Apple’s week of Mac announcements isn’t extending to an M4 MacBook Air—rumors indicate that the Air, as well as desktops like the Mac Studio and Mac Pro, will get new processors sometime in 2025. But Apple is bringing one of the best features of the new M4 Macs to the M3 MacBook Airs, as well as the entry-level M2 model: All of the base models are being bumped from 8GB to 16GB of RAM for the same prices as before. The M2 MacBook Air still starts at $999, while the 13- and 15-inch M3 versions start at $1,099 and $1,299.

All of these laptops were available with 16GB of RAM before, but it was normally a $200 upgrade. All of them still top out at 24GB of RAM, which is now a $200 upgrade to the 16GB models rather than a $400 upgrade as it was before. All models still start with 256GB of storage.

This week’s launches mark the first time since 2012 that Apple has increased the amount of RAM in any of its base-model Macs, and the upgrade addresses one of our single biggest complaints about the laptops. Not all users will immediately notice the benefits of a 16GB RAM upgrade, but it will definitely make the laptops more versatile and capable of keeping up with users as their needs change.

https://arstechnica.com/apple/2024/10/theres-no-m4-macbook-air-this-week-but-the-8gb-m2-and-m3-models-are-going-away/

Apple is following the M4 iMac and the redesigned Mac mini updates with one more major refresh this week: a new lineup of M4 MacBook Pros. These updates mostly follow the template set by last year’s M3 MacBook Pro refresh: there’s a 14-inch $1,599 base model with the standard M4, and then beefed up 14- and 16-inch versions with the M4 Pro and M4 Max processors that also offer more RAM, storage, an optional nano-texture display finish, and other amenities for power users.

All three versions of the M4 MacBook Pro are available for preorder today and begin arriving November 8, the same date as the new iMac and Mac mini refreshes.

New chips, same designs

Even without the M4’s improvements, the new $1,599 MacBook Pro addresses the biggest gripe about the original: it upgrades the base model from 8GB to 16GB of RAM without increasing the price. If this was the only change Apple made, it would have been a good upgrade (and the company has taken exactly that approach to updating the M2 and M3 MacBook Airs, which also start with 16GB beginning today). Base storage still starts at 512GB.

This MacBook Pro gets the fully enabled version of the M4 with 10 CPU cores (four performance cores, six efficiency cores), which enables three Thunderbolt 4 ports, one port more than the M3 MacBook Pro included. The M4 also allows it to drive two external displays and the laptop’s built-in screen at the same time, for a total of three screens. The M3 MacBook Pro could use two external displays, but only if the built-in screen was turned off. As with the other M4 Macs, 24GB and 32GB RAM upgrades are available.

The additional Thunderbolt port and improved external display support have somewhat closed the gap between the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro and the $1,999 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro, but you still get some substantial upgrades. The M4 Pro can come with up to 14 CPU cores (10 performance, 4 efficiency) and 20 GPU cores, and it ships with 24GB of RAM by default, a 6GB boost compared to the M3 Pro. RAM can be boosted to either 48GB or 64GB, and the Thunderbolt ports support the 120Gbps Thunderbolt 5 standard, up from the 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 standard.

https://arstechnica.com/apple/2024/10/apple-refreshes-macbook-pro-lineup-with-m4-chips-introduces-the-m4-max/

Apple’s week of Mac announcements continues today, and as expected, we’re getting a substantial new update to the Mac mini. Apple’s least-expensive Mac, the mini, is being updated with new M4 processors, plus a smaller design that looks like a cross between an Apple TV box and a Mac Studio—this is the mini’s first major design change since the original aluminum version was released in 2010. The mini is also Apple’s first device to ship with the M4 Pro processor, a beefed-up version of the M4 with more CPU and GPU cores, and it’s also the Mac mini’s first update since the M2 models came out in early 2023.

