October 2020 Apple Event
Alright folks, this is the Apple Event we've all been waiting for. What was hoped for in September has now come true for the October 2020 Apple Event - the iPhone 12 and a whole lot more. As always, I highly suggest watching the event recording, but if that is too much time to dedicate, we've got you covered. So let's get started!
October 2020 Apple Event: HomePod Mini
Tim got us kicked off right away talking about how Apple designs products for our homes. To bring the HomePod to more people (and at a more affordable price point), we now have HomePod Mini. I've been personally waiting for this product as I wasn't too excited to have to buy a full HomePod for my upstairs and downstairs. I love the sound quality and the convenience of having my HomePod in my kitchen, but now I can get the Mini for my bedroom.
The smaller globe and touch screen top of the HomePod Mini allows users to continue to have the amazing sound element that the original HomePod was known for. The brain and analysis of the music will create an amazing audio experience as expected. HomePod Mini's can sync and be a stereo pair (if in the same room) or synced across multiple rooms.
Along with HomePod Mini, we've got improvements coming to Siri. During this segment of the event, my HomePod was going insane with all the calls to "Hey Siri." Siri now has better voice recognition and of course the Mini syncs with HomeKit for your smart home. Apple also released a new intercom feature. Intercom can now work with all devices and speakers, so your intercom now will play on speakers and push a notification to devices - including AirPods. This is a huge way to connect everyone inside the home and I can see being a huge benefit to large families.
HomePod Mini will be available in both the base gray and in black. Orders begin on November 6 with shipping starting November 16. All of this bundled up for just $99.
October 2020 Apple Event: The iPhone 12 Line
5G is finally here! To kick off the iPhone 12 line, we all expected that 5G would be one of the biggest talking points and Tim didn't hold back before jumping right in. To make sure iPhone users were going to get the best experience, Apple worked with all the carriers - with Verizon being brought out to the Apple stage. Over 4 gbps for peak download times and 200 mbps upload speeds, Verizon has a pretty impressive set of stats for their 5G network. So with the launch of the iPhone - Verizon is booting up their nationwide 5G network. All the iPhone 12's will have 5G - so let's dive right in.
iPhone 12
The iPhone 12 has an all-new design with a similar aluminum design we all loved on the iPhone 5. Brilliant colors and form factor has been maximized for 5G. You've got 5 colors - black, white, red, green, and blue. It is thinner, smaller, and lighter than the iPhone 11. This was done with the Super Retina XDR display (OLED) with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The cover glass is now engineered with Ceramic Shield - a new toughness process to increase the durability and become the strongest of any other phone (a 4x better drop performance rate). The iPhone 12 has 5G and has the A14 Bionic chip to deliver the best performance while using the least amount of power.
iPhone 12 now has a dual camera system which includes the Wide and Ultra Wide lens. With everyone using their phone as their main camera, we continue to see Apple focus in on a better photography experience. HDR 3 and machine learning will continue to provide a better photographic experience to adjust for the conditions. Night mode will now exist on both the back and front cameras, a first for Apple. With the improved cameras, video will be improved as well.
A lot of us have been waiting for the Apple charging we never got. However, with iPhone 12 comes a new type of charging experience due to the built in magnets inside of the phone itself. That's right - MagSafe is back baby! This new style of charger means new cases with magnets and new MagSafe accessories (including a new Duo charger for the watch and iPhone). This charger is something I've been waiting years for and can't wait to get my hands on.
Now some people are going to be upset about the next part - chargers are no longer coming in the box. The environmental impact is huge by them shrinking the box size and no longer providing the cubes that most of us see all over our house or a pair of wired earpods. iPhone 12 will have a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box and that is it.
iPhone 12 Mini
With virtually no transition at all, the iPhone 12 Mini has been born. It includes the same features of the iPhone 12, but just smaller by only having a 5.4-inch display. They literally are the same phone except for different sizes. I wasn't expecting this at all. It will now be the smallest and thinnest 5G iPhone in the world.
The iPhone 12 Mini will start at $699 with pre-orders starting November 6 and the iPhone 12 will start at $799 with pre-orders starting on Friday, October 16.
