After facing intensifying pressure from Chinese regulators, Weibo announced this week that it has hired 1,000 “supervisors” whose primary responsibility will be to censor content on the social media platform. The move marks a new turn of censorship for Weibo, one of the most popular social media networks in China…
[Update: This specific alleged chassis leak appears to be a rendering based on schematic leaks.]
The latest alleged iPhone 8 chassis leak appears to further indicate that the Touch ID fingerprint sensor will be relocated to the rear side like some Android phones. Earlier rumors predicted an embedded Touch ID sensor in the display.
Tim Cook has shared photos from his recent trip to China where the Apple CEO spoke to media about upcoming initiatives in the country and visited new Apple retail stores opened in the region. The photos (above and below) were posted to Cook’s new Weibo account. The head Apple exec started posting to the Chinese microblogging site, much like he does on Twitter, earlier this month.
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With Apple now selling more iPhones in China than in the USA, and much of Apple’s Q2 earnings call focused on the country, it’s no great surprise that Tim Cook has today opened an account on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter known as Weibo. There is, though, a certain amount of irony involved, Weibo being one of the main sources of leaked information on Apple products.
Cook is in Beijing to announce Apple’s new environmental programs in the country, the topic of his first post.
At the time of writing, the verified account already had over 300,000 followers, with almost 50,000 likes on his first post …
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This image is circulating today, although you shouldn’t get too excited. The image, posted to Chinese blog Weibo (via Letemsvetem), is labelled iPad Pro and depicts a rectangular manufacturing mold for … something. The only sign that this is an iPad Pro mold is the fact the Weibo page (which has no history with Apple leaks) says so.
With no reference of scale, this could easily be a mold for a current-generation iPad Air. In fact, this could just be a mold for an Android tablet … or something else entirely. There is simply not enough detail to make any conclusions about the picture. What do you think?
An equally sketchy image of an iPad Pro render appeared a few days ago. At least that looks like an iPad with discernible differences (additional speaker grille on the side). The currently-unconfirmed-but-widely-rumored device is expected to be released in the first half of 2015.
Recently an image of what’s claimed to be Apple’s redesigned US 5W USB power adapter surfaced on Weibo (via Gizmobic). This alleged new design, isn’t actually that new to everyone though. Australia currently has a very similar USB power adapter in terms of shape and size…
Weibo is continuing to be the source of unverified iPhone 6 leaks. This time, user “顾Gooey” has published some photos that he claims to represent display backlight components for the next-generation iPhone with a 4.7-inch screen. These parts appear similarly structured to the iPhone 5S and 5C version of the backlight component, meaning that the forum poster is either passing off the current-generation part as next-generation or that there is something legitimate about the components. The iPhone 6 is rumored to come in both 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes, and it will run iOS 8, include a more efficient A8 processor, and likely feature a 1704 x 960 display with a sharper pixel density. Another unverified backlight component photo, below, from Weibo:
An image of an aluminium backplate for what looks like the rumoured, larger, iPad Pro has appeared on Weibo. Although details are unclear, not to mention incredibly sketchy, this looks like an aluminium mockup dummy unit, not an actual iPad part. The image was first spotted by NowhereElse.fr.
A new batch of photos appearing on the Weibo social network claim to show new production schematics and die for manufacturing the body of the iPhone 6 inside a Foxoconn facility, as noted by GforGames. A few of the photos (below) definitely show some sort of technical design documents, though we can’t be sure what they show as they are both incredibly technical and written in Chinese.
The molds, as seen above, definitely appear to be designed to produce a smartphone, but there is no confirmation that these will be used for the iPhone 6 as opposed to a phone from some other manufacturer. Apple is rumored to be working on two different models of the iPhone 6 with different screen sizes. If they are designed for the next iPhone, these molds could be for the 4.7″ or 5.5″ models.
Images posted on Weibo claim to show an iPhone 6 under testing at Foxconn, via GforGames. The validity of these images cannot be confirmed, but the shots do line up with previous rumours. The iPhone 6 depicted here has a protruding camera (similar to the current design of the iPod touch), rounded edges and a considerably thinner profile than the current iPhone 5s.
Supposedly, these photos come from inside Foxconn itself. Drawings published on Friday reflect these images somewhat. A protruding camera component is part of the schematics, for example. Evidence of a thin chassis for the next-generation iPhone were originally found in January, albeit those pictures were as sketchy as these latest images.
“Gold” iPhone 5S backplate
China Telecom, one of the carriers in China to carry Apple’s iPhone, posted a message on microblogging website Weibo indicating that it will soon carry both of Apple’s upcoming iPhones: the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. The message has since been deleted.
With Apple holding a satellite stream of the September 10th media event in China, it is already likely that the country will see a promoted launch of both of the new iPhones. However, the information from China Telecom seems to indicate that the launch will occur early in Apple’s new iPhone release cycle. With past iPhone launches, Apple saved the China debut for weeks or months after the device’s first hit countries like the United States, Germany, and Australia.
A post on Sina indicates a September 20th launch, a date forecasted by some reports.
Perhaps corroborating a launch soon after the unveiling, major China-based retailer Dixintong is said to begin carrying the new iPhones on September 25th. It’s unclear if this is a general launch date for China, or just the date that this specific retailer has chosen.
In addition to seeing the device early-on in the release plan, recent chatter seems to indicate that China Mobile, the largest mobile carrier in the country, will gain the iPhone with the launches of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. The lower-cost, plastic backed iPhone 5C seems to have been developed with markets such as China in mind…
As Apple’s September 10th iPhone event approaches, a few new photos claiming to show packaged “iPhone 5Cs” and accompanying materials have surfaced online. The first photo comes from website iApps.im, and it purports to show several “iPhone 5C” units in packaging. The “iPhone 5C” is what many are calling Apple’s upcoming lower-cost, plastic-backed iPhone. The packaging in these photos appears to line up with a purported packaging leak from earlier this year…
A quality control employee at Pegatron posted the picture above to her Weibo profile (gone now), appearing to show a large amount of iPhone 5Cs in testing mode, as noted by Nowhereelse/Engadget. The following quote was attached to the image:
“The low-end iPhone 5C to be launched for Chinese consumers in September doesn’t look much different than the Xiaomi Phone 2, right?”
It’s odd that the manufacturer does not have a better setup for testing the devices, but Engadget notes that this kind of testing setup has been seen before during factory tours.
The phone looks the same as other leaked components and mockups, and we expect it to be announced by Apple at their September 10th event.
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