The cheapest Mac mini will still run you $599, which includes 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage; as with yesterday’s iMac update, this is the first time since 2012 that Apple has boosted the amount of RAM in an entry-level Mac. It’s a welcome upgrade for every new Mac in the lineup that’s getting it, but the $200 that Apple previously charged for the 16GB upgrade makes an even bigger difference to someone shopping for a $599 system than it does for someone who can afford a $999 or $1,299 computer.

The M4 Pro Mac mini starts at $1,399, a $100 increase from the M2 Pro version. Both models go up for preorder today and will begin arriving on November 8.

A brand-new design for a little box

The new Mac mini includes some front-mounted ports for the first time: two USB-C ports, and one headphone jack.

Apple

The new Mac mini includes some front-mounted ports for the first time: two USB-C ports, and one headphone jack. Apple

You lose USB-A ports, but otherwise the port selection is OK: one gigabit Ethernet, one full-size HDMI, and three USB-C/Thunderbolt.

Apple

You lose USB-A ports, but otherwise the port selection is OK: one gigabit Ethernet, one full-size HDMI, and three USB-C/Thunderbolt. Apple

The new Mac mini includes some front-mounted ports for the first time: two USB-C ports, and one headphone jack. Apple

You lose USB-A ports, but otherwise the port selection is OK: one gigabit Ethernet, one full-size HDMI, and three USB-C/Thunderbolt. Apple

The new Mac mini is larger than the Apple TV by a bit—5×5 inches instead of 3.66×3.66 inches—but its proportions are roughly similar. That makes its footprint significantly smaller than the old mini (and the current Studio), which was 7.75×7.75 inches. But it’s also a fair bit taller: 2 inches, up from 1.4 inches.

Like the Studio, it’s made primarily of aluminum and has a pair of 10 Gbps USB-C ports on the front, plus an indicator light and a headphone jack for connecting headphones or speakers. On the back, it sheds all of its remaining USB-A ports in favor of Thunderbolt/USB-C ports (note that, like some Mac Studio models, the ports on the back have Thunderbolt capabilities and the ones on the front don’t). Compared to the old M2 mini, this is a net gain of one rear Thunderbolt port, but you’re giving one up compared to the M2 Pro Mac mini—the extra ports on the front should make up for this, but it’s worth noting if you have something connected to every single Thunderbolt port on your current box. All Mac mini models still include a gigabit Ethernet port and a full-size HDMI port, so USB-A is the only port you’ll need a dongle for that you didn’t need one for before.

https://arstechnica.com/apple/2024/10/apples-first-mac-mini-redesign-in-14-years-looks-like-a-big-aluminum-apple-tv/

Apple will adapt the classic educational game The Oregon Trail into a big-budget movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter (THR).

The film is in early development, having just been pitched to Apple and approved. Will Speck and Josh Gordon (Blades of Glory, Office Christmas Party) will direct and produce. Given that pedigree (zany comedies), it’s clear this film won’t be a serious historical drama about the struggles of those who traveled the American West.

In fact, the report not only notes that it will be a comedy—it says it will be a musical, too. “The movie will feature a couple of original musical numbers in the vein of Barbie,” according to THR’s sources. EGOT winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will be responsible for the original music in the film.

Of course, with a comedy, the writers are at least as important as the director. The film will be written by Kenneth and Keith Lucas—but they’re most recently best known for the 2021 drama Judas and the Black Messiah, for which they received an Oscar nomination.

That’s all we know about the film so far. As for the game, well, it needs no introduction—especially for folks who were of the appropriate age to play it at school or at home on personal computers from the 1970s through the 1990s.

The game is a major cultural touchstone for a certain generation—to the point that “The Oregon Trail Generation” has been used as a label for many of the people born in the early 1980s. It’s long been a thing to joke about the game’s morbid content, like the infamous phrase: “You have died of dysentery.”

Since the film was greenlit by Apple, it’s likely to debut on the Apple TV+ streaming service, but we don’t yet know when it will arrive or who will star in it.

