iOS Devices

Sprint is today officially announcing pricing for the new iPhone 6s lineup through its iPhone Forever upgrade program and in the process attempting to combat T-Mobile’s special introductory pricing announced earlier this week. Like T-Mobile’s $20/month offer on the new entry-level iPhone 6s, Sprint is offering a similar deal with $15/month for upgrade customers and $22/mo (or $26/mo for 6s Plus) for new iPhone Forever customers. Here’s how it works:
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The iOS 9 GM includes a new feature for Siri to help it better recognize your voice when using the automatic ‘Hey Siri’ activation feature. On all current iPhones, you can activate Siri by saying ‘Hey Siri’ when the device is plugged in to power. On the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the ‘Hey Siri’ activation feature works all the time, plugged in or not, thanks to new dedicated components inside the latest iPhones meaning it can be ‘always on’.

This makes the addition of voice training particularly relevant. In previous OS versions, Hey Siri would just work if you toggled a switch in Settings. With the GM, the OS now prompts you to go through a few training exercises before the feature will be enabled. Some readers have claimed that this feature is like Voice ID, so that Hey Siri function will only respond when the true owner of the phone speaks to it. Whilst this would be a nice feature, we cannot reproduce this and believe it is only meant to improve general detection accuracy.

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One of the novel features Apple added to the iPhone 6s to distinguish it from its predecessor was Live Photos, where every photo you take is effectively a very brief video, capturing the movement and sound as the photo was taken. The feature is unique to the 6s as it’s activated by a 3D Touch. Today, we’ve learned a little more about the simple yet clever technology behind it.

As you may already know, existing iPhones start taking photos the moment you open the app. This is how Apple provides the camera with the ability to take photos instantly, with none of the delay (‘shutter lag’) you see with some digital cameras. The camera has already taken and temporarily stored a whole bunch of photos, and it simply keeps the last one taken as you press the button and discards the rest … 
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In a new interview posted in the Wall Street Journal, Apple’s Jony Ive and Hermes’ artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas discuss Apple’s first partnership with a luxury fashion brand to create branded Apple Watch models. To recap, on Wednesday, Apple announced Apple Watch Hermes, a collection of watches code signed with the renowned Paris designer. The watches will be available in October.

Ive says the partnership is unprecedented and began before the Apple Watch was even announced to the public, breaking traditional Apple secrecy.

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Apple Pay in the UK is slowly rounding up all the major banks and getting them onboard. Following the addition of HSBC and First Direct last month, Halifax and Lloyds customers can now use Apple Pay from today. The service is still rolling out so if your cards don’t activate immediately don’t fret. Check again in a few hours.

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Following Logitech’s announcement of its CREATE keyboard case for iPad Pro, Zagg today has taken the wraps off of its full line of keyboard accessories for the iPad Pro and iPad mini 4. The company announced in a press release today that it will be offering three keyboard models for the iPad mini 4 and two for the iPad Pro.

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Hot on the heels of Apple unveiling the highly anticipated iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, popular accessory company Pad and Quill has today announced a new case for the device. The company has revealed its newly designed Traveler case for both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. The Traveler case is a bumper style walled case and in classic Pad and Quill fashion, is made from full grain leather.

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Update: The chart above was updated to reflect Sprint’s just announced iPhone Forever upgrade plan pricing. Sprint is offering $22/month regular pricing ($15 for those that trade-in a device) through its iPhone Forever Upgrade program. Customers can upgrade every time there is a new iPhone, but they’ll have to pay off the remainder of the retail price to keep it. Yearly cost for all plans added.

With the launch of its new iPhone 6s lineup this week, Apple is competing directly with its carrier partners by introducing an iPhone Upgrade Program that aims to rival similar offers from T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and others. Customers pay monthly instalments for 24 months, and they can optionally trade-in or pay off the device after 12 months to upgrade to a newer model. Apple’s own upgrade program offers some perks for consumers— the ability to get an unlocked device and use the carrier of their choice, for example— but how does it compare to the upgrade/financing programs from the other guys?

Below we compare the upgrade programs of the various carriers for an entry-level 16GB iPhone 6s and also take into account limited time promotions and other perks to find out who offers the best overall value.
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Apple’s “Hey Siri” special event was so completely jammed with major announcements that a lot of little details fell through the cracks — performance differences between the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, battery surprises in the iPad Pro and iPad mini 4, and connectivity omissions in the Apple TV 4, just to name a few.

