Top Stories: Apple Car Rumors, Windows on an M1 Mac, AirPods Max compared

The holiday season is in full swing, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our readers for joining us in another year full of Apple news and rumors.

The calendar will soon roll over to 2021, and Apple has a lot more on its plate, as we’ve seen in rumors over the past week about the highly anticipated Apple Car, next year’s iPhone 13 lineup and a new Apple TV. . Read below for highlights on these stories and more from the past week!

Apple Car Production planned for 2024 with ‘Next Level’ battery technology

Apple’s long-rumored plans for electric vehicles made headlines again this week. Shortly after a questionable supply chain report from Taiwan claiming that the so-called “Apple Car” will debut next year, Reuters reported that Apple is targeting production of the vehicle by 2024.

The report claimed that Apple’s self-driving vehicle will have a unique “monocell” battery design that “frees up space in the battery pack by eliminating pouches and modules containing battery material,” potentially resulting in greater range per charge.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the news on Twitter, claiming that a “monocell” battery is “electrochemically impossible.” Musk also claimed he reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook “during the darkest days” of Model 3 production to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla for a fraction of its current value, but Cook apparently declined the meeting.

Meanwhile, Herbert Diess, Volkswagen Group CEO, said in a LinkedIn post, “We look forward to new competitors who will certainly accelerate change in our industry and bring new skills.”

iPhone 13 lineup may support Wi-Fi 6E, larger iPhone SE unlikely in early 2021

After discussions with multiple Apple vendors, Barclays analysts outlined some expectations for future iPhones and iPads this week.

First, the analysts said iPhone 13 models may support the new Wi-Fi 6E standard, which offers the same features and capabilities as Wi-Fi 6 – higher performance, lower latency, and faster data rates – extended to the 6 GHz band. The extra spectrum allows for much more air space beyond the existing 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, resulting in greater bandwidth and less interference for devices that support Wi-Fi 6E.

As for the iPhone SE, the analysts believe that Apple has no plans to refresh the device in the near future. Although they had heard of a larger iPhone SE, which was rumored to include a 5.5-inch or 6.1-inch display, none of their conversations with Apple vendors mentioned the device. In April, noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the larger iPhone SE was being delayed until the second half of 2021.

Finally, the analysts said an iPad with an OLED screen is unlikely to appear in 2022 at the earliest. Apple is still expected to release at least one iPad Pro model with Mini LED backlighting next year.

Video: Test Windows on an M1 Mac with Parallels 16

Last week, Parallels launched a preview version of its virtualization software with support for Apple Silicon. In conjunction with a preview version of Arm-based Windows available through the Windows Insider program, it is possible to install Microsoft’s operating system on M1 Macs.

In a recent YouTube video, we installed Parallels on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 chip and tested Windows, but it wasn’t exactly smooth. Of course there are some problems to be expected with beta software that is still in development.

It remains unclear whether Microsoft will ever make a licensed release version of Arm-based Windows available to customers.

Comparison: AirPods Max vs. options from Sony / Bose / Sennheiser

It’s been a little over a week since the AirPods Max launched, bringing Apple into the more expensive over-ear headphones market.

At $ 549, the AirPods Max are hundreds of dollars more expensive than many top-rated noise-canceling headphones from other brands, which can be a tough purchase decision.

In a recent YouTube video, we compared the AirPods Max to Sony’s WH-1000XM4s, Bose’s Noise Canceling Headphones 700 and Sennheiser Momentum Wireless to see if they’re worth the hefty price tag. In a separate video, we discussed five reasons why you should consider buying AirPods Max, despite their hefty price tag.

AirPods Max are still facing long shipping estimates on Apple.com, although delivery times have improved somewhat to mid-February for the Space Gray and Silver colors and 8-10 weeks for the Pink, Green and Sky Blue options, compared to 12-14 weeks for all colors recently.

Apple’s A14 chip outperforms the new Snapdragon 888 chip in future Android phones

Qualcomm this week shared benchmark results for its new Snapdragon 888 chip to be used in its flagship Android smartphones due out in 2021, and not only is it unable to keep up with Apple’s A14 chip in iPhone 12 models, but it’s even slower than the last-generation A13 chip used for the iPhone 11 series.

While the Snapdragon 888 offers significant performance improvements over the previous generation Snapdragon chip, it means that future Android smartphones like Samsung’s rumored Galaxy S21 will be slower than already released iPhone models.

Apple’s mobile processors have been at the forefront of the industry for years, and the company recently extended this expertise to the Mac with its new M1 chip, which also delivers industry-leading performance per watt.

New Apple TV with gaming focus, updated remote and faster chip expected next year

BloombergMark Gurman briefly reiterated this week that Apple plans to release a new Apple TV next year with a stronger gaming focus, an updated remote, and a new processor.

Gurman has previously indicated that Apple is working on a new remote with Find My-like capabilities, which will make it easier to find it if it’s lost. As part of the gaming focus, there are also rumors that Apple may be introducing a dedicated game controller for the Apple TV.

Earlier this year, an anonymous leaker known as “Fudge” said on Twitter that Apple has been prototyping new Apple TV models with variants of the A12 and A14 chips for faster performance; if that’s true, it’s unclear whether Apple will eventually settle for one chip or release two different models. The new Apple TV may also have larger storage options of 64 GB and 128 GB.

The current Apple TV 4K model was released over three years ago, so chances are there will be an update next year.

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