Just yesterday I was feeling pretty good because I got a third 2020 prediction right. The first was full trackpad support for iPadOS. The second was a new Apple keyboard accessory with a built-in trackpad. Lucky number three was the AirPods Studio arriving at or right around WWDC. Now it looks like we have number four.
Other than a few posts on Twitter and a couple of general references, I have tried to refrain from political commentary during the two and a half years that I’ve written here. That’s mostly because, while I am the managing editor of this site, I am not the owner.
While the owners of iPad Insight have not explicitly restricted me from commenting on my personal politics, it’s just not my place to do that. I appreciate how hands off they are and the latitude they give me to write about Apple products and beyond and don’t want to take advantage of that.
However, I’ve been thinking a lot about all that’s gone on over the last week and the thing is, this isn’t political. Human rights aren’t political. They are supposed to be a guaranteed part of the social contract here in the United States, but that contract isn’t being fulfilled for a large number of our fellow citizens. Justice, or the complete lack of it in the case of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a policeman isn’t political, either. He was killed by someone who is supposed to protect us over whether a $20 bill was a fake. That can’t be ignored, and again, it has nothing to do with politics.
I don’t have sources and I’m not interested in slinging leaks or becoming the next Jon Prosser. However, I do enjoy making predictions just based on reading the Apple leaves and I love it even more when I get a few right. I won’t claim that happens too often, but I get a few.
So far, my 2020 predictions are looking pretty good. I called full mouse support for iPadOS and a keyboard accessory that would include a trackpad pretty much dead-on in early January. Last week, based on the fact that they were rumored to be in production, I said that Apple’s new AirPods Studio headphones would arrive just before or during the WWDC Keynote. Looks pretty likely that prediction will turn out to be true, as well.
After a few weeks with the Magic Keyboard and getting past issues with battery drain and the form factor not being perfect for my use at work, I still really like it. While keyboard isn’t my favorite, it is a huge step up from the Smart Keyboard’s butterfly mechanism. Add in a backlight and a good trackpad and it is a pleasure to use, where the alternative was always a chore for me. I am doing a lot of my writing with the Magic Keyboard and using it often at home.
The tech world is pretty stable at the top, where CEOs and high ranking staff at the biggest companies often stay in one place for long periods of time. However, there are still interesting moves that take place, sometimes by choice and others times, well, not so much. Such was the case for Steven Sinofsky, at least if you believe what the tech press had to say about his departure from Microsoft back in 2012.
If you want to keep your wires to a minimum in the car, a wireless charging cradle makes a lot of sense. Just a short wire from your car’s charge port to this wireless cradle and you are all set. Now your phone can be free and clear to use whenever you need it….when you aren’t driving, that is.
I’ve written pretty extensively about my battery life issues with Apple’s Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro at this point, both here and here. I started noticing issues within the first week of owning and writing about the keyboard case, but things got worse as time went on and I used it more, so I started paying closer attention and then specifically trying to test and isolate the cause of the problem.
In my case, the cause was related to my first Magic Keyboard’s hardware. I say that confidently now because my battery performance using a second Magic Keyboard has been far better. As I said in the previous article covering my testing, I don’t think the problem I experienced is widespread. I also know that such issues often occur during the first run of a new hardware product. Apple is taking good care of other users I’ve heard from who have also experienced hardware problems and I feel confident they will work the early kinks out of production and prevent this in the future.
However, there is another more common issue causing iPad Pro batteries to drain while using a Magic Keyboard. I haven’t covered this before because it wasn’t the source of the problems that I saw, but many Magic Keyboard users are finding that the backlight is staying on when the keyboard isn’t in use. In some cases, even when the case is closed. I have read a few reports of this over the last two weeks, but I would like to thank Federico Viticci (@viticci) for pointing out his experience with this on Twitter yesterday.
News of Apple’s latest Siri/AI/Machine Learning acquisition has been making the rounds this week. The most recent lucky new company, Inductiv, was developing systems to identify and remove errors in data sets to make machine learning and AI analysis easier. That was then. Now they are Apple’s latest acqui-hire.
How about a charger that is only limited by your ability to crank? If you are a hiker, hunter or camper, then this may be the perfect way to keep your phone charged while roughing it. It’s also a great accessory to have handy in case of an extended power outage or extreme weather.
According to a recent report (paywalled, but confirmed by MacRumors here) from well-known supply chain analysts DigiTimes, Apple’s new AirPods Studio over the ear headphones have entered production. This comes on the heels of a report from The Information (also paywalled) that Apple will have the new headphones built and assembled in Vietnam as they seek to diversify their supply chain from their dependence on China.
I got my Brydge Pro+ keyboard with trackpad for the iPad Pro right on the heels of my Magic Keyboard a few weeks ago. The backlit keyboard and overall hardware quality are great, which is what I expect after owning and using a Brydge Pro for months before this. However, what everyone wants to know about is the Pro+’s new trackpad.