It's the little things that get you. Small seemingly insignificant moments that result in a tsunami of consequences. Like habitual breathing through one's mouth as a toddler or underestimating a business-mogul-turned-reality-star-turned-US-President-turned-convict-turned-US President-Again. So, yes. Small things. Like your hearing. That concert you attended; maybe you have ringing in your ears the next day but things return to normal. You shrug it off and, due to the hubris of youth, you attend that concert. And then another. Before you know it, your hearing is shit.
Dr Sumbul Desai, vice president of Health at Apple, wants to change people's perception of hearing health. "We actually don't think about anything related to our health until you lose it often. And I think that's one of the things that we're really trying to change is how do we drive people to be more proactive and preventative around their health to lead longer and healthier lives."
She sees hearing loss as a critical blow to one's health. "There is actually a seminal paper that came out last year in the Journal of American Medicine," Dr Desai said. "[It] talked about the strong connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline and shows that the more you lose your hearing over time. Without any hearing assistance, it can have a more detrimental impact on your cognition leading to dementia.
"Number two, hearing loss has shown to increase social isolation as well as increase loneliness depression. It impacts on your wellbeing because, if you think about it, it's how you connect."
Dr Desai cited her mother who has profound hearing loss and how exhausting it was to connect with her when she isn't using her hearing aid. That frustration can lead people into feeling isolated and with a lack of interpersonal connection, the well-being takes a hit.
But, as Dr Desai touched on before, prevention is better than cure. Your Apple AirPods Pro 2 can protect your hearing with Control mode switched on (go to Settings in iPhone > tap the name of your AirPods > tap Hearing Protection). With activated, your AirPods Pro 2 will note your surroundings and alert you if you're exposed to decibels exceeding unhealthy levels. It can also reduce the noise level as well.
When Apple first launched AirPods in 2016, it revolutionised what earphones can be: wireless, can be charged in its case, aesthetically pleasing. Spatial audio features and noise cancellation and transparency became part of the AirPods hallmarks. "We recognised that these features that make AirPods were actually the core building blocks needed to create these hearing health features," said John Ternus, senior vice president of Apple's Hardware Engineering.
Working with Dr Desai and her health team, Ternus shaped these audio devices to possess features that can impact hearing. Along with Control and Noise alert modes, the Airpods Pro 2 (and only that model) also has an FDA-approved Hearing Test that can also personalised a hearing aid function from the results.
To take the Hearing Test, your AirPods Pro 2 (with the latest firmware) needs to pair with an iPhone or iPad that are running on iOS or iPadOS 18.1 or later. The silicon tips of your AirPods Pro 2 must fit perfectly in your ears to create a seal.
Ensure that you're free of any otolaryngological maladies like a cold, a sinus infection, ear infection, allergies or were in a loud environment (like a concert) in the last 24 hours. Next, you'll need to find a quiet spot for the five-minute Hearing Test, which is a simple process of tapping the screen whenever you hear tones played at different volumes and frequencies.
I took the test lying down. While I could hear the blood rush in my ears, as the outside world closed about me, eyes closed, I was so deep in concentration, tapping on the screen whenever the beep came on. When the results came out, I wasn't convinced. So, I took it again for corroboration. The results were similar: both my ears suffer from "little to no loss".
But what if the results were worse? Then, there's the option to turn on Hearing Aid mode, which pumps up the sounds around you so that you can hear or you can tweak the balance to your specs. Hearing Aid mode also applies to the volume controls on the iPhone, like your calls or the videos you watch. Your AirPods Pro 2 are also a cheaper hearing aid than, well, the actual hearing aids themselves.
I'm not sure what the opinions of actual ENT doctors have on the Hearing Test but the ease of taking them and the "gamification" aspect can encourage users to take the tests and sometimes share (show off) the results. Like this is the aural version of "how much can you press, bro?" Imagine a bunch of men huddled together and comparing hearing results; this can be a positive push for preventative or remedy for one's hearing health and we like the sound of that.
It was a series of firsts for Apple’s latest iPad range—a new M4 chip, the thinnest iPad device, a 13-inch iPad Air. Now, out of the blue, Apple drops the iPad Mini on us. The last generation was released in 2021 and, in all honesty, we’ve forgotten about it. It’s like a long-lost uncle showing up at a family reunion after being out at sea. So, it’s quite an entrance for the new iPad Mini but can it leave a lasting impression? Let us count the ways.
Like many of Apple’s latest products, this iPad Mini supports Apple Intelligence (which at this point of writing, still hasn’t come out yet). This is what is marketed: the iPad Mini’s AI will extrapolate your personal context and make writing easier or edit and create images based on prompts. Like an assistant but one who doesn’t roll their eyes when you casually ask what “skibidi” means.
The latest Apple Pencil Pro can be used with the iPad Mini. It does all the things like barrel rolling and when you hover your Pencil Pro over the screen, a preview shows where the tip will land on the display. And maybe this is a personal preference but the iPad Mini’s 8.3” is the perfect size for jotting down notes or sketching. It’s my preferred dimension for reading a book or watching a movie. And seeing the 6.53” long Pencil Pro docked on the side of the iPad Mini’s frame looks… right.
It comes in four colours—including blue and purple—and it supports 5G. Touch ID is still on the top button; there’s a USB-C port; a 12MP wide back camera and a 12MP front-facing camera for that quality Zoom meeting… except while the other iPad models shifted their front-facing camera to the middle of the landscape side, the iPad Mini’s front camera remains stubbornly in portrait. I mean, video conferencing is still doable but the front camera placement is jarring. The iPad Mini has the A17 Pro chip that was used in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max… except the iPad Mini has five GPU cores, one less than the iPhone 15’s. And sure, it might have levelled up from the iPad Mini’s last generation model but having tried the iPad Pro, the iPad Mini feels a tad inadequate.
