iPhone 7

Update: New details at the bottom …

The rumor mill for the iPhone 8 is seemingly flip-flopping between two distinct designs for Apple’s 2017 flagship iPhone, one made of aluminium and another more drastic look with a curved glass front and back. The latest unverified leaks from today depict the latter device.

These photo show an iPhone made of glass and stainless steel with the front screen seemingly going edge-to-edge with no discernible bezel. There is also no Touch ID visible on the back, implying it will be integrated under the display. More photos after the jump …

Expand
Expanding
Close

There are many ways to add HomeKit-connected lights to your home, allowing you to turn them on and off from your phone at a tap or with your voice using Siri. You can buy special Philips Hue bulbs, change wall switches with Lutron or Elgato, or plug in lamps to a smart plug socket.

The Koogeek Smart Socket is a different approach to the same problem. It puts an adaptor between your existing light fitting and bulb. All you have to do is screw it in. Keep reading after the jump for my full hands-on …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Analysts are expecting the price people will pay for an iPhone to rise significantly heading into next year. Apple analyst Katy Huberty from Morgan Stanley released a report (via Business Insider) predicting iPhone ASP to rise to $753 in 2018, up from $695 in the holiday quarter just gone.

Much of this increase is attributed to demand for the upcoming flagship iPhone model with an all-new design, OLED display and (almost) bezel-less front face. This ‘iPhone 8’ is rumored to cost significantly more than Apple’s current lineup. Huberty also notes that more people are buying the iPhone 7 Plus than ever before, which starts at $769 and is priced at a $120 premium relative to the 4.7-inch iPhones.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Bloomberg has today published its overview of Apple’s plans for the new iPhone lineup this year, largely reaffirming what the rumor mill has said up to now. Apple will reportedly launch three new iPhones in the fall, iterative successors to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and a new ‘top of the line’ iPhone 8 with an ‘overhauled’ design.

Bloomberg details various prototypes for the radical new OLED iPhone with variations of curved glass and stainless steel chassis materials …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple has already announced that it will launch new iMacs later this year, including models aimed at pro users. Today, Digitimes reportedly reveals some details about what the iMac update will bring.

The report says that the consumer iMac models are going into production next month, with a launch in the second half of the year. An update is certainly due; the latest 5K iMac launched in late 2015. The pro iMac will seemingly launch later, with ‘server-grade’ components …

Expand
Expanding
Close

A sketchy series of images has been circulating this morning, supposedly showing an iPhone 8 prototype design with mockup renders and technical measurement drawings.

The drawing is impressive, depicting an iPhone front dominated by screen with just 4mm of bezels on every side. However, the original sourcing is unclear and the details are pretty questionable …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Update: Tim Cook has tweeted a message saying (in Turkish) ‘We celebrate the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day in Turkey with great photographs taken by young talents.’

Türkiye'de Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı’nı genç yeteneklerin çektiği müthiş fotoğraflarla kutluyoruz. #23Nisan #iPhoneileçekildi 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/VUqrUjH92G

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 21, 2017

Apple has posted three new Shot on iPhone ads to its Apple Turkey YouTube channel. The fifteen-second spots are special in that all three videos have been taken by 11-year old children using an iPhone 7. The clips include quirky uses of perspective and slow-mo to create some clever sequences.

Apple is posting the videos to celebrate a national holiday in Turkey that takes place on April 23, called National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Watch the three ads after the jump …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Via iGeneration, it seems that the Workflow app is in maintenance mode and unlikely to gain any new features in the foreseeable future. According to an email reply a user received from Workflow support, there are no ‘further updates planned’ for the automation app although they will continue to maintain its existing functionality — presumably with occasional bug fix releases.

When Apple acquired Workflow in March, it remained available on the App Store, many fans of the app saw this as a signal it was not going to be abandoned. This does not seem to be the case however.

Expand
Expanding
Close

In what is the first supposed leak of ‘real’ iPhone 8 technical schematics, an image posted to Weibo today claims to show technical drawings for the next-generation iPhone straight from Foxconn. The drawings depict an iPhone 8 front and back with minimal bezels on the left and right sides of the screen. Compared to an iPhone 7, the top and bottom bezels are also significantly smaller.

On the back, the dual camera system and rear flash is stacked vertically in the top-left corner, with a gap for a Touch ID fingerprint sensor below the Apple logo. The image is labelled with dimensions for the chassis, which are comparable to the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 — despite the significantly larger screen …

Expand
Expanding
Close

According to one analyst, Apple is facing a significant bottleneck in the production of the bezel-less iPhone 8. As the device’s front is expected to be mostly screen (and almost no bezel), the Touch ID sensor is being re-engineered.

