• apple,  ipod,  ipod touch,  vintage

    Early iPod Charging PSA

    Apple iPod with Dock Connector (2003) and dual FireWire (charge) / USB-A (sync) cable

    This Public Service Announcement (PSA) deals with early generation iPod music players. If you own a first generation iPod with Scroll Wheel (2001), a second generation iPod with Touch Wheel (2002), or third generation iPod with Dock Connector (2003), you need the FireWire charging brick and a FireWire to Dock Connector cable or the FireWire/USB-A to Dock Connector dual-headed cable. The combo cable was pretty crazy: You connect the FireWire end into the charge brick and the USB-A end into your Mac or Windows PC so you could sync and charge your iPod at the same time.

    Apple iPod with Dock Connector (2003) with FireWire Charger and Cable

    When Apple announced that they were retiring the last iPod, the 7th Generation iPod touch from their product line up, like many of you, I pulled out my old “Classic” and “Touch” iPods to take a stroll down Memory Lane.

    Apple iPod with Dock Connector (left), iPod Video, iPod touch 1st Gen, iPod touch 6th Gen

    In my May 11 iPod look back, I was trying to charge my third-generation iPod with Dock Connector, I was doing so from an Apple USB-A charging brick. It wasn’t until I pulled out my FireWire charger and cables was I able to wake up my oldest iPod from it’s slumber.

  • apple,  ipod,  ipod touch

    Apple Retires iPod touch, Bringing the iPod Line to a Close

    iPod touch 7th-generation, credit: Apple, Inc.

    With a loving tribute to the iPod touch, Apple gives their handheld music player line of products a well-deserved send off. In the Update posted to the Apple Newsroom page, Greg Joswiak is quoted as saying:

    “Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry — it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Today, the spirit of iPod lives on. We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”

    1st Gen iPod touch (L), 6th-Gen iPod touch (C), and the iPod 5th-Gen (R)

    Apple’s iPod line ran from October 2001 until May 2022. In the fall of 2007, Apple released an all screen iPod touch based on the iPhone that was released just three months earlier.

    When the original iPod was released, I was using a Diamond Rio PMP300. Back then, I was still using a Mac part time, but the focus of my work was moving quickly toward Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server. Having an MP3 player that could plug into a parallel port seemed like an advantage. The Rio may have been cheap, but the 2001 Mac-only iPod was a much more elegant product.

    Over the years, I had purchased several iPods, starting with 2003’s third-generation white iPod. I loved that thing. I took it everywhere with me. A couple of years later, my fifth generation (2005) white iPod with color screen and H.264 video play back, took over riding shotgun with my Palm Treo.

    It was 2007’s iPod touch – released just a few months after the original iPhone – that was a game changer. The first iPod touch brought the paradigm shifting awesomeness of iPhone to those of us who were not on AT&T/Cingular or simply wanted the iPhone without the phone. That fall, I packed my young family into the car, drove an hour away to the nearest Apple Store at the time, and bought one. As a consolation prize, my wife and I took the kids to the Rainforest Cafe that was in the same mall.

    The iPod touch and a 2006 while MacBook running an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, were the two devices that switched me back to being a Mac first home user. (I still have to use a Windows PC at work.)

    I loved and used my iPod touch all the way up to the fall of 2011 when I was able to finally purchase an iPhone 4S on Sprint (now merged with T-Mobile).

    My girls, now iPhone Pro users themselves, both received various iPods over the years, but it was their iPod touch models that were used the most.

    For me, these was something exciting about being always able to have your favorite music, movies, TV shows, and games with you all the time. If I could find a free Wi-Fi hotspot, being able to jump on the “real” Internet with Safari and check email with Apple Mail was just so much nicer that using Palm’s Blazer web browser and email client on my Treo.