But it's not about choosing the best but, rather, what fits your need. If we consider the iPad Mini as an easy-to-carry sketchpad/e-book/TV that’s an upgrade from its previous generation, compatible with the Apple Pencil Pro, has (may have?) Apple Intelligence and doesn’t break the bank, then, yes, this is the device you’re looking for.
The iPad Mini retails from SGD699
It's all about timing. When the Apple Vision Pro first came out, it was ahead of its time—it could immerse users into its mixed-reality interface but its features were underused. Now that the software (VisionOS 2; more developer apps) has caught up, the Apple Vision Pro is finally doing what it's destined for. And with the release of Submerged, we finally see how the Apple Vision Pro is starting to cook.
Submerged is the first scripted short film filmed entirely in Apple Immersive Video. Directed by Oscar-winner Edward Berger (who adapted and directed All Quiet on the Western Front), the WWII thriller puts users in the middle of the action.
The plot follows a sinking submarine (upon re-reading this article, "sinking submarine" sounds... weird) and its crew, trying to survive. Tor Myhren, Apple’s VP of Marketing Communications, describes Submerged as the next evolution in storytelling. “Apple Vision Pro places you inside the story—inside a packed submarine alongside the crew. The depth of immersion here just wasn’t possible before. We’re thrilled to see how filmmakers like Edward Berger will push the boundaries with this technology.”
Filmed over three weeks, a full-scale, 23-tonne submarine set was constructed to resemble the WWII vessels and was designed for full submersion. Great lengths went into employing practical camera traps and special effects to create an immersive environment. The cast went through extensive stunt rehearsals to keep the action realistic.
Berger's approach to filmmaking was redefined by Apple’s immersive tech. “This new medium expands the horizon of storytelling. Apple Vision Pro allowed us to create a story in a way that was previously unimaginable. It’s a game-changer for filmmakers.”
Submerged is the first in many immersive content for Apple Vision Pro. Next month, Apple teams up with The Weeknd for an immersive music experience to celebrate the diamond-certified artist’s upcoming album, Hurry Up Tomorrow. Fans can also look forward to Concert for One, an intimate new concert series launching later this year, kicking off with a special set from award-winning British artist RAYE and new episodes of Adventure will be released later in the year.
And if you ask us, given the immersion of the Apple Vision Pro, maybe we can expect a horror short film/interactive game?
When it comes to prognostication, look to the dreamers, who imagine the things that will be made possible. For Apple, it's the sort of longview that benefits from the company's long development cycle for its products. It is this sort of gestation period that allows the Apple Vision Pro (AVP) to come to fruition.
In 2007, a patent was granted to Apple for a "HMD (head-mounted display)", which meant that development for the Apple Vision Pro ran for 16 years. That's the problem with dreamers, it takes a while before everybody, including the technology, catches up. But while most of the tech needed to be invented, some things like the look of the device didn't veer too far from a concept sketch.
"When we started this project, almost none of these tech existed," said Mike Rockwell, VP of Apple’s Vision Products Group. "We had to invent almost everything to make it happen."
Alan Dye, Apple’s Vice President of Human Interface Design, said that the AVP was, by far, the most ambitious Apple product that they had to design. "I can't believe that any other company would be able to make something like this as it requires all disciplines across the studio together, to create one singular product experience. It's kinda unprecedented."
Richard Howarth, Vice President of Industrial Design, concurs. "One of the reasons that it was very ambitious was that it hadn't been done. Nothing with this sort of resolution and computing power had ever been done.
"We didn't even know if it was possible."
The prototype was huge. Powered by a roomful of computers. Thick cables run between them. Although a behemoth, the prototype represented proof that it was possible.
Yes, during development, there were VR headsets that were released to the public. But Dye and Howarth weren't interested in creating a VR headset; they wanted a way to bridge people. Dye explains that whenever someone dons a VR headset, they are isolated from other people around them. "We wanted [the Apple Vision Pro] to foster connection, both by bringing people, from across the world, right into your space or by remaining connected with people around you."
The intent to connect framed how the product was designed. Like EyeSight, where your eyes—or a simulacrum of your eyes—appear on the front of the Apple Vision Pro if you're addressing someone or if you're using an app (an animation plays letting others know that you can't see them). Essentially, it's a visual aid for others to know whether you're available or not.
Mixing AR and VR, the Apple Vision Pro would pioneer "spatial computing", where the integration of digital information into the user's physical environment. The only way that could work was Apple's proprietary M2 chip that powers the device and an R1 spatial co-processor. Another way for the AVP to process the workload is "foveated rendering", where it only renders what your eyes are looking at.
The micro‑OLED display puts out 23 million pixels didn't hurt either. There are also 12 cameras for precise inside-out tracking (it tracks your eyes, your hand gestures and human bodies who come within your ambit).
Dye and Howarth didn't want to use external controllers and opted for hand gestures and voice commands to get around. The hardware is only as good as the software. That's where visionOS comes in.
visionOS lets you create your own Persona, an almost realistic avatar of yourself or allows for the aforementioned EyeSight. It still is kinda janky (eye tracking is left wanting if I'm selecting something at the edge of my periphery).
But still, the visionOS won the prestigious D&AD Black Pencil award for Digital Design and a Silver Cannes Lion for Digital Craft. The judges saw potential and there's still the visionOS 2 on the horizon, where the update allows for a functioning Magic Keyboard to appear in a virtual environment or customise the icons' position on the home screen.
One of the features that I look forward to is creating spatial photos from photos from the Photos app library. Using advanced machine learning, the visionOS turns a 2D image into a spatial photo that comes to life on the AVP.
It was only a few years ago, that the Google Glasses was slammed by the public for being too intrusive. While cultural norms have shifted to the point where the public is lax about their privacy, Apple is still up in arms about privacy and security.
"It's important to know that Vision Pro has a privacy-first design at its core. We took great care in privacy and security for it," Rockwell says. "We don't give camera access to the developers directly. When your eyes highlight a UI element, the developers won't know where your eye position is. They are only informed if you tap on something. Another thing is that if you're capturing a spatial video or spatial photo, it alerts others on the front display that you're recording."
