iPhone 5

Just off the wires, Apple appears to be ready to offer trade-ins on iPhones for the first time according to Bloomberg. Apple currently offers a free recycling program for older devices but this would seem to follow efforts by companies such as Gazelle, Amazon and others who offer big bucks for older iOS devices and Macs.

Apple Inc. is starting an iPhone trade-in program this month aimed at getting users to upgrade to the iPhone 5 and turn in older models, people with knowledge of the plans said.

Apple has teamed up with Brightstar Corp., a mobile-phone distributor, to run the exchange program, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Apple hasn’t publicly announced the plan.

The trade-ins will only be done at Apple Retail Stores and will allow customers to recieve credit instantly. Recently, Best Buy began offering Free iPhone 5s with plan for an iPhone 4 or 4S trade-in. Apple apparently liked the idea – Brightstar counts both Best Buy and Apple amongst its client list. Apple also worked with Brightstar to help AT&T and T-Mobile with their recent trade-in promotions.

Used iPhones collected in the U.S. will only be resold in emerging markets, where Apple’s share is lower and demand for cheap devices is greater according to the report.

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Update: a person in the know has pointed out a few problems with Brown’s post:

1. It was taken down and is currently down.
2. If you look at one of the lines of Apple’s code that he uses to allege throttling, it doesn’t even have anything to do with throttling internet speed. It’s just the term, used to talk about how often a phone should ping the network when it doesn’t encounter a signal, or something like that.
3. AnandTech posted a lengthy article explaining why it just isn’t true.

Joseph Brown, the developer behind the hacked carrier updates floating around for AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile, just posted a lengthy blog post detailing how he claims “Apple limits devices to even out” the networks of its carrier partners. Specifically, Brown says that Apple is limiting the iPhone 5 to Category 10 (14.4Mbps) HSDPA despite the device’s support for category 24 (42.2Mbps) DC-HSDPA+ and the AT&T network supporting up to Category 14 (21.1Mbps) HSDPA+:

Here we can see what is quite obvious to, really, anyone at this point from being jerked around so much by carriers. Yes folks, this is throttling coding. When we made the AT&T Hacked Carrier Update, this was the first line of coding to be scrapped when the project started. Immediately, through my testing on an AT&T iPhone 5 and iPad 4th generation, there were significant and noticeable results. There is no argueing or disputing that this is clear evidence you are purposely, 24/7, being throttled, even if you haven’t used more data than your authorized to use or that you’ve purchased with your hard earned money. AT&T users, do you think this is fair?

The theory is that Apple limits the capabilities of the device in order to combat the large amount of data/bandwidth iOS device users consume and ease congestion on carrier networks. Brown found signs of throttling data speeds for Verizon and Sprint too. The only carrier that is apparently not limiting the iPhone 5’s capabilities is T-Mobile.

Brown also says “Apple has band preferences set for T-Mobile and AT&T causing signal issues” that could be easily fixed.

Here’s what Brown found in his analysis of the other carriers:
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While it certainly has some competition in this arena, major Apple accessory maker Belkin today announced a new ‘Grip Power Battery Case’ for iPhone 5. Similar to popular offerings from some of Belkin’s competitors including Mophie and Otterbox, the case builds in a 2000 mAh battery that claims to double the battery life of the device.

Belkin says the Grip Power case includes a shock-resistant bumper with secure-hold TPU grip, an anti-glare camera ring, and four color combinations including Civic Blue/Stone and Purple Lightning/Fountain Blue, Blacktop/Gravel and Whiteout/Blacktop.

Belkin is selling the case for $99, slightly less than Mophie and Otterbox, through its website and BestBuy.com. Full list of features below:
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From 9to5Toys.com:

Update: Deal is now live.  Today / in-store only.

This morning CNET confirmed some of the same rumblings we’ve been hearing from retail tipsters.  Best Buy will be offering $150 trade-in value for any iPhone 4 / 4S, yielding a free 16GB iPhone 5 (Sprint, Verizon or AT&T) with a 2 year contract thanks to their current $50 off promo.  This deal is only valid in-stores on Saturday June 1st.

Definitely a solid deal for heavily used, less desirable models (Sprint, Verizon), but be sure to check other trade-in services before heading into a Best Buy store.  For instance, Gazelle will pay you $215 for a 64GB iPhone 4S AT&T (good condition), plus another $10 if you use the special 9toToys promo.  In some cases, Amazon will pay upwards of $300 for an iPhone 4S.  Per usual, selling privately (eBay, Craigslist, etc) generally yields the highest payout but requires the most time and effort.  Make sure you survey all of your options before jumping into bed with Best Buy.

