By news@appleinsider.com (Andrew Orr) Apple’s iOS 18 enhances FaceTime & calls with advanced audio modes and cinematic video effects for clearer communication. Here’s how — and when — to use them.FaceTimeFaceTime and phone calls in iOS 18 include three new audio settings, starting with Standard, the standard microphone mode ideal for everyday use and balanced sound.The second one is Wide Spectrum. It actually includes more of the background noise into the call. Wide Spectrum can make the audio sound more natural, making it the one to useif you’re at a birthday party and want to include all the excitement in the background. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Thomas Sibilly) Episode One is a small, budget projector that delivers the features you’d expect, but it has weaknesses in brightness and audio.Episode One Projector reviewA small projector simply saves space. They’re great to have in dorms, apartments, and other smaller or shared living spaces.The Episode One is made by Formovie, who’s been making projectors since 2016. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Christine McKee) The all-time best price on Apple’s iPad 10th Generation has returned, with an on-page coupon discounting the tablet to $249.99.Apple’s iPad 10th Gen returns to all-time best price.Black Friday pricing has returned on Apple’s iPad 10th Generation, with the silver colorway dropping to $249.99 at Amazon. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Andrew O’Hara) Apple has a master plan to conquer the smart home, and after years of HomeKit being just a hobby, it all will begin in 2025. Here’s what Apple has in mind.Apple is ready to take the smart home seriously starting in 2025The smart home market has been somewhat slow on the uptick while simultaneously changing at a rapid pace. It’s led Apple to appear, at least at face value, behind the competition.In the last few years we’ve seen new standards for connectivity and working across platforms, dozens of new device types, and countless new products come to market. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple’s latest machine learning research could make creating models for Apple Intelligence faster, by coming up with a technique to almost triple the rate of generating tokens when using Nvidia GPUs.Training models for machine learning is a processor-intensive taskOne of the problems in creating large language models (LLMs) for tools and apps that offer AI-based functionality, such as Apple Intelligence, is inefficiencies in producing the LLMs in the first place. Training models for machine learning is a resource-intensive and slow process, which is often countered by buying more hardware and taking on increased energy costs.Earlier in 2024, Apple published and open-sourced Recurrent Drafter, known as ReDrafter, a method of speculative decoding to improve performance in training. It used an RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) draft model combining beam search with dynamic tree attention for predicting and verifying draft tokens from multiple paths. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple is reportedly in talks with ByteDance and Tencent to integrate their AI models with Apple Intelligence in China, so it can expand the feature set to the lucrative market.Apple Intelligence has a long way to go before launching in ChinaApple is slowly rolling out Apple Intelligence to iPhone, iPad, and Mac, by gradually introducing it into new markets. However, to do so in China, it’s seeking assistance from other companies.Apple is said to be in discussions with Tencent and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, about Apple Intelligence. Reuters reports on Thursday that Apple wants to use AI models from the two companies to flesh out the version of Apple Intelligence offered to users in China. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) While Apple is accusing Meta of trying to use EU laws to abuse privacy, Meta is saying Apple is worse. This is just the latest chapter in a long-running fight between the tech giants.Left: Apple CEO Tim Cook. Right: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — images credit: Apple and MetaThe latest spat between Apple and Meta, the owner of Facebook, is… pretty much the same as every exchange before. Apple accuses Meta about its privacy record and Meta doesn’t exactly deny it, but has a good go at deflecting the attention back.This time, it’s that Apple is questioning the EU’s mandate about cooperating with rival firms, by pointing out that Meta has been really trying it on lately. Meta responds by commenting that Apple would say that, wouldn’t they? Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Mike Wuerthele) Indonesia’s president has agreed to a $1 billion deal with Apple that if approved, will build two factories that will ultimately produce 20% of the world’s AirTag supply.iPhone 16 & iPhone 16 Plus — still banned in IndonesiaSources familiar with the matter claim that Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto gave his approval to the deal, after apparently getting a brief over the weekend. Also according to the sources, Prabowo is seeking more investments from Apple in the future.Apple has reportedly picked the island of Batam to build the AirTag factory. It is expected to initially employ 1000 workers, and the location will provide tax and import benefits to Apple. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Chip Loder) Core Graphics provides default image filters for quick special effects. Here’s how to save image files in Preview for macOS with effects.Use Quartz image filters in macOS’s Preview app to apply special effects to images.Apple’s Core Graphics (Quartz) 2D imaging subsystem provides a high-performance, consistent API for creating, saving, and manipulating graphics. It’s also responsible for drawing most text on Apple platforms (Core Text).Text can be drawn by Quartz using subpixel precision, and anti-aliasing (smoothing) even if a particular display can’t show the text at full computed resolution. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Apple has published a white paper that backs the European Union’s policy of interoperability between rival technology firms, but says the law is open to risky interpretation.EU asks Apple to open up iPhone to competitorsIn a similar move to its March 2024 raising of security concerns about the Digital Markets Act, Apple has published a white paper about the EU’s interoperability laws. Interoperability is the requirement that Apple share its technology with rivals, so that they can provide users with features such as recording audio through an iPhone’s microphone.It follows the EU’s publication of a document asking Apple to change its proprietary technology to be accessible by competitors. Apple’s white paper, called “It’s getting personal”, argues that “abuse of the DMA’s interoperability mandate could expose your private information.” Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