The Apple Vision Pro retails for SGD5,299 and there will be many, who would baulk at that price.
"We built an incredible product that we believe has enormous value," Rockwell explains. "This is not a toy. It's a very powerful tool. It's intended to be something that can give you computing capabilities, the ability to use this in a way where there's nothing else out there that can do it. We reached into the future to pull back a bunch of technology to make it happen.
"We want to ensure that this has fundamental and intrinsic value and we believe that at the price, it is of good value."
Perhaps access to the future is worth the ticket? The Apple Vision Pro is emblematic of the promise of the imminent. Of the convenience of speaking with your loved ones or the experience to traipse in lands unseen.
Like the eyes of the oracle, the device brims with potential and given time, the future is more realised.
The Apple Vision Pro is out now.
Let's start with science fiction and how we imagine it—the time travelling; phasers; light sabers. It's what makes the future so alluring. That the things we imagine are made real. Of course, there are always the pesky constraints of real-world physics that prevent such wonders to stay shackled in the realm of the mind. But sometimes a little stubbornness goes a long way. Such is the case of Apple and its entry into the mixed reality game: the Vision Pro.
From your View-Masters (remember those) to the Oculus Rift, we have been creating "headsets that immerse you into another reality". (To set the record straight, we're not talking about augmented reality, which is digital content overlaid over the real world but mixed reality that integrates digital objects into the user's environment.)
Apple may not have pioneered mixed reality but it sure is gonna leave its competitor in its wake of "spatial computing".
We tried the Apple Vision Pro (or the AVP, which shares the same initialism with Aliens Versus Predator) and the visuals are, for the lack of a better word, magical. It's magical that you're able to look at an icon and double tapping your fingertips would open up the programme. It's magical that you don't get the bends from being in an immersive video. And, it is so magical that you can open up multiple windows and... work became fun? It felt like that Jonny Mnemonic scene.
One of the ways that the AVP is able to process the workload is a sneaky thing called "foveated rendering". Because it tracks your eye, it only renders what your eyes are looking at: stare at a window and it comes into clear. Look at another window and that becomes sharp. If you think about it, that's how our eyes work anyway.
The hardware of this is incredible. Made of magnesium and carbon fibre, there are twelve cameras—from tracking of your hands to spatial tracking—positioned throughout the headset. There's an M2 processor and an R1 spatial co-processor to deliver a smooth performance. The eye tracking is a cinch and there's no lag in the video passthrough.
On the corners of the goggles are a digital crown that adjusts the volume and the immersion and a button that you can depress to take photos and videos. There are speakers fixed to the arms of the Vision Pro but if the volume goes past a certain level, everybody else around you are privy to what you're hearing.
The AVP's Persona feature is kinda weird. Think of a Persona as your avatar. Your Pesona will reflect youryour facial expressions (sticking out your tongue; gesticulate with your hands), it has fringes of the Uncanny Valley. It. You can FaceTime or enter into an online meeting with them; they would appear and the hairs on your arm will rise a little. But after a while, you get used to it. And then their Personas kinda look like ghosts in your living room. Except they are presenting a PowerPoint.
If you're wondering, why not use a memoji? And the only reason I can think of is that if you're in a business meeting, there has to be a level of professionalism so a unicorn or a poop memoji may not fly. Then, again, it would be nice to have options. Perhaps in the next VisionOS upgrade.
By the way, there's an announcement that there would be a VisionOS 2, where you can create spatial photos from your 2D images, have new gesture controls and an enhanced Persona—accurate skin tone, clothing colour options. Who knows, maybe there would be an inclusion of memojis?
The price is expensive. Like SGD5,299 expensive. But that's to justify the years of R&D and the components. You hold the AVP in your hands and it feels nice. And I suspect that months later, people wouldn't blink at the price tag. I remember when mobile phones retailed at four digits and my uncle self thought, welp, I'm not paying that much for a compact supercomputer. A year or two later, that sort of pricing for a mobile phone became normalise.
To fit in all that goodness that makes the AVP work its magic, it will have some weight to it. To be fair, it weighs about 649g. That's equivalent to a medium-sized chinchilla or a bag of Cadbury Triple Pack Mixed Eggs. Not that heavy, right? But when you're wearing the AVP that's outfitted with a Solo Knit Band on your face, after a while, you're gonna feel it in your face and because of my terrible posture, my neck will compensate for the weight and I'll hunch even further.
As a remedy, you can swap out the Solo Knit Band for the Dual Loop Band, which gives better weight distribution. Or, if you're a stubborn cock like me and you find it leceh to change to a Dual Loop Band, you can wear it lying down.
If you're worried about the tension in your neck, don't worry; you'll know its time to put down the AVP when it runs out of battery at two hours of general use.
I kid.
It's not perfect but this is a game changer. It possesses the tech of today to The AVP shown what is possible and yet also poses what else can be done. We don't think that Apple is done with the Vision Pro; there's a roadmap and it's gonna take a few generations of the AVP before it gets to that stage, where you can't ignore it any longer. Like the first-gen iPod or the first-gen iPhone, the AVP has raised the bar and the other brands are gonna have to play catch-up.
It's a promise of a future, one that is bright with potential and all it took was an Apple Vision Pro for that glimpse.
The Apple Vision Pro is out now.
It's that time of the year where Apple kickstarts its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2024. Esquire Singapore was at Apple Park where it all went down. Although Tim Cook opened the keynote and revealed a few of what the company was working on, it was ultimately Senior VP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi's show. Through his amiable style and parkour (you'll understand if you watch the keynote video), it was announced that there would be updates to its OS—iOS 18; iPadOS 18; macOS Sequoia; watchOS 11; visionOS 2—; what's on Apple TV+ slate; the Vision Pro coming to Singapore and the reveal of Apple Intelligence... or AI (“give-the-marketing-team-a-raise”). Here are the biggest takeaways from WWDC.
