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Apple Announces Strange New iPad and iPad Pro Lineup

This morning Apple announced their all-new iPad and iPad Pro lineups via press release and a short announcement video. The new iPad (non-Pro) features new colors and an updated square-edge design that brings it in line with the rest of Apple’s modern iPads and iPhones. The iPad Pro has been upgraded to Apple’s M2 chip, and supports a new “hover” mode on the Apple Pencil. Apple also unveiled a new Magic Keyboard Folio accessory, which includes a detachable keyboard with a trackpad and function keys.

There’s a lot to like about each of these new products, but the details reveal some very strange decisions on Apple’s part.

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Apple TV 4K Updated with an A15 Bionic Chip, HDR10+, and a Lower Starting Price

Today, Apple published a press release announcing an update to the Apple TV 4K, which now comes in two configurations that offer different storage capacities and network connectivity. The Apple TV HD is no longer available on Apple’s online store.

The Apple TV 4K has been updated with an A15 Bionic chip and support for HDR10+, which is part of tvOS 16. The base configuration, which is $129, has 64GB of storage and is WiFi-only. The other model adds Gigabit Ethernet and has 128GB of storage for $149. The top-tier Apple TV 4K supports Thread networking too.

Apple says:

CPU performance is now up to 50 percent faster than the previous generation, delivering greater responsiveness, faster navigation, and snappier UI animations. GPU performance is now up to 30 percent faster than the previous generation for even smoother gameplay.

The Siri Remote now charges via USB-C.

The Siri Remote now charges via USB-C.

The Siri Remote has remained mostly the same, except it has added USB-C charging in place of the previous model’s Lightning port. The Siri Remote is included with the Apple TV but can be purchased separately for $59.

Overall, the changes to the Apple TV 4K are fairly minor, notwithstanding the snappier UI the A15 Bionic enables. I don’t see a good reason for most people to upgrade from a previous generation Apple TV 4K unless you play a lot of games on the Apple TV and have run into storage limits. If you have an Apple TV HD before and are planning on buying a 4K TV, the new model will save you some money and offer a few new perks. Although it’s a shame that Ethernet is only available in the more expensive configuration, that’s probably part of how the cost of the base model has been brought down, and I’m sure most people connect their Apple TVs via WiFi anyway.

The new Apple TV 4K is available for pre-order now, with deliveries beginning on Friday, November 4th in 30 countries, including the US.

iOS and iPadOS 16.1 Betas Add Per-App Clipboard Access Permissions to the Settings App→

In iOS 16 and the upcoming iPadOS 16.1, Apple added an alert when an app tries to read your device’s clipboard, giving users a chance to grant or deny access. It’s a privacy measure, but for apps that have legitimate reasons to use the clipboard’s contents, it quickly becomes an annoyance to confirm every time you want to paste something. Apple has said that excessive prompts to use the clipboard are a bug that it was working to fix, but whatever the origin, the latest beta of iOS and iPadOS 16.1 include new settings that dramatically improve the experience.

After asking for permission to paste from another app at least once, a new setting appears in an app's Settings entry.

After asking for permission to paste from another app at least once, a new setting appears in an app’s Settings entry.

According to Joe Rossignol at MacRumors:

 In the Settings app on the fourth beta of iOS 16.1 and later, a new “Paste from Other Apps” menu appears for apps that have previously asked for permission to paste content from another app. The menu can be found in the Settings app → [App Name] → Paste from Other Apps.

The menu presents users with three options:

  • Ask: The app must continue to request permission to paste content from other apps.
  • Deny: The app cannot paste content from other apps.
  • Allow: The app can paste content from other apps without asking for permission again.
To never see the paste prompt again choose 'Allow.'

To never see the paste prompt again choose ‘Allow.’

This change is a huge win for any app you use and trust that needs clipboard access. For me, that’s Obsidian. We use a custom plugin for creating Markdown links to webpages and images that we shared last fall with Club MacStories members. The plugin works the way I think all text editors should handle Markdown linking when you have a URL on your clipboard: highlight some text, paste, and instead of replacing the highlighted text, the URL is linked to highlighted text. However, since running iOS and iPadOS 16 betas, I’ve had to select ‘Allow Paste’ anytime I wanted to create a Markdown link using the plugin. Now, with ‘Allow’ chosen in the Obsidian entry of the Settings app, that’s no longer a constant source of friction as I write, which is great.

It’s worth noting that the setting doesn’t sync across devices. For example, if you Allow pasting on an iPhone, you’ll have to do the same on an iPad. Also, the setting only appears in the Settings app after an app has requested permission to access the clipboard at least once.

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Unlock Your Sales Potential with the New Daylite Opportunities Board [Sponsor]

For small businesses, acquiring new business often means juggling multiple priorities at the same time, as each deal has its own time frame and different client requirements. That’s why you need a tool that will help better manage your sales pipeline, so you’re making the most of every sales opportunity that comes your way.

