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Benjamin Mayo

bzamayo

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.

on Twitter and follow @bzamayo on Threads.

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Apple COO Jeff Williams met with Foxconn CEO today ahead of iPhone X launch

As previously rumored, Economic Daily News today reports that Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams had a meeting with Foxconn CEO and chairman Terry Gou in Taipei.

‘Market participants’ familiar with the matter would not disclose details of what was discussed but we would expect production of iPhone X to be a key topic. On Friday, KGI said just 2-3 million iPhone X would be ready to deliver to customers at launch.


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KGI: About 3 million iPhone X units will be available for launch, production improving in November

With iPhone 8 now on sale, all eyes are on the upcoming iPhone X. A morning report from KGI reiterates production issues we’ve been hearing about the iPhone X, indicating that only 2-3 million units will be shipped for sale before the launch on November 3rd (preorders open a week from today).

KGI points to supply shortages for several components including circuit boards for the iPhone X antenna and wide angle camera, and the depth-sensing Infrared dot projector.


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Apple and GE announce partnership to make ‘industrial’ apps for iPhone and iPad

Apple and GE (General Electric) today announced a new partnership to build enterprise ‘industrial’ apps for the iOS platform. This includes a new development SDK focused on the Internet of Things.

Tim Cook said GE is an “ideal partner with a rich history of innovation”. GE will make apps for itself and its business clients, and deploy iPhones and iPad as standard across the organization.


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Report: 3D sensor production struggles continue, iPhone X yield estimated at 400K/week

Nikkei is repeating claims of iPhone X production delays first reported last month; suppliers are apparently still struggling with ramping up yields.

Today’s report specifically pinpoints the 3D sensor components, which Apple calls the TrueDepth camera system, as the bottleneck. The news comes as an independent analyst claims iPhone X production is now at 400K a week.


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Apple still offers an iTunes version with App Store, Ringtones and other features removed in ‘focused’ iTunes 12.7

For people mourning the loss of a desktop iTunes client to store their app library or check the best-selling app charts, there is some hope. It has been noticed on Reddit that Apple offers a special version of iTunes, iTunes 12.6.3, which retains the features that were abruptly removed in iTunes 12.7.

Apple positions this build as necessary for some businesses performing internal app deployments but it is available to download by anyone.


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Apple releases supplemental update for macOS High Sierra with various bug fixes

Apple has released a supplemental update for macOS High Sierra incorporating various bug fixes for Macs. Apple says it improves ‘installer robustness’, fixes a graphical problem with Adobe InDesign and addresses an issue with mail not sending from Yahoo accounts.

To update, open the Mac App Store and navigate to the Updates tab on a machine running macOS High Sierra.


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Tips and Tricks: Ten Safari long-press shortcuts for iPhone and iPad

Safari for iPhone and iPad is an incredibly capable mobile web browser despite its simple, straightforward user interface. It is the browser of choice on iOS — in large part because it is the one pre-installed — but very few people know everything you can do with Safari.

Much of Safari’s advanced functionality is hidden behind ‘secret’ long-press gestures that you can’t really know about unless you try randomly … or someone tells you. We’ve rounded up all the Safari long press tips and tricks below, so you can take advantage of all the different shortcuts and features it offers.


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Apple SVP Bruce Sewell interview details clash with Qualcomm over iPhone patent royalties

A new report from Bloomberg goes into detail about how relations between Apple and Qualcomm soured so quickly, after years of collaboration, featuring quotes from Qualcomm executives and excerpts from a new interview with Apple SVP Bruce Sewell.

Sewell points out that the Qualcomm modem inside an iPhone costs Apple about $18. In addition, Apple has to pay 5 percent of the phone’s sale price. It is that royalty that Apple deems exorbitant and unfair.


