Welcome to our monthly Apple News Roundup. This column recaps the top 10 biggest Apple news announcements from each month, giving you an at-a-glance look at all the headlines you need to know. This edition features the highlights from May of 2022.
1. Apple releases iOS version15.5 RC
iPhone and iPad are getting an update. Here are some of the highlights from the latest version of iOS 15.5 RC.
- Apple Podcasts comes with features to automatically manage storage of downloaded episodes
- Wallet allows people to send and request using their Apple Cash card
- Home automation triggers bug fixed
2. Apple’s Q2 beats estimates with a record 9.73 billion
Apple announced results of it’s fiscal 2022 second quarter with all time record high of 9.73 billion, up 9 % over the last year. Shareholders received a dividend of $0.23, which is an increase of 5%. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, during the earning call announced that Apple plans to become carbon neutral across supply chains and products by 2030.
3. A leaked video on FB almost killed the Beats acquisition
Dr. Dre’s, hip hip billionaire and Beats co-founder struck a deal with Apple to acquire Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion in 2014. After signing, Singer and actor Tyrese celebrated with Dr. Dre and posted a video on Facebook which leaked the deal to the public. This breach of privacy almost killed the deal, but Beats was acquired for $2 million less than originally negotiated.
Read more about this story at iMore.
4. Live Captions come to all audio content on Apple products
Great news for deaf and hard of hearing users—Apple products now support Live Captions on audio content such as phone calls, Facetime, streaming media content or even for in-person conversations. Live Captions are auto generated on device for security.
5. RIP to the iPod: “the music lives on”
The first iPod was introduced in 2001 and has lived many lives through the iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, and finally the iPod touch. However, the iPod brand ends with its last incarnation, the iPod Touch 7, released in 2019. Apple announced in a press release called “the music lives on” that the “spirit of the iPod” will be with us throughout Apple’s other products.
Read more about this story here on Rocket Yard.
6. Apple rolls out training for IT professionals
In response to a growing demand for Apple products among the remote workforce, Apple has launched a two professional trainings to help IT workers and their teams—Apple Device Support, and Apple Deployment and Management. For $149, trainees can take an exam to obtain a certification badge, which will helps companies find talent to manage their Apple products provide support.
7. New accessibility feature Door Detection uses on-device machine learning
Blind and low vision users will now be able to use their iPhone or IPad to locate a door and its attributes such as open or closed, push or pull, and knob or handle. This feature combines old and new technology—LiDAR, which has been around since the 60’s, fires out laser beams times their speed of return, while machine learning creates a detailed representation of the environment.
8. VoiceOver adds 20 new languages/locales and more features
VoiceOver is Apple’s screenreader for blind and low-vision users, and it now supports new languages including Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Farsi, Galician, Kannada, Malay, Marathi, Slovenian, Tamil, Telugu, Ukrainian, Valencian, and Vietnamese.
The newest feature, Siri Pause Time, allows users with Speech Disabilities to adjust Siri’s response time after a request and Sound Recognition can now be customized to recognize sounds in a user’s environment.
9. Apple Watch Pride edition bands released
June is Pride Month, and for the 7th year, Apple is pledging their support to select LGBTQ+ advocacy groups with new Pride Edition Apple Watch band designs. Both the Pride Edition Sport Loop and Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop bands are woven with a color gradient that draws from multiple versions of Pride Flags and retail for $49.
10. EU says Apple has monopolized contactless payments on iPhones
Apple automatically restricts NFC technology to Apple Pay, making it impossible for iPhone users to choose any other contactless payment service. Europe’s anytitrust regulator states this unfairly eliminates all competition in the mobile wallet market. Apple claims that opening up NFC technology to third-party app developers on iPhones will impact security and safety.
Shockingly, iOS 15.5 still has the Focus bug.
In Focus settings, my Share Across Devices” is LOCKED to OFF because I do not use Two-Factor Authentication. I cannot turn it on. I’m fine with that, I want it to be off. In Focus settings, it reads “Focus syncing REQUIRES Two-Factor Authentication”.
Nevertheless, Focus IS syncing with my other devices anyway. Sharing the Focus settings across my devices is a major inconvenience for me. I am now FORCED to use the silent switch on my iPhone. This means that emergency calls, and Favorites cannot get through to me.