eXtensions - Saturday 7 June 2025
By Graham K. Rogers
With Apple's WWDC right around the corner rumors are blowing hot and cold: new designs, nothing innovative, no hardware, a new home pod. The operating systems may be little changed or drastically revised. It depends on your source. Rumors of no new hardware are tempered by the many Apple devices offered at reduced prices. Are outlets clearing the decks? Netflix and Apple have some interesting offerings available now and in the pipeline
WWDC is almost upon us. I have tried to avoid jumping on the speculation band-wagon, although I did mention last time the idea being aired about the consolidation of OS version numbers. The next iterations will apparently all be OS26, whether they are iOS, iPadOS, macOS et al. Now Amber Neely (AppleInsider) has added to that with comments on the cryptic X message sent out by Greg Joswiak (Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing).
It is suggested that there will not only be an integration of version numbering, but also of the respective OS interfaces, so that users will find it less daunting to jump from system to system. I dread to think what Apple might do to Photos on the Mac, although Photos on the iPad is well-overdue for a change. These days I use Photos mainly for organization and iCloud storage.
When it comes to editing, Crop in the Mac version of Photos is OK, but the straighten/perspective/keystone sliders are not the best I have access to. The main editing interface (Adjust) is a reasonable place to start for a quick edit, while the Monochrome sliders work well for me. If I need anything more, I usually switch to Photomator, which of course Apple now owns. I wonder if that will appear at WWDC in some new guise.
Another interesting rumor is reported by Ryan Christoffel (9to5Mac), who suggests that a redesign of iPadOS could bring a menu system, like on the Mac. Would that mean menubar icons too? I am not convinced this will become a reality, although it is a nice idea. I would prefer multi-user accounts and an improved version of Photos. Apple recognized that the iPad is not an iPhone with the separate OS, but so much of the interface is still iPhone-like, despite the larger display and Apple Pencil access. I would be interested to see a menu system, but first I need a new version of Photos, multiple accounts, camera tethering, and flatbed scanner abilities.
I used to watch the live stream from the WWDC keynote - heavens I used to be at the keynotes a few years back. I no longer go these days, and I can easily watch this on Apple TV later the next day, although I read all the tech news early morning. Joe Rossignol (MacRumors) reports that Apple is readying the live stream on YouTube and shows how to set a reminder. I note that Rossignol refers to all the OS versions using the rumored 26 numbering. William Gallagher (AppleInsider) also reporting on this, notes that localized start times can be specified. For me that is 12 midnight, so I am sure to be asleep then.
Gallagher also reports on the speculation that this year the event is expected to be a trimmed down affair, adding that "a major overhaul across the Mac, iPhone, iPad and more" is expected. Roman Loyola (MacWorld) seems convinced also that the teaser that appears on the YouTube WWDC link, that is similar to the X message from Greg Joswiak (above), suggests a new, cross-platform interface design. So it is a trimmed-down affair, but there is to be a major overhaul?
Rajesh Pandey (Cult of Mac), eschewing the rumored name changes (above) in the title, thinks that, of all the OS updates at WWDC, macOS could make the biggest stir, "as it might bring more upgrades than expected." There is little that is new here, and a lot of speculation. It was the title that caught me.
It is perhaps coincidental, but I notice that just after a major event, be it the quarterly financial report, or WWDC, Apple will sometimes release new hardware. One indicator for me is that any time that a new device is on the way, prices drop on the current version. Several sites are reporting that the M4 MacBook Air is being reduced from its normal price of $999 (34,900 baht here, including 7% VAT - or $1073.95) and is on sale at Amazon for $837. In addition to that it is reported by Mitchell Broussard (MacRumors) that Amazon is also now "offering numerous discounts on Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch SE, including both GPS and cellular models" with some discounts being reported at $100. As with the MacBook Air, it is time to reduce the stocks.
Justin Kahn (9to5Mac) adds to that with the news that the M3 iPad Air lineup is $100 off, "the iPad Air from $269" and "the 512GB M4 iPad Air at up to $352 off." The article has more details. Mitchel Broussard (MacRumors) also reports on discounts for the 11th Generation iPad models. Juston Kahn (9to5Mac) tells us about more discounts, including $400 off the black 2MB M4 iPad Pro.
Despite these price reductions, some tech sites are warning that there will be no new hardware at WWDC, mainly because Mark Gurman says so. After WWDC may be a different matter and Roman Loyola (MacWorld), running with a couple of messages from Apple to retailers, thinks that something may be on the cards then. Ryan Christoffel (9t05 Mac) thinks that this "something" could be Apple's new "HomePad" (or whatever it might be called). Although there are expected to be major releases around September, he thinks such a new product would be perfect for WWDC. William Gallagher (AppleInsider) throws cold water on this, writing that just because there was a memo, it may not mean what you think (or hope).
