Follow Benjamin on Threads to keep up with his latest projects. Benjamin blogs about Apple news and rumors and posts insightful product and app reviews. Read his work on 9to5Mac and his personal blog.
Benjamin Mayo also creates apps for iOS as a professional indie developer and contractor; more details here. Email to discuss making your iOS project.
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Apple has posted a new support article that gives some insight into how the 2018 iPad Pro is manufactured, clearly as a follow up to the reports of customers receiving bent iPad units in the runup to Christmas.
It says slight bends may be more visible to the eye due to the new straight edge design, and reiterates that Apple specifies 400 micron flatness tolerances — and anything outside of that range should qualify for warranty repair/replacement.
Larry Kudlow, financial analyst and economic advisor to the Donald Trump administration as head of the National Economic Council, today said that ‘Apple technology may have been picked off by China’ (via CNBC).
Although he qualifies his statements with no assertions of surety, Kudlow indicates that Apple trade secrets may have been stolen to help China’s domestic smartphone manufacturers catch up.
Apple exited 2018 with major iPad upgrades for the Pro market, with the radically redesigned iPad Pro lineup. Assuming it sticks to its normal schedule, we will see a successor to the $329 iPad in the spring. Apple’s earnings reports have shown that this model is by far the most popular iPad, the de-facto mainstream choice.
The rumor mill is starting to spin up for the forthcoming product season, and it seems to suggest that the $329 iPad is changing substantially, partly thanks to the return of the iPad mini …
Here’s an interesting little wriggle: Apple rushed out iOS 12.1.2 for iPhone users at the end of last year. However, it did not release a corresponding update for the iPad. This means that the rush of new iPad owners over the Christmas season hit a problem: they simply cannot restore iOS 12.1.2 iPhone backups to the iPad.
It feels like Apple is embroiled in battles from all sides at the moment. As well as managing expectations following a dramatic cut to revenue guidance earlier this week, Apple is also tied up with court battles around the world with Qualcomm.
Today, Qualcomm formally enforced the iPhone ban in Germany by posting a $1.6 billion bond. If the appeal rules in Apple’s favor, this fund will compensate Apple for lost sales. In China, Qualcomm continues to argue that Apple is flouting the court’s ruling as it continues to sell iPhones in China.
Apple has announced that it will report earnings for the holiday period, and its next quarterly earnings call, on January 29. The announcement follows a major press release where Apple said it expects to miss its initial revenue guidance by about 8%.
As the new year begins in Pacific Time, where Apple’s Cupertino headquarters are based, the AirPower charging mat has officially missed its 2018 release window.
The charging mat promised to charge iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods on a single compact mat with flexibility on where devices can be placed. However, the product has been rumored to have faced internal development challenges as late as this past summer, which prevented Apple from bringing the product to market as smoothly as it expected.
Now that you have got your hands on a shiny new iPhone XR or iPhone XS for the holidays, you may be noticing that the phone charges slowly compared to the iPhone you upgraded from, like an iPhone 6 or 6s. Buy a new charger to solve your problem. Here’s why …
Apple’s truly wireless earbuds AirPods seemingly won Christmas this holiday season, in more ways than one. Worldwide, customers were faced with stock shortages in the run-up to the holidays with AirPods demand so strong. They are believed to be one of, if not number one, item on people’s gifting wish lists.
Despite first launching in late 2016, Apple also managed to capture the attention of social media with a flurry of AirPods memes springing up. In fact, ‘AirPods for Christmas’ ended up being a trending topic on Twitter on December 25 ….
Apple is set to launch a new iPad mini and a revised form factor entry-level iPad, according to China Times. The iPad mini has not received an update since the fourth-generation model debuted in 2015, which Apple continues to sell in 128 GB configurations.
For the 2018 revision, Apple’s $329 iPad featured no physical appearance changes, focusing on a new processor and support for the Apple Pencil stylus. For 2019, it will apparently be receiving industrial design updates to accommodate a slightly larger 10-inch display …
Apple has today launched a iPhone XS and iPhone XR trade-in promotion offer in China, including a prominent banner on the Chinese version of Apple.com’s homepage. The deal is similar to what we have seen Apple aggressively promote in the United States.
The boosted trade in values mean that a Chinese customer can pick up an iPhone XR for 4,399 RMB ($640), or iPhone XS for 6599 RMB ($960), when trading in an iPhone 7 Plus. Unlike the US, customers must visit a Chinese Apple retail store to take advantage of the offer.
Update: The deal is also live in the UK, Australia, Canada and other regions.
