Apple shared details of how they did it. There’s some really nice equipment in this footage which begs the question, did they use iPhones to shoot the video about using the iPhone to shoot the event?

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This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

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My guess is that making a gold-colored titanium phone isn’t easy, so Apple decided to lean into the titanium gray.

Whatever the reason, I am down with it. I’m unsure if it is because I’m sick of the standard white and black iPhones or because my hair is also increasingly trending titanium gray. Regardless, I like the new look.

Source: 9to5Mac

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First, About That Decline…

Setting aside last year’s inflation and the economy in general, I’m not surprised that fewer people are buying smartphones. We’ve gotten past the point where the phones are making so monumental a jump every year, and I think most folks have slowed down their upgrade cycles.

Second, About Apple’s Increase…

This is the bit that interests me. Why did Apple’s market share jump 10% in one year? I’m sure a few people at Apple Park know precisely why, but we have to guess a bit from the outside. I can think of a few reasons:

• Mature product line: Apple is getting phones of all sizes and at all price points out these days. If you want an iPhone, there’s probably a path for you.
• The Big (non-Pro) iPhone: I expect many people were waiting for a big-screen iPhone without the iPhone Pro price tag. They got that in the last year.
• Privacy: While I expect this to be a smaller factor, I believe Apple’s privacy focus is sinking in.

I’m sure there’s more, but a 10% jump in just one year after all these years of iPhone is intriguing.

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Today Apple made it official. The new iPhone event is September 7. Mark your calendar. Check your wallets. We’ll definitely get the new iPhones and likely Apple Watches. Things that I am curious about:

• Rumors are the iPhone Pro camera will take a leap. I hope that’s true.
• I’ll be shocked if the iPhone Pro doesn’t get the always on screen. I’m curious to see what that will be like in actual use.
• There is an interesting rumor that we’ll get a “pro” or “sport” watch that will cost a bit more. It’ll be fun to see what that means if true. Also, if true it will be the first time that the phone chip between the watches will be different. Until now you got the same chip whether you bought a $300 watch or a $20,000 watch.

We’ll find out soon enough. I’ll be doing some fun things in The MacSparky Labs for this event. If you’re in the labs, keep an eye on your email over the next few days.

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If you’ve ever needed to get a few details on your iPhone (EID, IMEI, IMEI2, MEID), you can get it in the iPhone’s General > About screen in Settings. There is, however, an easier way. Go to the Phone app, select the Keypad tab, like you are about to dial a call.

Then type * # 0 6 # *

That gets you an easy screen with the applicable numbers and scannable codes. You won’t need this often, but it is handy when you do.

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To add more smoke signals to the pending iPhone mini demise, 9to5 Mac recently linked to case schematics that show a new large-sized iPhone 14 but no iPhone 14 mini. So it looks like Apple is choosing to make the alternate size for the entry-level iPhone more like an iPhone Pro Max than an iPhone mini.

If forced between choosing whether to make an iPhone mini or a Max-sized non-pro iPhone, I think the bigger one will be more popular. I have several friends that buy the iPhone Pro Max not because they want its features but because they like its screen size. This will make their phones less expensive going forward.

The part that gets me is that they really shouldn’t be forced to make a decision. Isn’t Apple selling enough iPhones that they could afford to sell small, medium, and large versions of the pro and non-pro phones? You’d think they could make that work, but, for whatever reason, they are choosing not to. If you are a fan of the small-sized iPhones, my advice is to go out and buy an iPhone 13 mini now and plan on holding onto it for a while.

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I’ve not used any of the current crop of folding phones, but I can’t help but think I’d prefer that second category. I’d rather have an iPhone that can grow into something like an iPad mini and keep the whole kit in my pocket. The more I think about it, however, the more I’m convinced that if Apple were to ship a folding iPhone, it’d be like one in the video, where it folds down to a smaller phone. That just seems so much more along the lines of Apple’s genetic bent toward smaller and lighter. Regardless, I expect that a product like this from Apple (if it ever ships) will be years from now.

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My evolving preference for the iPhone over a more dedicated camera results from competing tradeoffs.

The dedicated camera has a better sensor and can have interchangeable lenses. That produces noticeably better video than video out of the iPhone. But for shooting video on the move, as we do with the DLR Field Guide videos, that regular camera comes at a cost. First, it’s heavy to carry around and awkward to wield. Second, and more importantly to me, is stabilization. My regular camera (a Sony) cannot hold a candle to the iPhone video stabilization, even with in-body stabilization, shooting with the Sony takes a ton of post-production effort to get stable where I can use iPhone footage pretty much “as is”.

Potato Jet (one of my favorite camera guys on YouTube) made his own comparison recently and came up with a similar conclusion. I’m not saying that they should shoot the next Star Wars movie with an iPhone, but for much of the stuff I do, the iPhone is plenty enough camera. So for now you need to choose your poison, slightly worse video, or deal with bulk and stability challenges.

The bigger question is where this is heading. If mobile phones continue at their current clip, exactly how long will it be before nobody can tell the difference?

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