Apple World Today News Update: January 23, 2018

Tuesday’s been a relatively quiet day in the Apple world, but there’s always something new to tell our listeners about:

• We tell you about the main features of the new OS updates out today
• Wacom announces a new stylus called the Bamboo Tip that’s targeted at iOS devices and is half the price of the Apple Pencil
• iPhone X sales were actually quite good in Apple’s Q1 2018, countering idiotic rumors from last week that Apple might cancel the product
• There’s a “Double Feature” promotion going on in the iTunes movie store

The text version of the podcast can be read below. To listen to the podcast here, click the play button on the player below. Apple News readers need to visit Apple World Today in order to listen to the podcast.

Text Version

This is Steve Sande for Apple World Today, and you’re listening to the AWT News Update podcast for Tuesday, January 23, 2018.  

Although we’ve covered it on the blog, we’d like to remind you that all Apple operating systems were updated today. macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 fixes a Messages issue, but also has a number of security patches in it. iOS  11.2.5 is most notable for adding HomePod support, but my favorite part of that update is the ability for Siri to finally read the news to folks in the US, UK and Australia. watchOS 4.2.2 is primarily a bug fix update, and the same can be said for tvOS 11.2.5.

Longtime digitizer and stylus manufacturer Wacom has a new solution that was announced today. It’s called the Bamboo Tip, it’s a stylus, and it will cost $49.95 — half the price of the Apple Pencil. Bamboo Tip comes with a very fine tip — just 1.9 mm thin. Although it’s an active stylus — meaning that it has a battery in it — oddly enough Wacom says that it does not require pairing with your iPhone or iPad. The Bamboo Tip is compatible with most recent iPads, although it won’t work with the first generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro. It’s also incompatible with the iPhone X. The fine tip nib is replaceable, and the battery inside the Bamboo Tip is good for up to 20 hours of usage. And one final feature — it actually has a clip built onto it so you don’t have to buy a third-party pencil holder to keep the Bamboo Tip nearby. We’ll have a full review of this new stylus on Apple World Today in the near future.

Last week was a bad week for the iPhone X. Several analysts were speculating that the device wasn’t selling well, and there were even reports in the non-tech media that Apple was going to cancel production of the groundbreaking phone. Well, a new report from Canalys estimates that Apple shipped 29 million iPhone Xs in Apple’s 2018 first quarter — that’s the quarter between October 1 and December 31, 2017. Canalys says that what helped sales of the pricey iPhone is that most people looked at the monthly payments for the X, not the full sales price. In addition, most buyers took advantage of trade-in programs in order to reduce the hight cost. Canalys does note that the 29 million unit number is slightly below expectations, but two things that kept the number down were the supply constraints early on and the split launch between the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. 

Movie lovers in the US can easily expand their digital film libraries with a new deal that Apple has going on in the iTunes Store. The “Double Features” deal pairs up two movies that are in the same franchise or pairs up original and remade versions of the same movie. The two films are just $9.99, and there are 23 film pairs to look at. This may be a time-limited offer, so head out to the iTunes Store today if you’re interested — there’s a link in the show notes. 

That’s all for today; I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon with another edition of the AWT News Update.