A new report from reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today says that at least one of the new iPhones introduced in 2020 will have a smaller front-facing camera cutout, making for an improved screen to body ratio and a smaller notch.
Two new reports today from publications with mixed track records claim to share details of Apple’s upcoming iPhone lineup including the much rumored 4-inch iPhone “6c” and plans for the company to bring waterproofing and other new hardware features to future iPhone models.
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Apple Watch benefits from deeper blacks and greater energy efficiency thanks to OLED technology
Apple is expected to begin shifting iPhones from LCD displays to improved OLED screens starting in 2018, according to Nikkei Asian Review. Currently the display technology is only used by Apple to produce Apple Watch displays while iPhones and iPads use older LCD technology. OLED benefits from greater contrast levels and much deeper blacks as the display only illuminates to present color. This offers energy efficiency that leads to improved battery life compared lighting up the entire display each time.
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Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) is out with a new report today claiming Apple is now at over 100 million iPhones in use in the US. That means Apple has crossed 100 million active iPhone units since CIRP reported 97 million iPhones in use back in August, according to the research firm’s data.
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Preorders for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus start tomorrow 12:01 AM PT with general availability from September 25th, so its time to decide what size, color and storage capacity you will be buying for this iPhone generation. The iPhone 6s features 3D Touch pressure sensitivity, an upgraded 12 megapixel camera, 4K video recording, Live Photos, a faster A9 chip, improved Touch ID and more. Like last year, the difference between the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus is the larger screen (5.5 inch versus 4.7 inch) and the inclusion of optical image stabilization on the larger model.
The iPhone 6s costs $199 for 16 GB, 64 GB for $299 and 128 GB for $399 on contract, with the iPhone 6s Plus $100 more at each level. New for this year is a rose gold option, so that’s another choice to consider alongside silver, space gray and gold. With that in mind, what iPhone are you planning on buying? Let us know with the following polls ….
According to government officials, iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is planning to open operations including 10-12 factories and data centers by 2020 in India for the first time. Foxconn producing iPhones and iPads in India could result in lower prices on Apple’s hardware in the country where Apple’s hardware is sold at a price higher than many of its competitors.
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Yahoo announced today that a few of its services will no longer be support on older Macs and iOS devices. The changes will impact Yahoo Mail with Apple’s built-in Mail app on older iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches, and Yahoo Contact syncing on Macs running older versions of the desktop operating system. The changes will take place later this month on June 15th.
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For the month of June, Apple is giving a small boost to its trade-in price values for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPhone 5S, according to Apple Store sources. Using the Reuse and Recycle program, a customer can bring in an older iPhone model and receive gift card credit toward the purchase of a newer iPhone. Likely in order to spur some new iPhone sales this month, Apple is offering the following improvements to its trade-in pricing:
No, that’s not an iPhone 6C with Touch ID, and Apple isn’t planning new iPhones for August…
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Apple is about to sunset support for a number of iPhones, Macs, and other products as it plans to switch several models to “Obsolete” or “Vintage” status in June, according to internal documents.
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Apple has reportedly bought Israel-based camera technology firm LinX Computational Imaging Ltd, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to the report, the acquisition may have been for an estimated $20 million.
LinX specializes in producing “miniature multi-aperture cameras designed for mobile devices.” Apple’s motivation for purchasing the firm would clearly be to improve the camera technology on mobile devices including the iPhone.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook with IBM CEO Ginni Rometty
Through its MobileFirst for iOS initiative, Apple and IBM have added 8 new enterprise apps for designed exclusively for iPhone and iPad. The latest apps developed as part of the partnership between the two companies include two new industries: healthcare and industrial products. The 8 new apps brings the total of MobileFirst for iOS apps to 22, while the two new industries now totals 10 including banks, law enforcement, travel, and retail. Here are the latest iPhone and iPad enterprise apps from Apple and IBM.
German Apple Stores have dropped Vodafone and O2 contracts for both iPhones and iPads, offering them only with Deutsche Telekom contracts or SIM-free. The change affects only post-paid contracts: pre-paid SIMs remain available on Vodafone.
