iPhone

[UPDATE April 7: iOS 9.3.2 is now available as a public beta update as well.]

Shortly after the recent iOS 9.3.1 update to fix a link issue and the major iOS 9.3 update with new features, Apple has released a new iOS 9.3.2 update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apple has also released the first watchOS 2.2.1 betas for developers to test with Apple Watch following the recent watchOS 2.2 release.

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I mused recently about the limited support for 3D Touch, not just from third-party developers but even by Apple itself. That’s not something I consider a huge deal: the novelty appeal of 3D Touch soon wore off for me, and I decided I could happily live without it when switching from the iPhone 6s to the iPhone SE. It was just something that struck me as odd.

But exactly the same issue exists with Touch ID, and that’s something I do think is a big deal.

Passwords are horrible. They were fine way back in the days when we only needed a handful of them, but these days you need a password to do everything from transferring photos from a camera to an iPad through to ordering a pizza. We probably each have hundreds of the darned things.

And passwords are especially horrible on iOS devices – where we have to switch an on-screen keyboard between letters, numbers and symbols multiple times to type a single password. That’s a problem that ought to have been almost completely solved by Touch ID – yet that’s not the case …

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It had always seemed obvious that Foxconn’s reason for buying display-maker Sharp was to acquire the capacity to make OLED displays for future iPhones – and a supply-chain report today supports this.

Sharp will set up one 4.5G and two 6G AMOLED production lines with monthly capacity of 13,000, 11,500 and 34,500 glass substrates respectively, with total monthly capacity of 9.85 million 5.5-inch equivalent panels.

While the source is Digitimes, this one seems likely to be at least broadly accurate.

Apple currently used OLED displays only in the Apple Watch, still relying on older LCD displays for the iPhone, but numerous reports suggest that the company plans to switch to OLED screens for iPhones at some point in 2017 or 2018.

Image: OLED display under microscope via Reddit

Shopping analytics giant Kantar Worldpanel reports that Apple’s smartphone has experienced its first fall in market share in urban China since 2014.

“For the first time since August 2014, iOS share did not grow in urban China in the 3 months ending February,” said Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. “iOS declined 3.2 percentage points between February 2015 and February 2016.”

Kantar said that the increasing popularity of local smartphone brands was the main reason for the fall …

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Many were skeptical that the work iPhone at the centre of the San Bernardino controversy would prove in any way useful to the FBI given that the shooters left it untouched while destroying their personal phones, and so far that skepticism seems justified. Despite having had access to all the data on the phone for more than a week, the FBI has apparently not yet found anything of value.

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T-Mobile is kicking off a new iPhone and iPad promotion tomorrow that will let you get 50% off up to $200 on a new iPad when you purchase any iPhone on one of T-Mobile’s installment plans.

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I use this diary format to provide my take on iDevices for three reasons. First, because initial impressions can be misleading. Second, because tastes, of course, vary. And third, in recognition of the fact that you can’t really look at a single device in isolation – we also need to understand the role it plays in our own personal Apple ecosystem.

If I were looking to have just two devices – a laptop and a phone – then there would be only one sensible choice for me: the iPhone 6s Plus. As a pocket computer (which is of course what the iPhone is), the iPhone 6s Plus is an extremely capable device which offers an excellent compromise between a smaller iPhone and an iPad.

But, for me, that would be too great a compromise. I’d be giving up the ability to carry it in most trouser pockets (YTrousersMV) without gaining the usability benefits of an iPad-sized screen. It is, to me, a little too large for comfortable handling and a little too small for comfortable viewing and typing.

I am, though, in the fortunate position of not having to make that kind of compromise. I have an array of iDevices, so I’m able to assign each a much more specific role – something which has a significant impact on my perception of the relative pros & cons of the iPhone 6s versus the iPhone SE …

That’s probably because the majority of users probably don’t miss it with the top number row suffice for occasional number input, so it’s understandable why Apple doesn’t pay much attention to it. But I personally like and miss the speed of using a keypad for quick commands in pro apps like Logic and punching in numbers in spreadsheets (it’s tax time…), so I’ve been testing Satechi’s new Aluminum Wireless Keypad that recently arrived.

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KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo – an analyst with an excellent track-record on AAPL – has forecast that year-on-year iPhone shipments will continue to fall this year, and end up well below market expectations. In an investment note seen by 9to5Mac, KGI says that total 2016 iPhone shipments will likely fall below 200M units, and that the iPhone 7 will see lower sales than the iPhone 6s/Plus.

Kuo says that lower-than-expected iPhone 6s/Plus sales showed that replacement demand was falling in developed markets, while new demand from emerging markets has not yet picked up the slack. KGI does not believe that the launch of the iPhone 7 later this year will be sufficiently appealing to see the iPhone return to growth …

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Apple’s plan to sell used iPhones in India to bring new customers into the Apple ecosystem has met with strong opposition, reports Bloomberg. A newly-formed lobbying group has sent a letter to the government asking it to deny Apple the official approval it would need to begin the sales – and one of the companies behind the group is Samsung.

