Apple has today announced and released updates for Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Compressor and Motion and the mobile version of iMovie bringing new features. However all eyes will now be on how the Mac Studio with M1 Ultra inside fares now the software is optimised. And perhaps that’s exactly what Apple wanted. When Mac Studio was announced with almost no leaks ahead of time, at least until the week of the event, it surprised a lot of people. The performance, once it got into people’s hands though didn’t quite stack up. The performance of the M1 Ultra was good, but it wasn’t the mind blowing experience people were expecting right off the bat. And even more confusingly, Apple’s own Final Cut Pro wasn’t flying. But then reviewers noticed, Apple mentioned they were using an unreleased version of Final Cut Pro. But where was that version? Why wasn’t it released with the Mac Studio and the Studio Display? There are a couple of options, either Apple found a bug that took a couple of weeks to resolve with that update, or, they intentionally held it back, just a little. I think the latter. It was a calculated risk if that’s the case, but combined with the short supply of hardware, I doubt many would have cancelled a pre-order based on some less positive reviews. But dropping the updates to Final Cut now, arguably the biggest real world benchmark for the Mac should massively boost attention on the device just as it would have started to wain. Now, here we are, all talking about it again. So how much extra performance can you expect from your Mac Studio with M1 Ultra post update? Well Apple Insider is reporting that even on the M1 Max which was already pretty well optimised, their 9 minute 4k project in H.264 dropped from 3:30 to export to 3:10, as well as being smoother and with fewer graphical inconsistencies when editing. On the M1 Ultra though, there's still very little in the way of testing that I can find, and I certainly don't have the budget for one here! I can’t wait to see what results come out from this over the coming days, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated. Speaking of updates, the Apple Studio Display got an update this week and weirdly also leaked an upcoming Mac mini. Of course this means if it comes true, the Apple Studio display will become a 100% accurate leaker and top the board over at Apple Track. But more importantly, that Mac mini - it’s referenced as Mac mini 10,1 which follow’s Apple’s normal naming convention and as it’s already appearing in the Studio Display’s code, it’s almost certainly planned for release before the display’s next planned update. The display runs iOS 15.4, and we already have iOS 15.5 betas in the public realm, so I’d almost say it could be this side of WWDC, which means ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efecKNVWgtg

Freedom! Europe liberates developers from Apple’s tyrannical grip on the App Ecosystem! Or… have people not really thought through the actual consequences, and will Apple comply in the letter of the law without really giving anything away? Let.s talk. What the law says. Europe’s Digital Markets Act, or DMA basically means that Apple could be forced to allow alternative ways of getting apps on the iPhone and iPad for the first time, without using Apple’s own first party App Store to get them, whether free or paid. Since Apple launched the App Store the day before the iPhone 3G launched in 2008, it’s been the only way to get non-web apps on your iPhone. Why could it be dangerous? Apple’s argument for the App Store has long been that they have all the checks and balances in place to make sure that the apps in their store are safe, not scams and not going to take over your device. Their argument for the the value offered by the 15% that Apple takes from the payments of the platform. Wait, you’re surprised I didn’t say 30%? Well Apple only takes 15% of the first million dollars any given developer makes per year, with 30% on anything over that 1 million - but that means 98% of developers only ever pay 15%. Apple’s track record with this hasn’t been perfect, but it has been a damn site better than the alternative with Google Play and the Android platform in general, where there are certainly ways to install apps that haven’t been checked by the platform’s team. Apple has VASTLY fewer scam apps, and when they happen, they don’t last for long. So third party App stores would likely not have the same level of oversight and quality control going on that Apple’s currently does, but and many have said, if you don’t want to enable these third party stores, you won’t need to use them, so of course everyone can just choose to stay safe in that world, right? Apple can just throw in a couple of buried toggles in settings to enable them, and the non-power users can just stick to what they have right now? Well, it may not be that simple. What if major apps move? So here’s the big problem, and of course there’s no guarantee that Apple would even be allowed to offer a “disable third party App Stores” in settings, or make it difficult for side loading. But either way, if there’s apps that people really want that are only in those other App stores, people are going to switch them on, if only in their minds to get those specific apps. I can’t imagine Tim Sweeney over at Epic Games isn’t already dancing for joy at the prospect of being able to add his own store to bring Fortnite back to the iPhone and the iPad. And yeah, it’s a decent game (though I prefer Call of Duty Mobile personally over the cartoon version. We have the same issues though with Twitter - Elon seems pretty unhappy with the way Apple wants the content to be at least reasonably safe, so why not take it to a different store instead of the main Apple one, save all that cash on people paying to verify themselves too at the same time… Maybe? Or Mark Zuckerberg builds a Meta store to get your Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with out all that pesky Apple App Tracking Transparency that lets you control your data but costs Meta a fortune on lower ad revenues. You can see, it won’t take long for most people to need to switch on the third party app stores. But as soon as you CAN install non-Apple checked software, things could go south quickly. Here’s where it gets scary. We’ve all seen the “YOUR FLASH IS OUT OF DATE” pop ups on the desktop. They’re pretty obvious scams, and just like many email scams where you find that the FBI is trying to give you some money that’s being held for you after the death of a relative, they’re actually crap on purpose, so that only the easiest targets click, because they’re the easiest to exploit. But what if you’re using your phone on an app, and you see an ad for another app you may find pretty useful. You click, and you see this. Looks nice and safe, like Apple’s store. But you’ve already enabled third party stores to install something that was well known and safe like Facebook or Fortnite. The thing is, this ISN’T Apple’s App Store, it’s a scamy third party one, designed to look identical to Apple’s and actually it’s downloading malware onto your iPhone. The same iPhone that has your bank details in your banking app, has constant GPS positioning, all your contact’s details, all your emails and text messages, and all you're definitely not compromising images. Oh, and a couple of cameras and microphones on it, that Apple, until now has been making sure aren’t used without your knowledge. Just, bear that in mind. Join the conversation http://iCaveDave.com/twitter​ http://iCaveDave.com/facebook​ http://iCaveDave.com/instagram​ http://iCaveDave.com/youtube​ http://iCaveDave.com/merch​ http://iCaveDave.com/discord​ ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4infctXLrnU