Weekender #91 — New iPad and iPad Pro

• Birb watch: nothing new to report in the land of birbs.

• As prophesied by the rumor mill, Apple skipped having an October event and released new iPads (10th generation iPad and new 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad and iPad Pro) and an updated Apple TV via press release.

  • With the addition of these new iPad models, Apple has—to my knowledge, it’s largest iPad lineup ever, with 6 variations to choose from. Some are saying that it’s a bit confusing, while others are upset that the base model iPad got new features that the Pro models didn’t, such as the landscape camera, Bluetooth 5.2, a new detachable Magic Keyboard Folio with function keys and a kickstand. Others made fun of Apple for keeping the base model on the Apple Pencil 1, which still uses a Lighting connector instead of USB-C port, which the new device has, requiring anyone that wants to use an Apple Pencil to need an adapter to do so.

  • Here’s my take: Apple wanted to introduce these changes to the iPad line, but wasn’t ready to do it for the Pro line. Adding USB-C, and the landscape camera to the base model iPad was going to have a brand new hardware design, so they added these features this year instead of waiting another cycle so that the Pro models could get it first. While it would be ideal to add the landscape camera to the Pro line, my guess is that it would require a lot more engineering to do so. Why? Because the Pro line uses the area where the landscape camera would go to charge the Apple Pencil 2. What about the Magic Keyboard Folio? My bet is that Apple is planning a full redesign of the iPad Pro lineup for next year, and it’ll include an all new Pro version of the Magic Keyboard Folio too. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if they released an Apple Pencil 3.

  • Also interesting to note: Apple kept last year’s 9th generation iPad around. This model is perfect for education, and maybe for folks who are afraid to lose the comfort of the home button or very price conscious.

• Speaking of Apple news, I sent in my not even a month old Apple Watch Series 8 for servicing this week. There have been several instances where it didn’t charge overnight, and it wasn’t working to unlock my iPhone intermittently. It’s only been a few days and I’m actually surprised at how much I miss it. I take for granted that it’s used constantly to unlock my Mac and 1Password, not to mention using it for activity, health reminders and Apple Pay. I’ve forgotten how much of a total drag it is to use the iPhone with Apple Pay if you’re wearing a mask! The good news is that it’s already been to the Apple repair depot and on it’s way back to me.

This week’s Link List

• If you like ambient music that has a generative, random element to it, check out Ripple. Ripple creates a new musical piece from random notes every time the website is loaded.

• The new Civic Type R is here, and this video shows how Honda’s Japan factory builds it. It’s amazing to watch technology and human engineering build things we use.

• Lucide is an open-source, beautiful and consistent icon toolkit for anyone doing web or app development. The kit has 843 beautifully designed icons in the collection.

• I love using different thesauruses and recently found Careful Words, which touts itself as a little bit more than a thesaurus. It has the usual searchable database, but also includes historical quotations.

• In A.I. news, CNN Business ran a story on how artists found out their work was used to train AI and their thoughts. A few interesting tidbits from the article:

  • Berlin-based artists Mathew Dryhurst and Holly Herndon have launched Spawning, a website with tools for artists to help them better understand and control how their online art is used in datasets. From the article:

  Spawning released a search engine that can comb through the LAION-5B dataset, haveibeentrained.com, and in the coming weeks it intends to offer a way for people to opt out or in to datasets used for training.

  • Also of note, apparently Stability AI is looking into how “creatives can be rewarded from their work”. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this.

Media consumption

• While I love the sampled grooves that many current artists employ to make music, I really love bands that can play all of their instruments and and still get a groove on. Australia’s Surprise Chef released their latest album, Education & Recreation. Featuring Lachlan Stuckey on guitar, Jethro Curtin on keys, Carl Lindeberg on bass, Andrew Congues on drums, and Hudson Whitlock on percussion. Education & Recreation is a culmination of jazz, funk, 70’s soul and cinematic mood to create their instrumental tracks. Listen on Bandcamp | Apple Music.