iPhone

I wrote recently that while I tend to believe reports that Apple is planning to launch this year’s flagship iPhones as the iPhone 11 Pro (and Pro Max), I did so reluctantly.

Just the idea of a ‘Pro’ iPhone is a little annoying.

Don’t misunderstand me. Modern iPhones are amazing devices. There was a time when such a powerful and flexible pocket computer would have stretched the credibility of science fiction stories, yet we now take them totally for granted.

And they are sometimes used for professional purposes. There are, for example, all those ‘Shot on iPhone’ movies and ads. But let’s not kid ourselves about those. The reasons for shooting on iPhone have little to do with it being a ‘pro’ device.

However, if the latest reports are to be believed, Apple does seem to be working hard to justify the label…

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British Airways announced today that it has purchased 15,000 iPhone XR units from Apple to distribute to cabin crew. Each member of its cabin crew will receive an iPhone XR as part of efforts to “deliver personalized customer service to customers.”

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Apple has just registered a lot of products with the Eurasian Economic Commission database, from iPads to Watches to iPhones and even the iPod touch.

However, most of these filings do not represent new products and are merely updating the database to account for the fact that these hardware models will soon ship with new versions of their respective operating systems, like iOS 13 and macOS Catalina. There are a handful of wholly new devices too, including what looks to be model identifiers for the upcoming 16-inch MacBook Pro.

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Apple is reported to be getting closer to signing off on the company’s first-ever order for OLED iPhone screens from a Chinese company, BOE.

Apple has so far been dependent on Samsung for the advanced OLED panels used in the iPhone X family of phones, a situation Apple has been working hard to change…

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LG Innotek has ramped up production of the triple-lens cameras for this year’s flagship iPhones, according to a supply-chain report.

The company, which is Apple’s primary supplier for camera modules, is said to have quadrupled its headcount over the summer…

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Last week, a report from iFixit detailed a new feature in iOS that alerts users if an iPhone battery can’t be verified as a genuine Apple part. In a new statement today, Apple defends that warning in iOS as a way to ensure device performance and safety.

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The iPhone’s market share in Europe fell 17% year-on-year in Q2, according to today’s Canalys data. Apple did, however, hold its third-place position, behind Samsung and Huawei and ahead of Xiaomi and HMD Global.

The market intelligence company says that iPhone European shipments fell from 7.7 million in Q2 2018 to 6.4 million in the same quarter this year…

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At the Black Hat security conference today, researchers demonstrated a unique way to bypass Face ID authentication. The foundation of the bypass is a pair of glasses with tape on them, and the Attention Detection feature of Face ID.

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Samsung ads mocking iPhones are one of the company’s stock in trades, including ones which made fun of the lack of a headphone jack in the iPhone 7 and iPhone X.

The Korean company has, however, followed Apple’s example with its latest flagship device, the Galaxy Note 10. As 9to5Google observes, one of the notable changes from earlier models is that Samsung has dropped the headphone socket …

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Apple is taking new measures within iOS to prevent aftermarket battery swaps for the iPhone. As detailed by iFixit, Apple has activated a “dormant software lock” in iOS that blocks features like Battery Health in Settings when an iPhone uses a battery that was not installed by Apple itself.

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Apple is ‘steadily working’ on the technology for folding devices, claims UBS in a new investor note. It suggests that a folding iPhone is in the works, but Apple will probably launch a folding iPad first.

It says that while the first such device might be released in 2020, it believes 2021 is more likely…

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When Apple announced its Q3 earnings last week we learned that the company’s iPhone revenue dropped, but the company doesn’t share data on unit sales for its products. IHS Markit is out today with its report on the overall smartphone market including its estimates on iPhone shipments.

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If you’ve been holding out on a new Apple Watch, waiting for an always-on display, a new Fossil smartwatch available for pre-order today might make for an interesting alternative.

Fossil claims the watch can make it through a full day in this mode. Alternatively, you can opt for a lower-power mode which promises multi-day battery life…

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A new report today suggests that Apple is bringing back Touch ID to iPhones. Unlike a sketchier report last month, this one says that under-display Touch ID will not replace Face ID, but rather supplement it, with 2021 iPhones able to be unlocked using either method.

The report certainly cannot be dismissed out of hand. While analyst Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t have a perfect track-record, he has a far better one than most. Deep dives into Apple’s supply-chain means that he often has visibility on upcoming developments…

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Ming-Chi Kuo today released a report claiming that Apple will bring back Touch ID fingerprint recognition to its iPhones starting in 2021. The analyst said that he believes Apple will release an iPhone with both Face ID and under-display Touch ID fingerprint biometrics.

Kuo says that over the next 18 months, a lot of technical issues will be resolved which will enable Apple to deliver the high-tier experience it strives for in its devices.

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