Benjamin Mayo

Elgato’s smart hose attachment led the way (reviewed) with sprinkler integration in HomeKit earlier this year. Today, Rachio is announcing the first smart sprinkler controller ($229) with HomeKit integration.

After a simple set up process, users can control their sprinkler through the Home app or using their voice with Siri. You can now ask your iPhone or even your HomePod to turn on your sprinklers.

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Data reported by Bloomberg indicates that Apple is estimated to make around $218 more profit per phone on the 512 GB models of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, than the 64 GB base models. Apple charges a $350 premium for the 512 GB model, but the report claims that the jump in storage only costs Apple $132 in memory component costs.

Higher-storage options are easy ways for Apple to push the profitability of its devices and it’s a tactic the company has exploited for many years. With the 2018 line, it has pushed even further down that path.

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As Apple’s original content powers up, we have heard rumblings of the types of shows Apple is looking for. Apple is seemingly looking for television that reflects its brand, eschewing darker themes and adult content that is common to high-profile TV dramas like Game of Thrones.

There had been some murmurs that Apple was relaxing slightly, and opening up to a mixture of family-friendly and mature material. However, a new report from Wall Street Journal largely says the opposite. It says Apple wants quality content with stars and broad appeal, bbut not ‘gratuitous sex, profanity or violence’.

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The waveform in the Siri interface on Apple Watch Series 4 works differently to how Siri behaves on other devices. It now animates the waveform in sync with changes in volume, like how Siri on iPhone works. Previous watches were much cruder.

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Update: A previous version of this article described the L-shaped battery as ‘single-cell’. This is incorrect. The story has been corrected.

With iPhone XS and Apple Watch Series 4 officially launching on Friday, expect a wave of teardowns, drop tests, speed tests and such over the next few days. The first complete teardown we’ve seen is by FixjeiPhone.

They managed to get their hands on a 5.8-inch iPhone XS ahead of time, which lets us see how the internal design has advanced since the iPhone X.

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Customers all over the world are now receiving shipment alerts for their shiny new Apple product orders. We have seen shipping notifications for iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, as well as Apple Watch Series 4.

Whilst there is less hype this year for the new iPhones compared to the drastically redesigned iPhone X generation last year, it’s nevertheless exciting to see the final stepping-stones fall into place ahead of the Friday, 21 September launch.

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Whilst the exterior design of the iPhone XS is practically unchanged compared to iPhone X, the devices are not identical. Obviously, the Max is larger and will not fit any current cases. The 5.8-inch iPhone Xs situation is more murky.

Macotakara has found that the camera bump on the iPhone XS is just a tad bigger than the iPhone X, which means some existing cases are not a perfect fit.

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Apple is rolling out a change to its policies for iPhone screen repair, in a note seen by 9to5Mac (first shared with iMore). Apple is dropping the need for repair centers to use calibration hardware when conducting screen repairs for iPhone 6s and later.

Calibration is now achieved through software alone. This should make repairs faster and makes it easier for more repair locations to open up around the world, assuming Apple also loosens its relatively-stringent approval policy on setting up new repair centers.

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Apple infamously unveiled AirPower alongside the iPhone X and Apple Watch Series 3 in September 2017 with a vague ‘2018’ availability promise. In June, the product was still nowhere to be seen and Bloomberg reported on the major issues delaying the AirPower release, saying that the project had been pushed back to fall. With the September 2018 event now over, and even fewer mentions of AirPower on the Apple website, the prospects of the product being released in the last few months of 2018 are certainly bleak.

Sonny Dickson has published a report, citing Apple sources, that details three separate classes of problems that the company faced in bringing AirPower to market …

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Apple announced its flagship iPhone lineup of iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR to a generally mixed reception. Ming-Chi Kuo says that the XS preorders are ‘lackluster’, but believes in the strength of XS Max demand and the iPhone XR launch in October.

He also noted that TF Industries are raising estimates for Apple Watch Series 4, with the new models taking about 55% share, alongside the cheaper Series 3 watches.

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Earlier today, we reported that Waze has started beta testing CarPlay integration. Now, someone has posted screenshots of the Google Maps app in beta, which features CarPlay integration (a new feature available in iOS 12).

iOS 12 third-party navigation apps use a base layer that is rendered by the app, overlaid with standard CarPlay controls. You can see how that works in the screenshots below.

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iOS 12 is launching on Monday. One of the most anticipated features from our readers is support for third party navigation apps in CarPlay. If you don’t like Apple Maps, iOS 12 enables third party apps to offer navigation interfaces in the car.

Waze has now rolled out a new update with iOS 12 CarPlay integration to its private beta program. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like this update will be available next week.

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iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone XR include a new feature for NFC that Apple didn’t mention on stage. The new models will be able to scan NFC tags in the background. With current iPhones, users must first launch an app to enable NFC Reader mode.

iPhone Xs and iPhone XR require no such preamble, the user can simply walk up to a compatible NFC tag, wake the iPhone screen, and scan it …

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During the highs of BatteryGate, Apple reduced official battery repairs to $29 each through 2018, down from $79. Apple has now updated the page with details of what will happen from January 1st, 2019.

The prices are going back up, but not quite to the level that they were. Battery repairs for iPhone X, iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs will cost $69. Repairs for all older iPhones will cost $49.

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Apple has just posted its developer documentation video explaining how apps can use the new complication types for the larger Apple Watch Series 4 display. These new complications are available on the Infograph and Infograph Modular watch faces.

Both Apple and third party developers can take advantage of the new curved corner gauges, full color graphs and images in the middle of the Infograph modular watch, and the ability to show custom bezel text on nearly 180 degrees of the dial.

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With the launch of iPhone XS and iPhone XR, Apple has stopped selling the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s. Both lines are no longer available to purchase directly. The iPhone X is also no longer available through Apple, with the iPhone XS taking its place in the lineup.

Apple says these models are available at authorized resellers, with no guarantees on how long production will continue.

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