Next Stop, WWDC!

Hey there!

I hope you’re having a great week so far. We are less than two weeks away from WWDC, Apple’s annual developer conference, and the anticipation continues to build! Here’s what I have for you in this edition:

• More on Apple’s AI Plans

• Basic AF: WWDC Wishlists with Riley Hill; Send Us a Text Message

• Apple Announces 2024 Design Award Finalists

• The News Feed

 🍵 LATEST TEA ON APPLE’S AI PLANS

OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft have all had high-profile events over the last several weeks that focused heavily on AI. All eyes are now on Apple as we eagerly await WWDC, which kicks off with the keynote on June 10. There's a lot of pressure to unveil something notable at WWDC, as the perception is that the company needs to catch up on the AI front. 

In his most recent “Power On” newsletter, Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has provided some additional details on what we might see as part of Apple's AI efforts:

• Photo retouching

• Voice memo transcription

• Faster and more reliable Spotlight and Safari searches

• Siri upgraded to be more natural-sounding

• Using generative AI to create custom emojis based on what a user is texting

• Developer tools for Xcode

• Smart recaps of missed notifications and text messages, plus web pages, documents, notes, and more

• An advanced Siri for Apple Watch

There's a lot more in the newsletter, which you can read here.

While none of the items Gurman mentioned appear to be ground-breaking, Apple's special sauce lies in its ability to transform something from a mere technical component into a practical feature that delivers tangible benefits. And that's really what I'm intrigued to see. What's the little bit of Apple magic that it will sprinkle on top of its platforms to make AI beneficial to us as end users? I can't wait to see what happens.

🎙️ BASIC AF SHOW: WWDC WISHLISTS WITH RILEY HILL

Riley Hill is a software developer, Apple enthusiast, and YouTuber. He joined us on this episode to discuss using the iPad Pro as his main computing platform, the new M4 iPad Pros, and his YouTube Channel. Then, we shared our wishlists for the upcoming WWDC keynote on June 10th.

Question or comment? Send us a text message! 

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🏆️ APPLE ANNOUNCES 2024 DESIGN AWARD FINALISTS

Apple has announced the finalists for this year’s Apple Design Awards. The awards are meant to recognize and celebrate the best software produced for Apple’s platforms. There are seven categories:

• Delight and Fun

• Inclusivity

• Innovation

• Interaction

• Social Impact

• Visual and Graphics

• Spatial Computing

The finalists include a mix of apps and games such WHAT THE CAR?, NYT Games, Tiimo, Procreate Dreams, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, Arc Search, Crouton, and more. Winners will be announced soon, and you can check out the complete list here.

M4 IPAD PRO FIRST IMPRESSIONS

As mentioned earlier, Riley Hill uses an iPad as his primary computing device. In fact, he’s using two iPad Pros! He has an excellent video that shares his first impressions of the new 11” and 13” M4 iPad Pros.

M4 IPAD PRO AFTER TWO WEEKS

Brandon Butch spent the last two weeks using his M4 iPad Pro as his primary work machine while away from his desk in place of his MacBook Air. How’d it go?

LANDSCAPE APPLE LOGO ON FUTURE IPADS?

When the iPad was released in 2010, it was expected to be used primarily upright, in portrait orientation. Apple even sold a keyboard dock holding the iPad in this position. Things changed over time, and iPads are used frequently with keyboards and in landscape position. According to an interview in Numerama (in French), Apple may change the orientation of the Apple logo to match. (via MacRumors)

THE LEGO APPLE STORE

If you’ve been around the newsletter for a while, you know I’m a casual fan of LEGO, and I even included the Bonsai Tree in my gift guide last December. While I doubt we’ll ever see this happen, a creative user designed a LEGO Apple Store and submitted it to LEGO for consideration in its Ideas initiative. Pretty sweet!

MACOS SYSTEM SETTINGS CHANGES

Back in macOS Ventura, Apple updated the old System Preferences app and relaunched it as System Settings. It hasn’t been great, and it may be seeing some improvements in macOS 15. 🤞

OLED IPAD MINI COMING, BUT NO TIME SOON

The iPad mini has a small (my guesstimate based on how frequently it gets updated) but loyal fan base. I briefly had the current 6th-generation model but ended up trading it in because I didn’t like the display and felt that iPadOS wasn’t appropriately optimized for the size. This would take care of my display issue.