iOS Devices

9,871 'iOS Devices' stories May 2007 - July 2014

The devices that run the world’s most advanced mobile operating system

Check out our top stories on iOS Devices:

iOS devices refer to any of Apple’s hardware that runs the iOS mobile operating system which include iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Historically, Apple releases a new iOS version once a year, the current version is iOS 10. Here is the complete list of iOS 10 compatible devices.

Sketchy rumor of 13MP camera in iPhone 6, as earlier battery power rumor backed by claimed photo

Ben Lovejoy Jul 17 2014 - 4:25 am PT

21 Comments

GforGames is citing a Chinese web forum for a rumor that the iPhone 6 camera will get a bump from 8MP to 13MP as Apple switches to to an improved version of the Sony Exmor sensor. The Sony Exmor IMX220 is a larger 1/2.3-inch sensor that can support up to 20MP, but Apple is said to be planning to use it in its 13MP incarnation.

While a Chinese web forum is generally as unreliable a source as you can get, GoforGames claims that this one has a good track-record with Sony-related rumors …
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NFL Sunday Ticket streaming to be supported on iOS, Mac without a satellite subscription for 2014 season

Chance Miller Jul 16 2014 - 12:29 pm PT

15 Comments

For the first time ever, users who do not subscribe to DirecTV service will have access to the NFL’s Sunday Ticket service on their mobile devices and computers for the 2014 season. During previous seasons, Sunday Ticket users had to have an active DirecTV satellite subscription to stream the games. While no official announcement has been made, DirecTV has published a promotional page for the service, advertising the fact that users can now “access live, out-of-market NFL games without a DIRECTV satellite TV account.

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Claimed photos emerge of “more durable” Touch ID sensor for iPhone 6

Ben Lovejoy Jul 16 2014 - 7:01 am PT

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French site NWE has posted photos from Japan of what it claims is the Touch ID sensor for the iPhone 6.

The photos don’t give anything away, with the only visible differences being in the location of screw holes – which is to be expected given the significant redesign of the new model iPhone.

There have been rumors that Apple has made changes to the Touch ID sensor to improve durability, but there’s nothing here to shed any light either way. For whatever it may be worth, though, you can see the second photo below …
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Logitech debuts Protection+ case for iPhone 5 and 5s, available in August

Mike Beasley Jul 16 2014 - 1:00 am PT

1 Comment

Logitech today revealed its newest line of smartphone cases, including the Protection+ for iPhone 5 and 5s. The cases are designed to absorb shocks and other potential damage to smartphones while maintaining a slim design. The corners of the Protection+ are specially-designed to absorb shocks without breaking and dissipate the energy of the impact across the surface of the case. The case can keep your iPhone safe after drops of up to nearly six feet and goes beyond the U.S. military’s requirements for a “rugged” device.

Logitech also debuted its +trip and +drive car accessories, which allow users to mount nearly an smartphone and case (including the Protection+, of course) to an air vent (+trip) or windshield/dashboard (+drive). The Protection+ case will retail for $34.99, while the +trip mount will cost $29.99, and the +drive mount will run for $49.99. All three products will be available for purchase in August.

Logitech protection+ Case Gives Peace of Mind to On-the-Go Samsung and iPhone Users Slim Case Combines Ultra-Protective Construction and Convenience in One NEWARK, Calif. — July 16, 2014 — Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today announced the Logitech® protection+ case, bringing extra protection and convenience to Samsung Galaxy S®5 and Apple iPhone® 5 and iPhone® 5s owners. Featuring a slim, yet ultra-protective, outer shell, flex-resistant corners and impact-absorbent channels, this case safeguards your smartphone from whatever the world throws at it. “Our smartphones take quite a beating,” said Ariel Fischer, director of smartphone accessories at Logitech. “We designed the Logitech protection+ to give you peace of mind disguised in a great looking protective case that absorbs the daily shocks your phone experiences.” The protection+ case features a hard polycarbonate body with impact-resistant polymers in each corner that mitigate damage from impacts by absorbing shocks and dissipating them across the surface of your case. Additionally, tucked inside its polycarbonate shell, the case has impact channels and a layer of thermoplastic rubber to further absorb vibrations. For added assurance, Logitech protection+ exceeds the U.S. Military drop-test standard (MIL-STD 810 G) for “rugged” devices, protecting your phone from drops up to 1.8 meters high. The case also features a hidden metal plate that is compatible with all Logitech smartphone mounts, including +drive and the all-new +trip. +trip The +trip quickly clips to any air vent in your vehicle to keep your smartphone secure and in view. A magnet securely holds your smartphone to the +trip mount, so you can keep your audio, navigation and phone calls right where you want them. The small and stylish +trip is designed for use during daily commutes and business trips. The +trip mount includes two universal adapters, so it’s compatible with smartphones of all shapes and sizes. +drive The modern looking +drive mount instantly attaches to your windshield or dashboard thanks to a single twist-activated suction cup while a magnet secures your smartphone in place. The +drive comes with two universal adapters to seamlessly hold any smartphone or case vertically or horizontally. Pricing and Availability The Logitech protection+ case, +trip air vent mount, and +drive windshield/dashboard mount are all expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe in August 2014, for suggested retail prices of $34.99, $29.99 and $49.99 respectively. For more information, please visit www.logitech.com. About Logitech Logitech is a world leader in products that connect people to the digital experiences they care about. Spanning multiple computing, communication and entertainment platforms, Logitech’s combined hardware and software enable or enhance digital navigation, music and video entertainment, gaming, social networking, audio and video communication over the Internet, video security and home-entertainment control. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).