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro includes a stainless steel band with back glass in 4 new colors, black, white, gold, and blue. The Pro models include the Ceramic Shield and IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. This line of course includes the MagSafe life of chargers and accessories.
The displays are now 6.1" on the Pro and 6.7" on the Pro Max. The Super Retina XDR is the biggest screen ever. The Pro performance comes from the A14 chip which has the most advanced image processing ever coming out of a phone before. Deep Fusion technology will now be on all 4 cameras on the front and back. The Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto cameras give the most flexibility when it comes to photo lengths.
On the Pro Max, they also included sensor-shift, a technology from SLR cameras to help keep lenses stabilized to avoid camera shake. A new feature coming later this year is Apple ProRAW - the combination of Apple's computational imagery with the photographer's choice of RAW imagery. With support coming to apps to take advantage, I can't wait to see what Adobe is able to do with this new technology moving forward.
Pro Video means HDR video recording is now available on the iPhone. It will also record in Dolby Vision HDR at 4K at 60 frames/sec. The iPhone 12 Pro Max will allow you to actually edit Dolby Vision on the fly from the phone - without the need for uploading to an external system.
The innovation of LiDAR means that light scanning is now included on the iPhone 12 Pro. Object and room scanning, effects, and Augmented Reality (AR) support means that the iPhone 12 Pro will be the go to device for AR. The LiDAR scanner allows the cameras to identify depth and improve focus and sharpness.
The iPhone 12 Pro starts at $999 with pre-orders starting on Fridya, October 16 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at $1099 with pre-orders starting on November 6. Both start at 128GB for storage space and go up to 512GB.
iPhone 12 Line Up Pricing
So the total line up looks like the following:
- iPhone 12 mini starts at just $699
- iPhone 12 starts at $799
- iPhone 12 Pro starts at $999
- iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at $1099
October 2020 Apple Event: Wrap Up
And with that - we wrap up the Apple October Special Event. I know I'll be buying a HomePod Mini and the new iPhone 12 Pro in blue. See anything that you might be jumping into? Rumor has it there will be a November Event coming soon, which Apple has not done before, so stay tuned as to what that might include. Will we be seeing the new Apple headphones? Will we get to see the first Apple Silicon Mac? With this new approach to events, Apple just keeps on giving us new technology to look forward to.
My MacBook Pro Docking System
As my desktop iMac continued to age and start to show, I realized that the cost of maintaining a home computer and a laptop was really starting to bog me down. On top of dealing with software licenses, it just stopped making sense. Twice the amount of updates, dealing with syncing files, transferring photos between different Lightroom catalogs just became a lot of extra time. After a lot of thinking and research, I decided to pull the plug on the iMac and look into a docking system for my laptop.Having a 2016 15" MacBook Pro w/touchbar, I knew I had the raw power to make this work. It was just doing the research to figure out what it would take to get everything to hook up, make it easy to connect/disconnect and to investigate what type of burden this setup would case to my MacBook Pro.
Monitors
The first thing I wanted to research was getting a good pair of large monitors that would work out best. I immediately began looking for USB-C monitors. Since it had been a solid year and that there should be plenty of options out there. I wasn't a fan of the large price tag that came along with the LG monitors from Apple (plus the 4K monitors are only 22"). So the quest for the best monitor at a decent price began.My findings, there really isn't anything out there that would do what I wanted. A few models came highly recommended but were now backordered for months or non-existant. Disappointed, I gave up the search for USB-C and looked into HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort connections. I knew that there were plenty of cables/adapters around so no matter what, I could make this work. I finally settled on a pair of Samsung U28E590D 28-Inch UHD LED-Lit Monitor
The Dock
Now there are a ton of docking stations still in Kickstarter phase or being developed. The problem was I was switching computers now and needed to find a solid solution. Something that could handle driving 4K screens, had audio in/out (for podcasting), and had a solid ethernet port (when streaming I'm always hardwired in). This didn't leave me with a lot of options, especially ones that were available. I first hit up the Apple store to see what was there, and all I found was a single docking system with terrible reviews.Trusting the audience of my fellow Apple-folks, I ended up looking into the Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock. This slim dock would power/charge my MacBook Pro (meaning I wouldn't have to dedicate another port just to charging or worry about another power brick), it had all the connections I could want, and it matched my laptop in look/feel (now I know that sounds dumb, but when Apple puts that much effort into the design, I want to respect that and not dump on some large black accessory). For added connivence, I picked up a laptop stand to help with height and also give me place to stash this new Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock
The Complete Docking System
This entire docking system together has been absolutely great. If I want to sit on the couch and work, I can. But if I need the extra power behind monitor space, a keyboard and mouse, it just takes two plugs and I'm good to go. Here is the full list of products I have to accomplish this docking station with links to Amazon. Every purchase you make through these links helps fund the server space for this blog - we appreciate you!
