Linked List: August 10, 2016

Wednesday, 10 August 2016

On the Economic Feasiblity of Apple Providing Decent Wireless Earbuds With the New iPhones ★

Thomas Ricker, writing for The Verge:

“I’d prefer ‘good enough’ wireless earbuds included with the iPhone,” says Gruber, “and ‘amazing’ headphones as the upsell product.”

Same, but that doesn’t mean it’s economically viable for Apple to do it. When I first read Gruber’s take a few weeks ago I thought bundling an acceptable set of wireless earbuds would be too expensive. After all, the most popular models recommended by experts start at around $80, and can easily cost more than $200. But that was before I received the Meizu EP-51 Bluetooth earbuds for testing.

These Meizu earbuds cost $28 and are pretty decent. Of course Apple could make something similar. Apple loves profit margins, but institutionally their distaste for wires and cables is even stronger. They might go with Lightning earbuds by default, but they should go wireless. That’s what justifies removing the standard jack — not that one port is better than another, but that wireless is better than wired.

Gurman on New MacBook Pros ★

Mark Gurman, writing at Bloomberg:

The new top-of-the-line MacBook Pros will be slightly thinner than the current models but are not tapered like the MacBook Air and latest 12-inch MacBook, one of the people said. The new MacBook Pros have a smaller footprint than current models and the casing has shallower curves around the edges. The pressure-sensitive trackpad is also slightly wider, the person added.

Interesting. I was expecting a tapered design.

The new computers have been in advanced testing within Apple since earlier this year, said one of the people, who didn’t want to be identified discussing products before their release. The MacBook Pros aren’t likely to debut at an event currently scheduled for Sept. 7 to introduce next-generation versions of the iPhone, according to one of the people. Apple spokesman Bill Evans declined to comment.

Interesting. I definitely expected them to be announced at the September event, even if they’re not available for sale until late October or early November. That’s what Apple did with the iPad Pro last year. If they’re not announced at the September 7 event, when will they be announced? They could do a smaller event in October, but I was told last year that Apple no longer wanted to do that.