After keeping mum on AI, Apple loudly announced its proprietary AI, the Apple Intelligence. The Apple Intelligence works across all of Apple's devices and we saw a demonstration of its use in Writing Tools. Now you can see summaries of your e-mails or books and its ability to rewrite the e-mail tone to reflect your intent. Apple Intelligence can also generate transcript summaries of live phone convos or a recordings.
If you tire of 😉 (winking face), 🫃("Uh-oh, I seem to have cirrhosis of the liver.") or 💦🍆 (wash your vegetables), you can generate customised emojis with Genmoji. Simply describe what you want to see as an emoji and Apple Intelligence will create it.
A step up from Genmoji is Image Playground. Again, type in any descriptor and the style (currently only animation, illustration and sketch options are available) and the image will be produced. You can do the same with images from your Photos library or from your Contact list. We were also shown how Apple Intelligence can flesh out rudimentary sketches or ideas through Image Wand. With a finger or Apple Pencil, circle a sketch and after analysing it, Image Wand will produce a complementary visual.
With Apple Intelligence, Siri finally gets the limelight it deserves. Siri can carry out specific tasks with an awareness of your personal context. This means that it’s able to go through your apps and create a personalised approach. For example, if you ask Siri, how to get to a destination, Siri will trawl through your travel history and the weather forecast to formulate the best and personalised route for you. Which for me, is a long languid bus ride because I have no money for cabs and I hate playing the game of “Should I Give Up This Seat For This Person?”
Siri also has a richer language understanding, so if you have made a verbal faux pas and you backtrack, Siri will know what you mean. Does this mean that Siri will understand Singlish? Welp, Apple says that US English will roll out first, followed by other languages. Hope springs eternal, I guess.
And if you’re skittish about speaking out loud to Siri about—oh for example—whether you need to give up your seat to someone who may or may not take offence to said seat offer, you can type it to Siri instead, you coward (my words).
There were rumours leading up to WWDC24 about Apple’s collaboration with ChatGPT came true as it was announced that ChatGPT is integrated into Apple’s Siri and Writing Tools. If Siri is stymied by your request, it will tap into ChatGPT’s expertise. You will be asked if your info can be shared with ChatGPT and can control when it is used. It’s also free to use without the need to create an account. Some people aren't too keen on the Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT union.
Given the outcry about user data being sneakily used to aid in machine learning, Apple doubled down on its stance on user privacy ensuring that even though Apple Intelligence is privy to your personal information, it doesn’t collect it. While many of the large language and diffusion models are run on the device, there are certain instances where it needs to be stored on the cloud. That's where Private Cloud Compute comes in. As a cloud-based model on special servers using Apple Silicon, your data is never stored and only used to handle your AI request. This is what Apple proudly termed as a “new standard for privacy”.
Ever wondered who the hell is on screen and you scroll through IMDB? Now, there inSights, an Apple TV+ feature that shows who is playing what when their characters appear in a scene. There's even a handy bit of info of the music that's playing in the scene as well. inSights is only available for Apple TV+ original programming.
We even got a preview of what's coming to Apple TV+. A slight squeal may or may not have issued from us over the sight of Severance and Silo in the montage.
Called Sequoia, it comes with a Continuity app that allows for iPhone mirroring. You can connect to your iPhone from your Mac. We saw a demo where one could access the iPhone's Duolingo app and actually go through a lesson. The best part of it is that while this is happening, the iPhone is still in locked mode so that no one else, other than you, can have access to it.
There's now the Calculator app but with an added feature. Using your Apple Pencil, you can utilise Math Notes in the Calculator app and write out an equation. Once you write out the "=" sign, it immediately calculates. If you change any of the numbers, the tally automatically adjusts.
There's a Smart Script feature that refines your handwritten notes. You can scratch out certain words and it automatically erases, just like that.
Finally, this special announcement from WWDC: Apple's Vision Pro gets an operating system update. Using machine learning, it takes your 2D photos and adds depth to it; giving it more life to these spatial photos. There are expanded intuitive gestures to use with your Vision Pro and an ultrawide virtual display to operate on.
Oh, and the Vision Pro will soon be available to Singapore on 28 June.
For more information on WWDC 2024, check out the Apple website.
Before Apple announced something in their burgeoning pipeline, you usually know what to expect. Because there wasn't an update for the iPad line last year, this is the year where the smart money should be when an iPad announcement would be made. And what an announcement it was.
Last week, we reported on-site about a revamp to the iPad line-up. A 13-inch option is added to the iPad Air family with both 10- and 13-inch models powered by the M2 chip and an improved Apple Pencil the Apple Pencil Pro. Of course, there was the reveal of the iPad Pro, that's available in either a 10- or 13-inch. The iPad Pro comes with an Ultra Retina XDR display with state-of-the-art tandem OLED tech. "Tandem" in the sense that two OLED panels are stacked on top of the other so it gets that 1,600 nits peak for HDR.
The previous iPad Pro model suffered from blooming (aka "the halo effect", where light from isolated bright objects on a screen bleeds into darker surrounding areas) but for this latest iPad Pro, we saw perfect blacks and very exacting per-pixel illumination.
Which brings us to the miracle of the iPad Pro's width. It holds the honour of not only being the thinnest in the iPad Pro line but also in Apple's entire catalogue. The last thin contender was the iPod Nano at 5.4mm; the iPad Pro 11-inch measures 5.3mm while the 13-inch is a mind-boggling 5.1mm. With that sort of measurement, it's hard to wrap your head around the idea of a "tandem OLED panels".
What's surprising is the chipset used in the iPad Pro. The previous iPad Pro model is outfitted with an M2 chip but for this year's model, Apple introduced the M4 chip. Bear in mind that Apple's latest chipset was the M3 for the MacBook Air so very few expected that the brand would skip the M3 and use an upgraded Apple silicone for its iPad Pro line-up. For an iPad Pro to be that thin, there needs to be a chipset that's able to handle the performance.
