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Once the iPhone 8 debuts this fall, attention will naturally start to turn the 2018 iPhone lineup. It is well known that Apple begins designing iPhones many years ahead, which means preparations for the model after the 2017 iPhones are already underway. Nikkei’s sources suggest that Apple will launch three new iPhone models in 2018, all featuring OLED displays …
The official unveiling of the iPhone 8 is still several months away but that hasn’t stopped the Chinese manufacturers from producing their usual clone hardware in advance.
EverythingApplePro got his hands on one of the ‘working’ clones which have surfaced online in the last couple of weeks, and it really doesn’t take much to notice how bad they really are. Video of the device in action after the jump …
Apple suppliers are apparently facing issues with production of the new storage chips destined for the 2017 iPhone series, the all-new-design iPhone 8 and the iterative iPhone 7s devices (which will look similar to the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, but with glass backs).
The Digitimes report claims that SK Hynix and Toshiba have fallen short of production by as much as 30% due to poor yields of the 3D NAND chips. Apple has apparently turned to Samsung to pick up the shortfall …
Apple is currently facing a legal battle with the EU over an August ruling that the company must pay €13 billion in ‘illegal tax benefits’. Whilst Ireland has said Apple owes no additional tax, the EU believes the Apple-Irish arrangement was unlawful.
Reuters is reporting that the US government are now intervening in the appeal process …
KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo has sent out a new report with his top predictions for the 2017 iPhone lineup: two iterative updates to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, as well as the all-new OLED iPhone 8. The analyst believes that the iPhone 8 will feature the highest screen-to-body ratio of any phone on the market, thanks to the addition of the ‘notch’ at the top of the screen and a virtual home button.
However, KGI dampens spirits by stating that the virtual home button will not support fingerprint recognition, and that the OLED iPhone will not include a Touch ID sensor of any kind …
Whilst iOS 11 includes a lot of new stuff to enjoy, there are also a few features that have been left behind. One such example is a lesser-known 3D Touch gesture that enabled faster access to the iPhone app switcher and a quick shortcut to move back to the previous app. Both of these elements are no longer present in iOS 11 and a bug report confirms that this was an intentional removal …
Apple’s new 10.5-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro features the latest iteration in Apple’s processor and GPU design, packaged into the A10X SoC. Apple’s website touts 30-40% performance improvements over the previous iPad chip, the A9X.
TechInsights has analyzed the chip and confirmed that the SoC is fabricated using a 10 nanometer process, whereas the A10 and A9X use 16mm processes. This results in a high-performance chip that is also the smallest iPad SoC die size to date …
Apple’s highly anticipated 2017 iPhone cycle is a matter of months away, and the supply chain reports are rolling in as production ramps up. The iPhone 8 is expected to be a major upgrade with a new bezel-less design, stainless steel and glass chassis, and an 5.8-inch OLED display.
There are always stories about iPhone delays, although this year it feels like we have had more than ever. A new report from Digitimes blames OLED panel supply as the latest bottleneck in the production process …
Apple’s unveiling of the HomePod at WWDC was little more than a preview, as the company remains tight-lipped on exactly how the Siri voice assistant will work on the device. Whilst the HomePod isn’t shipping until the end of the year, Amazon is launching its latest addition to the Alexa home AI product range later this week.
The $230 Echo Show launches on Wednesday, featuring a 7-inch touchscreen. The company posted a series of videos (watch after the jump) giving a first look at the UI in action, to show how the Alexa assistant will utilize the screen to display relevant information and respond to voice queries …
A fascinating report from The Outline shares highlights from an internal presentation about Apple’s efforts to increase product secrecy; a leak of an internal meeting about leaks. The briefing apparently described how Apple security teams prevent information from ‘leaking to competitors, counterfeiters and press.’
One of the most interesting tidbits is that Apple believes there are now more leaks coming from its employees on campus than the supply chain. In 2016, Apple reportedly leaked 4 housings out of 65 million produced in factories …
The book claiming to explore the secret history of the iPhone, The One Device, is now on sale in physical form ($19 at Amazon). You can also buy the digital ebook on Kindle and iBooks (international availability varies).
Authored by Brian Merchant, the book promises to detail the ‘untold account’ of how the iPhone was made. It features anecdotes from ex-Apple executives and top employees about the development of the secret project, as well as an ‘undercover’ trip to Foxconn and more. Early reviews of ‘The One Device’ are mixed …
Apple has hired two top Sony Television executives Jamie Ehrlicht and Zack Van Amburg, to take up new positions as co-heads of video programming worldwide for Apple. The company announced the hirings in a press release.
The execs oversaw blockbuster TV shows including Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and The Crown. It seems like Apple is now taking original content production seriously.
There’s a lot to love in Apple’s new iPad Pro lineup; faster chips, 120hz ProMotion display and slimmer side bezels on the 10.5-inch model. They also debut some really pretty new wallpapers. Each iPad Pro box features a picture of the tablet showing a wallpaper; a different one for Space Gray, Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold models.