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2024/10/apple-is-turning-the-oregon-trail-into-a-movie/

Both operating systems will display a list of apps and whether they are permitted access always, never, only while the app is in use, or to prompt for permission each time. Both also allow users to choose whether the app sees precise locations down to a few feet or only a coarse-grained location.

For most users, there’s usefulness in allowing an app for photos, transit, or maps to access a user’s precise location. For other classes of apps—say those for Internet jukeboxes at bars and restaurants—it can be helpful for them to have an approximate location, but giving them precise, fine-grained access is likely overkill. And for other apps, there’s no reason for them ever to know the device’s location. With a few exceptions, there’s little reason for apps to always have location access.

Not surprisingly, Android users who want to block intrusive location gathering have more settings to change than iOS users. The first thing to do is access Settings > Security & Privacy > Ads and choose “Delete advertising ID.” Then, promptly ignore the long, scary warning Google provides and hit the button confirming the decision at the bottom. If you don’t see that setting, good for you. It means you already deleted it. Google provides documentation here.

iOS, by default, doesn’t give apps access to “Identifier for Advertisers,” Apple’s version of the unique tracking number assigned to iPhones, iPads, and AppleTVs. Apps, however, can display a window asking that the setting be turned on, so it’s useful to check. iPhone users can do this by accessing Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking. Any apps with permission to access the unique ID will appear. While there, users should also turn off the “Allow Apps to Request to Track” button. While in iOS Privacy & Security, users should navigate to Apple Advertising and ensure Personalized Ads is turned off.

Additional coverage of Location X from Haaretz and NOTUS is here and here. The New York Times, the other publication given access to the data, hadn’t posted an article at the time this Ars post went live.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/10/phone-tracking-tool-lets-government-agencies-follow-your-every-move/

Today, Apple released the first developer beta of iOS 18.2 for supported devices. This beta release marks the first time several key AI features that Apple teased at its developer conference this June are available.

Apple is marketing a wide range of generative AI features under the banner “Apple Intelligence.” Initially, Apple Intelligence was planned to release as part of iOS 18, but some features slipped to iOS 18.1, others to iOS 18.2, and a few still to future undisclosed software updates.

iOS 18.1 has been in beta for a while and includes improvements to Siri, generative writing tools that help with rewriting or proofreading, smart replies for Messages, and notification summaries. That update is expected to reach the public next week.

Today’s developer update, iOS 18.2, includes some potentially more interesting components of Apple Intelligence, including Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence with Camera Control, and ChatGPT integration.

Genmoji and Image Playground allow users to generate images on-device to send to friends in Messages; there will be Genmoji and Image Playground APIs to allow third-party messaging apps to work with Genmojis, too.

ChatGPT integration allows Siri to pass off user queries that are outside Siri’s normal scope to be answered instead by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. A ChatGPT account is not required, but logging in with an existing account gives you access to premium models available as part of a ChatGPT subscription. If you’re using these features without a ChatGPT account, OpenAI won’t be able to retain your data or use it to train models. If you connect your ChatGPT account, though, then OpenAI’s privacy policies will apply for ChatGPT queries instead of Apple’s.

Genmoji and Image Playground queries will be handled locally on the user’s device, but other Apple Intelligence features may dynamically opt to send queries to the cloud for computation.

There’s no word yet on when iOS 18.2 will be released publicly.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/10/ios-18-2-developer-beta-adds-chatgpt-and-image-generation-features/

The previous model had already abandoned Apple’s proprietary Lightning connection for the industry-standard USB-C, but this updated USB-C port supports transfer speeds up to 10Gb/s, much faster than the previous model. (That’s data transfer, while charging seems the same.)

The USB-C port returns, this time with faster data transfer.

Credit: Samuel Axon

The camera system is mostly the same as before, but Apple has added support for Smart HDR 4, the latest version of its computational photography algorithms that combines multiple rapidly taken photos into one image, using the best features of all of them. This process offers benefits like better low-light photography and improved highlights. There’s also 4K video capture support.

