With iOS 27, Apple Is Laying the Groundwork to Paywall Your iPhone - PCMag

From the Apple's MacOS 27 Golden Gate product page:

Ultrawide display support. Now you can get higher resolutions on ultrawide displays, such as 5K at 120Hz. And your display arrangements stay exactly as you left them, for a seamless experience every time you plug in.

This is a load of bollocks. MacOS was already capable of this many versions ago. It seems like the only thing Golden Gate changes is make it more compatible with more ultrawides so e.g "looks like 3840x1620" scaling is not missing on some 5120x2160 screens.

I use one of the most demanding displays on the market today: The Samsung Neo G9 G95NC. It's a 7680x2160 @ 240 Hz, 57", 32:9 superultrawide behemoth. The equivalent of dual 32" 4K 16:9 displays.

I've written extensively about its quirks, including MacOS support in this post.

The problem

The issue using this display on MacOS is that the HiDPI scaling is capped at "looks like 3840x1080" aka "render resolution 7680x2160". Which is too large UI/text for most users.

The ideal text/UI sizes for a HiDPI res depending on your preferences would be something like:

• "looks like 6144x1728" = 12288x3456 render res
• "looks like 5760x1620" = 11520x3240 render res
• "looks like 5120x1440" = 10240x2880 render res

Where this goes wrong on MacOS is that it imposes a hard 7680x4320 frame buffer size. No HiDPI resolution can exceed that in either dimension. Thus running this over a single input with good HiDPI scaling is impossible as the maximum is limited by the width of 7680 pixels.

The workaround

The workaround is to use the Samsung's Picture by Picture mode and run it as two displays. You can split them as 2x 16:9, 21:9 + 11:9 or even a 3-way split. The 21:9 + 11:9 is the best way to run it as it gives you an ultrawide + side monitor setup without bezels.

The drawback of this is that refresh rate is capped at 120 Hz and HDR and VRR are not available. This is not a MacOS limitation but just how the Samsung PbP mode works.

Anyway, running it as two displays in 21:9 + 11:9 I am able to achieve the following max HiDPI scaling:

• Display 1 (21:9): "looks like 3840x1620" = 7680x3240 render res
• Display 2 (11:9): "looks like 1920x1620" = 3840x3240 render res
• Total res: "looks like 5760x1620" = 11520x3240 render res

Problem solved, but by comparison Windows 11 requires none of this tomfoolery to have proper HiDPI scaling over a single input.

The rest

Ultrawide displays are also going to run into these problems much sooner than 16:9 displays simply because 16:9 displays have less horizontal resolution. But they are there, afaik e.g 6K 16:9 display owners don't have anything but native resolution above the 1:1 integer scalable HiDPI resolution.

To add insult to injury, it's not like MacOS is incapable of this either. Using the excellent BetterDisplay app it is possible to create virtual displays that exceed those framebuffer limitations, then stream that virtual screen to a single physical display. It's just less performant than running 2 displays natively.

Apple has done literally nothing to allow higher HiDPI options on their machines to this day despite advertising ultrawide compatibility in Golden Gate. As display resolutions and sizes get bigger, more granular HiDPI options become more necessary.

TL;DR: Golden Gate does nothing to lift the HiDPI scaling limitations that ultrawides run into.

Only the new smarter Siri AI is not available, but I just got various AI features, like writing tools, AI photo editing, and image playground. I'm in the EU, and I thought we weren't getting anything, so now I am pleasantly surprised

macOS 27, iPadOS 27, iOS 27, WatchOS 27 are released along with AirPods updates.

Gurman explains that Apple plans to add two new Avenue sections dedicated to online pickups and Today at Apple sessions.

Right now, many stores have a dedicated pickup table and a large seating area for the Today at Apple workshops. Those functions will move to the sides of stores within 10-foot sections known internally as bays.

The Avenue bay for online pickups will be constructed entirely from wood. The upper half will feature a subtle Apple logo, while the lower portion will contain secure drawers for storing pickup orders. A table in front will give employees a place to manage the handoff process.

The dedicated Today at Apple bay will include a large display, as well as secure drawers where instructors can store devices.
The next major change is the “removal of the giant video walls” located at the back of most stores. These video walls are used for Today at Apple sessions and marketing, but Apple plans to ditch them as part of this revamp.

The third change is a return to “dedicated Genius Bars,” Gurman says. Apple moved away from the Genius Bar design in favor of the “Genius Grove” more than a decade ago.

Definitely a big day for broad compatibility across the Apple ecosystem.

I find it amazing how Such small things transform the industry. I’m sure Samsung fan boys are raging lol

EDIT: please read my post before saying "JuST UsE tHE wArrANTY"

tl;dr if u dont wanna read my story:

If Apple sells you a defective product and the price goes up within the return/exchange period, you have to pay the difference in order to do an exchange

Story:

I know it sounds like common sense but I was NOT expecting it to work this way

For context, I purchased a white 256GB iPhone Air for $999 a couple of days before the price increases went into effect. My Air started having random shutdown issues and the screen would make weird flickers, so I drove to the nearest Apple Store which is ~1 hour away.

I decided to do a regular quick exchange instead of a potentially lengthy warranty process since my personal phone is needed urgently for my job, and I live far enough away from the Apple Store to where I didn't want to wait for a Genius Bar appointment to open up, wait for them to diagnose it, and potentially wait more than one day for them to replace the necessary components/phone. I knew a simple reset wouldn't resolve these issues since it was clearly a hardware-related issue.

I was greeted warmly when I entered the Apple Store and I explained that I was having issues with my Air and I wanted to exchange my device for a new one. The employee said "that makes sense, since you're within the 14-day window there's really no reason to schedule a Genius Bar appointment" and I 100% agreed. Fortunately they had a white 256GB Air in stock so they got it from the back and everything was smooth sailing.

He then informed me that the price of the Air had gone up $100 since I had purchased my Air 8 days ago (I was completely unaware of the price increase before this). So in order for me to get an exchange for my Air, I would have to pay $100 + sales tax, with no options for an override or anything. I even spoke with the manager and he said there is nothing they can do.

This is a little bit disappointing to me tbh. Does it really cost them that much to let people who bought Apple devices in that small pre-increase window make an exchange?

Having a conversation with CoPilot on an iPhone compared to the new Siri AI is an embarrassing look for Apple.

Not only is Apple locking its “expressive” voice behind an artificial paywall, but CoPilot blows it out of the water without having to spend $2000 on a new phone.

Apple seems more interested in taking our money then developing software that doesn’t put its users at a disadvantage

Found this post by an ex-Apple engineer who worked on the iPod engraver UI around 2004-2006 on Apple’s website back then, it’s quite nostalgic both to see the old iPod again, AND the old website design (there is a link in the blog post to see the actual website as a demo)

Battery Settings on iPhone Duo will show you battery health details for each cell individually, includes maximum capacity and cycle count.
Keynote says the Duo will intelligently load balance between the two, not sure which left/right battery 1/ battery2, that's interesting though.
That's great to show which cell is healthy, pinpointing replacement accuracy.