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European Commission is taking Ireland to court as Apple’s $15bn tax dispute continues

In August last year, the European Commission ruled that Ireland must recover 13 billion euros ($15bn) in unpaid taxes from Apple, ruling the ‘special deal’ illegal. Both Apple and Ireland are appealing the rulings although Ireland did say it would collect the money begrudgingly in the meantime.

Apparently. that didn’t happen. Today, the Commission said that Ireland has still not received the money from Apple and is now taking legal action to pursue.


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Apple releases iOS 11.0.2 for iPhone and iPad, including crackling audio fix for iPhone 8

Apple has just released iOS 11.0.2 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. This marks the second bug fix update since iOS 11 launched in September. The build number is 15A421.

It looks to be another round of bug fixes and performance improvements, including a fix for crackly audio during phone calls on iPhone 8, a bug that caused some photos not to show up in user’s libraries and resolves an issue relating to attachments in encrypted email …


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Apple says iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 do not contain FM radio chips or antennas, in response to FCC request

Apple has issued its first public response to growing pressure by the FCC and other groups to activate FM terrestrial radio features inside iPhones for end-users. In a statement, the company said it cares deeply about the safety of its users and directed users towards its emergency calling and Medical ID features.

https://twitter.com/pschiller/status/913527252654088192

It also revealed that is technically impossible for iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 to serve as an FM radio anyway, as they lack chips and antennas to support the signal.


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New betas show off iPhone X lock screen and home screen experience

The new Xcode 9.1 beta has also been released by Apple today with support for the new operating system updates: iOS 11.1, watchOS 4.1 and tvOS 11.1. It also includes a more fully-fledged iPhone X simulator, which demonstrates the new lock screen and home screen experiences.

There are also some onboarding videos, for things like activating Siri or revealing Control Center, which will be shown to iPhone X users upon setup …


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KGI: Initial iPhone 8 sales were not ‘weak’, stable demand at carriers

A new report from KGI rebuts some of the industry pessimism around the launch of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. Although it is true that lines were shorter than the usual blockbuster iPhone release, KGI says that opening weekend sales were about half that of last year’s.

Given that many early adopters are waiting for the iPhone X, 50% sales volume is inline with expectations. KGI says they are seeing stable demand from carrier sales.


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Apple TV listing appears on Amazon ahead of Prime Video app release [update: gone!]

Update: Amazon has pulled the Apple TV page off their site. Hopefully, it will launch for real sometime soon! Original story below.

The Apple TV is listed again on Amazon and whilst it isn’t in stock just yet, it does suggest that the Amazon Prime app for Apple TV is imminent.

Amazon pulled the Apple TV from its site as it won’t sell media players that don’t support Prime. Tim Cook announced back in June that Amazon would release an Amazon Prime Video app for Apple TV later this year …


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Apple TV 4K teardown shows off internal fan and new thermal vents [Video]

The new Apple TV packs a lot more power than the previous generation, featuring an A10X Fusion chip to power 4K video playback and rich 3D App Store games.

iFixit have got their hands on one of the new pucks and their teardown shows how Apple managed to achieve this substantial increase in performance: a large internal fan and eight vents to disperse heat …


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macOS High Sierra now available to download, featuring APFS, Photos updates, Safari 11, more

Apple has just released this year’s major update to its desktop operating system, macOS High Sierra. This rounds out the big Apple software releases for 2017 after iOS 11, tvOS 11 and watchOS 4 launched last week.

High Sierra includes the brand new Apple File System for Macs with SSDs, significant updates to the Photos app’s interface and editing tools, Safari 11, iCloud file sharing, various under-the-hood architecture improvements and more. Read on for a walkthrough of what’s new in macOS 10.13 …


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KGI: Preorder demand for iPhone X could top 50 million units, supply constraints through spring 2018

AAPL stock is down slightly today due to a report from Digitimes that Apple has asked suppliers to slow down delivery of iPhone X components, and investor fears that iPhone 8 demand is weak.

On the other side of the spectrum, KGI today says that iPhone X demand could reach 40-50 million units due to strong interest …


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