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In case you needed some proof that the rumors of Apple switching from Corning glass to sapphire crystal are unlikely, Corning has posted a video on its website showing how its current Gorilla Glass is superior to sapphire for mobile devices.

Recently, speculation has arisen that manufactured sapphire crystal might become an alternative to Corning’s Gorilla Glass.  “Sapphire’s performance as a cover for high-end watches probably leads to the current speculation.  But those covers are much smaller than a mobile phone and are two to three times thicker than Gorilla Glass.  In one of our commonly accepted strength tests, sapphire breaks more easily than Gorilla Glass after the same simulated use.  Additionally, sapphire’s cost and environmental hit are huge issues,” Steiner said.

There have been a couple rumors floating around that smartphone makers are looking into using sapphire crystal as a replacement for other cover glass solutions. With Apple using the material as a cover for its camera lenses on iPhone 5 and the latest iPod touch, some have speculated it could use sapphire for other parts of its devices, such as the display’s cover glass or home button. However, that’s not likely, according to Corning, Gorilla Glass is “about half the weight”, requires 99 percent less energy in manufacturing, provides brighter displays, and “costs less than a tenth” of sapphire. 
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Just prior to the official launch of the iPhone, T-Mobile issued a carrier update to enable LTE, improve battery performance and add Visual Voicemail support .  The only problem is that some users were reporting slower speeds after the update.  TmoNews reports that two well known cellular programmers, @joe012594 & @cooldayr2, have successfully modified the carrier update to “increase the amount of bandwidth allowing for better throughput of data and data connection.”  That means you should be able to download apps quicker, browse the web faster and have a better overall experience on your T-Mobile iPhone after applying the patched carrier update.

Before and after speed comparison (via TmoNews):

The update does not require your iPhone to be jailbroken, preface by the coders and instructions for the hack are below.  As always, please be sure to do a full backup of your iPhone prior to modding it in any way.

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http://youtu.be/9MHbElOIF6A

T-Mobile just released its first earnings report since it started officially carrying the iPhone on April 12th and ‘coincidentally’ the first where it has picked up customers in 17 quarters. The carrier had accumulated 2.1M iPhone users without even carrying the iPhone up until it launched in April, which is up from 1 million in 2011.

T-Mobile tallied approximately 500,000 iPhone 5 sales in the first 30 days which is stronger than you might initially imagine, especially off a launch cycle. Other US carriers who have reported iPhone sales in the millions over 3 months note that about half of their sales are iPhone 5 (the other half are cheaper iPhone 4 and 4S).

The US #4 carrier saw its subscriber base increase by  579,000 customers, a number likely directly correlated to iPhone sales. In addition, T-Mobile will be adding 9 million MetroPCS users over the coming quarters to its ranks. T-Mobile also ran into some legal problems last month and was forced to change its marketing terminology with regards to ‘no-contract plans’ and was forced to offer customers refunds.

T-Mobile launched its subscription-based T-Mobile TV on iPhone last week.

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According to a report from Nikkan, production of displays for Apple’s next iPhone will begin in June. The new screens will be sourced from Sharp, LG, and Japan Display, the same trio that have supplied screens for the iPhone 5.

Sharp also begin in June the mass production of the next model for the liquid crystal panel of the (multi-function mobile phone) smartphone that Apple is planning on. Appears to have embarked on production readiness of consecutive holidays from May Kameyama Plant No. 1 of Apple smartphones LCD dedicated plagued by sluggish occupancy rate since the beginning of the year in (Kameyama, Mie Prefecture).

Today’s report reasserts previous claims that the next revision to the iPhone will carry a design akin to that of the iPhone 5. Like past iPhone updates that do not include external hardware revisions, it is likely that the new iPhone will feature an improved camera and task processing systems...