Verizon’s LTE support for ALLSET prepaid plans arrives July 17 starting at $45/mo

Chance Miller Jul 15 2014 - 12:46 pm PT

2 Comments

Verizon today announced that it is finally adding 4G LTE support to its ALLSET prepaid plans starting on July 17th. This announcement comes just a few weeks after the addition was originally rumored. Starting on July 17th, customers can bring their own devices to ALLSET and use them with LTE data, in addition to using the devices officially offered through ALLSET by Verizon.

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iPhone 5s remains world’s best-selling phone, iPhone 5c takes number 5 slot

Ben Lovejoy Jul 15 2014 - 7:06 am PT

14 Comments

Sales channel data from 35 countries compiled by Counterpoint shows that the iPhone 5s remained the world’s best-selling phone as of May, some eight months after its launch. This backs up a report from ABI Research that the phone had retained the number one slot through Q1.

Apple’s iPhone 5s continues to be the bestselling phone in the world, a spot that many expected to be taken by Samsung’s Galaxy S 5. The highly anticipated Galaxy S5 comes in at second place but still a quite distant number two in terms of (sell through) unit sales.

The news wasn’t quite so good for the iPhone 5c, which came in at number 5, behind both the Samsung S5 and last year’s S4 – as well as the company’s Note 3 phablet.

The iPhone 4S keeps on trucking: two-and-a-half years after its release, Counterpoint shows it at number 6 – one notch down from ABI’s Q1 data.

Overall, Samsung has roughly twice Apple’s market share thanks to a huge range of handsets at all price levels, a statistic that is unlikely to keep Tim Cook awake at night even if market share doesn’t increase, as Apple takes home the lion’s share of the profits – something you can watch in real-time thanks to an interactive graphic.

It’s widely expected that the iPhone 6 will boost Apple’s share of the market as it taps into demand for larger displays, with Cook saying last month that there is more growth to come from Android migration.

(via Business Insider)

Chinese report claims iWatch to come in three models, sapphire and non-sapphire varieties

Benjamin Mayo Jul 15 2014 - 6:28 am PT

8 Comments

A report from the Economic Daily, which has had better reliability than most Chinese news sites (although should still be treated with relative skepticism), suggests that the iWatch will launch in three distinct models (via GforGames). Rumors of multiple iWatch SKU’s have been circulating for months now, including last month in the Wall Street Journal. Specifically, the report says that there will be one iWatch model with a 1.6 inch display and two different models featuring 1.8 inch panels. According to the report, one of the 1.8 inch models will feature a sapphire display.

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Google now flags Flash content in search results on iOS/Android devices, saving clicks

Ben Lovejoy Jul 15 2014 - 4:58 am PT

2 Comments

If you’ve ever been frustrated by visiting a website on your iPhone or iPad and finding it won’t work because it uses Flash, you’ll welcome the latest Google initiative: it is now flagging Flash content in its search results, warning that the site may not work on your device.

Starting today, we will indicate to searchers when our algorithms detect pages that may not work on their devices. For example, Adobe Flash is not supported on iOS devices or on Android versions 4.1 and higher, and a page whose contents are mostly Flash may be noted

As Google notes, Android has now also abandoned Flash support due to the same reliability, security and performance concerns that Steve Jobs expressed in his famous open letter to Adobe back in 2010. Adobe has been forced to issue a succession of security updates to Flash, the most recent being two emergency updates earlier this year.

Google says it hopes the move, coupled to Web Fundamentals and Web Starter Kit initiatives for developers will encourage the use of HTML5 in place of Flash.

