iOS Devices

Apple has had a busy year for product launches. In addition to the Apple Watch going on sale as a whole new product category, there was the 12-inch MacBook and iPad Pro, each representing quite a radical new take on an existing product category.

But Apple also made some notable improvements to existing lines. The iMac got a 4K and 5K display; the Retina MacBook Pro got Force Touch; and the Apple TV got opened up to a whole new range of software.

We also saw a new iPad mini which was essentially a smaller iPad Air 2, and a refreshed MacBook Air with Broadwell CPU and faster graphics.

Additionally, Apple launched five new peripherals – the Apple Pencil, Smart Keyboard, Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad 2, Magic Mouse 2 – and we have a separate poll for those.

So it’s time to ask you to name your Apple Product of the Year and Apple Peripheral of the Year … 
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As promised by Eddy Cue earlier in the year, Apple has now raised the limits on iTunes Match and Apple Music library for matched songs from 25,000 to 100,000 songs.

Cue had previously announced on Twitter that Apple was aiming for 100k for iOS 9 and just in time for the holidays, that promise has been fulfilled. This means users with larger music libraries can now enjoy the benefits of matching songs in the iTunes Cloud to make them available on all their devices. Matching songs gives another option for people who cannot afford the more expensive 64 GB and 128 GB iPhone models by offloading local music storage to the cloud.

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IBM has today unveiled their first public effort towards Swift, with the introduction of the IBM Swift Sandbox website. You can type lines of Swift code into the text editor on the left and then run the code on a Linux server, posting the output in the right column. This is all made possible by the fact that Swift is now open source, supporting Linux alongside iOS and OS X.

You can use the core Swift language as well as the standard library functions, so writing a formulaic mathematical problem (like the Fibonacci example above) is well within the scope of the web application. The concept is similar to the CodeRunner app from the Mac App Store, except it runs entirely off a cloud infrastructure.

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The new Apple TV launched in October after a three year chasm of silence stagnating with outdated hardware. According to Digitimes, Apple is upping the pace of its Apple TV hardware iterations. The Chinese report indicates that Apple is preparing to start test production of a new fifth-generation Apple TV in early 2016. The new device would apparently feature significantly faster internals to ‘drastically improve the hardware performance’ and ‘add new functions’.

Coupled with the usual disclaimers about Digitimes’ spotty track record, the report is very vague on exactly what ‘new functions’ a new Apple TV could offer. The Digitimes report implies a launch within six months of the current generation’s debut. This may upset buyers of the 4th generation product but Apple has done stuff like this before (remember the iPad 3 -> iPad 4 six month gap).

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Almost five years after Samsung was found guilty of infringing Apple patents, and some four trials later, the two companies have agreed to settle out of court for $548M. Samsung says that if Apple submits an invoice for this amount by the weekend, it will be paid within ten days, reports FOSS Patents.

As you may recall, Apple was initially awarded $1B in damages, then $450M of it was overturned and replaced with $290M, for a new total of $930M. The U.S. appeals court later decided that was still too high, and a new trial was set to take place next year unless the parties could reach a settlement in the meantime. That settlement has now been reached, but there’s a catch … 
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Apple today has shared yet another new iPhone 6s ad focusing on the device’s always-lisnteing “Hey Siri” feature. Earlier this week, Apple debuted two new advertisements for the iPhone 6s, one focused on the device’s improved performance and another on “Hey Siri.” This ad stars highly acclaimed director Jon Favreau and showcases the iPhone 6s being used on a film set.

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(Photo by Ryan Emberley/Invision for Apple/AP Images)

A month after rolling out carrier billing for iTunes and App Store content with German carrier O2, CNBC reports Apple is expanding the initiative with a similar service in Russia.
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The carrier wars in the US are heating up as we head further into the winter, and that’s generally good news for consumers. Verizon is currently adding 2GB of data for new and current subscribers that upgrade to certain plans over the next few weeks. T-Mobile is targeting switchers by offering AT&T subscribers that jump carriers the chance to buy the 128GB iPhone 6s at the price of the 16GB model and save as much as $125 on financed accessories including Beats headphones and the Apple Watch. Read on for details…
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As promised earlier in the year, Apple’s Swift team has now posted source code for the Swift compiler and standard library functions and objects. Open-sourcing Swift is a big win for the developer community as it means Swift can now be setup to run on a server and many other use cases, bringing Apple programming talent and expertise beyond ‘just’ making apps iOS devices and Macs.

Making Swift open-source also gives the developer community as a whole more confidence in the language. Theoretically, if Apple ever decided to move away from Swift (which is unlikely), the language could be picked up by others and continue development and existing codebases could continue to be supported.

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KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a good track record on what if not when, says that Apple’s new 4-inch iPhone will “resemble an upgraded iPhone 5s,” but will get some new internals. Externally, he suggests the main visible difference will be similar curved-edge glass to the iPhone 6/6s.

