless Apple unexpectedly previews a new device that will launch later (to be clear: I don’t expect it),” Gurman said in his Power On newsletter today. Notably, Gurman now says a new Apple TV model is “not imminent,” despite earlier reports that Apple intends to release a new Apple TV in the first half of 2024. The current Apple TV was introduced in October 2022.

(Bloomberg via MacRumors).

Siri’s Enhanced AI

Updated June 8: One of the AI focal points will be Apple’s long-standing digital assistant Siri. Apple Insider’s Marko Zivkovic details that Siri works throughout iOS will get AI support. The basic idea is that Siri will handle more natural language requests as opposed to formal and strictly defined commands:

“Instead of only containing direct commands like ‘Show me pictures of my cat’, the company’s test prompts mention that the user wants to create a blog or that in some cases they are feeling lazy/nostalgic. So Apple wants the AI to get used to the natural the language, speech patterns, sentence structures and types of instructions that Siri is likely to receive from end users – some of whom may not be as familiar with the new technology.”

(Apple Insider).

The hidden hardware in your new iPad and Mac

Apple has included support for the IEEE 802.15.4 transmitter function, essentially the radio channels used by the free Matter standard for smart home communications. Apple hasn’t mentioned its support, but the hardware is there, ready to be turned on when the time is right (and probably the software too):

“Although the company doesn’t list Thread in the specifications of any of these products, FCC reports indicate that many of Apple’s latest devices have Thread transmitters tested for compliance. You generally don’t test a radio that isn’t there.”

(The Verge).

iPhone loses to Android in security promise

Unlike Android manufacturers, who state up front how many years of software updates and security patches a new phone will receive, Apple has been a bit more circumspect about the support window. Following the introduction of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act in the UK, manufacturers of internet-connected devices must offer declarations of conformity that include software support windows:

“As iPhones are internet-enabled products, Apple is required to comply with UK PSTI regulations. The company recently published a statement of compliance for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, revealing that its “defined support period” is “a minimum of five years from the date of first shipments.” The “first shipment date” is listed as September 22, 2023, when the iPhone 15 series went on sale.

(Android Authority).

And finally…

Apple’s “I’m A Mac” actor from the classic American campaign has been hired by Qualcomm to promote its new Snapdragon X Elite chipset, with a direct line from Apple’s past innovation to current Windows innovation.

“During Qualcomm’s Computex 2024 keynote today, Long appeared in a brief 30-second scene where he was bombarded with macOS notifications and annoying screens that caused him to start looking for a Snapdragon computer instead… “Things change,” Long quips to the camera, after searching for Windows on Arm PC by pop-up notifications in macOS These pop-ups contain warnings about app compatibility, low disk space, battery, and more.”