Lexar Shut Down - Say What?!?!
Yep, you sadly read that correctly. Micron, which is Lexar's parent company, has decided to discontinue the Lexar removable storage retail business. In their company blog yesterday, they announced that they were looking to actively sell the Lexar business.
From Lexar
Micron Technology today announced that it is discontinuing its Lexar® retail removable media storage business. The decision was made as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to focus on its increasing opportunities in higher value markets and channels.The Lexar portfolio includes memory cards, USB flash drives, readers, and storage drives for retail and OEM customers.Micron is exploring opportunities to sell all or part of the Lexar business.
What does this mean for photographers?
This is a huge disappointment to many. I have a collection of SanDisk and Lexar cards (as do many photographers/videographers). I know there are many third party cards out there which I haven't tried. I've just always stuck to Lexar and SanDisk for my photography my entire life. There was a strong brand and value that came with both of those names and I trusted them with my artwork. What will happen with these products and what will happen with the accessory based products (think card readers)? Lexar branded card readers are what I currently use as well. They always have been one of the top items I recommend to other photographers.
What happens next?
Hopefully we will get news of a buyer looking to keep the Lexar legacy continue. We know that there is profit in the Lexar brand, it just wasn't a focus of Micron.
Home Automation
The Building of My Digital Home
Home automation is something that you find a large split of opinions about. Some people absolutely love the IOT (Internet of Things) concept and can't wait to have everything digital and connected to their devices. Others fear government spying, hacking, and general concern of privacy and connections taking place in their home. No matter how you feel about home automation, it is up to you to do the research, and I'm going to try to make that a bit easier.
I've always loved the idea of home automation or having a smart home.
The concept of controlling everything from one remote (your phone) and having seamless interaction with your house as you move between rooms was a concept I always wanted to achieve, even as a kid. Yes there are dangers about hackers gaining access, but if you're smart, have your system locked down, and realize that your life isn't that interesting to most, you will start to feel more relaxed. With HomeKit being opened up finally, we will see new product lines that support Apple's home integration system coming very soon. With the addition of the HomePod coming in December, we will finally have a system in place that will allow Siri to have a standalone contact point within our households.Now as you know, I live in a very Apple universe. However, at this point in time, Apple is a bit late to the party. The Amazon experience and Google home really are leading the home automation frontier. Due to this, I had to make some sacrifices. I needed some home automation features but didn't like what was out on the market that was HomeKit compatible. So I did my own research and bought products that had great apps, did what I needed, and worked just fine. The following is the setup that I have currently and love even if it isn't Siri compatible (at the moment).
Sensi Home Wifi Thermostat
Chamberlain Garage MyQ
Nest Cam
Even with these additions, I'm still waiting for a few things.
I haven't 100% chosen a lighting ecosystem to follow. However with the latest update to Phillips Hue, it is now HomeKit compatible. More than likely, I'll be going that route in the near future. I also haven't found a set of electrical outlet switches that I truly like. There are a ton on the market and as always, I didn't want to bind myself to yet another ecosystem.The final challenge for me is finding a lock system for my house. Everything in my house is un-level and definitely not straight, so standard deadbolt locking systems won't work. The last thing I want to worry about is the door not being aligned. This would mean the auto lock actually opening up my door instead of locking it. Once I start seeing some more automated handle systems in place, then I will finally be able to jump on board.So I have a pretty decent (and cheap) initial setup. I can't wait to see what new products start to support HomeKit. With Apple opening the system hopefully we will see a lot more next year.The links inside of this article may link to sources that will benefit The Creative Technologist financially. Gotta pay the bills right?