Apple’s first major announcements of 2023 are here! This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham chat about Apple’s new M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pros and Mac Mini. Sure, they seem like solid upgrades, but did they come too late? Also, we dive into the latest rumors around Apple’s AR and MR headsets, as well as news about cheaper AirPods and new AirPods Max. And in other news, we explore the downside of AI in journalism, as well as another round of layoffs in tech.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Apple announces M2 Pro and Max chips for MacBook Pro and Mac Mini – 1:23
The big HomePod is back from the dead! – 15:34
Apple’s AR headset may be delayed, a cheaper mixed reality headset may be in development – 25:41
Other News: CNET’s AI article problem, Twitter breaks third party apps, and layoffs at Microsoft – 32:11
Working on – 44:44
Pop culture picks – 46:08
Livestream
Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos Graphic artists: Luke Brooks
T-Mobile has admitted that hackers were able to steal the information of around 37 million postpaid and prepaid customers in another major data breach. The carrier said in a regulatory filing that it discovered the issue on January 5th, but that it believes the bad actors had been taking data from the company since November 25th. In a post announcing the breach, T-Mobile revealed that the hackers used an API to steal customer information.
While the company was able to contain the issue 24 hours after discovering the malicious activity, the bad actors have had access to its data long enough to have stolen people's names, billing addresses, emails, phone numbers and birthdays. They were also able to obtain users' account numbers and information about their plans, such as the number of lines they have. T-Mobile said, however, that it didn't find evidence that its network or systems had been breached or compromised. "No passwords, payment card information, social security numbers, government ID numbers or other financial account information" were stolen, the company said.
The carrier is still investigating the incident to get a more detailed view of what happened, but it has already warned investors that it would likely incur significant costs due to the incident. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Federal Communications Commission has also opened an investigation into T-Mobile, because as a spokesperson told the publication, "this incident is the latest in a string of data breaches at the company."
If you'll recall, the carrier confirmed in August 2021 that tens of millions of customers had been impacted by a data breach that exposed their sensitive information, including their social security numbers and driver's licenses. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said back then that the hacker used "specialized" tools and knowledge of its infrastructure in order to gain access to its testing environment. While the initial number of affected customers for that breach was around 30 million, it ultimately ballooned to 76.6 million customers.
Almost a year later, the carrier agreed to pay $350 million to settle a consolidated class action lawsuit and pledged to spend $150 million to update its data security technologies. As The New York Times reports, the company said it has "made substantial progress to date" on those updates, but it clearly wasn't enough to prevent this incident. In its announcement, though, T-Mobile vowed to continue making "substantial, multi-year investments in strengthening [its] cybersecurity program."
The rumors of massive layoffs at Microsoft were true. In a publicly posted memo from CEO Satya Nadella, the company says it plans to cut 10,000 jobs through its third fiscal quarter, which ends in March. The move is meant to "align [Microsoft's] cost structure" with demand and revenue, according to Nadella — that is, to slash expenses as sales shrink. Customers boosted their digital spending during the height of the pandemic, Nadella says, but they're now scaling back. Numerous countries are either in the midst of recessions or expecting them, the executive adds.
Microsoft will continue to hire in "key strategic areas," Nadella says. The company is taking on a $1.2 billion restructuring charge for the severance costs, consolidating building leases and unspecified changes to its hardware lineup. Nadella notes that US staff will get "above-market" severance pay as well as six months of continued healthcare coverage and stock awards.
As GeekWireexplains, this is the second-largest round of layoffs in Microsoft's history. The company cut 18,000 jobs in 2014 as a newly-promoted Nadella scaled back Nokia's hardware business. Microsoft hired aggressively during the pandemic, recruiting 40,000 workers in fiscal 2022. Some of those came through buyouts, such as speech tech heavyweight Nuance (6,500 employees) and AT&T's former ad tech wing Xandr (1,500 people). Microsoft's headcount is still larger than it was before the pandemic began, but this is still a sharp direction change.
The company isn't alone in shedding jobs. Meta laid off more than 11,000 employees last fall as a bet on continued pandemic-era growth didn't pay off. Amazon, meanwhile, expects to drop over 18,000 jobs located primarily in its retail and recruiting divisions. Salesforce recently axed 10 percent of employees. The tech industry is grappling with a tougher economic reality, and Microsoft isn't immune to those problems.