Unfortunately, these really nice looking wallpapers aren’t available on iOS 11 yet (and many early adopter iPad users are running the beta to take advantage of the new multitasking features) and the elusive Silver wallpaper is not included in the iPad firmware at all. We’ve sourced all four of them and have links below if you want to download the background to match the packaging …
A well-known Apple supplier, Largan Precision, has announced that it is shipping 3D depth-sensing lenses in the second half of 2017 (via Nikkei). Although it didn’t identify brands by name, industry experts believe that these camera components are for the iPhone 8.
The special sensors will enable face recognition functionality, allowing users of the high-end iPhone to unlock their device just by looking at the screen. Largan already supplies most of the rear camera lenses used in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
The App Review guidelines were updated this week to accommodate App Store policy changes and new rules for usage of frameworks introduced in iOS 11, like MusicKit.
One change is the addition of section 1.1.7. This new paragraph requires developers to use the official in-app rating UI added in iOS 10.3 and states that they ‘will disallow custom review prompts’ going forward …
Apple suppliers are reportedly mass producing components for the upcoming next-generation 2017 iPhones, via Digitimes. Corroborating the consensus rumors, Apple will introduce two ‘iPhone 7s’ phones, iterative updates to the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 7 models with a ‘reinforced glass’ chassis and aluminium frame.
Apple will also debut a major redesign ‘iPhone 8’ with 5.8-inch AMOLED display, metal frame (believed to be stainless steel) and the same reinforced glass chassis. Samsung will apparently supply 80 million panels for the iPhone 8 in 2017 alone.
With watchOS 4, Apple is offering an alternative to the honeycomb screen used to display your Apple Watch apps. The honeycomb view lays out the circular watch app icons in a hexagonal grid with a focus on the middle of the display, and a miniature clock in the center.
The honeycomb design is not universally beloved, but it has been the only option for Apple Watch users to date. With watchOS 4, Apple is adding list mode which sorts apps into an alphabetical scrolling view. Here’s how to enable it …
iOS 11 includes many automatic features regarding first-time setup and account login. This extends to WiFi networks too. If a friend comes over with an iPhone running iOS 11, you can automatically log them in to your WiFi in one tap.
The UI looks like the AirPods pairing process. When the WiFi password screen pops up on the new device, other nearby iOS devices that are already on the network will try to help …
Apple has doubled the storage of its most expensive iCloud storage plan from 1 TB to 2 TB, retaining the same $9.99 per month price point. The old 1 TB plan is no longer available, so Apple still offers a total of three paid iCloud storage plans.
The company has also announced that multiple users will be able to share a single iCloud storage plan with Family Sharing in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra.
As Apple warned users with iOS 10.3, iOS 11 officially drops support for 32-bit applications. Any 32-bit app will refuse to launch and instead show an alert pressuring the developer to release a 64-bit update. Older iPhones and iPads with 32-bit CPUs cannot update to iOS 11 at all.
Apple has also started the transition for macOS to drop 32-bit support. It will require new apps and updates submitted to the Mac App Store to support 64-bit apps in 2018 …
As expected, Apple has unveiled a brand new iPad Pro with a 10.5-inch with narrower bezels. The side bezels are 40% smaller, and the screen can display a full size keyboard. Apple is also launching an update to the 12.9-inch iPad with both running on an A10X Fusion chip.
New iPad Pros include a 50% brighter True Tone display and ‘ProMotion’ technology which increases refresh rates up to 120Hz. This means the display is buttery smooth and Apple Pencil drawing is even better.
Tim Cook announced at WWDC 2017 that Amazon Prime Video will come to tvOS and Apple TV later this summer. Amazon’s video service was previously rumored to be announced at this event. Amazon Prime TV will integrate with the TV app.
The company did not announce tvOS 11, with Tim Cook simply teasing that more details about TV will come later this year.
It’s WWDC day and it’s expected to be a big one. Apple is set to announce new versions of its software platforms, iOS 11, macOS 10.13, tvOS 11 and watchOS 4.
We are also expecting new Mac hardware, a 10.5-inch iPad Pro and the unveiling of a ‘Siri Speaker’ home voice assistant. There will probably be other surprises as well. The keynote kicks off at 10 AM PT — 9to5Mac will be covering the whole thing live.
Follow along below for our live blog of the WWDC 2017 keynote, news links, and coverage of all the announcements …
The Apple Store is down! We are expecting Apple to launch a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro and refreshed MacBooks later today at WWDC 2017; the event kicks off at 10 AM PT.
Although WWDC is focused on software announcements, this year we are expecting a couple hardware surprises. The new iPad Pro form factor will no doubt be demoed alongside the new iPad features in iOS 11. Here’s what we think is coming …