I don’t think there are many iPad mini photographers out there, but hey, not going to say no to improvements.

Lastly, there have been improvements to the display that should mitigate some of the jelly scrolling that irritated a subset of owners of the previous generation of the iPad mini.

Apple Pencil Pro support

Apart from improved CPU, GPU, and NPU performance, the biggest addition here is Apple Pencil Pro support.

Introduced this spring, the Pencil Pro has lower latency than prior Pencil models, but at least as importantly, it has several new sensors and feedback features to make it more versatile. You can squeeze the pencil lightly to bring up a new options panel to quickly switch tools, among other things. There’s also a sensor that lets you roll the pencil to change the orientation of some tools.

Pencil Pro isn’t cheap, though—it’s $129. I imagine most digital artists want the largest canvas possible, so they’re not looking at the mini. But for more casual users, it’s nice to have the option.

Though it be but little, it is fierce

There are a lot of things I like about the iPad mini. It’s comfortable to hold, making it ideal among Apple’s tablets for reading or browsing the web. Typing on it while holding it in landscape mode feels ideal for me, though your mileage may vary, as hand sizes, of course, vary.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/10/hands-on-with-the-2024-ipad-mini-spot-the-differences/

Mentre il mondo tecnologico è in fermento per l’intelligenza artificiale generativa da ormai un anno, con colossi come Google, Microsoft e Meta a contendersi il primato, Apple ha scelto una strada diversa: la calma. Tim Cook, CEO di Apple, ha spiegato al Wall Street Journal che l’azienda ha preferito concentrarsi sul perfezionamento dei propri strumenti di intelligenza artificiale piuttosto che lanciarsi in una corsa affrettata.

“Siamo perfettamente a posto con il non essere i primi”, ha affermato Cook, sottolineando l’importanza di offrire un prodotto di alta qualità e curato in ogni dettaglio. E così, dopo mesi di attesa, a giugno è stata finalmente presentata Apple Intelligence, l’iniziativa AI di Cupertino.

Apple Intelligence promette di integrare l’intelligenza artificiale in modo profondo nell’ecosistema Apple, con funzionalità che vanno dalla comprensione e creazione di immagini e linguaggio, alla modifica del testo, alla creazione di nuove emoji. Siri, l’assistente vocale di Apple, diventerà più naturale e personalizzato e consentirà l’accesso diretto a ChatGpt.

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Rischio di perdere il treno

Tuttavia, il lancio di Apple Intelligence ha subito dei ritardi. Contrariamente alle aspettative, non è stato preinstallato sulla nuova gamma di iPhone 16, ma arriverà come aggiornamento software nel corso del mese. Questo ritardo potrebbe influire sulle vendite di iPhone in questo trimestre, secondo gli analisti di Jefferies, che non prevedono un significativo “superciclo” di aggiornamento.

Nonostante i problemi, Apple Intelligence rappresenta un passo importante per l’azienda di Cupertino nel mondo dell’AI. Resta da vedere se la strategia di Cook, incentrata sulla qualità e sulla cura dei dettagli, pagherà nel lungo periodo e se la Mela riuscirà a ritagliarsi un ruolo da protagonista in un mercato sempre più competitivo.

Indietro di due anni?

Sembra che non tutti in Apple siano entusiasti di Apple Intelligence. Secondo Mark Gurman di Bloomberg, alcuni dipendenti ritengono che la tecnologia di intelligenza artificiale generativa di Apple sia indietro di oltre due anni rispetto ai competitor come Google, OpenAI e Meta.

Le critiche interne si concentrano sulla mancanza del “fattore wow” nelle nuove funzionalità di AI, che non sarebbero all’altezza delle soluzioni offerte dai rivali. In particolare, la nuova versione di Siri, basata su Apple Intelligence, risulterebbe meno precisa e meno capace di fornire risposte pertinenti rispetto a ChatGPT.