Apple is refused Touch ID trademark by USPTO – has six months to respond

Ben Lovejoy Jul 15 2014 - 4:24 am PT

3 Comments

Patently Apple reports that the US Patent & Trademark Office has refused Apple’s application for a trademark in Touch ID. The decision – made in May but only now made public – is because another company already holds a trademark for Kronos Touch ID, and there is a “likelihood of confusion” given the very similar names.

USPTO states that “Trademark Act Section 2(d) bars registration of an applied-for mark that so resembles a registered mark that it is likely that a potential consumer would be confused or mistaken or deceived as to the source of the goods and/or services of the applicant and registrant.

In this case, the following factors are the most relevant: similarity of the marks, similarity of the goods and/or services, and similarity of trade channels of the goods and/or services.

A search of the USPTO trademark database shows that the Kronos Touch ID trademark also related to a fingerprint recognition system, and that it has held the trademark since 2001:

Apple only applied for its trademark in January of this year:

Apple has six months to respond to the USPTO with a suggested remedy, otherwise the trademark application will be treated as abandoned and it would be forced to rename the feature. As we can’t imagine this happening – especially as we expect Touch ID to appear on iPads in the fall – it seems most likely that Apple will be heading over to Kronos’s offices, check-book in hand …

iPad may be one source of growing issue of nickel allergies in children, suggests Washington Post (Updated)

Ben Lovejoy Jul 14 2014 - 7:55 am PT

7 Comments

iPad Air with Apple’s Smart Case

A report in the medical journal Pediatrics claims that the allergic reaction of an 11-year-old boy may have been due to the nickel in his iPad, with the Washington Post saying that the case appears to be just one example of many.

The boy, treated at a San Diego hospital, had a history of skin issues, but a different rash developed all over his body and wouldn’t respond to typical treatment. His skin tested positive for nickel, one of the most common allergy-inducing metals, and doctors traced it back to an iPad he had used with increasing frequency the past six months. The iPad tested positive for nickel as well, according to the report.

Reportedly the boy’s condition improved when he switched to using a Smart Case, an example of which is shown above, seemingly confirming the cause.

The Washington Post does appear to be extrapolating rather a lot from a single case and a few forum posts, however. And similar cases have popped up for other consumer electronics products. Apple apparently told AP that it has no comment to make.

Update: Apple gave the following statement to The Wall Street Journal regarding the incident: “Apple’s products are made from the highest quality materials and meet the same strict standards set for jewelry by both the U.S. Consumer Safety Product Commission and their counterparts in Europe.”

NY woman dies in tragic subway accident while trying to catch her iPad

Ben Lovejoy Jul 14 2014 - 6:44 am PT

12 Comments

The New York Post reports that a 21-year-old woman has died after falling in front of a subway train while trying to catch the iPad she had dropped.

The woman who was crushed to death by a subway train at Union Square on Saturday lost her balance after fumbling with her iPad, causing her to fall onto the tracks, officials said.

Police said that it appeared the woman had lost her grip on the iPad and made a grab for it as it slipped, losing her footing and falling onto the tracks just as a train was arriving. The conductor reportedly spotted the woman on the rails but was too late to stop the train.

Cautionary note: the linked report has a photo which appears to show some of the remains of the victim – we’ve cropped it out of the above photo.

Photo: R Umar Abbasi/New York Post

Ecosystem and brand loyalty will see iWatch sales grow as fast as iPhone or iPad, says Morgan Stanley

Ben Lovejoy Jul 14 2014 - 4:53 am PT

12 Comments

Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty is predicting that the iWatch could achieve sales of 30-60 million units in its first year as sales growth mimics that of the iPhone or iPad, reports Fortune.

While some analysts point to modest sales of existing smartwatches as evidence that the iWatch is likely to be a relatively minor new category for Apple, Huberty believes that they are using the wrong measure.

It’s that loyalty and the so-called “halo effect,” Huberty writes, not the current watch market, that will drive sales of the unannounced product that she (like everybody else) is calling the iWatch …

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KGI: 5.5-inch iPhone 6 likely to be delayed until after October, possibly until 2015

Mike Beasley Jul 13 2014 - 4:21 pm PT

34 Comments

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has provided accurate Apple product information in the past (timing aside), has released a new research note predicting that supply constraints on key components may result in a serious delay in the release of the larger iPhone 6 model with a 5.5-inch display. According to the note, issues with the in-cell touch panel and coloring of the device could push the launch of the device back to a post-October date, possibly as late as next year:

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Chinese clone-makers already have functional ‘iPhone 6’ knockoffs for sale

Benjamin Mayo Jul 12 2014 - 7:28 am PT

27 Comments

NowhereElse.fr has posted some pretty amusing pictures today of working iPhone 6 clones from China. These devices use the rumored specification and schematics of the actual iPhone 6 that we have seen so much over the last few months, but obviously use off-the-shelf internals and don’t run iOS.