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U.S. Cellular, the Chicago-based carrier serving around 5.8 million customers in 126 markets, will likely start offering the iPhone later this year, possibly in addition to other iOS devices. The carrier announced today in its first quarter results that it will soon begin carrying Apple products, but didn’t provide any further information regarding when or what specific products it might launch:

“We have a number of strategies in progress to increase loyalty and attract more customers, including our announcement today that we will begin offering Apple products later this year. By further strengthening our device portfolio, we’ll give consumers another great reason to switch to U.S. Cellular, and enable our existing customers to choose from an even wider variety of iconic smartphones, and enjoy the outstanding U.S. Cellular customer experiences they deserve. Our smartphone penetration is currently 43 percent of core market customers and growing quickly. We believe there will be strong, ongoing demand for smartphones and data products and services from our customers, and we have significant room for growth in this area.

You might remember a couple years back U.S. Cellular claimed it said no to the iPhone 4S with CEO Mary Dillon at the time saying Apple’s “terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint.” Later, CEO of the cellular provider’s parent company TDS hinted that the carrier would wait until Apple unveiled an LTE capable device, which was of course before the unveiling of Apple’s LTE iPhone 5.

After it decided not to carry the iPhone 4S, it soon after launched its Wonderphone ad campaign that were seen by many as mocking the iPhone.

U.S. Celluar today reported service revenues for the first quarter of $996.3 million and noted that it plans to roll out its 4G LTE service to 87 percent of its subscribers this year. The carrier also said it plans to close its $480 million deal to sell its Chicago, St. Louis, central Illinois and other markets to Sprint in the second quarter of 2013. 
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via Business Insider

Unless the “April-ish” predictions by iMore’s Rene Ritchie come true for the iPad 5 launch event, Apple will have gone 230 days without a keynote when it holds WWDC on June 10-14th. 

To make it worse for Apple hardware-lovers, that event is billed as showing off the next version of iOS and OS X so we’re not guaranteed to see any new Apple gadgetry there. The wait is unusually long for Apple as Jay Yarrow demonstrates in his thoroughly researched timeline of Apple’s recent keynotes.

Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted during yesterday’s conference call that Apple wouldn’t have anything notable in terms of hardware until the Fall, though it is unclear exactly what he meant by that.

The 132 day wait between the 2010 MacBook Air and the iPad 2 was the longest hardware dry-spell before the one we are currently enduring.
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An insightful Reuters blog by financial journalist Felix Salmon suggests that Apple’s surprisingly low share price may be due to the evolving nature of the company leaving it between two sets of investors.

Conservative investors, who like slow-growing stocks with high dividends, are constitutionally uncomfortable with the volatility inherent in the tech world. And technology investors, who are happy taking that kind of risk, want to see substantial growth. Apple, notwithstanding the fact that it’s one of the most valuable companies in the world, is falling through the capital-markets cracks.

Apple always used to be the company which surprised and delighted investors and customers alike. Its guidance to investors was deliberately pessimistic, blowing through those figures when it reported actual revenue and earnings. It was notoriously secretive about new products, launching new ones in a playful manner with Steve Jobs’ famous ‘One more thing‘ moments…
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We can’t say we didn’t know it was coming. T-Mobile already started accepting preorders for the iPhone 5 back on April 5, and today marks the first day of official availability for the iPhone on the carrier’s revamped “Un-carrier”, no-contract, unlimited voice and data plans.

To accompany the launch, T-Mobile is also kicking off its first iPhone ad campaign today that begins with the first TV spot above (via TMO News). Of course the ad not so surprisingly focuses on its new carrier approach more so than the device itself:

“It’s the phone that’s revolutionizing phones, make sure its running on the carrier that’s revolutionizing wireless… Only T-Mobile lets your iPhone 5 be as great as an iPhone 5.”

Earlier this month T-Mobile started rolling out a carrier update for existing unlocked iPhones on its network that brings LTE support, improved battery life, visual voicemail support and more. It also started a campaign offering users trade-in value for their old devices to make the switch to T-Mobile.

The iPhone 5 is available to purchase for $99 down with a $20 per month financing plan through T-Mobile’s website and brick-and-mortar stores. As noted by TMONews, the carrier has also started setting up its in-store displays and advertising for the iPhone (Gallery below):
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We’ve previously covered and reviewed AnoStyle’s anodization service for iOS devices like the iPhone 5 and iPad mini. We found the process for an iPhone 5 to be seamless:

There isn’t much to report besides everything turned out great and I love the result. It feels and looks like my iPhone, only in gold. The only con to AnoStyle, at least for the gold color option, is that the text below “iPhone” on the back is now extremely faint. Other than that, I feel like I own a limited edition iPhone (dusts shoulder off), and at least four people have asked me how I managed to snag a gold iPhone.