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New videos and photo of purported reversible Apple USB to Lightning iPhone 6 cable

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We raised the possibility yesterday of the iPhone 6 including a redesigned USB to Lightning cable that allows the USB end of the cord to be inserted into a USB port in either direction. In other words, like the Lightning connector, the next Apple USB cable could be reversible. Leaks of the purported cables have been flowing quickly out of Asia-based areas surrounding the Apple supply chain, and now Sonny Dickson has shared a video of the cable in action. While the video does not show the iPhone actually syncing with the new USB cord, the video does show the cable being inserted in both directions into a standard USB port. This lines up with a recent Apple patent, which is for a USB connector that can be inserted in either direction into currently existing USB hubs.

You can watch the videos and see the new photo below:


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Will the iPhone 6 include a reversible USB cable? Recent Apple patent makes it possible.

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Reversible USB

The iPhone 6’s packaging might not only include a redesigned smartphone, but a redesigned USB to Lightning cable. While it’s unlikely that Apple will yet-again change the Lightning port introduced with the 2012 iPhone 5 anytime in the near future, a redesigned version of the USB plug could be ready for this fall. Sketchy photos of a reversible USB cable first surfaced on the web last week, and Sonny Dickson yesterday shared another shot of the cables via Twitter.

Like the Lightning connector, the benefit of a reversible USB connector is that it can be inserted into a USB port in either direction. This makes it easier to insert the connector in darkly lit or hard to reach places (like behind a desk). Due to uncertain sourcing, the first batch of photos did not seem completely believable, but digging a little deeper into the situation reveals that Apple readying a reversible USB iPhone cable is a real possibility…


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Video reportedly shows iPhone 6’s flexible sapphire screen cover

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDUeoGErJOs]

With a long list of leaks in recent months showing mock ups of the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones expected for release this fall, today we get a look at what is reportedly our first at the flexibility of the iPhone 6’s new sapphire cover glass. There’s not much information surrounding this leak or confirmation that what we’re looking at is the real deal, but the sapphire material is indeed something Apple has ramped up production of in recent months at its new Arizona plant
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Could this be our first look at the much larger iPhone 6?

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Update: These appear to be fake…

Sonny Dickson has posted images today which claim to show the casing for the next generation iPhone. The metal shell, which closely resembled both the industrial design of the current iPod touch and iPad Air, appears to be of unibody construction. While it’s impossible to verify the legitimacy of these images at this time, they provide an interesting look at what Apple might be planning.

We’ve been hearing reports that the next iPhone will feature a larger, sapphire crystal display, and these images support those rumors, sporting what looks like much larger casing. The report also hints that the current iPhone 5s may stick around, but be manufactured out of cheaper materials, alongside both 4.7 and 5.5″ iPhone models. But what does that mean for this shell?

We’ve got lots more images in the full gallery below:


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New screenshots from hacked iPad iOS 7 simulator show potential Maps, Safari, Game Center UIs

Screen Shot 2013-06-17 at 8.37.26 AM

This past weekend, we highlighted a couple of screenshots from a hacked version of the iOS 7 simulator that supports the iPad, and we also provided some steps to tweak the simulator yourself. Now, @SonnyDickson has sent in several new screenshots that show potential Maps, Settings, Newsstand, Contacts, Safari, Game Center, Control Center, and Notification Center interfaces for the iPad running iOS 7.

Some of these interfaces feature buttons that are seemingly out-of-place. While some believe that this is the reason for the iPad version of iOS 7 not being available in beta form yet (as we first reported would occur – a few weeks prior to WWDC), we think it is likely that buttons are out of place simply because this is a hacked together, unofficial representation of the iPad iOS 7 user-interface.


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A look at Apple’s reseller program circa 2007 [Video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owg08q1DZTQ

The above video, titled “Internal – Apple Authorized Service Provider 101,” appears to be from 2007 (some things might have changed since then).

Sonny Dickson has posted these Internal Apple videos about the repair and QA checking of iPhones and iPads this morning.

It will be interesting to see if Apple takes down these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JYZmAgZ8eJ4#!

In the meantime, have a look. You also might want to download these locally if you like them. A bunch of other videos are on his YouTube channel and below:
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iPad mini mockups go close range

Here are some more iPad mini mockups: this time, we are getting a very close look at these models supposedly based on the real deal. The recently decommissioned Apple YouTube app shows us we are still looking at the same mockups we have seen before—just much closer. Sonny Dickson also posted alleged leaked photos of the iPad Mini. Check it out below:

More new iPhone parts, A6 processor, more new 9-pin cables [Video]

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[nowhereelse.fr]

French website Nowhereelse [translated] posted more part leaks for the next-generation iPhone this morning, and while we get a new glimpse at the front screen, neither of the pictures show anything terribly new. The bronze piece pictured was originally thought to be an NFC chip, but more conventional wisdom suggests it is a speaker for the headset.

We also received an image of 4 iPhone motherboards before being chip loaded:

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…And, perhaps our most sketchy image:

Thanks, Sonny!

Adding to the slew of alleged leaks, a new image of a purported logic board for the next-generation iPhone has surfaced. The crisp picture shows the logical board without any protective EMI shielding for an internal look at the A6 chip that supposedly sits inside. We are a bit wary about the authenticity of this picture, as its originator, Sonny Dickson, said it needed to be “enhanced with Photoshop.”

It is speculated the A6, or a variant of the A5X chip, would appear in the next iPhone, and many thought Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s 28nm process would manufacturer the quad-core chip, but the latest reports claimed Apple is stuck with Samsung for at least CPU and/or baseband chip building after TSMC rebuffed an exclusive bid.