Although unconfirmed what knockoff OS these devices are running, it is most likely a skinned version of Android with a custom launcher that imitates the appearance of iOS 7. The Google Play store is already full of iOS 7 Home Screen and app clones.

The real thing is expected to be announced by Apple in September, featuring larger 4.7 and 5.5 inch displays.

4.7-inch iPhone 6 LCD bracket shown in new photo?

Mike Beasley Jul 10 2014 - 2:32 pm PT

7 Comments

A new photo posted to Apple.Club.tw shows off what is claimed to be the LCD and home button bracket for the upcoming 4.7-inch iPhone 6. We’ve already gotten a look at several parts of the unannounced smartphone in recent leaks, from the sapphire crystal glass to the front of the shell in both black and white. Yesterday we got a look at the back casing for this device as well.

It’s difficult to tell if this part actually belongs to the iPhone 6. It is possible this is a frame for the upcoming Amazon Fire Phone which has a similar structure and camera components on all four corners. The frame also appears less round and thicker than the previously leaked iPhone 6 frames.

These aren’t the first such leaks in recent months. We’ve seen other photos of the front and back of the 4.7-inch phone from last month. The part shown in this new photo seems to fit with those components.

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TSMC shipping Apple’s SoC’s for the first time with iPhone 6 says report, will use 20nm process

Benjamin Mayo Jul 10 2014 - 4:45 am PT

2 Comments

Up to this year, all of Apple’s SoC’s have been manufactured by Samsung.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has finally escaped Samsung’s grasp of iOS device CPU production. Although Samsung lost exclusivity last year, there was still doubts that TSMC would be able to follow through with their contract. According to this report, the manufacturer has succeeded and started shipping next-generation microprocessors for Apple’s devices (likely adorned with the ‘A8’ nomenclature) in the second quarter.

This marks a significant point in the production of the iPhone, finally allowing Apple to distance itself from Samsung in such a key area of its devices. The A8 chips use 20-nanometer production processes, according to the report. This compares favorably to the 28-nanometer process used for the A7, which should give better power efficiency and performance per watt. 9to5Mac previously reported that the A8 would focus on significant efficiency enhancements, rather than raw compute performance.

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The sketchy iPhone 6 rumors keep coming – haptic feedback & 68M orders

Ben Lovejoy Jul 10 2014 - 4:05 am PT

12 Comments

GforGames is citing Chinese site Laoyaoba and Taiwanese site Business Weekly for a couple of sketchy iPhone 6 rumors.

First, that the new iPhone will use haptic feedback – using a more sophisticated vibration motor to provide simulated tactile feedback on the display. This report is extremely light on detail, stating only that the motors are made by AAC (an existing Apple supplier) and Jinlong Electrical, and that they cost around two to three times the 60 cent cost of the vibration motor used in the iPhone 5s and 5c …
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Supposed iPhone 6 back casing shown off in new video, including new dark black color

Benjamin Mayo Jul 9 2014 - 10:15 am PT

34 Comments

In what will only continue the endless stream of iPhone 6 leaks, MacRumors brings attention to a couple of new photos and videos of the supposed iPhone 6 back. Interestingly, a new dark black piece has been seen for the first time, featuring a shade much darker than the current Space Gray iPhone 5s. Until today, only gray pieces have been spotted, which does make the legitimacy of the part somewhat questionable.

The post also highlights some new images and videos from Fed & Volk, who ostensibly possess mid-production units of the iPhone 6 rear. This case is the standard light gray variant, however, and matches the component leaks we have been seeing from other sources for many months now. See a video of the part after the break …

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Market share of iPhone may increase as U.S. smartphone growth tails off, predicts analyst

Ben Lovejoy Jul 8 2014 - 5:22 am PT

3 Comments

There are early signs that Apple’s market share of the U.S. smartphone market may increase as we move through the ‘Late Majority’ phase and into ‘Laggards’, suggests Asymco’s Horace Dediu.

For those who weren’t paying attention in economics classes in school, new products tend to experience an S-curve pattern to their growth. In the tech sector, Innovators are pretty much synonymous with techies.

Innovators (first 2.5%) need to be sold on the premise of novelty itself. Early adopters (next 13.5%) seek status and exclusivity. Early majority (34%) seek acceptance and Late Majority (34%) seek pragmatic productivity. Laggards (last 16%) seek safety.

