Welcome to our weekly collection of all the Apple news you missed this week, in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.
The fine art of self-sabotage
Sometimes you’re officially selling a thing, but secretly, for whatever reason, you don’t actually want people to buy the thing. (Let’s not get into why, for now.) How do you accomplish your aims, without making it obvious what you’re up to?
One approach you can try is a method known as selling ice cream in winter. Out you go into the snow, driving your ice-cream truck, playing your ice-cream music. How odd, you say, that nobody is buying my ice cream. It must be that people around here simply hate ice cream.
I was reminded of ice cream this week when watching a video by YouTube creator Luke Miani. Miani put himself up as a human guinea pig for Apple’s new Self Service Repair program and found the process of replacing an iPhone screen both “weird” and “really something.” There are lots of intimidating (and expensive) tools, and the instructions are rarely straightforward and don’t even feel like genuine Apple material, according to Miani. It’s just not very appealing or convenient and doesn’t even save you much money. Hey Tim, nobody seems to be doing self-repairs. I guess people hate self-repairs!
It’s confusing to see Apple, which is normally so adept at creating a slick user experience, drop the ball so badly. Until you realize that the company isn’t actually selling tools and instructions to self-repairers; it’s selling compliance to antitrust regulators. We’re not the customers, we’re part of the product.
As Miani argues, Self Service Repair feels like it’s designed to fail. It’s a way of showing the world that Apple doesn’t run a monopoly, while simultaneously encouraging users to keep using its lucrative first- and authorized third-party repair services. It’s a power play disguised as a power share.
With regulators pursuing Apple across numerous sectors and multiple continents it will be interesting to see if the company attempts to sell any other flavors of wintry ice cream. The most obvious would be to allow alternative app stores on the iPhone while hindering third-party stores and creating an environment in which they don’t seem trustworthy or easy to use. Then you can march up on stage and report that app sales are almost all going through the official channels and goodness me, I guess people just don’t want to get their apps anywhere else.
Trending: Top stories of the week
We reveal 10 very useful Mac features you probably don’t use (but should).
A juicy new exposé means we finally know why Apple is so doomed: It’s all Jony Ive’s fault.
Apple’s latest moves show how much–and how little–it is willing to change.
Newly released images reveal that the iPod nano nearly became Apple’s first ‘all-screen’ device.
Apple has filed a lawsuit against Rivos, alleging that the little-known startup poached its staff and stole its trade secrets.
Apple could be forced to support Google Pay and Samsung Pay, if EU regulators get their way.
The rumor mill
The Apple Watch’s “canceled” body temp readings may finally arrive in the Series 8.
The next Apple Watch SE, meanwhile, might have a higher price. A new report says the price will jump to $299.
We have WWDC coming up in the second week of June, which means you can expect a relatively slow May from Apple. But there’s always room for a few surprises.
And here’s every new Apple product still expected in 2022.
Podcast of the week
Ten and a half years ago, Apple introduced Siri. Has much changed since then? We talk about the state of Apple’s virtual assistant, along with some tips and tricks, in this episode of the Macworld podcast.
You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site.
Software updates, bugs & other issues
Jason Snell explains how Apple can fix the Studio Display’s perplexing and controversial webcam.
Researchers have unearthed a new vulnerability in Apple silicon used in Macs, iPhones, and iPads called “Augury.”
If you downloaded iOS 9 on an iPhone 4s, you may be entitled to a refund check, following a settlement over ‘decreased performance.’
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Twitter for breaking news stories. See you next Saturday, enjoy your weekend, and stay Appley!
Author: David Price, Editor
David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.