“Why even consider allowing import of used phones when import of other used goods such as cars are precluded by 300 percent duty levies?” asked Ravinder Zutshi, chairman of the newly formed Mobile and Communications Council, which issued the letter. The group’s members include the largest Indian phone brands: Micromax, Intex and Samsung … 

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Apple doesn’t normally improve the capabilities of Siri outside of a major operating system update, but it has made an exception this time around for baseball. Apple has dramatically improved the knowledge base Siri can draw from for Siri, allowing the voice-activated personal assistant to answer a wider range of questions about the sport. Via The Verge, Siri now covers 28 leagues, not just Major League Baseball, too.

Siri first started answering sports questions with iOS 6. Apple says that the upgrade to baseball, timed alongside the new MLB season, allows users to ask more detailed questions about career statistics and baseball history.

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For the first few months after purchasing my iPhone 6, I was a daily Apple Leather Case user. I picked up the case more out of convenience than desire, but I never truly felt it served my needs. The case felt weak, unsupportive, and more like a leather-wrap than a protective case. I’ve kept an eye out for other potential alternative leather cases, but could never find one I really loved. The Apple Leather Case seemed so close to what I would have wanted, but the way it wore down was just not appealing to me at all. A lot of other leather cases are too bulky, have a built-in wallet, or are just utterly expensive. Then Mujjo released their Leather Case for the iPhone 6(s). As soon as I laid my eyes on it, I knew I wanted it. It looked strong without adding bulk, sported a beautiful tanned leather, and was priced fairly in comparison to competing cases.

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I had two immediate impressions when first picking up the iPhone SE. First, ‘wow this feels small!’. Having gotten used to the iPhone 6 and 6s as the new normal, the SE really does feel like an iPhone mini when you first handle it.

But the second, which followed seconds later, was ‘… in a good way.’

I’m old enough to have used the very first mobile phones, which were ginormous. For many years, the primary goal of manufacturers as they introduced successive models was to make them smaller and smaller. Smaller was newer, sexier and more hi-tech.

Picking up the iPhone SE gave me that feeling all over again. It didn’t feel like a step down, it actually felt like a step up. It was like ‘wow, Apple has managed to fit (almost) all of that 6s tech into this much more pocketable phone.’ And yes, this thing fits sideways into jeans pockets, and gives no sense of being at risk of falling out of other trouser pockets while cycling.

My third impression – and I think this is something I could only say to a tech audience like you, because you’ll understand – was feeling like I was welcoming back an old friend. I remembered how much I love this design. It truly is a classic that looks every bit as great today as it did when it was first introduced …

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A patent application spotted by Patently Apple suggests that the Apple Watch turning on its display as you raise your wrist could be just the first of many supported gestures. Pointing, waving and even extending pinky and thumb in a ‘phone me’ gesture could all be used to initiate actions on either the Watch itself or a paired iPhone.

While voice and touch input can be an effective way to control a device, there may be situations where the user’s ability to speak the verbal command or perform the touch gesture may be limited.

This [patent] relates to a device that detects a user’s motion and gesture input through the movement of one or more of the user’s hand, arm, wrist, and fingers, for example, to provide commands to the device or to other devices […] The device can interpret the gesture as an input command, and the device can perform an operation.

Apple gives a number of illustrative examples of such gestures …

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The American Civil Liberties Union has accused the FBI of gambling with cybersecurity by failing to disclose to Apple the method used to access the San Bernardino iPhone, reports the WSJ.

Chris Soghoian, principal technologist at the ACLU, said the FBI is facing “a million-dollar question, and really what it comes down to is, does the FBI prioritize its own surveillance needs, or does it prioritize cybersecurity.’’

The longer the FBI keeps the security flaw to itself, he said, “the more they are gambling that no other entity will discover this flaw.’’ 

A former FBI official said that the agency’s decision on whether or not to reveal the method would likely depend on how many iPhone models it is able to unlock …

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We got our first look inside the iPhone SE a couple of days ago when Chipworks took one apart. The company revealed then some of the mix of old and new components, but iFixit has now provided a closer look in its own teardown.

The main finding is that the entire display assembly is straight out of the iPhone 5S – right down to the FaceTime camera, which explains why that remained a paltry 1.2MP unit instead of the 5MP version in the iPhone 6S …

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[Update: Sprint says the issue has been resolved as of today and apologizes for the convenience.]

While Apple has fixed a few issues relating to iOS 9.3 with a subsequent iOS 9.3.1 update, there’s still at least one bug plaguing Sprint users that appears to be out of Apple’s hands. According to a handful of Sprint users across Twitter and Reddit, they have been unable to connect to LTE data following the iOS 9.3 update and are forced to use only 3G data. Today, however, Sprint acknowledged the issue and confirmed that it is working on a fix.

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Yesterday we detailed an Apple patent showing work on a stackable Smart Connector plug of sorts. Today we get a look at a similar invention aimed at making the I/O on future devices more versatile with Apple’s invention of a “Universal Magnetic Adapter” that could allow for more future-proof devices using only a single port. As pictured in the drawing accompanying the patent above, the technology allows for a single port that uses magnetic inserts as adapters for your various devices. Or in other words, MagSafe for everything using a single port and adapters for the various connectors.

In its patent, Apple describes the problem with the current mess of adapters and cables users have to deal:

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Apple has started collecting some of the research data that users submit through apps using the company’s ResearchKit platform for the first time.

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