iPhone

In terms of major product refreshes, 2016 was rather light in the grand scheme of things. The MacBook Pro saw its first major refresh towards the end of the year, and 2017 will likely see the same treatment towards the rest of the Mac lineup, the iPhone the iPad, and maybe more.

Looking towards 2017 and beyond, what product line should Apple update next? Or should its next move be a new product category altogether?

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The latest Kantar data shows that the iPhone’s U.S. market share grew 6.4% year-on-year in the three months ending in November of last year. iOS made gains in seven of the nine key markets monitored by the market intelligence company.

The company says that early holiday sales helped three iPhone models top the charts, ahead of Samsung.

iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone 6s were the three most popular smartphones in the US at the beginning of the holiday period, for a combined 31.3% share. The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge were the fourth and fifth best-selling phones in the US, with Samsung capturing 28.9% of smartphone sales.

The most dramatic iPhone gain was made across the Atlantic in the UK …

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With the 10th anniversary of the iPhone getting plenty of attention, iFixit has joined in by posting photos and repairability scores for every iPhone from the first generation (left) to iPhone 7 (right).

While iFixit of courses focuses on the repairability of the different models (noting that the first ever iPhone was the worst, with a score of just 2/10), what’s interesting to me is to see the change in the apparent complexity of the designs over the ten years …

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Earlier today we shared some of the tricks Apple used to perfect its on-stage demonstration of the iPhone 10 years ago. Phil Schiller and Tim Cook have also offered up comments on the anniversary, with Cook touting that “the best is yet to come.”

Now, Tony Fadell, commonly referred to as the “godfather” of the iPod, has shared his stories from working on the iPhone, including the time he thought he lost an early prototype of the device…

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It was a widescreen iPod for music and video, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough Internet communications device, but it would soon also become our flashlight, our wallet, our passport, our light switch, and the lens with which we’d capture and store our memories day in and day out.

Apple changed the world on this day in 2007 when Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone. For some of us at 9to5Mac the iPhone was our introduction to Apple and the device we grew up with. For others, a new era for the company and mobile computers. But for all of us, a game changing device that would impact our lives in many ways.

As the iPhone celebrates its 10th anniversary this week, the 9to5Mac team takes some time to remember our first iPhones and just how far the device has come…

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On the Backchannel blog, Steven Levy has posted a concise interview with Apple SVP Phil Schiller timed with the iPhone’s tenth anniversary. The post includes Levy’s anecdotes about Steve Jobs back in 2007 at the original iPhone launch followed up with some questions to Schiller about the success of the iPhone looking back and looking forward.

Regarding voice-only personal assistant devices like the Amazon Echo’s Alexa, Schiller says that the best intelligent assistant is the one that’s always with you, and that you can’t discount the value of a color display to present information …

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Looking back at Steve Jobs demonstrating the first iPhone in 2007, it all looks so slick that it’s hard to believe just how close it came to falling over. The Internet History Podcast has done a nice job of pulling together the inside story of how much preparation went into ensuring that the demo worked.

In practice demos, the iPhone – which was nowhere near complete – kept failing in various different ways.

Jobs rehearsed his presentation for six solid days, but at the final hour, the team still couldn’t get the phone to behave through an entire run through. Sometimes it lost internet connection. Sometimes the calls wouldn’t go through. Sometimes the phone just shut down.

Engineers came up with a combination of three things that allowed the prototype iPhone to make it through the demo …

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This year marks the 10 year anniversary of the iPhone and Apple is getting a head start on the celebrations. A decade ago tomorrow, Apple’s late founder Steve Jobs unveiled the first ever iPhone and Apple today has shared a look back at just how revolutionary the device has been.

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While Apple doesn’t have an official presence at the Consumer Electronics Show, CES 2017 has been packed with new and innovative technology that takes advantage of Apple’s hardware and software.

9to5Mac has been on the ground in Las Vegas all week tracking down the best and most interesting new technologies to come out of the big show. This year we’re highlighting our favorite new products with the first-ever 9to5Mac Best of CES Awards.

And the winners are…

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Sonny Dickson this evening posted posted a log and video of a never before seen in public version of pre-iPhone era software that was built as an alternative OS to what eventually became iOS.

The OS, which was devised in the iPod’s heyday, was based on a virtual click-wheel that was put on the touch display. A set of menus is navigated with the touch much like one would using an iPod of the time. In the era of multi-touch the idea seems quaint but when everyone is using iPods, the UI makes a lot of sense as a small step rather than the giant leap to iPhone OS, what eventually became iOS.

Check out the video below:

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CES 2017 has officially kicked into full gear ahead of the show opening to the public this weekend, and today we get a look at the latest aftermarket in-dash entertainment systems that support Apple’s CarPlay platform. Announcements at the show include new products from JVC, Clarion, Kenwood, Pioneer, and one of the first aftermarket units to support wireless CarPlay connectivity from Alpine. Head below for all the details.

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Apple has long been rumored to be setting up a manufacturing presence in India, with a report most recently outlining some of the concessions Apple was seeking from the Indian government. Now, a new report from the Times of India claims that Apple will start manufacturing the iPhone in India in April of 2017, while the company has also posted a handful of job listings in the country.

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Following a report in October claiming Samsung and LG were both attempting to win orders for OLED displays to be used in future iPhones, a new report today says Apple has partnered with LG Display for a foldable OLED panel of sorts.

According to the report from etnews, LG Display is partnering with Apple, Google, and Microsoft on what it describes as ‘out-foldable’ OLED displays.

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A series of new patents spotted by Patently Apple refer to the Apple Pencil working with an iPhone, as well as illustrating it being used with additional stock iOS apps like iMovie.

A comment by Tim Cook back in September seemed to suggest that Apple is already testing the Apple Pencil with an iPhone …

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Apple has released a new iPhone 7 ad called “Race” made exclusively for Japan. The new 30-second spot features the Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus and a very fast-paced run between two men through a busy part of town. The ad concludes with the iPhone-equipped man winning the so-called race by using Apple Pay to quickly board a train…

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