    I’m glad that the iPod touch line ran for as long as it did. Today, in my opinion, the base iPad model takes over for the iPod touch with a much larger screen and a rich feature set. On hearing yesterday’s news that iPod touch was being discontinued, I almost insta-bought one of the 32GB blue and white iPod touch models. I wanted to add it to my iOS museum right next to my original first generation iPod touch. I still might.

    While it is nice to take this moment and think about iPod touch, and what the iPod line meant to me, I love my iPhone 13 Pro Max. It can do everything that the iPod touch could so and so much more. I will always have fond memories of the iPods that I used – just like I do for my Apple //e and Macintosh SE, but in the world of personal gadgets, we are always looking forward to the next great thing that will put a dent in the universe.

    The iPod touch seventh generation will be the final product in the iPod line. You can still buy one, starting at 32GB for $199, from Apple and authorized resellers while supplies last.

  • apple,  ios 9,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch

    iOS 9.3.2 Public Beta 1 Has Been Released

    Apple rolled out the first public beta of iOS 9.3.2 last night.  iOS 9.3.2 is largely expected to be a maintenance release and not expected to include any new tentpole features such as Night Shift.

    If your iOS device is already enrolled in the iOS 9 Public Beta program, you can download the over 1GB installer oner the air using the Software Update feature.

    iOS 9.3.2 Public Beta 1 comes on the heals of iOS 9.3.1, which was released on March 31, and iOS 9.3, which was released on March 21.

  • apple //e,  apple //gs,  apple tv,  apple watch,  imac,  iphone,  ipod,  ipod touch,  mac,  mac pro,  power mac,  powerbook

    Happy 40th Birthday, Apple! Stay Foolish!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtY0K2fiFOA]
    Apple – 40 Years in 40 Seconds video originally show during Apple’s Spring 2016 event

    In honor of Apple’s 40th birthday today, I decided to help celebrate by listing out all of the Apple gear that I have either owned (my own personal hardware) or I have used at work (which was a big Mac shop until the mid-2000’s).

    Items that I owned have a picture and the approximate year in which I started using it. All of the hardware listed below has been listed in chronological order by the year Apple released it.

    Apple //e, Apple

    ImageWriter II (1986)

    Apple IIgs (1988)

    Macintosh SE/30 (1995)

    Macintosh Classic (1990)
    Macintosh IIci (1996)

    Macintosh LC (1992)

    Macintosh IIsi (1995)

    Macintosh PowerBook 100 (1992)

    Macintosh PowerBook Duo 230 and DuoDock (1993)
    Apple QuickTake 100 camera (1995)

    Power Macintosh 7100/66av (1995)

    Macintosh PowerBook Duo 2300c/100 and DuoDock (1996)
    Macintosh PowerBook 5300ce (1996)
    Apple StyleWriter 1200 (1996)

    Apple Newton MessagePad 2000 (1998)
    Power Macintosh 7600 (1997)

    Macintosh PowerBook G3 “Wall Street” (1998)
    Power Macintosh G3 Blue and White (1999)
    Power Mac G4 Cube with Apple 17-inch Cinema Display and Apple Pro Speakers (2001)

    iMac 17-inch Flat Panel (2002)
    PowerBook G4 DVI (2002)
    Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Doors (2002)
    Power Mac G4 QuickSilver with Apple 20-inch Cinema Display (2003)
    Apple iPod with Dock Connector (2003)
    Power Mac G5 (2004)

    PowerBook G4 (2004)

    Xserve and Xserve RAID (2004)
    Apple iPod 5th Generation (2005)
    MacBook 13-inch (2006)
    Mac Pro with 23-inch Cinema Display (2006)

    iPhone 2G (2010)

    iPod Touch (2008)
    Apple TV 1st Generation (2009)
    MacBook Pro 17-inch (2010)
    iPad with Wi-Fi (2010)

    iPhone 4s Sprint (2011)
    iPad 3rd Generation with Wi-Fi (2012)
    iPad mini 1st Generation with Wi-Fi (2013)
    Apple TV 3rd Generation (2013)
    iPad Air (2013)
    iPhone 5s Sprint (2013)
    iPhone 6 Sprint (2014)

    Apple Watch Sport (2015)

    iPhone 6s Plus Sprint (2015)
    iPad Pro 12.9-inch with Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard (2015)

    iMac Retina 5k, 27-inch (2016)

  • apple,  ipad,  ipad mini,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Apple Releases iOS 9.0.2, Addresses Lock Screen Bug

     Today, Apple has rolled out iOS 9.0.2.  The 45MB update addresses a few minor issues with the new mobile operating system.

