The Tech Media Minute: New MacBook Pros, iPhone 6s Beats Samsung Galaxy S7

Big changes are coming to MacBook Pro, finally

It looks like Apple is going to significantly refresh its MacBook lineup this fall.

According to Bloomberg, “the updated notebooks will be thinner, include a touch screen strip for function keys, and will be offered with more powerful and efficient graphics processors for expert users such as video gamers, said the people, who asked not to be named.”

The report notes that the new MacBook Pros won’t arrive at next month’s “iPhone 7” event, but later in the year.

This is great news, but it certainly doesn’t go far enough. As I noted last week, every product in the Mac lineup needs updating. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about Apple’s plans for the iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro soon.

Apple, not Samsung, led U.S. smartphone market last quarter

In the second quarter of 2016, sales of the iPhone 6s/6s Plus bested the newly released Samsung Galaxy S7 in the United States, according to a new Kantar Media survey (via Patently Apple).

According to Lauren Guenveur, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar, “Combined sales of the iPhone 6s/6s Plus totalled 15.1%, making this the top selling device in the quarter, while the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 edge accounted for 14.1% of smartphone sales. The iPhone SE became the third best-selling phone at 5.1%, contributing to the overall growth of iOS during the period.”

The Samsung Galaxy S7 launched in March. The next-generation iPhone is expected to arrive early next month.

Google Chrome is planning to kill Adobe Flash

Come December, it’s going to be almost impossible to use Adobe Flash on Google Chrome, according to the team behind the web browser.

Starting in September, Chrome 53 will begin to block the software. In December, Chrome 55 will make HTML5 the default experience, except for sites which only support Flash.

In words Steve Jobs would have loved, the Google Chrome team notes:

Today, sites typically use technologies like HTML5, giving you improved security, reduced power consumption and faster page load times. Going forward, Chrome will de-emphasize Flash in favor of HTML5.

In April 2010, the late Apple CEO concluded that Adobe Flash would never be available on iOS devices such as the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad. Instead, he pushed for HTML5, which he called “completely open and controlled by a standards committee.” Since then, most of the technology industry has been moving in that direction too.

We all like winning, but inevitably that streak comes to an end. For those times, the hastag #IWasWinningUntil is appropriate.

Also trending:

• #WednesdayWisdom
• #NationalSmoresDay
• #MillennialSoapOperas
• #27Daybreak
• #QuitYourJobIn5Words
• Save Draft
• #NationalLazyDay
• #WorldLionDay
• Dan Rather

Today, Aug. 10 is Lazy Day and National S’mores Day.

Openstacks Days concludes in Mountain View, California.

Rewind: On this day in 1948, Allen Funt’s “Smile, You’re on Candid Camera” debuted. Back on this day in 1833, the village of Chicago, Illinois was incorporated.

We’ve looked around the web and found these other stories worth considering:

• Vulnerability Exposes 900M Android Devices—and Fixing Them Won’t Be Easy, Wired
• Mossberg: The 9.7-inch iPad Pro might be your lightest laptop, thanks to Logitech, The Verge
• NBCUniversal Hopes Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat Help Goose Olympics Ratings, AdWeek