Every year, once the event’s dust has settled, I dig through all of the information out there to bring you a clearer picture of what to expect from Apple’s latest devices. Here are the things you’ll want to know about the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPad Pro, iPad mini 4, and Apple TV 4…
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With the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus debuting next week, it’s important to start thinking about how to make sure your new phone is protected as soon as you get it. At some point, you’ll probably want to resell your phone for top dollar to upgrade to the iPhone 7s, and getting the best price will require your device to be in like-new condition. The smartest way to protect your iPhone is with the updated Speck CandyShell series or new MightyShell line. “Designed for Impact” and available in all-new styles, Speck’s CandyShell cases have a perfect combination of great looks, protection, and accessory compatibility for your new iPhone.

We’ve checked out Speck’s all-new CandyShell series for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, and the cases are certainly impressive. Each one-piece case is made with two bonded layers — one soft, one hard — together creating a snug fit and incredibly easy installation. But unlike competitors, the CandyShell cases have almost no bulk, keeping your iPhone nearly as thin as they’d be without cases. And the latest clear CandyShell lets you see your iPhone 6s/6s Plus’s colors through an all-new design, available for the first time for both 4.7″ and 5.5″ iPhone sizes. Below, you’ll get a first look at some brand new CandyShell and MightyShell versions at great prices, available to order today…

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Code/Mobile, Recode’s annual mobile technology conference, has become the norm for someone from Apple to appear. Last year, Apple VP Greg Joswiak took to the conference stage. This year, for the first time, Code/Mobile will feature Apple Pay head Jennifer Bailey. Bailey was most recently seen publicly on stage at WWDC and interviewed on CNBC.

The conference usually takes the form of a Q/A interview, so no doubt Bailey will be quizzed by the Recode hosts on the uptake of Apple Pay as well as new features in iOS 9 like loyalty cards and the rebranding of Passbook as ‘Wallet’.

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T-Mobile really wants you to buy your iPhone 6s from the company, offering you the 16GB model for a total payment of just $524 on its 18-month JUMP program – a discount of $125 off the normal price of $649. You pay just $20/month for 18 months, at the end of which you can either hand back the phone and walk away, or pay $164 more to keep it. T-Mobile has described this as special introductory pricing which “won’t last long,” but hasn’t given a specific expiry date.

The company also promises you won’t be locked to the T-Mobile network if you’re unhappy with its coverage – which will be notably better for iPhone 6s users. T-Mobile’s Extended Range LTE operates on the 700MHz spectrum, which Apple is supporting for the first time in the iPhone 6s, and is around four times better at penetrating walls to give stronger signals inside buildings … 
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Update: Adobe has now removed the reference to the 4GB RAM. Hopefully because they weren’t supposed to reveal that rather than because it’s not true.

There’s apparent good news for anyone tempted by the multi-tasking capabilities of the iPad Pro: an Adobe press release has seemingly revealed that it has 4GB RAM – a doubling of the 2GB in the iPad Air 2.

iPad Pro is great for creative workflows with a high res 12.9″ touch screen display at 2732 x 2048 pixels, A9X chip, and 4GB RAM … 

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Apple didn’t mention the new iPhone 6s battery life as part of the keynote and there may be a reason for that. In the promo video, Apple shows a shot of the iPhone 6s internals. As it happens, this render is extremely detailed and you can actually make out the battery specifications inscribed onto the battery. Its rated at 1715mAh, which is down from the 1810mAH packed into the previous iPhone 6.

It seems that Apple has had to shrink the battery to make space for new features like the 3D Touch screen and the Taptic Engine. However, according to Apple’s technical specifications, it shouldn’t make a difference. The battery life estimates for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 are identical …

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On Apple’s public specs page, it says that the new Apple TV includes an A8 chip and that’s about it in terms of the bundled SoC. However, Apple’s developer documentation goes into more detail specifically listing the hardware as having 2 GB RAM (via Steve Troughton-Smith). This means the internals are actually better than the A8 in the iPhone 6 and latest-generation iPod touch, which only have 1 GB of RAM.

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Just hours after Apple officially unveiled the iPad Pro, Logitech this evening has announced its first accessory for the device. Dubbed CREATE, Logitech touts that the accessory is the best keyboard it has ever designed for an iPad. Logitech explains that it worked closely with Apple to ensure that CREATE works seamlessly with all of the unique features of the iPad Pro.

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Earlier today, Apple took the wraps off the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus and one of the flagship features the company focused on during the unveil was 3D Touch. 3D Touch is the highly anticipated force-sensing feature that adds new “peek” and “pop” gestures that bring up windows and interfacing hidden under panes. Bloomberg this evening has now published a fascinating piece in which it dissects the development of 3D Touch within Apple’s design team. The piece includes quotes from Apple executives such as Tim Cook, Alan Dye, Craig Federighi, and Phil Schiller…

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