The Morning After: Apple’s Week of Announcements starts Monday
Plus, the UN issues another dire climate warning, and we test the Galaxy S24 FE.
If you’re fluent with concepts like release schedules and calendars, you may notice Apple hasn’t updated its computers in a while. It’s nearly a full year since the iMac and MacBook Pro got speed bumps, and just over a year for the Mac Pro and Mac Studio. Now, Apple’s head of marketing, Greg Joswiak, has announced an “exciting week of announcements,” from Monday.
It’s easy to assume we’ll see those models getting pushed from variants of the M3 to the M4. Given the M4’s focus on AI, expect plenty of attention on Apple Intelligence, which comes to users as part of iOS 18.1’s update at the same time. That each model is likely to be announced piecemeal across the week, rather than at one glitzy event, suggests we won’t see too many other big changes.
The rumor suggests only the Mac Mini will get a major hardware revision, shrinking its chassis to a far smaller footprint. If I’m honest, I’m secretly hoping the Mac Mini doesn’t become the same size as an Apple TV model, which has been hinted at. Especially if it means saddling us with a beefy power brick to clutter the floor instead.
— Dan Cooper
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News in Brief
iOS 18.2 has a child-safety feature to blur nude content and report it to Apple
It uses on-device machine learning.Good Omens’ final season will have only one episode
Creator Neil Gaiman has stepped back from the show.Yooka-Laylee remaster rolling to all consoles, including Nintendo’s next system
It’s called Yooka Re-Playee.Your Balatro deck can now feature Binding of Isaac characters
I’m still refusing to learn what Balatro is, sorry.Google Photos will show when images have been modified with AI
If your friends suddenly developing extra hands wasn’t a big enough clue.The UK’s antitrust regulator will formally investigate Alphabet’s $2.3 billion Anthropic investment
It’s also (briefly) looked into Amazon’s investment in the same company.
Latest UN report demands ‘unprecedented’ emissions cuts to salvage climate goals
The longer you shilly-shally, the harder the pain will be.
The UN has published a new report on the climate crisis. It can be best summed up as “are you even listening?” It analyzed the latest round of international commitments and believes we’re on course to hit 2.6 degrees Celsius of warming. If we want to avoid climate events of Biblical proportions, we’re going to need to curb emissions far more aggressively.
Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: A great phone, but I wish it was cheaper
Does Samsung know why it bothers making Fan Edition phones?
After each flagship phone launch, Samsung releases a Fan Edition, offering most of the same features in a slightly cheaper package. Engadget’s Igor Bonifacic put the new Galaxy S24 FE through its paces and found, like its predecessors, it’s a bit pointless. After all, you can pick up a no-compromise version of the handset for almost the same price when it goes on sale.
President Biden sets up new AI guardrails for military, intelligence agencies
Including a ban on giving AI control over nuclear weapons.
The White House has issued a memorandum outlining where AI should — and shouldn’t — be used in military and intelligence applications. That includes a prohibition on giving AI systems the ability to launch nuclear weapons, profile people and grant asylum. Now all we need to do is make sure the AI doesn’t get smart enough to trick people into making those decisions on its behalf.
Bluesky’s upcoming premium plan won’t give paid users special treatment
Good.
Bluesky has revealed its plans to make money without simply handing the platform over to advertisers. It will offer a premium subscription that lets users customize their profiles, upload higher-quality video and generally get a warm and fuzzy feeling. Hopefully, the users who flocked to Bluesky from that place will appreciate it enough to pay to keep the lights on.
