Apple Loop: iPhone 17 Air Leaks, Critical MacOS Update, Apple’s Black Friday iPhone Offers

Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines from Apple, including new iPhone 17 features, iPhone 16 camera disappointment, Apple’s Black Friday iPhone offers, Amazon’s MacBook Pro win, critical macOS security update, iOS 18.2 release date, Apple’s 5G modem, and the status of Product(Red).,

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes.

iPhone 17’s New Global Feature

Following on from the dedicated use of eSIM in the US, Apple looks ready to introduce the digital version of the venerable SIM card to a global audience, albeit not in every single handset. After all, removing physical hardware from inside an iPhone is going to help a certain slimline project in 2025:

“Apple has yet to release any iPhones without a SIM card tray outside of the U.S., but it sounds like the change will finally expand internationally starting with the iPhone 17 lineup next September. Indeed, the report said that all current “iPhone 17 Air” prototypes lack a SIM card tray. The report said it is unclear if the device will be sold in China as a result, since the country has not approved the use of eSIMs in smartphones. Of course, that could change.”

(The Information via MacRumors).

iPhone 16 Camera Falls Short

DXOMark famously puts smartphone cameras through extensive tests and measurements to determine which is ‘best’ according to their criteria. It’s become one of the standards to aim for. Apple will have been at least satisfied with the iPhone 16 Pro reaching #4 in the chart, but the recent testing of the iPhone 16 will have been less well received, as Apple’s vanilla iPhone 16 fell to #20.

“In our evaluations, the camera captured nice still images and videos with excellent exposure, good contrast, and pleasant skin tones. The video stabilization system kept things smooth and stable when recording moving images. On the downside, the absence of a dedicated tele lens meant that images captured at medium and long-range tele settings lacked detail and texture.”

(DXOMark).

Apple Black Friday iPhone and iPad

The Thanksgiving holiday is here, and the wave of Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers is reaching a crescendo. Apple has typically avoided any extended deals, instead offering store vouchers in a tightly defined window of Friday to Monday, honoring the nature of the days the sale applies to. The offers are available across multiple territories, and Forbes contributor David Phelan is keeping an eye on what to expect:

“The event runs from the moment midnight strikes on Friday, Nov. 29 through to the following Monday, Dec. 2 inclusive in your time zone. Instead of knocking money off its products, Apple’s technique is to provide a gift card that can be spent anywhere instore or online with Apple. So, if you’re planning to buy other stuff from Apple, it works out as good as a discount.”

(Forbes).

Amazon Delivers Apple A MacBook Pro Win

Apple may not offer any monetary discounts for the holidays (and those vouchers are rarely available on the current hardware generation) but that’s not to say that Apple does not benefit from the sales. To show one example, Amazon sells the new M4 MacBook Pro laptops for up to $300 off, but Apple gets the customers into its ecosystem without disrupting its image of “high price buys quality”:

“Given the interest in the new MacBook Pro models, coupled with the company’s reluctance to offer price cuts during Black Friday, many consumers bought their new laptops confident that the price they paid would not be gazumped in the Black Friday week. And it hasn’t been gazumped, at least by Apple. After all, Apple has a reputation to keep up regarding the perceived status of the Mac platform tied to the higher price points it uses.”

(Forbes).

MacOS Security Update

Apple’s confirmation of a serious security exploit in its various operating systems arrived last week. The issues are part of WebKit and Java. The need to update your hardware was reinforced by a call from a US government agency to do so immediately:

“Apple is warning billions of Mac and MacBook users worldwide to update macOS as a matter of priority…. The importance of applying this update has been reinforced thanks to an intervention by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency”

(Forbes).

iOS 18.2 Details Revealed

The next major update to iOS 18.2 will offer many new features and software tweaks, but the one that will gather the most attention is the next step in bringing generative AI to the iPhone with ChatGPT integration through Siri. While some are looking at this Monday as the release date, it’s more likely to be a week or two into December:

“After all, this week includes Thanksgiving with its holidays and travel—losing key days just before a release would always have been unlikely to work. Those last-minute touches need a full team working hard, not drifting back in after days away. And the current developer and public beta versions don’t quite seem close enough to final release.

“…I’d say we should work on the principle that it will be one of the two following weeks, that is, the weeks commencing Monday, Dec.9 or Monday, Dec. 16.”

(Forbes).

Apple’s 5G Modem

It’s been a long time coming, but Apple may finally have something to show from its purchase of Intel’s modem division. Qualcomm is currently the exclusive supplier of 5G modems, but Apple looks set to start a phased roll out on its own hardware next year:

“The first device expected to feature Apple’s 5G modem is the iPhone SE 4, which is rumored to be announced in the first half of 2025. By the end of next year, at least one of the iPhone 17 models will also have the new modem – most likely the iPhone 17 Air. Despite the benefits in terms of battery consumption, Apple still doesn’t feel totally confident enough about its modem to put it in flagship products such as the Pro iPhones.”

(9to5Mac).

And Finally…

Apple is indelibly linked to the Product(red) initiative that raises awareness and funding to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa. It’s a long partnership but Joe Rossignol has documented the slow reduction in Apple’s Product (Red) hardware:

“Apple did not offer any iPhone 15 models in (Product)Red, and that trend has continued with iPhone 16 models so far. It did offer the aluminum Apple Watch Series 9 in (Product)Red last year, but that device has since been discontinued, and the color option is not available for the Apple Watch Series 10. Apple also discontinued the (PRODUCT)RED version of the Sport Band that was available alongside the Series 9.

“Apple continues to support The Global Fund through its annual Apple Pay donation program, which returns from November 29 through December 8.”

(MacRumors).

Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.