eXtensions - Friday 28 February 2025
By Graham K. Rogers
In its haste to demand Apple open a backdoor to encryption, the UK seems to have forgotten an agreement with the USA, and the new National Intelligence Director is not happy. A week after the iPhone 16e was announced, more is known about the C1 chip and reports are positive. Harman whose Phoenix color film was well-received have been experimenting and now have a new film: Red. Adobe Photoshop has finally arrived for the iPad, albeit a bit late for some of us.
More information has been arriving about the UK request to Apple for a backdoor, which Apple reacted to by withdrawing its Advanced Data Protection iCloud feature for UK users. An article by William Gallagher (AppleInsider) gives some more background to this. The opening, however, is somewhat stunning and a possible indicator of what could happen next.
Gallagher writes, "The Director of National Intelligence [Tulsi Gabbard] was apparently blindsided when the UK demanded that Apple open an encryption backdoor, and says that lawyers and other agencies are on the case." This is not going down well and Gabbard has expressed her "grave concern" over the UK demanding data of US citizens.
It appears to get worse as Zac Hall (9to5Mac) reports that "the UK may have broken a bilateral agreement" over these demands. This information appears after Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona wrote to her (I had mentioned their concerns before) and her reply has put the cat among the pigeons: "a clear and egregious violation of Americans' privacy and civil liberties". Ed Hardy (Cult of Mac) also reports on this.
The letter has been accessed by John Gruber (Daring Fireball) who put a copy of it online. In the letter (marked unclassified) after looking at the background, she writes, after reviewing the "U.S. and U.K. bilateral CLOUD Act Agreement, the United Kingdom may not issue demands for data of U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents ("U.S. persons"), nor is it authorized to demand the data of persons located inside the United States." Ouch.
While this only covers US citizens and residents, it would be hard for this theoretical backdoor to provide data from the rest of us if that access were blocked to US citizens. I have kept a copy of the letter. Bill Goodwin (Computer Weekly) also covers this with some useful background.
When a new product, like the iPhone 16e, is announced, there is a rush to publish articles that outline the new device. Some of these are fairly banal, fact-based items almost straight from the press release, some miss important points, while one or two writers try to make less well-supported or outrageous claims. Within a few days, a deeper look at the device is done, sometimes with some hands-on testing, depending on if there were pre-release versions of the product available. When I wrote for the Bangkok Post, I would be handed devices before the local release so that I would be ready when the embargo ended and I could upload the information to my site.
More articles are now beginning to appear about the iPhone 16e and its C1 modem chip. In a useful item about the new chip and its implications, Jason Snell confirms and expands on some of the comments I also made last time, particularly the problems between Apple and Qualcomm, ownership of the technology, and the design opportunities, allowing Apple to incorporate many device-specific features, as it has already with the A- and M-series chips. He also comments on the naysayers, writing that it is "almost guaranteed that once the iPhone 16e ships, someone will discover specific ways in which the C1 lags behind the performance of other iPhones, and will breathlessly report this as some sort of scandal."
Also commenting on the C1 chip and its potential, Marko Zivkovic (AppleInsider) picks up on some comments by Apple executives (past and present). Johny Srouji, for example, says, "C1 is the start, and we're going to keep improving that technology each generation" which is not unexpected, particularly bearing in mind how Apple always tries to keep as much as possible in-house. Zivkovic adds, "Apple's new modem isn't meant to compete with chips made by other manufacturers, but is instead meant to cater specifically to the needs of the iPhone 16e and future devices."
This points to that enabling of features specific to Apple or the device, that help Apple users. With the C1 chip for example, these include custom GPS and satellite connectivity. As Jason Snell notes, Intel and Qualcomm produce chips for a wide range of manufacturers, while Apple may sometimes have specific requirements. With the A-series, M-series and now C-series the customization is available. William Gallagher (AppleInsider) has a slightly longer look at the C1 and comments that its performance is comparable to other modems, but uses considerably less power. He notes that "the C1 does not support mmWave 5G as the other models do, but mmWave penetration is low in the US, and lower still everywhere else . . ." so this does not appear to be a major drawback. Reporting the findings of Geekerwan it appears the modem works fine in the lab and also on subway trains, matching Qualcomm modems in other iPhone 16 models for regular 5G speeds. Benjamin Mayo (9to5Mac) also reports the Geekerwan findings, which seems to find little difference (apart from better power consumption). So, despite the fear-mongering and speculation of some, no dropped calls.
There are some people who do not like Apple or the products. My sister is one of these, but if pressed on why (for example) she would never have an iPhone, she is unable to give any reason, usually walking away or changing the subject. Many Apple users are regarded as members of a cult, due to the apparent slavish devotion. Some of us like Apple products, but have concerns regarding aspects of the products, the limits, some of the decisions, and more. I like the integration that is available: data available on all devices, which has rescued me several times. Things do not work 100% at all times, but when I was asked to review products, there was never any problem if I wrote something negative (it seemed Apple would prefer to know and apply a fix when they knew). That was not the case with a large Asian computer company whose device had a number of shortcomings when I reviewed it.
Ankur Tankur (iDownloadBlog) has been using Apple products for a while, but he does have a list of things that irk him. Top of his list and top of mine is the 5GB restriction (and related limits) for iCloud. Even if a user owns several devices (I have 5) the free limit is still 5GB. He does not mention the massive gap between 200GB (99 baht) and 2TB (299 baht) each month. That there is no interim (500GB, 1TB) is more than an omission. I know users here who cannot afford the extra 200 baht. They have other priorities.