We also see another 9-pin dock cable from Sonny below:

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A gallery of new parts is below—including a video from Sinocent.
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Parts for next iPhone floating around Asia [Gallery]

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With next month’s announcement and subsequent release of the next-generation iPhone approaching, many more parts for the device are making their way around Asia, the hub for the device’s mass-production. 9to5Mac contributor Sonny Dickson has shared several images of many different parts and components for the new device. Many of these components, such as the unibody back casings, dock ports, LCD panels, and notably the battery, have already been profiled, though we are posting this comprehensive gallery to provide context of how many different parts are currently floating around. You can view our full gallery after the break. (Thanks, Sonny!)


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Photos of purported next-gen iPhone’s thinner, higher capacity battery: 3.8V, 1440 mAh

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As the launch of the next iPhone approaches, lots of  parts have been leaking out  and we’ve been able to put the pieces together almost like a reverse iFixit teardown. Over the course of the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen internal components and LCD parts making their way into the hands of iOS device parts suppliers. The most notable part leaks this year were the back plates of the new iPhone. We posted the first photos of these in May. Those new parts revealed an all-new thinner enclosure, metal design, smaller dock connector, and various other next-generation iPhone attributes.

Today, a reliable parts source (via 9to5Mac contributor Sonny Dickson) sent us images of new iPhone battery packs that they received. Notably, these new battery packs sport a higher capacity than the packs in previous generations of Apple’s smartphone. This new battery features a capacity of 1440 mAh. That is up from the capacity of 1430 mAh on the iPhone 4S and up from 1420 mAh on the iPhone 4, according to iPhone repair shop iFixYouri, whom examined the battery photos.

More details after the break:


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How the next-generation iPhone with taller display may position landscape keyboard

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Earlier this week, we broke the news that Apple’s upcoming version of iOS 6 is fully scalable and aware of taller, larger iPhone displays. The display resolution of 1136 x 640, a resolution we first reported in May that Apple is testing for future iPhones, shows a seemingly perfectly tweaked version of iOS 6. As we revealed earlier, this means five rows of home screen icons and tweaked native app user-interfaces.

We have been playing around more with the iOS simulator, which we tweaked to work on different resolutions, and we noticed some additional notable UI changes for the taller resolution. As we noted several months ago, the 1136 x 640 resolution on the next-generation iPhone will mean that the display comes in just around at a 16:9 proportion, an uncommon resolution for a mobile phone. Because of this, some have wondered how certain user-interface elements would be presented.

Many interface elements that are displayed while using the iPhone in vertical orientation will remain unchanged. The most important element, perhaps, is the iPhone’s keyboard. In portrait/vertical view, the keyboard on the next-generation iPhone will likely not change.

However, in landscape, it will:


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Screenshots of what running apps on a taller iPhone screen may look like

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Earlier this week, we broke the news that Apple’s upcoming iOS 6 software for the iPhone is fully aware and capable of running on taller iPhone displays. It just so happens that the latest iOS 6 builds are optimized to express a tweaked, properly displayed new interface when running at a resolution of 640 x 1136. This happens to be the exact resolution that our sources reported Apple is testing for upcoming iOS devices.

iOS specialist Sonny Dickson decided to create some screenshots of what running native applications may be like on the next-generation iPhone – if Apple chooses to roll with the taller, 640 x 1136 screen. Dickson installed some applications into the tweaked iPhone simulator, and the results are interesting. Apps that are already included and optimized for the iOS 6 simulator appear to have tweaked interfaces that fit the taller display. Several more screenshots and all the details are after the break:


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Looks like Apple is working on Siri Dictation for the iPad, iOS 5.1 beta reveals

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The iOS 5.1 beta 3 is apparently lacking new features or exciting hints at the future of iOS devices, but we have discovered something potentially major: Siri Dictation references. Our own tipster Sonny Dickson was looking through the iOS 5.1 beta 3 settings application on the iPad and discovered a new section in the keyboard menu called “About Privacy and Dictation.” When opened, as shown above, the iPad provides the user with the standard legal literature and feature information for Siri Dictation.

Dictation is not actually functional on the iPad 2 running iOS 5.1 beta 3, so perhaps this will be an iOS 5.1 launch feature for the iPad, or it may be an iPad 3-exclusive feature; a similar process to the iPhone 4S exclusively gaining Siri and Siri Dictation support in iOS 5.0.  We’re also hearing this link/document is also appearing on retina iPod touches as well.

On the iPhone 4S, Apple does not have a specific menu related to “Dictation and Privacy” in the keyboard settings panel. That literature is reserved exclusively for the Siri preferences under general settings and covers both Dictation and Siri. This may weaken concerns that this new iPad Dictation menu is simply carried over code from the iPhone 4S. This also may mean that the iPad’s Siri support could be limited to Siri Dictation, but that is pure speculation. Separately, we heard months ago that Apple was internally prototyping a version of the full Siri experience for the iPad, but have not heard any new developments since.


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Video Chat coming in future iPhones/iPads?

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Some interesting information has come to light this evening that may indicate a future direction of Apple’s iPhone OS products.  Below is some pretty definitive evidence that future iPhones and iPads will have video chatting capability.

These icons were found in the 3.2 SDK which seem to indicate that there will be video calling on a future iPxxx device.

But Wait!  That’s not all.  If you click below, hidden in some of the underlying iPad telephony apps are some VideoChat strings that are equally, if not more, telling evidence of future VideoChatting capabilities.

Video chat likely means front facing camera on these devices as well.  We’ll know more soon.  Also, we’ve found some references to “iChat”.

While it is possible that Apple brought code over from its Mac telephony products, it is unlikely that they also built icons and compressed them into the iPad SDK for such a product if it weren’t being built for future release.

Thanks again @sonny788 for your help!