Beneath the hood, he says the phone – expected to be dubbed the iPhone 6c – will get an A9 processor and NFC chip to support Apple Pay. The camera will, however, be identical to that in the 5s. Kuo’s investment note also supports recent reports that the 6c will get a metal case, stating that it will be available in at least 2-3 colors.

Kuo expects the phone to hit in the first quarter of next year, but does think that it may generate relatively modest sales … 
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Although faster, cheaper solid state drives (SSDs) are winning marketshare and mindshare, makers of traditional hard disks are still working to squeeze more storage capacity inside standard 1-inch hard drive enclosures. HGST — known for its excellent G-Technology-branded G-Drives — today announced the Ultrastar He10, a 3.5-inch conventional hard drive with a staggering 10TB of storage space. But “conventional” might be the wrong word, as the drive manages to fit seven platters inside its hermetically-sealed enclosure, which is filled with helium rather than air, hence the “He” name. Measuring 1″ thick, it’s capable of fitting inside even the latest, thinnest Retina iMacs, as well as conventional external hard drive enclosures…

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As you may know from my prior opinion piece on the iPad Pro, I was on the fence about keeping Apple’s new 12.9″ tablet. One of our editors has loved his Pro since day one, another returned his after a week of testing, and a third effectively consigned his to Netflix duty. Up until the Pro came out, I was a very satisfied iPad Air 2 user, so I didn’t feel like I needed a bigger device.

But after three weeks with my iPad Pro, several things have changed my mind, and I’m officially a happy convert to the larger tablet. Moreover, I have no intention of going back to the smaller iPad Air or iPad mini form factors any time soon. Here are the five things that made a big difference to me…

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Apple has consistently worked at making the iPhone ever slimmer, and has been willing to make compromises to achieve that, most notably in battery-life. But with the iPhone 6 and 6s, it is close to the limit on how slim an iPhone can be – and the reason for that is the oldest piece of tech in the phone. The iPhone 6/6s is not very much thicker than the diameter of the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The latest iPod touch shows that Apple has a little more room for manoeuvre (above photo Anandtech, below iFixit).

But really not much. If Apple wants to continue the iPhone’s diet, at some point very soon it’s going to have to ditch the 3.5mm headphone socket in favor of an alternative. There are four possible options open to it … 
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United Airlines announced today that it will deploy some 6,000 iPhone 6 Plus smartphones to its customer service representatives based in the United States. United, which is the largest airline in the world based on locations served, says the iPhone 6 Plus will mobilize important services and allow staff to print customer boarding passes and baggage tags throughout airports.
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Market intelligence company IDC predicts that the worldwide tablet market will continue to decline, with the category as a whole falling 8.1% over the course of this year, but sees potential good news for Apple in 2016. It says that the ‘detachables’ segment – tablets with detachable keyboards – will nearly double in size next year, and that Apple is likely to be a key beneficiary.

“The transition to detachable tablets also ushers in two other key trends: the growth of Windows and a turnaround for Apple’s iPad device line,” said Jitesh Ubrani , Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. “Though early reviews for the iPad Pro have been mixed, we believe the Pro to be the only reason for Apple to gain tablet market share in the coming years as they target select enterprise and prosumer audiences.”

However, it notes that Apple’s growth may be limited and temporary as Windows tablets and detachables experience dramatic growth … 
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A Chinese report (via GforGames) citing “Foxconn insiders” and other unnamed sources claims that the iPhone 6c, Apple’s rumored 4-inch entry-level phone to replace the 5c, is due to be announced by Apple in January and go on sale in February.

Apple may have used the term “unapologetically plastic” to describe the iPhone 5c, but the latest report about its 6c successor repeats earlier rumors that Apple will be switching to metal this time around.

There have been mixed rumors on the spec of the iPhone 6c … 
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Apple today has debuted two new TV ads for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. These ads come just a week after the company unveiled its new holiday ad featuring Stevie Wonder and Andra Day. The two new iPhone ads are entitled “Hey Siri” and “Ridiculously Powerful,” and focus on exactly what you would expect them to.

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There’s no need to go straight to stuffing your stockings with socks and other go-to but boring gifts. If you have an Apple lover on your list, there are a ton of great must-haves for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch users that can be had for under $10, $25, or $50. And if you’d rather let them decide, stick with a gift card that any Apple product user can take advantage of from places like iTunes and Amazon.

Head below for our roundup of the best stocking stuffers for Apple lovers at every price point:
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While Apple’s Christmas ad brought Stevie Wonder and Andra Day together this year for a warm performance of ‘Someday at Christmas’, Microsoft decided to take to the cold streets of New York City this year for their holiday commercial … right in front of the iconic 5th Avenue Apple Store. Taking a rather cheeky approach to celebrating the season while naming the competition, Microsoft Store employees from a nearby location traveled down the block to sing ‘Peace on Earth’ to “some old friends” decked in red shirts … Apple Store employees.
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