If those percentages appear rather random, it’s because they are derived from the shape of the curve – the typical points at which it gets steeper or shallower.

With U.S. smartphone penetration now at 70 percent, we’re about two years into the Late Majority stage, with around two further years of growth to come. What Dediu’s analysis suggests is that iPhone growth has a steadier pattern to it than Android growth, which appears to be more closely driven by product launches and promotions. The more mature a market, the fewer product launches and promotions there are designed to drive adoption.

Why, when we are in a late stage of the market, does the iPhone do well when users are not incentivized to adopt? As we crossed 70% adoption, 1.4 million more users adopted the iPhone than Android.

Even if we look out to the last six months, iPhone added 15.5 million late majority users while Android added 14.2 million. If promotions decrease for the “late late majority” and laggards then would the iPhone do even better relative to Android?

Dediu points to the featurephone market as support for his hypothesis: at the tail-end of the curve, before smartphones took over, the most popular phone in the U.S. was the RAZR – a premium handset.

Sapphire 4.7″ iPhone 6 display put through its paces with knife and keys in new scratch test video

Mike Beasley Jul 7 2014 - 4:09 pm PT

53 Comments

Earlier today we got a quick look at a flexible iPhone 6 display, but a new video from YouTuber Marques Brownlee (embedded below) takes the supposed next-gen screen through a more complete durability test. In the video, Brownlee not only bends the flexible sapphire panel, but takes a set of keys and even a knife to it in an attempt to leave a scratch.

The beginning of video features a look at the sapphire crystal that will reportedly make up the next-generation iPhone’s display. As demonstrated in the video, the glass is extremely clear (which is why Apple currently uses it in the iPhone’s camera lens and the Touch ID sensor on the 5s). After a quick examination of the crystal-clear glass, Brownlee really put it to the test…

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Apple bolsters iOS 8 Health app with on-device steps, distance tracking & caffeine monitoring

Mark Gurman Jul 7 2014 - 3:26 pm PT

22 Comments

Apple has made significant enhancements to its upcoming Health application for iOS 8 in the latest beta of the new iPhone operating system. Most notably, the Health application can now utilize the iPhone’s own M7 motion tracking hardware for data sourcing.

The Health app’s Steps counter tab can now report steps without connecting to any third party applications or hardware devices. Because this feature likely uses the M7 processor, an iPhone 5s is required to get the steps data directly from the device…

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Apple’s new coding language Swift receives significant update for developers alongside new Yosemite and iOS seeds

Benjamin Mayo Jul 7 2014 - 11:37 am PT

10 Comments

As part of the updates to the Yosemite and iOS betas today, Apple’s new coding language Swift has received several major improvements and tweaks to make the language more consistent and help developers make better, safer apps. The intricacies of the changes are very gibberish to non-developers, but the fixes resolve many of the issues that developers had been requesting. In particular, the new value type model of arrays fixes several inconsistencies and prevents many potential code ‘gotchas’ that could arise in previous Swift builds.

Apple has also updated the ‘Introducing Swift’ iBook to reflect the improvements, if you want to learn in more detail about the changes.

iOS 8 beta 3 indicates iCloud Drive will also be accessible from iCloud.com

Benjamin Mayo Jul 7 2014 - 11:18 am PT

32 Comments

iCloud Drive was first announced at WWDC. This feature is Apple’s new approach to iCloud file syncing, replacing Documents and Data. The new interface acts more like Dropbox, with one central folder containing all iCloud documents in one place. This gives more flexibility over the model used by iOS 7 and Mavericks, where iCloud documents are siloed within their own app’s containers.

At WWDC, Apple announced that iCloud Drive could be accessed from Mac, iOS devices or even PC’s (as shown by the iCloud Drive preview page). However, a new setup screen present in iOS 8 beta 3, released earlier today, shows that Apple is also planning to expose iCloud Drive on the web. Although people were surprised by native PC support, bringing iCloud Drive to the web enables even more flexibility, bridging any OS with a modern web browser.

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Video reportedly shows iPhone 6’s flexible sapphire screen cover

Jordan Kahn Jul 7 2014 - 7:51 am PT

11 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDUeoGErJOs]

With a long list of leaks in recent months showing mock ups of the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones expected for release this fall, today we get a look at what is reportedly our first at the flexibility of the iPhone 6’s new sapphire cover glass. There’s not much information surrounding this leak or confirmation that what we’re looking at is the real deal, but the sapphire material is indeed something Apple has ramped up production of in recent months at its new Arizona plant.
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