    The unreported security update is the main reason why you will want to apply this update.  According to enthusiast blog AppleInsider, the unreported fix addresses a vulnerability with the lock screen security.

    “…[T]he iOS 9.0.2 update issued today fixes a security issue that allowed malicious users to bypass a passcode protected lock screen and gain unfettered access to an iPhone’s photos and contacts.”

    iOS 9.0.2 is available now for all devices that are running iOS 9, iOS 8 and iOS 7 via the Settings application > General > Software Update.

  • apple,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Apple Releases iOS 9.0.1 [Updated]

    Yesterday, Apple released iOS 9 for all devices that are capable of running iOS 8.

    Update:

    Apple has released iOS 9.0.1, a minor update that fixes issues with the iOS 9 setup assistant, alarms and timers don’t alarm and a distorted image issue with Safari and Photos when playing video.  iOS 9.0.1 has been released for all devices running iOS 9.0.

    iOS 9 can largely be thought of as a ‘tock’ release – in other words, iOS 9 is iOS 8’s “Snow Leopard.”  With iOS 9, Apple chose to go back and shore up all of the new features that have been released in iOS 7 (2013) and iOS 8 (2014).

    Even with the focus of iOS 9 being on performance, stability, and setting the stage for what will come in the future, Apple did manage to add new features to iOS 9, including the all new News app, enhancements to Passbook, now called Wallet, Siri Suggestions, iCloud and Safari content blocker (read: ads and ad tracking blockers).  Here’s the full list of what’s in iOS 9, directly from Apple:

    With this update your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch become more intelligent and proactive with powerful search and improved Siri features. New multitasking features for iPad allow you to work with two apps simultaneously, side-by-side or with the new Picture-in-Picture feature. And, built-in apps become more powerful with detailed transit information in Maps, a redesigned Notes app, and an all-new News app. And improvements at the foundation of the operating system enhance performance, improve security and give you up to an hour of extra battery life.

    Intelligence
        •    Proactive assistance
        •    Presents relevant information even before you start typing
        •    Notifies you when you need to leave for appointments using traffic conditions
        •    Learns what you listen to in a certain location or at a particular time of day and can automatically display playback controls for your preferred music and audio apps
        •    Suggested events and contact details are added to apps based on information found in Mail
        •    Siri improvements
        •    Search your personal photos and videos based on dates, locations and album names
        •    Ask Siri to remind you about things you’re looking at in your apps, including Safari, Mail, Notes and Messages
        •    Request directions via public transit
        •    Spotlight search improvements
        •    Get sports scores, weather conditions and stock prices
        •    Simple math calculations and conversions
        •    Initiate messages, phone calls and FaceTime calls from contact search results

    New iPad Features
        •    Slide Over
        •    Quickly use a second app without leaving the one you’re in
        •    Easily switch between Slide Over apps
        •    Support for Apple apps and enabled third party apps
        •    Split View
        •    View and interact with two apps at once
        •    Ability to resize your view to give equal attention to both apps or prioritize one app over another
        •    Support for Apple apps and enabled third party apps
        •    Picture in picture
        •    Continue watching a video while using your favorite apps
        •    Support for Safari video, FaceTime, Videos and Podcasts and enabled third party apps
        •    QuickType improvements
        •    Multi-Touch gestures for easier text selection on iPad
        •    Quick access to text editing tools with Shortcut Bar on iPad
        •    Support for hardware keyboard shortcuts
        •    Support for all Unicode emoji flags

