Category: News

It didn’t take long until some people started noticing issues with the Raspberry Pi 4* when it was first announced last year. Namely there were issues with regular USB C power adapters/cables that resulted in not getting power to the tiny board. Because of a missing resistor these adapters recognized the Pi as an audio device and disabled sending power down the line. Secondarily there was a tiny voltage switch next to the micro SD card slot, that could easily be ripped off while inserting the card.

Those two issues are history as The Register reports. USB C should work with all usual adapters and the switch was moved to the top of the board. Without much fanfare the Raspberry Pi Foundation started production of a new revision of the board, Revision 1.2 (Code “c03112”). This is not a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B or anything obvious like this. The foundation silently changed production. So depending on how long the store you’re buying from has had its models in their warehouse you may get a new or old revision. Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi Ltd, however expects the update “to have reached end users by now”.

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It was rather silent around the MacBook Pro/Air keyboards in the past few weeks and months – ever since Apple presented the newest 16” model. But the Oscars on Sunday night became another negative highlight in their history. Here’s the clip that has been going around for the past few hours:

Taika Waititi jokes about what writers should be asking for in the next round of talks with producers: “Apple needs to fix those keyboards. They are impossible to write on. They’ve gotten worse. It makes me want to go back to PCs” #Oscars pic.twitter.com/vlFTSjCfZm

— Variety (@Variety) February 10, 2020

Yes, Apple has fixed the keyboard, but so far only on the 16” MacBook Pro*. Yes, it’s noticeably better than before and one can only hope there won’t be any other major issues on these machines that require a yearly replacement. But, and this is a big but, all other MacBooks to this day still come with the problematic butterfly keyboards.

I still can’t understand how long it took – or rather, it’s still taking – for Apple to fix these problems and come out with a new keyboard. They went from a version that worked as everyone expected, to a complete nightmare starting with the 12” MacBook in 2015.

I also wonder how many people just can’t afford to let go of their possibly only computer for a few days just to get a new keyboard, no matter how complicated it is to live with a keyboard that’s repeating keys or entire keys that don’t work at all. This problem does and will haunt many MacBook owners for years. Multiple generations of MacBooks will go unserviced and once the 4 years of free replacements have passed, people won’t be willing to pay the enormous bill that comes with a new keyboard.

The first MacBooks are already past this timeframe and, coming up at the end of this year, the first MacBook Pro with Touch Bar will be on that list as well. I’m also afraid the resale value for those machines won’t be as good for their current owners as it has been for other Macs in the past. Once a single key is toast it’s hundreds of dollars you have to pay for it out of your own pocket. As John Gruber notes: „Apple could switch every single Mac in the lineup to the new keyboards tomorrow, and people would still be joking about MacBook keyboards for years to come.“

Those of you who use Netflix day in, day out have probably come across one of the more annoying features of their apps: automatic playback, audio and video, of previews. You weren’t able to turn this off and just had to live with it. Until today.

Some people find this feature helpful. Others not so much.

We’ve heard the feedback loud and clear — members can now control whether or not they see autoplay previews on Netflix. Here's how: https://t.co/6V2TjEW6HD https://t.co/zbz4E8fVab

— Netflix US (@netflix) February 6, 2020

Now you can turn it off by heading to your Netflix profile on the web and opening Playback settings. There you can turn the automatically playing trailers using autoplay. If the changed option doesn’t trigger immediately just switch to a different profile and switch back. According to Netflix that’s supposed to load your chosen setting instantly.

Juli Clover writing for MacRumors:

Apple’s AirPods 2 and new Powerbeats Pro earbuds are clearly aimed at different target markets. While the AirPods 2 are for casual listening on a day to day basis, the more expensive Powerbeats Pro are designed for physical activity including sports, workouts, and more.

Juli put together a good comparison between AirPods and the just-announced Powerbeats Pro. Both earbuds have good reasons to exist at the same time. While I would personally prefer using AirPods because of their less obtrusive design, unfortunately genetics aren’t on my side for choosing earbuds. Just like EarPods the wireless AirPods will not stay in my ears so I have to use some sort of in-ear solution (or use regular headphones of course).

As I’m currently using BeatsX – I’m now on my third or fourth pair, I honestly can’t remember – as well as a pair of relatively new Sony WH-1000XM3*, I wonder how or if Apple will update these small earbuds. One can hope they’ll introduce in-ear AirPods – just like they used to make in-ear earbuds for a few years. If they don’t and when my BeatsX break again, because they certainly will, I might have to take a closer look at these Powerbeats. One thing I wish they had is a wireless charging case, especially at this price.

As far as the noise isolation goes, there are various third party tips that isolate better or worse depending on what you prefer. I’ve gotten mine from Comply for years now and they are just perfect once you figure out the correct size. I’m sure they’ll offer some variations for the Powerbeats Pro once they’re out.

Anyway, check out the MacRumors comparison if you’re on the fence between AirPods or the Powerbeats Pro. The new earbuds should be available in a few weeks for 249 USD.

As has become a tradition Mark Gurman and Debby Wu have some new details about the upcoming iPhones, iPads and iOS 13:

For 2019, Apple plans successors to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max — code-named D42 and D43 — and an update to the iPhone XR, said the people. The larger of the new high-end iPhones will have three cameras on the back, and other handsets could eventually come with the upgraded system, too, the people said.

iPhone tldr:

The follow-up to the current iPhone XS Max will come with three rear cameras, that will allow for a larger field of view which means Apple will increase the zoom compared to current models. Software might make it possible to “repair” a photo or video that has been cut-off using this camera. Live photos will capture more frames, going up from 3 to then 6 seconds.

The hardware will look largely be the same, but Apple is testing a version with USB-C. Bigger changes will come next year with the introduction of 5G capable models.

iOS 13 tldr:

iOS 13 will have dark mode, improvements to CarPlay. It will certain enhancements for the iPad like a new home screen, support for tabbed apps, just like a browser tab and better file management.

iOS 13 is most likely to be shown at Apple’s developer conference which usually takes place early June. New iPhones are usually presented in September. According to Bloomberg there won’t be new iPad Pros this year.

I personally have reached the point of where I have to question myself more and more if buying the most recent iPhone on a yearly basis at the end of September. However, the iPhone X was a completely new design with many new features. I also got the iPhone XS Max, because I missed the bigger screen of the previous Plus models after going with the X a year before.

I keep wondering what they need do to make me buy the next iPhone in September 2019? USB C for me would be a reason. But I somehow don’t see this happening. I feel like it might be more likely that they remove the port completely and turn the iPhone into an Apple Watch without any ports at all.

Another aspect is the ever better camera. But unless they have something that works in the realms of Google’s Night Sight I’ll have to see it before actually pulling the trigger.

There have been plenty of apps for iPhone and iPad that allow you to connect to a remote server, via ssh for example. I use a mix of Termius and Prompt for these. But now there’s a new, if simple, app in town that gives you a local shell on your iOS device.

The simple yet properly named app called Terminal by Louis D’hauwe currently only includes some basic commands, so you won’t (yet?) find your whole collection of tools. In it’s current status it feels like a great start with hopefully many more features to come in future updates, mostly the mentioned toolbox you can find on most Linux/Unix machines.

Terminal is a free download on the App Store. You can also find the source on GitHub which gives me even more hope that new features will be added quickly.

Update, March 4th, 2019: Since I see quite a few people coming this way, iSH is another app you should check out. They also have open TestFlight invitations right now, so you can try out the newest features before they become available in the final version on the App Store. OpenTerm by Louis isn’t available anymore since he joined Apple.