Cowen and Company’s Timothy Arcuri is claiming that yields of a new fingerprint sensor that would be integrated into the iPhone 8 screen are low (via AppleInsider) and that Apple may consider other less-exciting designs if the production problems cannot be solved.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple is believed to be developing its own custom power management chips for iPhone and iPads, at least according to one industry analyst (via Reuters). The report from Bankhaus Lampe said that Apple is looking to replace a PMIC component currently supplied by Dialog with its own custom silicon as soon as 2019.

The analyst notes that Apple has been aggressively hiring engineers from the third-party supplier and already has a significant team of employees working on Apple-designed power management chips. This follows the news that Apple intends to make custom GPUs for its iOS devices within two years.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple is preparing its supply chain for the onslaught of next-generation iPhone sales in the fall, expected to be a bumper year with much anticipation for the radical ‘iPhone 8’ redesign. According to ETNews, via Digitimes, Apple has agreed a two year contract with Samsung Display to supply curved iPhone OLED panels.

Samsung is apparently upping capacity to as much as 92 million units in 2017, as demand from Apple rises. Apple uses OLED in Apple Watch and the MacBook Pro Touch Bar already, but the iPhone 8 represents the first time the company will use the display technology in the iPhone, it’s biggest product.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The iPhone 8 may debut later than we have been used to, according to a new report. For the last few years, Apple has announced its new iPhone lineup at a September event in the fall with a release date a couple weeks later. For example, the iPhone 7 was announced on September 7th and released on September 16th.

This year, Economic Daily News (via Digitimes) is suggesting that the launch may be pushed back to October or November, as production of the radical new iPhone has faced challenges …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Up to now, Apple’s custom silicon-on-a-chip (A10 Fusion, A9, A8 etc) have relied heavily on GPU designs from Imagination Technologies for graphics performance tasks. This means Apple pays Imagination a royalty for every iPhone and iPad sold; the company generates about its revenue from Apple.

Today, Apple announced that it will stop using Imagination Technologies intellectual property within two years, ending its royalty payments. $IMG stock plummeted in wake of the news, falling by 70% to eight-year lows.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Many features of the iPhone 8 have been well documented at this point, with a general consensus on a 5.8-inch OLED screen on a chassis with almost no front bezel, along with wireless charging, 3D-sensing front camera and much more.

However, the ‘bezel-less frame’ has left one rather big open question. What happens to the Touch ID sensor? There have been murmurs of Apple integrating the fingerprint sensor below the display glass. This sounds cutting-edge and modern, but has not been well substantiated. A report coming out today suggests a far less exciting possibility for the Touch ID sensor …

Expand
Expanding
Close

This week, Apple officially unveiled the PRODUCT(RED) iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. While the device looks pretty slick on the surface, many people have argued that Apple should have made the front of the device black, as opposed to white.

We’ve already shared one concept image that imagines a (RED) iPhone with a black front, but now YouTuber Danny Winget has taken it a step further and actually transformed the device…

Expand
Expanding
Close

In this week’s top stories: Our video recap of Apple’s non-event product announcements this week as the company unveils the Product (RED) iPhone 7, a new low-cost iPad, Apple Watch updates, a new app called Clips, and much more.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Update: Red iPhone shipping estimates indicate Tuesday delivery, in-store pickup available as soon as today at some locations. The new iPad delivers March 31st – April 4th; in-store pickup not yet available.

The Apple Store website is back up as scheduled; you can now order the new red iPhone and the cheaper $329 iPad from the Apple Online Store. The red iPhone is available in 128 GB and 256 GB sizes only, which means the (RED) iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are available from $749 and $849 respectively. Apple will donate some money to the PRODUCT(RED) charity for each device sold.

The new entry-level iPad costs $329 for the 32 GB WiFi model, featuring a brighter 9.7-inch display with an A9 SoC — about the same performance as the iPhone 6s. It goes up to $559 for the 128 GB model with cellular.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The Apple Store is down today, although it’s still several hours before the new products go on sale. The teaser message from Apple has actually been tweaked with new fonts and new text.

It notes to look out for the 8.01 AM PDT time, when the PRODUCT(RED) iPhone 7 and the new cheaper iPad go on sale.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Earlier today, Apple officially unveiled its new PRODUCT(RED) iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. After being rumored for several months, Apple confirmed the device’s existence and announced the continuation of its (RED) partnership.

Now, YouTuber Marques Brownlee, or MKBHD, has gotten his hands on the new red-colored iPhone 7 Plus and put it through the full unboxing and first-look treatment…

Expand
Expanding
Close