Thus, the M4 with the promise of better CPU and GPU performances. The M4 chip is supposed to make things more "efficient". There's a new display engine, dynamic caching (caching improves response time and reduces system load) and hardware-accelerated ray tracing (light simulation in games). A couple of online games we tried performed swimmingly. According to Apple, when compared to the M2 chip, the M4 delivers the same performance only using half the power.
(We are unable to push the M4 potential at this point of writing but we'll update this in future.)
Dock the iPad Pro with the upgraded Magic Keyboard (added function keys, larger trackpad) and voilá, a MacBook. It's a simplified descriptor but with the iPad Pro as it is, as a tablet, it is an overkill. With workflow, it holds its own. It's almost like my MacBook, where I type my e-mails on it; draft out stories... hell, I'm writing this article on the iPad Pro.
The front-facing camera is now moved to the—hallelujah—middle of the horizontal bezel. Muy useful now for that pantless work meeting (my house, my rules). But because of the relocation of the camera, everything else has to shift. Remember the Apple Pencil Pro? To dock it, you can place the stylus on the horizontal side but because of the new front-facing camera position, the magnetic interface needs to shift along the bezel, which means the hardware of the Apple Pencil Pro needs to adapt to the new docking system. Thus, your new Apple Pencil Pro only works with this year's iPad Pro and iPad Air models; it's not backwards compatible with previous iPad models.
Give and take, I guess.
But the Apple Pencil Pro sure is something. It has more capabilities like the squeeze function, where depressing the sides brings up more options on the screen. There's the added haptic feedback, which adds more tactile-ness to using the stylus. Also, there's the barrel roll effect.
Uh, not that. More like this.
A slight roll of the stylus allows the versatility of the nib to perform those calligraphic flourishes or shading. There are other nuanced touches such as the appearance of the stylus' shadow on the screen (this isn't projected by an external light source) and hovering the Apple Pencil Pro will show a preview of where the pencil will contact with the display. Finally, if you misplace the Apple Pencil Pro, you can locate it with the Find My app.
The iPad Pro is available in two colourways—silver and space black. The 11-inch version starts at SGD1,499 and the 13-inch device starts at SGD1,999.
At Battersea Power Station—the iconic structure of Pink Floyd's 10th album and, now, office space for Apple—journos and KOLs were gathered for product announcement at 3pm BST (10pm SGT) today. Given the nadir of any new iPad releases last year, all bets were on the disclosure of new iPads at the "Let Loose" event. At the keynote, a slew of releases were unveiled like the new 13-inch iPad Air and an Apple Pen Pro. But one of the more knock-me-down-with-a-feather news was the inclusion of the M4 chip—a leapfrog from the M2 chip in the iPad Pros (2022). Here is a run-down of what went down.
A new member to the iPad Air family is the new 13-incher. Both models are powered by the M2 chip that grants a faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine. With a front-facing Ultra Wide 12MP camera, faster Wi-Fi, 5G capabilities, the iPad Air has a Liquid Retina display, anti-reflective screen coating, True Tone tech and utilises, not only the Apple Pencil, but also the Apple Pencil Pro (we'll get to that later).
The 13-inch, however, gives proper real estate to its display that allows for 30 per cent more space in a Freeform app. There's even an improvement in sound quality with double the bass that's a boon for your cat videos (that's still a thing, right?)
The iPad Pro gets that glow-up that my insecure 14-year-old self wished for (said glow-up only arrived when I was 18, thanks to MY WINNING PERSONALITY 👍). It comes in two sizes—10- and 13-inches—and has the Ultra Retina XDR display with state-of-the-art tandem OLED tech. (Due to my limited understanding, to get that 1,600 nits peak for HDR, Apple stacks two OLED screens. Y'know, like a sandwich. A very hard-to-digest sandwich. I am writing this close to dinner time.)
And the iPad Pros are thin. Not just the thinnest in the iPad Pro line but also the thinnest in Apple's catalogue. Your 11-inch model measures at 5.3mm thin while the 13-inch model is a mind-boggling 5.1mm thin (the iPod Nano measures 5.4mm thin. #rip #illalwaysrememberyouipod) How can something that's bigger be lighter? Is it witchcraft? Nay, I suspect due to a larger surface area, the motherboard is spread out. But I could be wrong. Again, I'm writing this close to dinner time. Available in two colourways—silver and space black—both models are enclosed in 100 per cent recycled aluminium cases. And because of the redesign of the 10- and 13-inch iPad Pro models, there are revised Magic Keyboards to go with.
Now, this is the best bit: while the previous iPad Pro is outfitted with an M2 chip, for the latest iPad Pro, Apple introduced the M4 chip. Bear in mind that Apple's latest chipset was the M3 for the MacBook Air. Very few expected Apple would eschew the M3 and showcase an upgraded Apple silicone for the iPad Pro line-up but there you go. The M4 promises "stunning precision [in] colour and brightness. A powerful GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing renders game-changing graphics. And the Neural Engine in M4 makes iPad Pro an absolute powerhouse for AI."
We know all about the Apple Pencil's features but the Pro verstion has more capabilities. Now you can squeeze the pencil's body for more options, haptic feedback and a barrel roll effect with the pencil's nib that allows for different strokes. There are nuanced touches like seeing a shadow of the pencil on the screen (this isn't projected by an external light source) and hovering the Apple Pencil will show you a preview of where the pencil will contact with the display. Finally, if you misplace it, you can locate it via the Find My app.
In what is the worst-kept-secret leading up to it, Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, was in Singapore for his Southeast Asia tour. Coinciding with the announcement of Apple’s plans to invest over SGD250 million into growing its campus in Ang Mo Kio, Cook visited the recently-opened Apple Developer Centre to meet with developers, students and Apple Design Award winners. Esquire Singapore was one of the few invited media outlets to cover the session.