TV shows and movies on Netflix have been quite good of late, for example Sirens with a super-icy performance from Julianne Moore (Lucy Mangan, Guardian). I was able to follow that with the gritty Dept. Q which has almost as many follow-up articles and Facebook likes as Adolescence. Lucy Mangan calls this grimy, which may be better than gritty, considering where the team has its office (I was thinking of the streets and the characters).
Other notable Netflix series of late have included the Argentinian series, The Eternaut, which starts of fairly domestically when a killer snowfall hits Buenos Aires. The main character played by Ricardo Darin is so rooted in the ordinary that this is his super-power. The series morphs into an alien attack scenario which stretches things a bit, but then near the end it appears many humans are being taken over (Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, Quatermass). A second series is on the cards. I also watched the Danish series, The Chestnut Man. It has been in my list for months and I am annoyed with myself that I kept skipping this. The ending sets up a follow-up series in a couple of ways, and this is shown on Netflix as in the pipeline.
I am also looking forward to the soon-to-arrive Netflix documentary on the OceanGate Titan disaster. The tourist submersible imploded in 2023 on a deep-sea dive to the Titanic. I read some of the engineering and other sources when the event occurred - a tragedy waiting to happen - and I am keen to see any other new information. Titan: the Oceangate Disaster (1hr 51 min) is due this coming Wednesday. In early discussions about the loss of Titan, I remember reading about David Lochridge, the chief submersible pilot, who had been warning Stockbridge about the risks involved with the carbon fiber construction. Although I have not yet seen the documentary, Tom Costello and Minyvonne Burke of NBC News report on some of the information in the program, including some testing of the materials that are eerily predictive.
In the Netflix Tylenol documentary, the producers have come up with a bit of a coup. They have an interview with the prime suspect (Eammon Jacobs, Business Insider), who always (and still) denied any connection, despite much that linked him to the crime. Not too long after the interview was recorded (2023), James W. Lewis, was found dead (NPR). There did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
Apple TV picked up a bit recently after what I think was a bit of a fallow period. I gave up on Severance and The Studio, and was initially a little ambivalent about Your Friends and Neighbors, but that picked up, despite a couple of questionable scenes (unashamed copious wealth, alcohol and open cocaine consumption). The series ended last week with a nice twist. There will be a follow-up series. Long Way Home has lost some of the dynamism of earlier series, despite the use of older BMW and Moto-Guzzi twin-cylinder motorcycles. Some of the detours are interesting but almost seem contrived in the way they are connecting the dots. They are about to leave Scandinavia and head south, so I am expecting some examination of farming and dairy produce. I will be disappointed if there is nothing on cheese-making in France.
The strangely-named Murderbot is a winner for me with Alexander Skarsgård as an android who develops the ability to analyse and think. Despite the name, he is intent on protecting those he works for, while for much of the time he is distracted by a library of old movies in his memory banks. He uses lines from those to make comments, and sometimes makes decisions on plot lines. He is still ruthlessly efficient, but not helped by humans who refuse to follow his advice. Many movies and series would fail without that plot point.
I sort of liked the movie, "The Fountain of Youth", an Indiana Jones-like romp through several locations looking for the impossible. It starts in Bangkok and it is never a good idea to watch a movie that uses locations you know, although Guy Ritchie had picked up on certain typical behaviors here. The cast are chased around the world by a Bangkok gang, an unconvincing Interpol officer, and a member of a society sworn to protect the Fountain of the title. Everyone wins in the end, except the bad guys of course, and we all live happily ever after.
About to drop is the Grand Prix racing movie with Brad Pitt, F1 - The Movie. Lewis Hamilton had some part in this. All the current F1 drivers (except Verstappen and Stroll) saw this recently and liked it. The general opinion is that this is a fairly good production (Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac). F1 is so hard to do, although Netflix has found the fly on the wall style to work well. I think the last F1 movie of any note was John Frankenheimer's 1966 Grand Prix with James Garner in the leading role. A number of real F1 drivers were in the movie, including Graham Hill, but over all this was fairly well-received (including 3 Oscars), but it is hard to compete with the real thing.
I rather liked the idea of Carême, a French series on AppleTV, set in the time of Napoleon. The main character, played by Benjamin Voisin, really existed, but the series is losing its hold on me a little with some unrealistic, and historically questionable events. I had some hopes after the previous French series, La Maison, but this is not as strong as I had hoped. Arriving this week, however, is the new series, Stick: a professional golfer who lost it some years before, (like Costner's Tin Cup) but finds inspiration in his discovery of a talented young golfer. It is full of typical Wilson-style quips as his questionable character works the crowd. This is interesting and funny enough to hold my attention.
Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. After 3 years writing a column in the Life supplement, he is now no longer associated with the Bangkok Post. He can be followed on X (@extensions_th). The RSS feed for the articles is http://www.extensions.in.th/ext_link.xml - copy and paste into your feed reader.
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