Apple is already working on a more affordable version of its yet-to-be-announced mixed reality headset, according to Bloomberg and The Information. Based on previous reports about the long-rumored mixed reality device, it will cost around $3,000, which is double the price of the Quest Pro headset Meta released last year. Apple's engineers are reportedly working to develop a more budget-friendly version that's closer to the price of the Quest Pro and are already discussing strategies to achieve that goal, such as using cheaper components.
While the flagship device will have 4K internal displays for each eye, its more affordable counterpart will likely use ones with lower resolution. The company's engineers are also considering the use of fewer cameras and slower processors, which would, in turn, eliminate the need for internal fans. Apple might ask users to manually adjust their field of view for the cheaper headset instead of equipping it with a motor that can automatically do that. It might choose not to equip the device with its custom H2 wireless chip that would allow it to work better with AirPods, as well. A Bloomberg report earlier this month claimed the tech giant is developing its own Bluetooth and WiFi chip to replace Broadcom's by 2025. The Information said Apple could also choose to use that in-house chip to prevent a third-party company from affecting the device's pricing.
The cheaper mixed reality headset is in its very early stages, the sources reported, and Apple has yet to build a working prototype. According to Bloomberg, though, the majority of Apple's 1,000-person Technology Development Group is working on the two headsets and that the company could release it next year or in 2025. As a result of this dual-device strategy, though, Apple has reportedly put its plans to launch lightweight augmented reality glasses on hold. The company's original vision was to create AR glasses that could one day replace the iPhone, but it has now scaled back work on the project. It's now apparently unclear if the AR glasses will ever launch.
As for Apple's flagship mixed reality headset, Bloomberg previously said that the company plans to formally announce it this spring ahead of WWDC in June.
Apple has agreed to review its labor practices in the US after regulators and employees accused the company of union busting. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of its annual shareholders meeting, Apple said it would carry out an assessment of its "efforts to comply with its Human Rights Policy as it relates to workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights in the United States by the end of calendar year 2023."
The company will bring in a third-party firm to conduct the audit, according to The New York Times. A group of investors, including five New York City public worker pension funds, that controls around $7 billion worth of Apple stock called for the assessment in a September shareholder proposal. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who started talks with Apple on behalf of the city pension funds, told the Times that Apple agreed to the audit if the investors withdrew the proposal.
“Workers organizing at Apple for a collective voice in their workplace have reported strong pushback from the company — that flies in the face of Apple’s stated human rights commitment to workers’ freedom of association,” Lander said in a statement. “I’m grateful to Apple’s board of directors for listening to the concerns of shareholders regarding worker rights and hope the company will heed the findings of the third-party assessment and take concrete steps to adopt a genuine commitment to non-interference that respects the rights of its workers."
In a letter to Apple chairman Arthur Levinson, the investor group urged Apple to hire a firm with expertise in labor (and that has not advised clients on how to prevent workforces from unionizing) to carry out the review. The investors also brought Microsoft's neutral stance on labor organizing to Levinson's attention and urged Apple to include its global supply chain and non-US operations as part of the audit.
"Apple has made commitments to worker rights globally as well as in its supply chain, and while much of the current organizing activity has occurred in the US, there are Apple worker organizing efforts occurring around the world, including in Australia and the UK," they wrote. "Addressing these topics at a global level can add credibility to the assessment and address other potential areas of concern proactively and efficiently."
News of the assessment comes amid talks between Apple and unionized workers at a store in Towson, Maryland over their first union contract. Workers in at least a half-dozen stores have accused Apple of violating labor laws, claiming that the company has clamped down on attempts to organize. The Communications Workers of America, which represents a collective of Apple Store workers in Oklahoma City, said in a National Labor Relations Board filing that the company set up an illegal union controlled by management at a store in Columbus, Ohio to thwart support for an independent employee union.
"While a credible, independent assessment by individuals or organizations with the appropriate expertise on workers' freedom of association could uncover important information about Apple's response to worker organizing, including its use of union busting consultants, workers need concrete solutions now. Apple must commit to a true policy of neutrality toward union organizing efforts," the Communications Workers of America told Engadget in a statement. "Apple's workers deserve respect and a voice on the job, not just another self-congratulatory exercise in corporate image management. We support investor advocates’ efforts to ensure this is a credible audit."
When Arturia launched the MiniFreak, it also promised that a plugin version, MiniFreak V would also be available soon. Originally it was only available to those who purchased a hardware MiniFreak, but now it's being offered to anyone who wants access to the dual digital sound engines and 22 oscillator modes without eating up any more physical space in their studio.