    Built-in Apps
        •    Map improvements
        •    Support for public transit lines, station details with exits and entrances, schedules and directions in select major cities
        •    Browse for places around you by category, including Food, Drinks, Shopping, Fun and more
        •    Apple Pay support is indicated on place cards at participating retail locations
        •    Place cards include Wikipedia information for landmarks and cities
        •    Redesigned Notes app
        •    Add photos to your notes with the built-in camera or from your Photo Library
        •    Create useful checklists and check off completed items with a tap
        •    Sketch a quick thought using just your finger
        •    Save interesting items directly from other apps using the Share menu
        •    All-new News app
        •    Read your favorite newspapers, magazines, and blogs, or choose from over a million topics
        •    Beautiful typography and layouts, photo galleries, videos, animations, and more
        •    Browse articles that are chosen based on your interests in For You. Find channel and topic recommendations in Explore. News gets more personalized the more you read
        •    Easily share articles with friends or save them to read later — even when you’re offline
        •    Mail improvements
        •    Search improvements help you quickly find what you’re looking for by filtering results based on sender, recipient, subject or a combination of options
        •    Support for Markup lets you annotate an image or PDF attachment with text, shapes and even your signature, then send it back — without leaving Mail
        •    Easily save the attachments you receive or add files from iCloud Drive or other document providers while composing a new message
        •    Apple Pay and Wallet improvements
        •    Support for Discover cards
        •    Support for rewards cards and store credit and debit cards
        •    To check out even faster, you can prepare an upcoming payment by double-clicking the Home button from the Lock Screen and keeping your finger on Touch ID
        •    New iCloud Drive app
        •    Easily search for a file or browse in the new iCloud Drive app by date, name, or tags you added on your Mac
        •    Open files in any compatible app or share with those you choose
        •    Organize folders and files
        •    Get the iCloud Drive app in Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive and select Show on Home Screen
        •    CarPlay improvements
        •    Plays back audio messages, letting you hear from people in their own voices
        •    Full support for car knob controls, so you can tilt and spin to scroll through lists or pan around in Maps
        •    Support for CarPlay apps from auto manufacturers

    Foundation
        •    Longer battery life
        •    Up to one hour of additional time before you need to charge your battery
        •    Facedown detection for turning display off when not in use
        •    Low power mode optimizes device performance to extend battery by up to an additional three hours
        •    Software updates require less space to download and offer an option to install later
        •    iOS apps and user interface now use Metal to deliver faster scrolling, smoother animation, and better overall performance
        •    Improved security with two-factor authentication support and a default 6 digit passcode support for Touch ID devices

    Other improvements
        •    New San Francisco system font
        •    Leave a message option if recipient isn’t available for a FaceTime call
        •    Share voicemails from the Phone app using the share sheet
        •    Flight and package tracking for data detectors
        •    Health app adds support for reproductive health, UV exposure, water intake and sedentary state data types
        •    HomeKit adds support for motorized windows and shades, motion sensors and home security system accessories
        •    Podcasts has an all-new design, makes it easy to find the latest episodes of your favorite shows and notifies you when new episodes become available for you
        •    Support for Wi-Fi calling on iPad, iPod touch and Mac, without iPhone in proximity on participating carriers
        •    Wi-Fi Assist to automatically use cellular data when Wi-Fi connectivity is poor
        •    Transfer content from an Android device with the Move to iOS app, visit http://www.apple.com/move-to-ios for more details

