November holds the key to M4 MacBooks… allegedly
If you were hoping for news of new MacBooks at Apple’s upcoming ‘It’s Glowtime‘ event next week, you’re bound to be sorely disappointed. If history is any indication, Apple will hold off on any announcements that don’t include the words “iPhone 16”, “AirPods”, “Apple Watch” or “Pro Max”. Wait until November, however, and you may just get your wish in the form of M4-touting MacBooks.
That’s according to MacRumours who reckons it’s dealing with a source “familiar with the matter.” That’s not entirely out of the question for Apple, whose “Scary Fast” event was announced on 23 October 2023 before ultimately launching its M3 Macs two weeks later in the early stages of November. We’d be willing to bet something similar will happen again this year, Apple being a creature of habit and all.
As for what might turn up when that does eventually happen, rumours have swirled around four new devices likely to receive the M4 upgrade. The first is a 14in MacBook Pro, while the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips will be saved for more expensive 14- and 16in MacBook Pros. A regular iMac will also see the M4 chipset lodged inside, while a completely redesigned Mac Mini could debut repping both M4 and M4 Pro chips.
Has anyone tried turning Boeing’s Starliner off and on again?
Just when we thought it was all over for Boeing’s Starliner mission, the story has become, for lack of a better word, funnier. The craft will be making its departure from the International Space Station (ISS) a little later than expected on Friday (if you can call three months “a little later”).
However, this past Saturday, Starliner’s astronauts reported “a strange noise” coming from the beleaguered starship, with no idea about its source. If that at all sounds like the plot of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, you’d be somewhat right. Though we imagine aliens forcing their way onto a ship would illicit a more worrisome reaction.
“I’ve got a question about Starliner,” said Starliner astronaut Butch Wilmore on Saturday as he radioed into Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control. “There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker … I don’t know what’s making it.” An MP3 of the conversation, captured by meteorologist Rob Dale, can be heard here.
Wilmore later held up his microphone in an attempt to record and capture the noise so it could be examined by those on the ground, who described the noise as a “… pulsing noise, almost like a sonar ping,” with no immediate reactions that could give us an idea of what the sound is. Yeah, that doesn’t sound entirely terrifying.
Not even dating apps are safe from AI integration
If you want your stock price to climb in 2024 you’d best announce that some kind of AI assistant is coming to your product. If it’s not Google cramming Gemini into your car for reasons it can’t quite explain, it’s dating apps attempting to use artificial intelligence to give you a leg-up. Or over. One of those.
The big four dating apps (Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and Grindr) have all got some sort of AI integration planned, described as an ‘AI wingman’. This is not the sort of wingman the US Air Force is currently experimenting with either. Basically, the computerized assistants will give users tips on opening lines, crafting better profiles, and other coaching means to potentially improve their match rate and/or quality.
Grindr is the service offering an actual wingman (called the Grindr Wingman), which will ward off the “biggest pain points” of online dating. How? By offering tips on opening lines and chat suggestions, based on profile data and message history. Hinge and Tinder, both owned by Match.com, have similar offerings in the pipeline as well. We’re sure that these moves to automate human socialisation won’t horribly backfire on all the participants involved.
Honor issues “world’s smallest apology”
If there’s anything we love more than tech, it’s when tech companies poke fun at each other. That’s exactly what Honor has done to Samsung as part of its marketing campaign for the global launch of the Honor Magic V3 folding smartphone.
Ahead of the device’s expected global launch at IFA in Berlin later this week, Honor has issued an ‘apology’ to Samsung Fold 6 owners who might ‘feel let down’ by their recent chunky purchase. With the Magic V3 supposedly measuring only 9.3mm thick when folded, compared to the Fold 6’s 12.1mm, that’s tough to refute.
As if the apology wasn’t enough, Honor commissioned a special edition of the Magic V3 with the “world’s smallest apology” engraved on the hinge by micro-artist Graham Short.
Honor’s jab could sting a bit as it claws away market share from Samsung which is largely considered to be the unofficial king of foldable devices (even though it might seem scared to take risks these days). But it also opens Honor up to shame and ridicule if the Magic V3 falls flat. It’s a bold strategy, let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.
