Apple joins AI arms race with WWDC24 announcements & Vision Pro gets Aussie release date

WWDC24 keynotes happened this morning. I'm not gonna go into everything here, but the headline announcement appears to be Apple Intelligence (AI, get it?) - a combination of Apple's own on-device and cloud LLM/ML plus integration of 3rd party cloud LLMs like OpenAI, spread across every nook and cranny in Apple's ecosystem just like Microsoft and Google. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of bland AI-generated images and words now that it's baked in to iOS for everyone to use with a single tap! Siri looks like it'll be significantly better at carrying a conversation and using the data on your device to provide additional context, plus it gets ChatGPT support. The Verge has a good article outlining the practical uses of Apple Intelligence shown off at WWDC. Apple also announced that the Apple Vision Pro is coming to Australia 12th July (pricing starts at $6000). There was also updates to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS etc that I've written about at the end of today's newsletter.

Microsoft adds bare minimum security features to Recall prior to release

Microsoft is making a few changes to the Recall feature after a solid week of people hanging shit on it. During setup you'll be asked if you want it enabled - the absolute bare minimum Microsoft should be doing - and you'll need to have Windows Hello enabled in order to use Recall. Microsoft is also going to require "proof of presence" to view the Recall timeline and will encrypt the search index database. Again, this is stuff that any sane person would have included already. I imagine lots of people at Microsoft probably argued for these basic security controls to be included initially but their voice was drowned out by the craven managers that derive their reputation from dumb stats like user engagement, hours used and number of users. Security controls (particularly making it opt-in vs opt-out) may have interfered with that, so those voices were ignored.

Xbox Games Showcase showcases many new games for the Xbox

Microsoft also had an Xbox keynote over the long weekend. FPS fans will be excited to know that there's a new Doom game and a new Gears of War. Life is Strange: Double Exposure is a new "supernatural murder mystery" that I bet my wife will love. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is arriving on Xbox and PC on November 12th. Diablo IV is getting an expansion pack on October 8th, as is Fallout 76 (June 12th) and we got a new trailer for Starfield's expansion, but no date yet. Overall, a good day to be a subscriber to Microsoft's Game Pass. There's also a new Xbox Series X without a disc drive. Xbox chief Phil Spencer cheekily said out loud in an interview with IGN that "I think we should have a handheld, too", when the success of Valve's Steam Deck was mentioned. Also in gaming news, Civilization 7 got announced. Nothing except a trailer, but still - I'm excited!

Random WWDC24 loose ends

More stuff from WWDC I found interesting from Apple's press releases and website (and before you whinge that I cover Apple too much versus Windows or Android - yes, because it's the platform I use most of the time so I care about it more):

• You can finally "switch the controls at the bottom of the Lock Screen, including choosing from options available in the controls gallery or removing them entirely".
• Messages will support RCS, "for richer media and more reliable group messaging compared to SMS and MMS". Very handy for messaging non-iOS users.
• Can lock certain apps behind biometric access (e.g: make it so Face ID is required to open the Photos app).
• My beloved Soulver might be Sherlocked now that "formulas and equations entered while typing" in Notes "are solved instantly with Math Notes", which is also coming to a calculator app on the iPad (goddamn finally).
• Eye Tracking is an accessibility feature for "navigating iPhone with just eyes" that sounds pretty cool.
• macOS Sequoia is going hard on iPhone integration, showing your iPhone notifications and allowing "seamless drag and drop between devices" plus a wireless iPhone Mirroring feature.
• There's basic a window manager in macOS at last - "when a user drags a window to the edge of the screen, macOS Sequoia automatically suggests a tiled position on their desktop". It also has keyboard shortcuts.
• The new Passwords app looks a lot like 1Password, hmmm.
• You'll need an iPhone 15 Pro to run the Apple Intelligence stuff on iOS 18 and an M1 or better SoC on an iPad or Mac.
• The Mac Virtual Display feature in visionOS 2 is expanded so you get "an ultra-wide display that is equivalent to two 4K monitors side by side" and "adds mouse support for additional workflow options, and Vision Pro will now reveal the user’s physical Magic Keyboard — even when they are fully immersed in an Environment or app".

• iOS 18 will let you record phone calls, notifying all the participants, and can provide a transcript. Notes also gets audio recording and live transcripts.
• There's a Game Mode coming to iOS 18 that'll "minimize background activity to maximize frame rates and will have improved responsiveness with AirPods and game controllers".
• HomeKit gets robot vacuum cleaner support and electricity usage integration - but the electricity integration is only for "select Pacific Gas and Electric Company customers in the United States to begin".
• The Apple Developer YouTube channel has a lot of stuff if you want more info about your particular Apple niche.
• According to Matthew Green on X commenting on Apple's "Private Cloud Compute" AI privacy blog post, "As best I can tell, Apple does not have explicit plans to announce when your data is going off-device for to Private Compute. You won't opt into this, you won't necessarily even be told it's happening. It will just happen. Magically."
• AirPods Pro are getting "new Voice Isolation technology that utilizes the H2 chip and machine learning to isolate and enhance voice quality while removing background noise like wind so the listener can hear you clearly".