    Expanded language support
        •    New PingFang Chinese system font
        •    Improved predictions, learning and autocorrection for Chinese in QuickType
        •    Redesigned punctuation input on 10-key Chinese keyboard
        •    Redesigned User Interface for right-to-left languages
        •    Added Siri support for Austria, Belgium (French and Dutch), and Norway
        •    Added Spotlight search support for Mexico
        •    New keyboards for French (Belgium), German (Austria), Gujarati, Hindi (Transliteration), Hinglish, Punjabi, Spanish (Mexico), and Telugu
        •    Predictive input for French (Belgium), German (Austria), Korean, Russian, Spanish (Mexico), and Turkish
        •    Dictation support for Dutch (Belgium), English (Ireland, Philippines, South Africa), French (Belgium), German (Austria), and Spanish (Chile, Colombia)
        •    Spell check for Finnish and Korean
        •    Definition dictionary for Hindi, Norwegian and Swedish
        •    Bilingual dictionary for French-English and German-English
        •    New Japanese autocorrection and improved predictions and learning in QuickType
        •    Option to switch between number systems for Arabic and Hindi

    Enterprise & Education
        •    Assign apps directly to iOS devices without needing to have an iTunes Store account configured
        •    Improved calendar reliability for customers using Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync v16
        •    Expanded Per App VPN support for the built-in IPSec and IKEv2 VPN clients
        •    New networking controls for managed apps to help limit international data roaming costs
        •    New restrictions to prevent changes to passcodes, device names and wallpapers, or to disable AirDrop on managed devices
        •    Third party app extension support for VPN, advanced content filtering, and captive Wi-Fi networks

    Accessibility
        •    Touch Accommodations provides additional touch control for those with physical motor limitations
        •    Switch Control Recipes to customize features or create your own
        •    Support for Siri Voices for VoiceOver users
        •    Additional customization of AssistiveTouch
        •    Hardware keyboard support for Key Repeat, Slow Keys and Sticky Keys
        •    Improved MFi hearing aid audio routing to choose where audio is played

    Some features may not be available for all countries or all areas, for more information visit: http://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability and http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new

    For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

  • apple,  ios 8,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch,  update

    Apple Releases iOS 8.4.1 Update for Apple Music

    Today, Apple released iOS 8.4.1 for all current model iPhones, iPads and iPod touches.

    Apple’s release notes for iOS 8.4.1 appear below.

    This release includes improvements and fixes to Apple Music.
    • Resolves issues that could prevent turning on iCloud Music Library
    • Resolves an issue that hides added music because Apple Music was set to show offline music only
    • Provides a way to add songs to a new playlist if there aren’t any playlists to choose from
    • Resolves an issue that may show different artwork for an album on other devices
    • Resolves several issues for artists while posting to Connect
    • Fixes an issue where tapping Love doesn’t work as expected while listening to Beats 1
    For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

    The iOS 8.4.1 release is available now as an over the air (OTA) update from your devices.  Just go to:
    Settings > General > Software Update to begin the install.

  • apple,  ios 9,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Thoughts Regarding the iOS 9 Public Beta

    It’s that special time of year once again where we have been shown all of the wonderful software enhancements that Apple is cooking up for us this fall.  It is also the time when we, the brave nerds, install not quite fully finished software on our iDevices and Macs.  All of this is done in the name of being nerdy.

    Actually, what I’m talking about is the pre-release public beta versions of Apple’s upcoming operating systems: iOS 9 and Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.

    Both of these new operating systems are still under development so it’s not fair to judge either of them on their technical merits, stability or performance.  The completed versions of both iOS 9 and El Capitan are due out “this fall.”  What I want to talk about here are some of the user facing enhancements in iOS 9.

    Keyboards

    Last year, one of the big ticket items in iOS 8 was Apple allowing third-party keyboards to be installed on iOS.  While having alternate keyboards available was fun, I dumped all of them inside a week.

    This year, I’m far more interested in the tweak Apple has baked into the iOS 9 public beta: changing keyboard key cap states.  With iOS 8, I could never keep the Shift key state straight in my head: What was the CAPS mode icon state again? Solid white?  Or was that grey?  I can’t remember.  Better keep mashing the Shift key and retyping.  At least half the time while I was banging out a long text in Messages, a tweet in Twitter or a long email in Mail, I would get the state wrong.  So annoying!

