The interwebz have been abuzz all week about the new Apple re-commitment to the pro market; today we discuss a few rumors and ideas. By the way, there will NOT be an AWT News Update on Friday, April 7th due to other commitments.
- Apparently Apple’s planned 2018 Mac Pro has only been in development for a few weeks, and a lot of the sudden interest in the pro market appears to have been generated by a poor “pro” response to the 2017 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
- Our readers have sent some ideas for a new Mac mini, and we replied with some ideas of our own
- Move over GIPHY Says; Apple’s Clips app has just arrived
The text version of the podcast can be viewed below. To listen to the podcast here, click the play button on the player below. Note to Apple News readers: you’ll need to visit Apple World Today in order to listen to the podcast.
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Text Version
This is Steve Sande for Apple World Today, and you’re listening to the AWT News Update for April 6th, 2017. Many thanks to this week’s sponsor of Apple World Today — eversign, a comprehensive digital signature platform for enterprises and individuals. Find out more about eversign by clicking the link in the show notes.
Earlier today you probably noticed a post on AWT about iMac rumors that point to a new, more powerful Pro model later this year, and we’ve been talking about Apple’s new commitment to the pro market all week. More information has emerged from several sites. According to developer Marco Arment and also from OS News, it’s become apparent that the new Mac Pro that will come out next year only started development in the past few weeks. Why all of the sudden attention to the pro market? Apparently, Apple was surprised by the poor response from the pro market to the 2016 Retina MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, and has decided to start making amends. One of the responses is that Apple’s future 15-inch MacBook Pro might not include a Touch Bar, and it’s even possible that we’ll see synergy between Apple devices, such as using an iPad Pro as a high-end graphics tablet for a Pro Mac, which would be similar to a Cintiq digitizer. Some apps are already available that perform a similar function like Astropad Studio and Duet Display.
Several Apple World Today readers reached out via Twitter to offer their ideas for a new Mac mini, and we of course responded with our ideas. One reader commented that he thinks the mini is the perfect device for Apple to try creating a Mac using its own ARM-based chips, while another thought that the small Apple TV form factor would be a perfect size for a new mini. Me? I want to see a Mac mini in a Stick PC form factor that could just be plugged into any display with an HDMI port. One rumor, however, hints that at least one of the Mac mini models might be larger than the existing box. Knowing Jony Ive’s penchant for making things smaller, thinner and lighter, I just can’t see that.
The day after GIPHY shipped its new and wildly fun GIPHY Says app, Apple has released the Clips app that was touted a few weeks ago. Clips lets iPhone and iPad users create “expressive videos”, which are combinations of video clips, photos and music that can be shared with friends. Like GIPHY Says, Clips has a feature called Live Titles that provides animated captions and titles without typing — anything you say is turned into text. Also like GIPHY Says, Clips can share videos with social networks and video websites. Sharing with friends in Messages, Clips will suggest who to share with based on people who appear in the video. The only negative I can see with Clips is that the videos produced are much larger in size than the GIF files created by GIPHY Says, and you might find sending some of the videos to be slow.
Due to a prior commitment, there will not be an AWT News Update podcast tomorrow afternoon, but join us on Monday for the next episode. Have a great weekend.