Secondo le ricerche interne condotte da Apple, ChatGPT sarebbe addirittura del 30% più preciso di Siri e in grado di rispondere a un numero di domande superiore del 25%. Un divario significativo che evidenzia le difficoltà di Apple nel tenere il passo con i rapidi progressi dell’IA generativa.

Nonostante Apple stia lavorando per colmare il gap, la sfida si preannuncia ardua. Riuscirà l’azienda di Cupertino a recuperare il terreno perduto e a offrire un’esperienza AI all’altezza delle aspettative?

Leggi le altre notizie sull’home page di Key4biz

https://www.key4biz.it/apple-intelligence-in-ritardo-i-dipendenti-preoccupati-per-il-gap-con-la-concorrenza/509138/

In April, TSMC was provided with $6.6 billion in direct CHIPS Act funding to “support TSMC’s investment of more than $65 billion in three greenfield leading-edge fabs in Phoenix, Arizona, which will manufacture the world’s most advanced semiconductors,” the Department of Commerce said.

These investments are key to the Biden-Harris administration’s mission of strengthening “economic and national security by providing a reliable domestic supply of the chips that will underpin the future economy, powering the AI boom and other fast-growing industries like consumer electronics, automotive, Internet of Things, and high-performance computing,” the department noted. And in particular, the funding will help America “maintain our competitive edge” in artificial intelligence, the department said.

It likely wouldn’t make sense to prop TSMC up to help the US “onshore the critical hardware manufacturing capabilities that underpin AI’s deep language learning algorithms and inferencing techniques,” to then limit access to US-made tech. TSMC’s Arizona fabs are supposed to support companies like Apple, Nvidia, and Qualcomm and enable them to “compete effectively,” the Department of Commerce said.

Currently, it’s unclear where the US probe into TSMC will go or whether a damaging finding could potentially impact TSMC’s CHIPS funding.

Last fall, the Department of Commerce published a final rule, though, designed to “prevent CHIPS funds from being used to directly or indirectly benefit foreign countries of concern,” such as China.

If the US suspected that TSMC was aiding Huawei’s AI chip manufacturing, the company could be perceived as avoiding CHIPS guardrails prohibiting TSMC from “knowingly engaging in any joint research or technology licensing effort with a foreign entity of concern that relates to a technology or product that raises national security concerns.”

Violating this “technology clawback” provision of the final rule risks “the full amount” of CHIPS Act funding being “recovered” by the Department of Commerce. That outcome seems unlikely, though, given that TSMC has been awarded more funding than any other recipient apart from Intel.

The Department of Commerce declined Ars’ request to comment on whether TSMC’s CHIPS Act funding could be impacted by their reported probe.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/us-suspects-tsmc-helped-huawei-skirt-export-controls-report-says/

A few years ago, the idea of running PC games on a Mac, in Linux, or on Arm processors would have been laughable. But the developers behind Asahi Linux—the independent project that is getting Linux working on Apple Silicon Macs—have managed to do all three of these things at once.

The feat brings together a perfect storm of open source projects, according to Asahi Linux GPU lead Alyssa Rosenzweig: the FEX project to translate x86 CPU code to Arm, the Wine project to get Windows binaries running on Linux, DXVK and the Proton project to translate DirectX 12 API calls into Vulkan API calls, and of course the Asahi project’s Vulkan-conformant driver for Apple’s graphics hardware.

Games are technically run inside a virtual machine because of differences in how Apple Silicon and x86 systems address memory—Apple’s systems use 16 KB memory pages, while x86 systems use 4 KB pages, something that causes issues for Asahi and some other Arm Linux distros on a regular basis and a gap that the VM bridges.

Rosenzweig’s post shows off screenshots of Control, Fallout 4, The Witcher 3, Ghostrunner, Cyberpunk 2077, Portal 2, and Hollow Knight, though as she notes, most of these games won’t run at anywhere near 60 frames per second yet.

https://arstechnica.com/apple/2024/10/asahi-linuxs-bespoke-gpu-driver-is-running-windows-games-on-apple-silicon-macs/