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The Noise-Disease Edition Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Apple Hearing Study Finds 1 In 5 Participants Experienced Hearing Loss, by Victoria Song, Gizmodo

According to Neitzel, one intriguing takeaway from the early data is that one in five participants experienced some kind of hearing loss, according to World Health Organization guidelines, and that there seems to be a link between chronic environmental noise and cardiovascular disease. Also, nearly 50% of participants currently work, or previously worked, in a loud workplace. Another surprising tidbit was that despite covid-19 lockdowns, many participants still had high environmental noise exposure (though overall noise exposure was cut nearly in half).

With Apple's ProRaw Format, I Now Reach For My iPhone Instead Of My Pixel For Photos, by Stephen Shankland, CNET

The flexibility of ProRaw combined with the range of the iPhone 12 Pro's three cameras is why it's almost always the first phone I grab when it's time to photograph a nature scene, my kids or other subjects. It's great that smartphones are steadily encroaching on the turf once held exclusively by higher-end cameras.

Coming Soon

iOS 14.5 Beta 3 Enables 'Items' Tab In Find My To Keep Track Of Beats Headphones And Third-Party Accessories, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

In preparation for the launch of this feature, Apple has made a new “Items” tab visible by default in the Find My app in the third beta of iOS 14.5 seeded to developers today.

iOS 14.5 Beta 3 Includes More Evidence Of Apple Card Family Support Coming Soon, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

Apple Card users will be able to choose between two different types of sharing. With “Allow Spending Only,” guest users will not have access to the total balance, settings, and transaction history. To enable these features for guest members, the card owner must select the option “Become Co-Owners.”

Rosetta May Be Removed From M1 Macs In Some Regions On macOS 11.3, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

It’s unclear why macOS 11.3 might remove Rosetta 2 on M1 Macs in some regions, but perhaps there are legal or copyright reasons involved.

Stuff

Apple AirPods Max: Expensive Price Tag But Unmatched Headphone Quality, by Ciara O'Brien, Irish Times

The headphones themselves are extremely comfortable, while the sound quality is excellent. Noise cancelling is on a par with some of the best that I have tested in the past, and frequently led to people “sneaking” up on me while working.

‘Soro’ Is A New App That Adds Shortcuts And Siri Support To Sonos Smart Speakers, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

Using these Soro actions in the Shortcuts app, you can create a variety of powerful automations to control your Sonos speakers. For example, you could create a shortcut that sets the volume, groups multiple speakers together, and begins playing your music, all without actually interacting with the Sonos app itself.

Notes

Sub $100 Apple TV Keeps Losing Apps Without A Replacement On The Market, by Zac Hall, 9to5Mac

The bigger question is should we expect Apple to ever cater to the sub $100 streaming media box market again? I wouldn’t hold my breath for it.

Apple Is A Leader In Privacy, But There’s Still Work To Be Done With The App Store, Email, And More, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

But when I look at Apple’s product strategy, I’m surprised at all the ways that the company has failed to take advantage of its unique position. From operating-system features to new services, the company should double down on privacy—and widen the lead it has over its competitors.

Bottom of the Page

I don't think Apple will do an Apple TV that doesn't come with tvOS, which probably means that Apple will not be releasing a super-cheap Apple TV anytime soon.

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Thanks for reading.