The iMac will be getting a Retina upgrade eventually. Photo: Alex Washburn/WIRED
Each week, there are dozens of rumors, reports, and patent filings that hint at what’s coming out of Cupertino next. Some are legit, but many are totally bogus. With this year’s WWDC behind us, there’s not much in the rumor department, but there are a heck of a lot of hints about what’s coming next in iOS and OS X based on code leaks. Below are some of the biggest expected updates, both in terms of hardware and software, that we’ve seen since developers got access to iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.
Retina iMacs Are on the Way
The developer preview of OS X Yosemite includes a new file with display scaling resolution options for an iMac that doesn’t yet exist. The resolutions listed range up to a Retina display-level 3,200 x 1,800, and even up to 6,400 x 3,600 pixels. The native resolution of the display would be 5,120 x 2,880, which is twice the pixel count of today’s 27-inch iMac. MacRumors explains that this is similar to what we see in today’s Retina MacBook Pro: “While the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro has a native resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 (giving screen real estate of 1,440 x 900 as Retina), the system is capable of generating a 3,840 x 2,400 desktop that is then scaled down to give the real estate of a 1,920 x 1,200 display.” We’ve been hearing that Apple is working on a Retina display iMac, but it’s probably taken time to hone the manufacturing process for getting satisfactory yields for such a large, high-resolution screen.
Larger-Size iPhones on the Way, Xcode Hints
The latest version of Apple’s Xcode software, Xcode 6, lets developers mock up their iOS designs on simulated screen resolutions of their choice, not just existing ones. That means they could check out how their app would look on a 4.7-inch or 5.5-inch iPhone, for example—the sizes expected to debut at Apple’s next iPhone event in the fall. While it’s not concrete evidence, it’s the most solid indicator Apple can offer that developers might want to check how their interfaces work on devices of various size and resolution.
M7 Processor Is Enabling Indoor Positioning in iOS 8
Using the sensors in your iOS device, like the M7 coprocessor and Wi-Fi chip, iOS 8 enables accurate indoor positioning. Until now, GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular data could pinpoint your location to within about a block of your actual location. But now, iOS 8 can pick out your exact indoor location—in venues that house iBeacons. While this verges on creepy, it does have a lot of utility: Imagine getting turn-by-turn directions in the mall, or to the hot dog stand at a baseball game, or even to where the health food section is at the grocery store. A couple of Bay Area locations like the San Jose International Airport and California Academy of Sciences actually already have indoor positioning in place, but with iOS 8, it’ll be available on a mass scale. In addition to this, Apple also appears to be promoting apps based on your location, so if you’re near a Starbucks, for example, a Starbucks app icon will appear in the lower left of your homescreen (whether you’ve downloaded the app or not). This is an interesting way to push app discovery and provide greater utility when you’re somewhere that a dedicated app might be able to help you.
Apple Giving Users More Control Over Battery Life
It’s always a bummer when you download or update a bunch of new apps, and one (or more) of them turns out to be a battery hog. When iOS 8 comes out, you’ll have better control over when apps can use your data, and know which apps are taking the biggest toll on your battery life. A new feature called “Visit Monitoring” lets apps ask permission not just for location data, but specifically if they can use location data only when the app is in use. This should improve efficiency for many apps that might otherwise poll your location, or other sensor data, even when you’re not using it. Paired with the ability to individually monitor apps’ battery usage, it’s clear Apple wants to give users greater control over a better iOS experience when it comes to daily battery usage.
No comments:
Post a Comment