Apple Keynote for October 19 2021

Audio described as usual.

Focusing on Music and the Mac.

Music

Siri Voice Plan to access Apple Music only by Siri. Full individual or family plans.

Siri Voice Plan the cheapest, honestly I don’t know why a person would bother.

Available in November.

Siri Voice Plan blog link:

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/10/apple-introduces-the-apple-music-voice-plan/

HomePod mini now comes in yellow, orange, and Blue (besides space grey or white), no spec changes.

Available in November.

3rd version of AirPods (not the AirPods Pro).

better design and sound, sweat and dust resistant, up to 6hrs play time,  MagSafe/wireless charging case, and as before no noise cancellation or transparency modes.

AirPods 2nd gen still available for $219, and $279 for new 3rd Gen.

New AirPods 3rd Gen link:

https://www.apple.com/au/airpods-3rd-generation/

Mac

1 year in to a 2 year transition.

New Macs: M1 Pro and M1 Max in either 14 or 16 inch.

M1 is still available for MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro 13 inch.

Apple has brought back the function keys bye touch strip), SD card slot, more ports, and the MagSafe power adapter. 

1080P camera.

Better studio  quality mics.

6 speaker sound supporting spacial audio.

Starting at $2999 for 14 and $3749 for 16.

Macs available 26/10/2021.

Monterey releasing Monday 26/10/2021.

New MM1 Pro and Max link:

https://www.apple.com/au/macbook-pro-14-and-16/

Aftershokz Bone Conduction Head Phones Turn 10 Years Old

I was amazed to learn that Aftershokz have actually been around for 10 years today. The first pair I had back in 2011 was the wired version, I now use the latest OpenComm, and still one of my preferred bone conduction head phones to use with my iPhone, Apple Watch or Mac.

Split Audio on the Mac

The other week we talked about how JAWS 2022 beta allows split audio between JAWS speech and say a Zoom meeting in either ear, making it easier to concentrate on either source.

As I use the Arctis Steel Series 5 Gaming Head Set, I came up with a similar solution as the head set uses 2 sound cards.

So with the volume knob in the mid position so I get equal sound from both sound cards, I set the first sound card (Arctis General) to use the left stereo channel, and the 2nd card (Arctis Chat) to use the right stereo channel. Then I simply set VoiceOver sound to Arctis general and Zoom/system sounds to use Arctis chat, and hey presto, split audio on the Mac.

Not as easy as JAWS on Windows, but it works, and of course on Windows, you don’t need a special head set.

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