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From Apple’s ‘Spring Forward’ Apple Watch event today, we’ve rounded up the notable numbers and other updates shared by CEO Tim Cook and other execs throughout the presentation. Among them: Apple recently sold it’s 700 millionth iPhone. Cook also noted that iPhone is growing at a rate of growth double the industry (as pictured in the slide above).
Apple also shared some numbers on Apple Pay, retail stores, growth in China, and CarPlay.
Head below for more stats and company updates announced today:
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Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal published an in-depth look at The Home Depot’s recent security breach of its payment data systems, in which 56 million credit card accounts and 53 million email addresses of customers were compromised. A root cause of the security breach: a Windows vulnerability in the retailer’s main computer network.
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via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/EA_Roa" target="_blank">@EA_Roa</a>
Last month Re/code’s John Paczkowski reported that Apple plans to introduce its new iPhone models at an event scheduled for next month, and today Re/code’s Paczkowski reports that Apple will also reveal its wearable product (i.e. iWatch/iBand) alongside the new iPhones:
Apple now plans to unveil a new wearable alongside the two next-generation iPhones we told you the company will debut on September 9th. […] The new device will, predictably, make good use of Apple’s HealthKit health and fitness platform. It will also — predictably — make good use of HomeKit, the company’s new framework for controlling connected devices — though it’s not clear how broadly or in what way.
Queuing up at a hotel check-in desk is often the last thing you want to do after a long flight. Starting next year, you’ll be able to bypass the front desk altogether in Hilton hotels, your iPhone serving as as your hotel room key.
We’ve seen the same thing in smaller hotel groups, but Hilton’s adoption of the technology moves it very much into the mainstream. The group told the WSJ that it will begin introducing the new door locks next year, and expects to complete the global roll-out by the end of 2016.
The Hilton app already allows you to check-in electronically, but currently you still need to collect your room key from the front desk – which kind of defeats the object. With the new system, iPhone check-in will send a key code to your phone which can then be used to unlock your door.
Bluetooth-controlled door locks for home are also expected to be a big thing this year, with products on the way from Okidokeys and August.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has shipped approximately 1.4 million iPhone 5S units to China Mobile in preparation of the carrier’s iPhone launch on Jan. 17. The report notes it likely doesn’t present sales for the full month of January with preorders having kicked off under three weeks ago, but it is a good indication of how many new iPhone customers Apple could potentially get on a monthly basis through the deal:
“Shipping one million or more iPhones to a single carrier per month is substantial. But we have limited visibility beyond this month as Apple hasn’t informed Foxconn of the volume for the next shipment to China Mobile,” said the person.
Apple finally made things official last month when it announced in a press release that it had struck a deal with China Mobile to begin selling the iPhone 5s and 5c, marking the first time the iPhone would be sold through the carrier’s retail stores. China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier with over 760 million subscribers, started taking preorders for the device on December 25 following Apple’s announcement. No word on estimates for iPhone 5c shipments, but China Mobile is set to begin selling that device too starting Friday.
As first intimated back in March and pretty much a done deal in September, the FAA has confirmed that use of portable electronic devices by airline passengers will be permitted from gate to gate. Cellular devices must be in flight mode throughout, and you cannot make voice calls, even via Wi-Fi.
The ruling only gives the go-ahead to airlines, so there’s no saying when individual airlines might start applying the policy, but it’s unlikely to be before next year.
One uncertainty remains: the FAA says that approval is for ‘lightweight’ devices and gives examples, but doesn’t actually specify a weight.
Once an airline verifies the tolerance of its fleet, it can allow passengers to use handheld, lightweight electronic devices – such as tablets, e-readers, and smartphones—at all altitudes
It’s not immediately clear whether the permission includes laptops. Given the rather thin line between a lightweight laptop and a tablet, not to mention the difficulty non-technical cabin crew would have distinguishing a tablet with keyboard accessory from a laptop, this seems something of an oversight. Perhaps the rules should allow anything with an ‘Air’ in the name …