The indie gaming showcase consists of four developers from around the region. Chin Yong Kian and Jiang Tongyu are from Singapore while, P’ng Yiwei and Jakob Lykkegaard are from Malaysia and Thailand, respectively. Cook took time to listen to them as they talked about the background behind their games, their experiences as a developer and working with Apple.
The youngest of the lot, 18-year-old Jiang Tongyu won the WWDC Swift Student Challenge in 2023 and is a recent Distinguished Winner of this year's Swift Student Challenge. She presented Tambourine Story, the submitted game that garnered Jiang's Distinguished Winner title. Tambourine Story was inspired by a band Jiang formed with her friends in her youth. Capitalising on the iPad's accelerometer, players can wield the device like a tambourine and shake it according to the music's rhythm. Jiang created the demo all on her own, from the coding to the hand-drawn graphics to the GarageBand-composed music.
Cook talked with Chin Yong Kian (aka Chiny) who teaches game development while creating games for iOS. Among his myriad of games, Chin created Serious Scramblers (a vertical platformer where you can only descend), Jump Jerboa (a jerboa has to escape multiple levels of death traps) and his latest, A Slight Chance of Sawblades (you start out as a chicken who must avoid raining sawblades). A Slight Chance of Sawblades+ will be added to Apple Arcade in May. The "+" added to the title means that there are no ads or in-app purchases. A Slight Chance of Sawblades also holds the distinction as Singapore’s first "App Store Great".
Next up, P’ng Yiwei demos King's League II. P'ng is the founder and director of Kurechii, an indie studio based in KL. Although founded in 2009, it was only with King's League: Odyssey that Kurechii became better known in the industry. With 15 years of experience and numerous games under its belt, Kurechii continues to be a leader in RPG gaming in Malaysia.
The last developer at the showcase is Jakob Lykkegaard, founder of Lykke Studios. Originally from Denmark, the Dane made Thailand his home for the past 16 years. Lykke Studios is based in Thailand and Cyprus, has produced tint., lumen. and the Apple Design Award-winning stitch. Inspired by the geometric grid-based puzzle game, Shikaku, Lykke Studios skewed the mechanics to fit the embroidery theme. The game features over 200 levels and is accessible on all Apple Arcade platforms, including Apple Vision Pro.
During his international tour last year, Tim Cook said that "gaming is very important to Apple and not just a side project." With such ambitions for Apple's games, after what he had seen at the regional game developers showcase, Cooks seems encouraged.
"Well, I think it is flourishing," Cook said, "Gaming is a very important area for us and essential for the development community because so many want to design and play games. Gaming is one of the key things that really uses the Apple silicone chip in a significant way. I think that iOS is the best mobile platform on the planet; we put so much of ourselves and our resources into the engine of the product."
According to a Global Games Market Report, the video game market netted USD184 billion in revenue in 2023. And with TV adaptations of AAA video games (The Last of Us; Fallout), the market is only gonna get bigger. It'd be interesting to see what else gaming-wise Apple has on the horizon. Maybe announcements about the utilisation of the Vision Pro when it comes to gaming? Perhaps a return to the waters of a gaming console (anybody remember Pippin)? We'll see.
So you held off, waited patiently for the hype to die down, and you’re still thinking of picking up either the iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro? Fair enough—we’re here to help you make the right choice. The good news is that both the usual backlash and the publicity push are much quieter now.
Do these phones overheat? Not anymore (and our test models never did). Do they reinvent mobile photography? Not quite, but they come close. Do they bend? They really don’t. Are they a huge leap forward over last year’s models? Probably not. Is the addition of USB-C actually a big deal? Well, yes, we think so.
We’ve been testing all the latest iPhones for the last couple of months and we know that the question you’re asking is just how much better the aerospace-grade titanium 15 Pro models are over the pastel-coloured iPhone 15s. In 2022, we called the iPhone 14 a mere 13S, but that’s not the story anymore.
While the iPhone 15 Pro Max has ended up being the phone we’ve stuck with for everyday use, we love the new features and specs that made their way to the standard iPhone 15 lineup. The truth is that the base model has never been this Pro. It makes for a major upgrade if you’re coming from an iPhone 11, 12 or even a 13.
With the 14 series, the gap between the entry-level iPhone and the Pro was more of a vast chasm. This year, all the best features from the iPhone 14 Pro have found their way into the regular 15, making it a great buy if the basic iPhone is not only all you need but all you’d rather pay for. The energy bills look pretty daunting again this year, after all.
First up, what’s the same between these models? Well, a fair bit. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro share the innovative "Dynamic Island" display feature, both models maintain a 6.1-inch screen size for the standard variants and 6.7-inch displays for the Plus and Pro Max (although the Pros have slimmer bezels around the display), they also both introduce USB-C, have around the same battery life, and reach identical maximum display brightness. On cameras, they both have 48-megapixel primary sensors for serious detail, as well as a handy 2x zoom, and both have 12-megapixel front-facing cameras.
Where things get different is that the Pro models add a third rear camera—a 77mm (3x) telephoto lens on the Pro and a longer 120mm (5x) zoom on the Pro Max. With its computational wizardry, the iPhone 15 Pro also leverages its 48-megapixel main camera for 24-megapixel results at 1.2x and 1.5x zoom (28mm and 35mm equivalents).
The Pro variant boasts a swifter A17 Pro chip compared to the iPhone 15's A16, as well as a higher refresh rate and an always-on display that’s missing on the 15. The 15 Pro comes in a new titanium material, adds the new customisable action button that you won’t get on the 15, and has a 1TB storage option if you need to store more files than fit on your laptop for some reason.
The designs of both phones are similar, and Apple hasn’t gone back to the drawing board when it comes to the basics of how an iPhone looks. They both have the “Dynamic Island” at the top of the display which, while it has a laughable name, is a genuinely useful feature to show off your current timer, the song you’re playing, directions, how long your Uber Eats order will take or exactly what gate you need to go to at the airport.
