Apple Breakfast: Dreaming of spring iPhones and iPads

Welcome to the new home for Apple Breakfast! If you’re a reader of Macworld’s UK site, you’ll recognize this column that will now appear on Macworld.com every Saturday. If you’re new, this is 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.

Spring is in the air

This article is being written while looking out on a scene of the bleakest wintry desolation: gloom, ice, bare trees. At times like this it can soothe the soul to think ahead to warmer days – which is handy, because much of this week has been spent speculating about Apple’s preparations for its customary spring event, and the ever-growing backlog of unreleased products we expect to be announced.

We began with indications, via “reliable sources in China”, that the new iPad Air would make an appearance in the spring, followed by predictions that it would be accompanied by something called the “iPhone SE+ 5G”. Not terribly snappy, as names go, but a launch that would gladden many hearts. Apple has registered new iPadOS and iOS devices with the Eurasian Economic Commission, too, which usually means something’s about to launch.

Sadly, such pleasing news may arrive a little later than usual. Apple generally chooses March as the moment to come out of winter hibernation, as we saw in 2011 and 2012, then 2015 and 2016, and finally in 2018 and 2019. Occasionally, as we saw in 2021, it waits until April. But this year we may have to wait until May. Why? because the new iPhone SE – I’m sorry, the iPhone SE+ 5G – might not come out of production until then.

But cheer up: maybe Apple will announce the iPad Air (and maybe some new AirPods Pro, and who knows, perhaps a new iMac) at an event in March, then slip out the iPhone SE in a press release a month or so later… although that would probably mean the new SE is too boring to merit its own event.

Now turn up the heating, put on a second pair of socks, and think warm thoughts. There’s only 99 days until May.

News in brief

The pressure continues to build on Apple’s control of the App Store. After recently (and reluctantly) allowing app developers in South Korea to use alternative payment systems, the company this week offered a similar concession in the Netherlands – although only for makers of dating apps specifically. It’s not yet clear if Apple’s move will be enough to mollify Dutch authorities, which are currently considering their response.

Google is wrong. Apple’s iMessage is actually a failure, reckons Jason Snell.

Samsung, which based an entire marketing strategy around notches being stupid, has made a tablet with a notch. It’s amazing how often Samsung does this sort of thing: this is the third article on Macworld with a headline beginning with the four magic words: “After mocking Apple, Samsung…”

So the Mac isn’t doomed to fail anymore? Who’d a thunk it, wonders the Macalope.

Roman Loyola rounds up 5 iPhone features the Mac needs right now.

Sorry switchers, Apple will give you a lot less for your Android trade-in now.

Apple has an AirTag problem, says Michael Simon. Here’s how to solve it.

In the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, we talk about what the app store does right and what it gets oh-so-very wrong, and what we as customers need to do to get the most out of it.

You might think Apple is working on a folding iPhone, but Samuel Nyberg is not fooled.

Apple has won back top spot in the smartphone market, despite widely reported stock problems last quarter.

Craig Grannell rounds up the 40 finest iPhone games that don’t cost anything. That’s right: nothing. They don’t cost a bean! They must be mad!

Software, bugs & other issues

IDG

At the end of last week, we reported on a bug in Safari 15 that could result in your browsing history and Google ID being leaked; it was so serious that we suggested looking into alternative browsers. Well, there’s good news: Apple is fixing it.

Users are complaining about flickering pixels when they use Apple’s Thunderbolt Display with M1 Macs. Unfortunately the display is classified as Vintage, which means Apple is unlikely to fix the problem.

You can run macOS on the latest Intel Alder Lake chips. If you dare.

Apple is usually very good at persuading mobile users to update their devices to the latest versions of iOS and iPadOS – but this year the adoption numbers are way down. We explore some of the reasons why.

The rumor mill

IDG

A new version of the Mac Pro featured an upgraded M1 Max chipset will be released this year, according to the reliable leaker Dylan DKT.

A cheaper 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 chip could land soon.

Apple has patented Back To The Future-style self-lacing shoes. To which we have two questions: how soon and why?

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!