A number of the other items listed bother me less, although the way Apple drops episodes in any series, not just Severance is annoying, and with some, particularly Prime Target it certainly makes me wish the days would go faster until the next episode drops. The list is useful and while Apple may ignore it (although they will read it), it shows how individual users have different needs; for example, I disagree with several columnists about the use of the iPad Pro, which is nowadays my main go-to device.
Tankur is not the only one put out by what Apple does, as this week, Howard Oakley (Eclectic Light Company) reports on an update that he had set not to install, but Apple's software over-rode the stop and installed it anyway. This does not seem as bad as Microsoft's updates that can happen any time that I have seen on a couple of occasions when the same teacher was trying to start a class for student presentations. A similar update features in Space Force when the software automatically updates during a critical satellite coordinates update. It is a pity Netscape did not go for a second series of this.
On that point about all output on Apple being examined. Several years ago, I went to the MacWorld Keynote the year the MacBook Air was announced (2008). At registration, I handed over my documents and said who I was (and the publication). A voice said, "Oh, you're Graham Rogers" to my surprise. I asked how she knew who I was and she replied, "Oh we read everything". Like other companies, Apple makes use of agencies worldwide that trawl for mentions of the company (harder now with online sources, I imagine), but they want to know what is being written about them as any company should.
Last year, the parent company of Ilford, Harman Technology, pulled a surprise when it announced a new color film, Phoenix. This was marketed under the name Harman, rather that Ilford because of that company's stellar reputation for black & white films. I did try some of the original 35mm release, but had far better results with the later 120 films: less grain in the final images; and, borrowing from online experiences, I changed the ISO settings from the box speed of 200 to 100. Harman always claimed that Phoenix was a work in progress and the emulsions could change down the roaad as they sought a better product. I rather liked the unpredictability.
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As a result of the experimentation that they have been doing, Harman Film have now announced another new film: Red. The online description tells us that this is "a fiery valentine, with no shades of blue" and I am intrigued, although the 35mm format only removed some of the excitement. In early comments on PetaPixel, Jaron Schneider writes from the Harman literature, "The high red sensitivity and lack of anti-halation layer make our Phoenix emulsion the perfect candidate for converting into a redscale film." I will be interested to give this a go, although 120 would be better for my purposes.
A colleague contacted me a few months ago asking about twin reflex cameras. He had been given an old, Russian, Seagull camera, which looks like a Rolleiflex and wanted some advice. My main concern initially, was light leaks, but I gave him some film and lots of suggestions, then waited. It took him a while to take the 12 shots (I take a dozen on my way to the shops), but he handed the roll over and, with a couple of rolls I had, I dropped it off at the shop I use in Siam Square. It took a couple of weeks, but when I collected these last weekend the first thing I did was check the negatives. They were a little over-exposed, but there were no light leaks: not bad for a camera probably over 40 years old. The exposure can be adjusted in editing, which I left to him (after experimenting with one shot), and there is a lesson to learn. For me, every photograph I take has a lesson attached.
The new President has insisted that Federal agencies and private companies no longer include DEI - allegedly favoring minority hires (Asians, Blacks, Women, et al) and many companies have sadly fallen in line following the executive order. Apple has not - at least not yet. It was an item in the recent shareholders' meeting, but was voted down. Time Cook saying afterwards that Apple will continue with DEI hires, although the company would comply with any changes in laws (as they would surely have to). The President, happy over Apple's recent announcement of a $500 million investment in the USA, is less happy over this and, as Patently Apple (and several other sources) report, has asked Apple to end DEI
One of the most well-known applications for photo-editing is Adobe Photoshop (which was initially Mac only, remember). Over the years it has become somewhat bloated but it is still one of the best all-round editing tools around. However, rather than have users buy the software, a few years back Adobe switched to a subscription-only plan and have also changed their attitude to ordinary users of late. Some feel it is far less user-friendly these days and there are some unloved restrictions with the license, particularly when cancellation is involved. There are other editing applications, with some being mooted as reasonable substitutes for Photoshopmost notably Affinity Photo, and Pixelmator Pro, whose Photomator (originally iPad only) make a great editing tool. Pixelmator is now owned by Apple.
There were plenty of articles that examined the arrival of Adobe Photoshop for the iPhone, but having experience of photo-editing apps on the device, I was more interested in seeing how it appeared on the iPad. So many good apps on the iPhone are not adapted properly for the larger screens and we end up with a x1 or x2 display which could be far better. Photomator from Pixelmator does this properly with a distinct version of the app on each platform. Instagram on the iPad is a waste of time and it could easily be adapted as Meta has done for the Facebook app.
Needless to say, the Photoshop app is not a one-time purchase, but there is a non-subscription option that allows some basic features, so I downloaded the app, more just to have a look than become an Adobe user. I was pleased to find that it was indeed optimized for the iPad, so full screen working is a plus - that would also look good if a larger monitor were linked while using the app. Before I could look at the app, it needed me to login or sign up, with options of Google or Apple accounts. I am reluctant to give Adobe any of my information, even signing up provides some data, but at least I was able to confirm that the developer had begun the job in the right way with that full screen. I will not be using this. I have already found, downloaded and used other apps that do any editing I want.
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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