MiniFreak V brings all of the features of the hardware synth to your computer, save for the analog filters. Instead the V version gets modeled analog filters. Arturia has long history of delivering excellent emulations of analog hardware, so this isn't a cause for concern. The software version even has the same limitations, like six-voice polyphony. So if you've been tempted by the MiniFreak, but haven't pulled the trigger yet, this is an excellent way to take it for a test drive.
You still get a robust mod matrix, customizable LFO curves, two LFOs per voice, four lanes of modulation sequencing, a 64-step sequencer and 10 effects with three slots. It doesn't quite have the raw power of Arturia's Pigments, but it does have a number of features that lacks — most notably those nearly two dozen oscillator modes.
In addition to putting the power of the MiniFreak in your DAW, the V version can also sync with the hardware instrument. So you can control it straight from your computer. Of course that's been available to owners of the synth for a while now, but it's just icing on the cake if you pickup the VST now and decide to snag the real deal down the road.
The UI largely mimics the physical instrument, down to the orange highlights and patterned mod / pitch strips to the left of the keyboard. It does offer a lot more visual feedback, however, including animated wave shapes for the oscillators, LFOs and envelopes. Arturia's MiniFreak V is available now for $149 or bundled with V Collection 9 for free.
As rumored, Apple has unveiled is new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips that will arrive very soon in new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini computers. The new models will be up to 40 percent faster than before and better still, they're now available to order and will start shipping next week.
The new entry level chip processor is the M2 Pro, which offers 10- or 12-core core CPUs including eight high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, boosting performance by up to 20 percent over the 10-core M1 Pro CPU. The GPU, meanwhile, goes up from 16 to 19 cores, promising faster processing for content creation apps like Photoshop or compiling in Xcode.
Apple
Meanwhile, Apple calls the M2 Max "the world's most powerful and efficient chip for a pro laptop" with the same 12 cores as the M2 Pro, but an increase from 34 to 38 GPU cores. More impressively, it supports up to 96GB of fast unified memory. With all that, Apple is processing graphic speeds up to 30 percent higher than the M1 Max chip, for chores like visual effects, machine learning and more.
The new MacBook Pro 14- and 16-inch models have the same designs as before, but offer considerably more performance, plus up to an incredible 96GB of unified memory in the M2 Max model. Apple is promising up to a 30 percent boost in graphics performance with the M2 Max model and a more modest boost on the M2 Pro.
One of the main benefits, though, is battery life, as the MacBook Pro can now run up to 22 hours — the longest ever on a Mac, Apple claims. And as rumored, it now supports WiFi 6E, which offers up to twice the speed of the previous generation. Another new feature is an HDMI port that supports 8K for the first time.
The models have similar designs the late 2021 M1 Pro/Max versions, so you get features like a MagSafe power connector and Liquid Retina XDR displays. The rumored touchscreens are not on these models but expected to come in a couple of years. The new MacBook Pro models are now available to preorder starting at $1,999 for the MacBook Pro with M2 Pro, and $2,499 for the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro. Shipping will start on January 24th.
These chips will also appear in Apple's new Mac mini, which comes with either an M2 or M2 Pro chip, giving potential buyers a budget option. Apple is promising considerably faster graphics processing and AI speeds for content creation, gaming, music and more.
Apple
The M2 version comes with up to 24GB of unified memory and 100GB/s of bandwidth, boosting image editing speeds in Photoshop by up to 50 percent, for example. It can also "simultaneously play up to two streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps, or up to 12 streams of 4K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps," Apple says.
The faster M2 Pro version, meanwhile, supports up to 32GB of unified memory and offers 200GB/s of memory bandwidth. That delivers up to 2.5x faster graphics performance in Affinity Photo, 4.2 faster ProRes transcode in Final Cut Pro and 2.8x faster gameplay in Resident Evil Village, the company claims.
As before, it offers two Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for up to two displays, and can support a single 8K display — a first for a Mac. It also comes with two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, A gigabit ethernet port with a 10GB option and an upgraded headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones. As with the MacBook Pro, they also offer WiFi 6E connectivity, along with Bluetooth 5.3.
The new Mac mini starts at $599 with the M2 chip or $1,299 with the M2 Pro, and is now available on preorder with shipping set to start on January 24th.
If you have your eye on Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 but have been waiting for a sale, Amazon has a good one right now. It's selling the 40mm model in several colors (Grey, Pink Gold and Silver) for $230, saving you $50 or 18 percent off the regular price. And if it's a larger Galaxy Watch 5 you want, the 44mm version is on sale at $260, also $50 off.