    In iOS 9, now the key caps change state depending on whether or not Shift is engaged or not.  Below is a sample of iOS 9 Public Beta 1 running on my iPhone 5S (left) and iOS 8.4 running on my iPhone 6 (right).

    I think I really like that enhancement.

    News and iCloud Drive

    After installing iOS 9, you will get two new stock apps: News (as featured in the WWDC June 8 keynote) and iCloud Drive.

    News appears to be everything Apple showed in the keynote.  I was really excited about News when is was unveiled during the keynote address.  As I said in my summary post on this year’s WWDC keynote, I think this will be a worthwhile feature for both the iPhone and iPad.  With Apple’s focus on user privacy, I think this could become the go-to alternative for things like Facebook Instant Articles.  The beta apps has lots of great articles from across the spectrum of publishers and topics.  I think the biggest challenge users will face is taking the time to fine tune their news feeds.

    iCloud Drive, in my opinion, is a new iOS client app to help round out the features of iCloud document storage that launched as part of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite last year.  With iCloud Drive, you now have access to the folders and documents that you have stored in iCloud.  iCloud Drive works similarly to Microsoft’s OneDrive or Google’s Drive iOS apps.

    On the left, you can see the top level folder view for iCloud Drive.  On the right, you see the list view of the contents of the Keynote folder.  It’s pretty basic stuff to be sure, but is also a utilitarian feature that Apple needs to gain parity with Google and Microsoft.

    iOS 9 will be released later this year and is expected to run on any iOS device that is already running iOS 8.

    For more information about iOS 9, check out Apple’s iOS 9 preview website.

  • apple,  ios 8,  ipad,  ipad mini,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Apple Rolls Out iOS 8.4 with Apple Music, Beats 1 Radio

    At 11:00am EDT this morning Apple released iOS 8.4 bringing a redesigned Music app, launching the new Apple Music service with Beats 1 24/7 live radio and updates to the iBooks apps.

    Below are the release notes for iOS 8.4.

    iOS 8.4 Release Notes
    This update introduces Apple Music—a revolutionary music service, 24/7 global radio, and a way for fans to connect with their favorite artists—all included in the redesigned Music app. iOS 8.4 also includes improvements for iBooks and bug fixes.
    Apple Music
    • Become an Apple Music member to play from millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog, or keep them offline for playback later
    • For You: Members can see playlist and album recommendations, handpicked by music experts
    • New: Members can find the latest, greatest new music available—direct from our editors
    • Radio: Tune in to music, interviews, and exclusive radio shows on Beats 1, play radio stations created by our editors or create your own from any artist or song
    • Connect: See shared thoughts, photos, music, and videos from artists you follow, then join the conversation
    • My Music: Play from all of your iTunes purchases, songs from Apple Music, and playlists in one place
    • Completely redesigned music player that includes new features such as Recently Added, MiniPlayer, Up Next, and more
    • iTunes Store: Still the best place to buy your favorite music—one song or album at a time
    • Availability and features may vary by country
    iBooks improvements and fixes
    • Browse, listen and download audiobooks from inside iBooks
    • Enjoy the all-new Now Playing feature, designed specifically for audiobooks
    • Books that are Made for iBooks now work on iPhone in addition to iPad
    • Find and pre-order books in a series right from your library
    • Improves accessibility of widgets, glossary and navigation in books made with iBooks Author
    • New default Chinese font
    • New setting to turn off Auto-Night theme in your library
    • Resolves an issue that may have prevented Hide Purchases from working
    • Resolves an issue that may have prevented downloading books from iCloud
    Other improvements and bug fixes
    • Fixes an issue where receiving a specific series of Unicode characters causes device to reboot
    • Fixes an issue that prevented GPS accessories from providing location data
    • Fixes an issue where deleted Apple Watch apps could re-install
    For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

    iOS 8.4 can be installed on any current model iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.