Linked List: September 14, 2015

Monday, 14 September 2015

Tareq Ismail:

The difference in screen size from the iPhone 3GS, the standard iPhone available at the time, to the original iPad is a factor of 2.7 times — which turns out to be the exact same factor between the iPhone 6/6s and the iPad Pro.

Update: I don’t think 2.7 is a magic scaling factor, I just think it’s funny how the numbers work out like this sometimes. The main thing is that the screen width of the Pro is about the same as the screen height of the “regular” size iPad Air. (And the Mini’s screen height is about the same as the width of the Air.)

Xcode 7 GM Suggests That the iPhones 6S Have 2 GB of RAM; iPad Pro 4 GB ★

Developer Hamza Sood found a clever way to ascertain the RAM amounts from the Xcode 7 device simulator. In a separate tweet, he explains:

The image asset is chosen based on the memoryClass key in the simdevicetype’s capabilities.plist. 0 = < 1GB, 1 = 1GB, 2 = 2GB, 3 = 4GB.

Swiss Font Legend Adrian Frutiger Dies at 87 ★

Sad news from Switzerland:

The internationally renowned Bernese designer who created the famous Univers typeface passed away on September 12 in Bern at the age of 87.

He was one of the few typographers whose worked with hot metal, photographic and digital typesetting during his long career. Besides his well-known Univers family of sans serif typefaces, Frutiger designed over 50 other fonts like Roissy, Avenir, Centennial, Egyptienne, Glyphia, Seifa and Versailles. He was also the man behind OCR-B, the standard alphabet for optical character recognition.

What a remarkable career.

From Products to Platforms ★

Ben Thompson, after Apple unveiled the iPad Pro last week:

Over the last several years both Microsoft and Adobe have altered their business models away from packaged software towards subscription pricing; while their users may have grumbled, they also had no choice given their dependence on the two software giants’ products. And, it’s that new model that justifies the expense of developing iPad apps and explains why it is Apple’s old nemeses who are doing by far the most interesting work on the iPad. Unfortunately, this isn’t a model that is readily replicable for the sort of development shops that Apple needs to invest significant time and resources in creating must-have iPad apps: what customer is going to sign up for a recurring payment for an app that doesn’t even have a service component and that the customer hasn’t even tried?

Why There’s No Sketch for the iPad ★

Sketch is a well-done, very popular Mac tool for designers. It’s gained particular traction among UI designers.

Here’s one of Sketch’s developers, replying to a thread on Designer News from users hoping to see a version of Sketch for the iPad Pro:

We don’t have plans for an iPad pro version at the moment. Yes, it has a beautiful screen, but there’s more to consider, such as how to adapt the UI for touch without compromising the experience.

But the biggest problem is the platform. Apps on iOS sell for unsustainably low prices due to the lack of trials. We cannot port Sketch to the iPad if we have no reasonable expectation of earning back on our investment.

This, I think, is the single biggest problem holding back the iPad. Apple sees the App Store as a success because there are so many apps, and so many downloads. But the Mac has an established ecosystem that allows for sustainable pricing — including upgrade pricing — for professional tools. (Sketch for Mac costs $100.)

There are exceptions: pro software that sells for sustainable prices in the App Store. But they are exceptions, not the norms. The iPad is five years old and there just isn’t as much “pro” software for it as there should be. And I think it’s hurting the platform. In theory, developers like Bohemian Coding (the makers of Sketch) should be all over the iPad Pro. In reality, they’re staying away simply because they don’t think they’ll make enough money to justify the costs of development.

Apple Says It’s on Pace to Beat Last Year’s iPhone First-Weekend Record ★

Apple statement:

Customer response to iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus has been extremely positive and preorders this weekend were very strong around the world. We are on pace to beat last year’s 10 million unit first-weekend record when the new iPhones go on sale Sept. 25.

As many customers noticed, the online demand for iPhone 6S Plus has been exceptionally strong and exceeded our own forecasts for the preorder period. We are working to catch up as quickly as we can, and we will have iPhone 6S Plus as well as iPhone 6S units available at Apple retail stores when they open next Friday.

So much for speculation that last year was peak iPhone.