Meet the Daylite Opportunities Board

The Daylite Opportunities Board lets you visually track your deals’ progress at every stage and helps you prioritize sales opportunities. This powerful feature gives you a holistic view of your sales pipelines, allowing you to track where each Opportunity is in the process, so you and your team can focus on the most valuable ones. The drag-and-drop functionality allows you to move opportunities from one stage to the next, and you can easily classify deals as “won” or “lost” by dragging them to the respective status categories. Learn more about how this powerful Daylite feature has become a game-changer for Apple-savvy small businesses. 

About Daylite

Daylite is an award-winning CRM and productivity business app that empowers small businesses to get more done throughout the full customer lifecycle. Daylite is a native app built exclusively for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. From meeting prospects and taking control of your sales to managing the moving pieces on projects, all the way through to winning more repeat business, it’s all done in Daylite. 

And now, with the Daylite Opportunities Board, you can finally better manage your sales process and unlock your sales potential. 

Are you ready to close more deals with Daylite? Start your free trial here.

Our thanks to Daylite for sponsoring MacStories this week.

AppStories, Ep. 300 - 56 minutes

App Trends Revisited and Reconsidered

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps
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55:31

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week, Federico and John mark episode 300 of the show by revisiting the app trends they covered in episode 100 and discussing the new trends that will shape the apps we use in the next several years.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Things – The award-winning to-do app.
  • Pillow – Sleeping better, made simple.
  • Kolide – Kolide believes that maintaining endpoint security shouldn’t mean compromising employee privacy. Check out our manifesto: Honest Security.
  • Kosmik – For All Mindkind
  • Revisiting App Trends from Episode 100
    • The evolution of rich notifications
    • Subscription apps
    • Apple services on third-party hardware
    • iPads and keyboard control
    • Mac and iPad app convergence
  • Considering What’s Next for Apps
    • Text-based app command systems
    • Stage Manager’s role in app convergence
    • A Stage Manager API
    • Adaptable UIs for the home
    • Augmented and mixed reality
    • Automation and Shortcuts

[Subscribe here.](https://staging.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

Subscribe here.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

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MacStories Weekly: Issue 340

This week, in addition to the usual links, app debuts, and recap of MacStories' articles and podcasts:

  • Astropad Darkboard: Hands-On Preview, by John
  • Navigating Obsidian Tabs with Custom Mouse Actions, by John
  • Retro Gaming with OpenFPGA and the Limits iPadOS Places on Developers, by John
  • Home Screen: Michael Borland, by MacStories Team
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MacStories Unwind: Werewolf by Night and Two Weekend Videogame Projects

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps
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15:45

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week on MacStories Unwind, I pick a spooky special from Disney+, Werewolf by Night, and Federico has two weekend videogame projects: openFPGA for the Analogue Pocket and setting up the Epilogue GB Operator with the Steam Deck.

John’s Pick:

Federico’s Pick:

AppStories, Episode 299 – Return to the App Grab Bag→

This week on AppStories, we return to the app grab bag to cover more of our favorite releases and updates from the past several weeks.

Sponsored by:

  • Kolide – Kolide believes that maintaining endpoint security shouldn’t mean compromising employee privacy. Check out our manifesto: Honest Security.
  • Memberful – Monetize your passion with membership.
  • Pillow – Sleeping better, made simple.
[Subscribe here.](https://staging.macstories.net/plans)

Subscribe here.

On AppStories+, we look back at 2022’s unusual beta period, and I update listeners on the state of macOS Ventura and my upcoming review.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

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Apple Music Launches on Xbox and Windows Photos Adds iCloud Photo Library Support

Apple Music was released today on the Xbox Store as a free download. I’ve had a chance to test the app briefly on my Xbox Series X, and the experience is very close to that of the Music app on the Apple TV.

Upon downloading the app, new users can take advantage of a free month of Apple’s music streaming service. There are multiple ways for existing subscribers to log in, too, including by using a QR code that opens a web page and asks you to sign in with your Apple ID. Once I signed in, the app on my Xbox refreshed, and I was good to go.

If you’ve ever used the Apple Music app on the Apple TV, you’ll be right at home on the Xbox version of the app. The UI is nearly identical from the ways you can interact with the service’s catalog of music to the Now Playing screen. It is my understanding that the Music app, along with the TV app, will be coming to Windows next year too.

Some recent photos from my iCloud Photo Library in the Windows Photos app.

Some recent photos from my iCloud Photo Library in the Windows Photos app.

Your iCloud Photo Library is also available in the Windows 11 Photos app now, with support for both images and video. To connect the two, you need to install iCloud for Windows on your PC and choose to sync your iCloud photos library. I gave it a try on my AYANEO Next Pro and had no trouble linking Microsoft’s app to my iCloud Photo Library.

The number of devices on which you can access Apple’s media services has expanded significantly over the past few years, with availability expanding from Android devices to smart TVs and other platforms. With Xbox and Windows PC integration, that expansion has taken another big leap forward, making those services available to a much wider audience.