Qualcomm has secured another court victory over Apple this week, this time in Germany. A court has ruled that some iPhone models, featuring Intel modems, violate a Qualcomm patent.
The court said that infringing iPhone models could no longer be sold in Germany, however the ban will not go into effect if Apple appeals. Apple is appealing the decision and is pulling iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 from store shelves in the meantime …
For the first time, Apple is endorsing an add-on accessory for AirPods: a new set of protective AirPods cases from Catalyst. The cases are waterproof rated up to 1 meter and offer protection against drops. They also feature a carabiner to clip the AirPods case onto your clothing.
It’s a weird proposition for the first AirPods accessory to be stocked in Apple retail, given that the Catalyst case is only useful when you are not using the earbuds themselves.
We exclusively revealed the existence of the iPhone XS Smart Battery Case earlier this month, with assets present in iOS builds. The website Appleosophy has spotted another occurrence in Apple’s fall merchandising guidelines for resellers. 9to5Mac has confirmed the findings as legitimate.
The photos are part of a document that tells resellers how to present Apple silicone and leather cases for the fall 2018 season. Undeniable images of a XS Smart Battery Case are present in the cells for ‘black leather XS Max’ and ‘black leather XS’.
After a long wait, Channel 4’s on demand service is finally available for Apple TV. This means the last major UK TV channel is now officially onboard with Apple’s set-top box.
Apple Books has published six exclusive audiobooks this week, showcasing six great first listen titles read by celebrity narrators. The books themselves are all public domain works from Pride and Prejudice to Winnie the Pooh, recorded by Apple and released in the Book Store for free.
The modern world of life is simple. People that use technology spend a lot of time at their desks. As both a developer and writer, I am in front of my MacBook Pro for tens of hours a week.
Here’s some tech picks that can complement your own desk life, and they make great gifts for others too.
Read on for a breakdown of my picks: HomePod, the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock, LIFX Z Light Strip, Fermata headphone stand and the JOBY iPhone Tripod Mount. Treat yourself (or a friend) …
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has significantly reduced his forecast for iPhone unit shipments in the upcoming quarters. In a new report today, Kuo says that lower demand for iPhone XR means he sees iPhone sales falling year-over-year significantly.
For calendar Q1 2019, Kuo predicts sales in the 38-42 million range (down from 50 million in the year-ago quarter for 2018). Kuo also sees significantly lower iPhone sales for 2019 compared to current consensus estimates …
Apple may shift a larger portion of iPhone production to Pegatron, in order to comply with the iPhone sales ban injunction announced by a Chinese court on Monday. According to a report from Nikkei, iPhones assembled by Foxconn and Wistron are in infringement of Qualcomm patents … but Pegatron-produced iPhones are not (Qualcomm confirmed Pegatron is exempt).
Pegatron has a patent licensing agreement in place with Qualcomm that covers the two patents at the center of the ban. Apple believes that if its hand is forced, it can (at least partially) substitute Foxconn and Wistron assembly with Pegatron.
Apple today announced plans to build a new campus in North Austin, representing a $1 billion investment. It will also add thousands of new jobs across the United States by 2023, with new offices set up in Seattle, San Diego, and Culver City.
Apple also announced plans to expand its presence in Pittsburgh, New York, and Colorado.
Apple is currently embroiled in a wide-ranging legal battle with Qualcomm over patents and royalties. Earlier this week, Qualcomm got an injunction on iPhone sales in China but iPhones remain available for sale …
As reported by Bloomberg, Apple is set to relaunch its Texture acquisition as a paid news and magazine subscription service, likely built into the Apple News app, as soon as spring 2019.
Just like Apple Music, subscribers would pay a single monthly fee to Apple to unlock access to the library. However, the report notes that publishers are concerned that revenues from the Apple service may not be able to match what they could get on their own, in addition to ceding customer control to Apple.
Apple is currently sending out emails to Apple Music subscribers with promo codes to buy a brand new HomePod with a significant discount. So far, UK customers are receiving codes worth £50, bringing the price of a HomePod down to £269 direct from Apple.
A £50 discount beats average eBay prices. Some third-party outlets are selling HomePod as low as $250 and we’re seeing it for even less at 9to5Toys, so the deal isn’t unprecedented, but represents a significant discount from Apple itself. It’s not yet clear if Apple will also be sending out these emails to other regions like the US.
iOS 12.1.1 added Haptic Touch support for notification previews on iPhone XR. It also added a new menu in Accessibility settings that lets you change the Haptic Touch settings …