We’re fans of features like this and widgets that mean we don’t need to constantly open apps, so it’s ideal if you prefer to see more information at a glance. It’s no longer a point of difference, though, and there’s more of that elsewhere with the screen—you’re getting the same size options, the same brightness performance, the same resolutions. The big difference is that the 15 is stuck on a fixed 60Hz refresh rate while the 15 Pro has a variable 120Hz plus an always-on display. It’s not the end of the world and you may turn off these battery-hungry features, but it does mean scrolling is a lot smoother on the Pro.
Design-wise, the 15 Pro is also now housed in a sleek titanium body, dropping the weight considerably compared to previous Pro models. This is something you’ll care about if you’ve had enough of a 13 Pro weighing you down, but won’t matter if you’re considering the difference between the phones. Colour is one area of difference though: the 15 comes in a range of pastel colours (Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue… and Black) while the Pro comes in minimalist Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium and Natural Titanium.
Oh, and before we forget, they both have USB-C rather than Lightning for charging and connecting accessories. It's a good change which, yes, was sort of forced on Apple by the EU. Anyway, we love connecting our external DAC for our wired headphones, offloading photos from our main camera via a USB-C-to-SD card reader, charging other accessories like earbuds via our phone’s battery and just using the same cable we use for our laptop to juice up the phone. It’s a small but noticeable change in everyday use.
Now, we get that this is where most people assume there’s a huge amount of difference between the “basic” iPhones and the “Pro” ones, but we’re here to say it’s just not as much of a big difference this time around. In the majority of situations and especially if you mostly take photos to share with friends or post on Instagram, you won’t see a difference. We’re not just saying it, we’ve brought images to prove it.
However, that’s not to say the camera systems are identical. Essentially, the Pros just offer that bit more when it comes to versatility—that includes a longer third zoom (3x on the Pro, 5x on the Pro Max), clever extra focal lengths through computational photography and macro close-up modes that aren’t on the 15. The 15 Pro also has an exclusive ProRAW shooting capability (so you can take better shots for editing) and the ability to shoot ProRes video that’ll mean nothing to many, but be a major selling point for advanced videographers.
What’s the same? Well, both camera systems perform about the same in most light conditions, both have a 48-megapixel main sensor to churn out fantastic 24-megapixel shots (with a mode to use the whole of that sensor for massive high-res pictures), and both have a 2x zoom that uses the centre of the big sensor, both have about the same 12-megapixel front-facing camera and comparable 12-megapixel ultra-wide cameras. They both also have the same software improvements like automatic portrait mode on photos with people and where you tap to focus.
To be absolutely clear, in the majority of scenarios, you won’t be able to tell the difference between these camera setups unless you know what you’re looking for.
To illustrate this, we shot all the product photos in this review with the iPhone 15 camera system (using the Pro Max) and have included unedited side-by-side comparisons between the 15 and the 15 Pro below. You're unlikely to be able to tell them apart, especially with these compressed images, but the 15 is on the left with the 15 Pro shot on the right (if you're viewing from a phone that means the shot from the 15 is the first one in each comparison).
Here’s a low-light shot with the rear camera...
In bright daylight conditions, we also struggle to tell the difference…
How about the ultra-wide lenses?
And the 2x zoom performs the same as well…
Where they differ is that you can zoom further on the Pro, allowing us to get that bit closer to subjects—both shots below are from the 3x zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro, and you can get much closer with the 5x on the Pro Max:
The iPhone 15 Pro is the first iPhone to get Apple’s new A17 Pro chipset, unlocking faster performance and a far better gaming experience with “hardware-accelerated ray tracing” and much smoother graphics. This is a massive deal for mobile gamers and with both the addition of the USB-C port (hello, Backbone One USB-C gaming controller) and the arrival of console games like Resident Evil 4, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Death Stranding and Resident Evil Village, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max get an instant recommendation for gamers seeking the best on-the-go experience. Of course, this will depend on whether there are enough titles to play.
This isn’t available on the regular, but if you don’t care about gaming it’s not going to matter. In reality, the A17 Pro is a further optimisation of Apple’s already fantastic iPhone processors. It’s great, but they’re already great. So if you opt for the iPhone 15 you’re getting the Pro-level brains from last year’s 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max which are fast enough and smart enough for anything you can throw at them. Unless you’re a gamer or are aware of a specific limitation of the A16 Bionic, you’ll be fine with the iPhone 15. The one extra thing we would add, though, is that the USB-C port on the 15 Pro is a faster version, with the A17 Pro unlocking USB 3.0 speeds for much quicker data transfers. This makes it a better pick for serious photographers and mobile filmmakers too.
You’re not going to see a big difference when it comes to battery life. The iPhone 15 delivers up to 20 hours of video playback and the iPhone 15 Plus offers up to 26 hours of video playback, according to Apple. Meanwhile the iPhone 15 Pro delivers up to 23 hours of video playback and the big 15 Pro Max will get you up to 29 hours of video playback.
In real-life use, we’ve found that every single one of these phones has more than enough juice to get you through the day and that if battery life is a big deal, either the Plus or Pro Max models should get you well into a second day of use. In our hands-on tests, we’re yet to notice any major difference between the 15 and the 15 Pro in normal use, so we wouldn’t make that a major factor in your decision, and you can always keep a power bank on you if you’re that worried.
Yes, the iPhone 15 is worth it, although we reckon it depends on what phone you’re upgrading from. Still rocking an iPhone XR or an 11 with a cracked screen and a blurry camera? You’re going to find levelling up to the iPhone 15 a revelation. It has a terrific pro-level camera system, a great USB-C port, the addition of the clever “Dynamic Island” and a bright high-res screen.
We don’t think the majority of photographers will miss the 3x zoom because the 2x is more than versatile enough, but if you do need a long zoom you’ll want to look hard at the 15 Pro Max. It’s also worth noting that if you’ve had enough of boring phone colours, the iPhone 15 is the better pick for its delightful range of pastel shades. Both the 15 and the 15 Plus are excellent handsets that we find easy to recommend.
