Hardware Subscriptions
According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning a subscription service for its hardware. Users would pay a monthly fee for various Apple hardware, similar to recurring fees for streaming subscriptions or in-app purchases. It could serve as a way to increase the attainability of Apple devices. Instead of paying a high upfront cost, the payments are deferred into monthly payments. But unlike a loan, the cost of subscriptions would be much lower since the user wouldn’t own but rather would be leasing the device.
This isn’t Apple’s first foray into deferred hardware payments. They already offer the iPhone Upgrade Program. This service splits the cost of an iPhone into 20 payments (at least here in the UK) with the option to upgrade at 11 payments. And it includes the cost of AppleCare+ to cover accidental damage. Though technically not a subscription, it provides some of the benefits of a hardware subscription model.
If Apple does decide to take this path, it’s possible the monthly payments would be lower than a typical loan or even the iPhone upgrade program. But the report outlines that this project is still somewhat early in its development.
Monterrey bugs
In the past couple of weeks, users have been installing the latest version of macOS Monterrey, 12.3. The update includes many important new features including the introduction of universal control. Unfortunately, the update seems to contain some pretty significant bugs.
There have been reports of customers’ experiencing problems when using external monitors. In some cases, there is no screen output at all from the connected Mac. The issue seems to relate to USB-C in most cases as connecting via HDMI (where possible) mitigates the issue for some but not all users. A temporary workaround is to disconnect the Mac and disconnect the display from power. After a short time, reconnect everything and power up the Mac and it should be working once more.
Another issue impacting some users is connectivity problems with Game Controllers. Regardless of the controller used, affected users seem to be unable to get a consistent Bluetooth connection from the controller to their Mac. It seems that disconnecting and reconnecting the controller in the Bluetooth menu does not fix the issue. Users will likely need to wait for a supplemental update from Apple to address this.
15 inch MacBook Air
As reported by Display Supply Chain Consultants via 9to5 Mac, Apple is working on a larger, 15 inch MacBook Air. If true, it would be the largest ever MacBook Air. Apple has historically stuck with its 13.1-inch display in all subsequent models. The one exception is the smaller, 11.6-inch model. But never larger.
The report doesn’t contain too much detail beyond general commentary surrounding Apple’s intent to release new form factors. But they do note that Apple may adjust the display size of the 13.1-inch model. Perhaps smaller bezels will enable a 13.6-inch display for example.
Citation
Featured Image: Vựa Táo via Unsplash
One thought