The Galaxy Watch 5 scored a solid 85 in our Engadget review, and we once again called it "the best non-Apple smartwatch." Samsung was focused on perfecting it over the Watch 4, adding extra battery life (a runtime of up to 80 hours), greater durability with Sapphire Crystal glass and a temperature sensor.
Otherwise, it carries the same design and features as before, which is a good thing. Powered by a responsive 5-nanometer Exynos processor and running Wear OS, it uses Samsung's bezel-based navigation with a touch-sensitive ring framing the screen. That gives you access to numerous apps, along with sleep-tracking and coaching plus health and activity tracking. You can get your body composition reading using the body-impedance analysis tool, take ECG scans, reply to messages, control music playback and more.
The lightly curved underside keeps the sensors in contact with your wrist, and it's rated IP68, 5ATM and MIL-STD-810H for durability (water, dust and pressure resistance). The main downside is that battery life is considerably lower with the always-on display compared to the Apple Watch 7.
You can grab the 40mm model in gray, pink and purple/silver for $230, and pick up the 44mm version in grey, white/silver and blue for $260. The best deal is on the 44mm Golf Edition, available in black and white with a golf-themed watch face and Smart Caddie app for $260, a full $100 off the regular price.
Apple Music and Apple TV apps have quietly arrived as preview versions on Microsoft Windows 11, according to a tweet from @ALumia_Italia seen by Thurrott. It's now possible to download the apps from the Microsoft Store, along with another preview app called Apple Devices that lets you "manage Apple devices from your Windows PC," according to the description.
At its 2022 Surface event, Microsoft announced that the apps would be coming to Windows 11 this year, so the news isn't a huge surprise. Apple's standalone Windows media apps have been a long time coming — it was recruiting engineers to build them as far back as 2019. Those apps replaced iTunes on Mac, and the aim is to eventually replace them on Windows as well.
Apple TV Preview, Apple Devices Preview and Apple Music Preview (for Windows) coming soon to the Microsoft Store pic.twitter.com/wcNYJlMdKK
All the apps appear to require Windows 11 Build 22621 or higher, but they seem to function well, according to 9to5Mac. Apple TV works much like the app on Xbox or Smart TVs, giving access to Apple TV+ and Apple TV Channels, along with movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store. Apple Music is missing the lyrics feature, but is otherwise the same as the macOS version.
As for Apple Devices, it also replaces iTunes for sync and backup. It'll allow you to back up Apple devices, sync local media and restore firmware without the need for iTunes.
When launching them for the first time, you'll be warned that iTunes for Windows will stop working (you need to uninstall the apps to continue using iTunes). That's not necessarily a bad thing, as iTunes for Windows doesn't exactly offer a terrific user experience.
Apple is reportedly working on touchscreen MacBooks. Although the plans aren’t finalized, Bloomberg’s sources say that touch-friendly Apple laptops could arrive in 2025.
For a company that has made a point of saying that touch is better on a product like the iPad, a touchscreen MacBook would be a big change — but don't expect a wild departure from traditional Apple laptop design. The alleged touchscreen MacBook Pro would “likely” still run macOS and include a standard trackpad and keyboard. But, similar to Windows laptops and 2-in-1s, it would incorporate display taps and gestures. The report says Apple may expand the touch input to include other Mac models over time, but it isn’t currently planning on combining macOS and iPadOS. (One can surmise that fear of cannibalizing iPad sales has been a factor in holding out this long.)
Additionally, the report reiterates that Apple is shifting its Mac displays to OLED as part of a broader MacBook Pro overhaul. Current Macs have LCDs, while iPhones (except for the iPhone SE) and Apple Watches use OLED displays.
Apple launched the Touch Bar in 2016 as a half measure towards full touchscreen capabilities on MacBooks. The strip above the keyboard included system and in-app shortcuts, spelling suggestions and other touch-friendly inputs. But it was never embraced by developers or Apple’s most loyal customers, and it was removed from Apple’s 2021 MacBook Pro redesign.
Although much has been made of Steve Jobs’s insistence that touchscreens don’t belong on Macs, this wouldn’t be the first time the company has evolved in ways that go against “the gospel of Steve.” For example, he mocked big iPhones, small tablets and iPad styluses; today, Apple will happily sell you an iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPad mini and Apple Pencil. Although Jobs’s vision is very much instilled in the company’s DNA, the computing world has changed slightly since 2011.