Comparing the options and coming to the realisation that you can’t do without the longer zoom lens, raw photography abilities, gaming upgrades, high refresh rate screen, always-on display, or versatile action button? Or are you just in love with the natural titanium colour? We get it, trust us. If the extra features make a noticeable difference to you as they do for us (we can’t quit ProRAW photography and the fantastic 5x zoom on the Pro Max), then it will be worth the extra cash you’ll have to spend on the Pro iPhone models.
Originally published on Esquire UK
There's plenty of mystery and hearsay shrouding what is possibly Apple's biggest creation thus far. It's also no exaggeration to say that the billion-dollar Project Titan has experienced multiple iterations. With it, sheer speculation that has seen resurgence time and again throughout its decade of development.
Presently, the biggest change is pushing back the launch from 2026 to 2028 (earliest), further begging the question of its relevance then. Especially when what was initially planned to be a fully autonomous EV (Level 5) has since scaled down to partial automation (Level 2+: informal term for an advanced Level 2).
Features include braking/accelerating support and lane centering, which sounds far from showstopping if you ask me. No pedals, no steering wheels, and a central dashboard for controls may have sounded futuristic 10 years ago. Now it describes something not too far from a Tesla.
Which is essentially what the latter is, isn't it? Taking the sleek, minimalist approach that Apple is famous for and apply it to a vehicle, in both aesthetic and interface. Self-driving capabilities wise, Tesla's Autopilot currently falls under—you guessed it—Level 2.
It's hard not to see the Apple Car framed as being too late to the table. Robotaxi Waymo by Google's Alphabet is whizzing away. Sony and Honda are collaborating on Afeela. And of course, Chinese rivals Huawei and Xiaomi recently announcing their skin in the EV game with Luxeed S7 and SU7 respectively (what's with the obsession with seven?).
In an era where all products are created with the intent to surpass the competition, more so in tech, and more so in EV (just look at how all prototype demo videos highlight performance superiority to fellow players); how would Apple's fantasy drive add value to consumers' lives?
And in an era where branding is king, would a release like this, amid diminishing popularity of the once monopolising iPhone, have quite the opposite effect the conglomerate is going for? The last thing you want to do with high expectations is to disappoint.
...but who knows. With the way tech is going these days, I may just be eating my words in four years time.
Tech nerds, how are we feeling about 2024? Are y'all freaking out about all the new things and dohickeys that are getting released at CES? Sorry if that sounded like I'm talking down on CES, it wasn't meant to be. However, I'm just a lowly tech editor who is a little bit sick of everything that everyone seems to be freaking out about. We're at a point where there's so much tech that most of the things we hype up are, honestly... not that great.
We've got tech in our hands, tech over our eyes, tech in our homes, tech on our kitchen counters, and tech in our bedroom. Even our paper notebooks are tech-enabled. Hell, we're using tech to wake us up instead of the sun. So where is any one person meant to keep up with all the tech that actually matters? Right here.
I've kept an eye on the early-year releases, and I've kept tabs on what is actually moving the needle for me. Is the new tactile iPhone keyboard from Clicks moving the needle for me? Not really. Is the Apple Vision Pro moving the needle for me? Yes, absolutely. What I'm trying to say is that this isn't a list of little releases. This is where Esquire dot com is keeping track of the biggest, most groundbreaking tech of 2024—everything you should buy or keep an eye on in the future. It's still early doors, so there's a lot of preorders and speculation. But, as the year rolls on, we'll keep this list updated with all the best new tech of 2024.
We got a sneak peak at Apple's biggest innovation in a long time last year. Officially launching on 2 February, this seems to be Apple's next big bet. The focus is less on making a toy and more on making a new type of personal computer. The powers that be in Cupertino obviously see this as a desktop and laptop replacement. We'll see how well they deliver.
Ever looked at your TV and wish that you could, see through it? Me either. But once I saw LG's new entertainment play, I was... slightly more convinced. Move it around (it's wireless) and place it in direct sunlight or in front of a mirror (no glare). It's a weird bet, but I can definitely see it growing on me. LG's transparent OLED TV is scheduled to hit the market in 2024.
Per usual, there's going to be a new iPhone. Whether or not it'll be a big jump from the 15 Pro remains to be seen. The iPhone 15 Pro had a lot of initial fanfare (from myself included), but its stumbled out of the gate a little bit. The biggest innovation has been the titanium build. We'll see where Apple goes this year.
For my money, Samsung is the top Apple competitor, with a much deeper catalog than the Googles or Motorolas of the world and a great suite of foldables. No disrespect to those two, but Samsung does so much it makes for a lovely little ecosystem. As there is every year, there's going to be some fort of upgrade on Samsung's flagship smartphone. Will it be enough to leapfrog Apple? Not in America. But, it could be a big year for Samsung.
Since being the first big company to do the whole VR thing, Meta has sent out a bunch of flops. The Meta Quest 2 was just a novelty gaming device. The newer Quest 3 and Quest Pro aren't anything to write home about either. But, Meta has confirmed plans for a new, more affordable VR headset in 2024. We'll see if it actually catches on this time around.
Another big rumor in Apple world is that there might be a foldable iPad on the horizon. If it happens, it would be the company's first foray into the foldable market and surely a dress rehearsal for a foldable iPhone. Still, it's a massive if. Don't hold out for this one.
At CES 2024, Samsung gave us an update on one of its best weird little projects. Ballie, an R2-D2 type personal assistant was introduced at CES 2020. This time around, Samsung made the little guy bigger and gave him a projector.
Wait, so what is this thing?
Sorry. "Alexa on wheels," is how I would describe Ballie. He'll be able to follow you around, tell you the weather, answer phone calls, and project onto whatever flat surface you can find. Don't hold out hope though. This is more of a speculative project from Samsung. I wouldn't expect to see it on the market in 2024.
