Apple iPhone Event Announced & A Look at the New Passwords App

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Hey there!

I hope you're having a fantastic final week of August! I have some great things lined up for you in this edition:

• Apple Event September 9th

• A Look at the New Passwords App

• BAF Show: App Updates, Return to Craft, Rock Paper Pencil Check-In

• M4 Mac Base RAM, Apple ID Rebrand, and More in The News Feed

• Reader Poll: iCloud Storage Plans

Let's get into it!

📱 APPLE EVENT SEPTEMBER 9TH

Apple has officially announced its iPhone 16 event for September 9th at 1 p.m. ET. The event will be streamed online and have an in-person component at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. The invite teases, "It's Glowtime."

In addition to new iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models, we will see a refreshed Apple Watch lineup and perhaps updated AirPods and a surprise or two.

Of course, I'll follow up with the details in an upcoming newsletter, and we'll be going in-depth on Basic AF, so make sure you're subscribed to the show.

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🔐 A LOOK AT THE NEW PASSWORDS APP

For quite some time, we've had the ability to generate and save strong passwords, handle multi-factor codes, sync all of them through iCloud, and share as needed with friends and family. But it is messy and clumsy, particularly for less tech-savvy users, with the passwords available in Safari settings, System Settings and Keychain Access on macOS, and Settings on iOS/iPadOS.

Apple is looking to simplify all that with the new Passwords app.

Passwords will be released this fall as part of macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and visionOS 2. Support for Windows will be provided through the iCloud for Windows app.

Key Features

• Store passwords for websites, Wi-Fi networks

• Handles multi-factor verification codes

• Create and manage passkeys

• Suggested passwords

• Shared passwords

• Notifications when shared groups are updated or passwords found in data leaks

• Encryption

• Lock with biometrics (Touch ID and/or Face ID)

• Identifies accounts with compromised passwords

• Import existing password list via CSV file

• Third-party browser support

As mentioned earlier, most, if not all, of these features already exist in macOS and iOS/iPadOS. While the Passwords app doesn’t add much that's new, the big win here is that it's making password management more approachable for regular users. It will also simplify things for those of us who are the family IT support person.

While I think Passwords will cover the basics just fine, it’s definitely missing a lot of the things you find in third-party apps. I’ve used 1Password for over a decade and here are some things it does that are beyond what’s in the Passwords app:

• Password history

• Secure notes

• File attachments

• Custom fields

• Auto-generation of random answers for security questions

• Storing software licenses

• Passport information

• Tags

• Multiple vaults/databases for segmenting items

Some of the missing features can be handled outside of a password manager. For example, you can securely store items in Apple Notes by locking the note. But things like tags, multiple vaults, secure answers for security questions, and password history will be more challenging to account for.

Will I switch from 1Password? I'm considering it as I wouldn’t mind having one less subscription. I plan to run the Passwords app exclusively for a few weeks to see how it goes, and then I will decide.

Either way, having a dedicated Passwords app is a win, and I'm glad it's finally here.

🎙️ BASIC AF SHOW: APP UPDATES, RETURN TO CRAFT, ROCK PAPER PENCIL CHECK-IN

Jeff and I discuss new apps, a return to an old writing companion, and update our experience with iPad screen covers.

• NotchNook: Making the most of your Mac's notch, even if it doesn't have one!

• Shareshot: An easy way to share screenshots with style. Fantastic utility!

• I revisit my note-taking journey and explain why Craft is again my go-to app.

• Months after trying out Rock Paper Pencil, we share our long-term impressions. Has the friction-style writing experience held up?

Listen and follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, all the other podcast apps, as well as on YouTube and YouTube Music.

💰️ ICLOUD PAID STORAGE

The free 5GB of storage that Apple provides is basically useless, so it's no surprise that paid iCloud storage is Apple’s most popular subscription service. It would be interesting to see how the numbers break down by available plans. I have the 2TB plan and share it with the family; which plan do you have?

💻️ MORE RAM IN THE M4 MAC BASE MODELS?

There's been plenty of debate on whether 8GB of RAM in the Mac is good enough, particularly in 2024. I don't think it is, especially on the Pro line. It looks like that might be changing soon, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who reports that the upcoming M4 Macs will start at 16GB RAM. With the extra resources required for Apple Intelligence, this seems very reasonable. It's TBD how Apple will factor this into pricing.

⛑️ MORE TIME TO EXTEND YOUR APPLECARE+ PLAN

Customers in many countries now have 45 days to extend their AppleCare+ plan after it expires. This is up from 30 days previously. You can check the expiration date of your AppleCare+ plan in System Settings on a Mac, in the Settings app on iPhone and iPad, or mysupport.apple.com. Hit this support article for a list of countries and more details.

👤 APPLE ID REBRAND

Heads up! There's a rebrand coming that will have Apple ID renamed to Apple Account. It's part of the upcoming iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia upgrades.

📷️ PROCESS ZERO

Our iPhones generally take great photos, but there are times when Apple's computational photography overdoes it, and the results differ from what you're looking for. If you're looking to shoot with no AI or computational photography applied, have a look at Halide's new Process Zero feature.