Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines from Apple, including iPhone 17 design leaks, iPhone 16e problems, Apple addresses AI concerns, a folding iPad, Apple TV’s expensive miss, EU’s new iPhone rules, and the pebble smartwatch returns.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes.
iPhone 17 Design Leaks
We had our best look at the new design of the iPhone 17 family this week, as “blanks” supplied to third-party accessory manufacturers were published online. The physical buttons and camera islands are on show, but not the charging port:
“What can’t be seen is the base of any of the four smartphones. There are some suggestions that Apple is considering dropping the USB-C port to create a sealed iPhone. They would rely on cloud syncing and wireless charging instead of the traditional cabled options.”
(Forbes).
iPhone 16e Problems
The recent launch of the iPhone 16e—the not quite replacement for the iPhone SE—is running into some issues. Users are reporting intermittent audio connectivity over Bluetooth. Community investigations haven’t tied down what’s causing it, but the beta of iOS 18.4 looks to sort the problem. Forbes’ contributor David Phelan has some advice:
“The nature of the issue seems to be that music playback over Bluetooth will stop and start up again quickly, and has happened with different Bluetooth headphones, for example Apple AirPods and Sony cans… the best advice I can give is: sit tight and wait for iOS 18.4. The public release of iOS 18.4 will be in April.”
(Forbes).
Apple Vision Pro Chief Takes Over AI
Following the public confirmation that it would be delaying key AI features in Siri, Apple has announced changes to its upper management that should offer new direction to the beleaguered Apple Intelligence services. Mark Gurman broke the news:
“Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has lost confidence in the ability of AI head John Giannandrea to execute on product development, so he’s moving over another top executive to help: Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell. In a new role, Rockwell will be in charge of the Siri virtual assistant, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the moves haven’t been announced. Rockwell will report to software chief Craig Federighi, removing Siri completely from Giannandrea’s command.”
(Bloomberg).
Fold Your iPad, Make It A MacBook
Would Apple consider a foldable tablet/laptop hybrid? It’s an intruiging possibility for a company that rarely pushes into new form factors. Yet the suggestion from analyst Jeff Pu is that, alongside a foldable large-screened iPhone, Apple will introduce a foldable hybrid between the iPad and the MacBook in 2027:
“it implies that the 18.8-inch foldable device could end up being a touch-screen Mac. In his Power On newsletter over the weekend, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that Apple’s rumored design changes coming with iOS 19 and macOS 16 should set the stage for new hardware designs, including “foldable devices and touch-screen Macs.” However, there have not been any rumors indicating that a touch-screen Mac will launch as early as next year, so some skepticism is warranted for the time being.”
(MacRumors).
Hits And Misses For Apple TV
How much value is there in running a streaming service? Apple TV may have picked up 538 wins in various critical awards, but it has required a significant investment. Reuters reports that the finanical return is still missing:
“The tech giant has spent more than $5 billion a year on content since launching Apple TV+ in 2019 but trimmed it by around $500 million last year, the report said… The iPhone maker does not break down the subscribers for Apple TV+ but it is estimated to have reached 40.4 million at the end of 2024, according to five analysts polled by Visible Alpha.”
(Reuters).
New EU Interoperability Rules Announced For iPhone
Following the ruling of the Digital Markets Act, the EU has published a list of requirements for Apple to implement as part of iOS 19 and iOS 20. Given the iPhone’s status as gatekeeper hardware , these rulings are designed to promote inter-operatbility between all consumer electronic brands. Apple steadfastly believes that this is not in it best interests:
“Today’s decisions wrap us in red tape, slowing down Apple’s ability to innovate for users in Europe and forcing us to give away our new features for free to companies who don’t have to play by the same rules,” said Apple in a statement given to MacRumors. “It’s bad for our products and for our European users. We will continue to work with the European Commission to help them understand our concerns on behalf of our users.”
And Finally…
This week saw the return of the Pebble smartwatch take a step forward as pre-orders opened for the first batch of the class of 2025. There was also a reminder from founder Eric Migicovsky that, due to Apple’s policies around hardware access, the iPhone version will be significantly less feature-rich than the Android version:
“I want to set expectations accordingly. We will build a good app for iOS, but be prepared – there is no way for us to support all the functionality that Apple Watch has access to. It’s impossible for a 3rd party smartwatch to send text messages, or perform actions on notifications (like dismissing, muting, replying) and many, many other things.”
It’ ’s probably worth pointing out that one of the recommendations from the interoperatbility rules published by the EU is that “third-party smartwatches must be able to display and interact with iOS notifications by the end of 2025, which likely means iOS 19.2 or earlier.” (via MacRumors).
(Eric Migicovsky).
Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.
