Alleged video of iPhone SE leaks showing a headphone jack

The iPhone SE originally launched in March 2016 as a refreshed update to the iPhone 5S’ body with the internals and updated camera of the iPhone 6S. It’s been over two years and rumors point to Apple possibly releasing a new version of the popular 4-inch iPhone form factor some time next month.

The latest leaks shows the new supposed iPhone SE with a glass back. The result reminds us of the iPhone 4’s design, which featured a totally glass back. Later, metal and glass was used on the back of the iPhone 5. What’s interesting is the phone was previously rumored to nix the headphone jack, but this model has the jack right at the bottom.

The model was not shown with the screen on, which suggests that it is likely dummy unit. The thing about dummy units is that they are hard to validate. We’ve seen hardware leaks about iPhones in the past but oftentimes dummies are not a reliable source. It’s entirely possible that this model is based on the leaked photos from this past week. The bottom of the phone looks exactly like the iPhone 5’s, not a speaker hole out of place.

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Ben Geskin@VenyaGeskin1

New iPhone (probably SE2) coming soon - code name: Jaguar
Glass Case, Wireless Charging, In Mass Production already.

2:48 PM - Apr 21, 2018

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The iPhone SE was the last Apple phone released to have a headphone jack, but this leak contradicts the previous rumor that the headphone jack won’t exist on a new iPhone SE.

If Apple does end up keeping the headphone jack on this rumored device, it will bring up an interesting conversation – will Apple have the “courage” to explain why it contradicted its own “courage”?”. If Apple does remove the headphone jack, it needs to have either: waterproofing, a taptic feedback engine, or a larger battery to justify. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the iPhone SE will have the precious headphone jack.

Via 1 | Via 2

Apple announces iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus Product Red Special Edition, goes on sale April 13

Apple has announced a Product Red Special Edition variant for the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus. Both models feature a stunning red finish for the glass back and a matching red aluminum frame around the sides. The front of the phone is now in black, unlike the white front of the red iPhone 7 models.

If you were waiting for a red iPhone X, unfortunately, you will be disappointed as there isn't going to be one. Instead, Apple has launched a Product Red Leather Folio case for the phone, which features a deeper red finish and joins the other Product Red cases for the phone.

As is the case with Product Red branded products, an unknown portion of all purchases go to the Global Funds for fighting HIV/AIDS. Apple claims to have donated over $160 million to Global Funds over the years through its many Product Red devices.

The red iPhones will be available Friday, April 13 and the red iPhone X case will be available tomorrow on April 10.

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Apple’s redesigned Mac Pro is coming in 2019 .

The overhaul of Apple’s most performant desktop Mac involves just a little more waiting

By Nick Statt 

on April 5, 2018 11:32 am

  

Apple’s long-awaited update to the 2013 Mac Pro won’t be released until sometime next year, the company confirmed in an interview with TechCrunch. We’ve known since a press roundtable in April 2017 that Apple was “completely rethinking” the Mac Pro, in the words of marketing chief Phil Schiller. Now, we have confirmation that the product is arriving next year after some speculation that it could make an appearance this year at a fall hardware event typically reserved for MacBook announcements.

“We want to be transparent and communicate openly with our pro community so we want them to know that the Mac Pro is a 2019 product. It’s not something for this year,” Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac hardware product marketing, told TechCrunch. “In addition to transparency for pro customers on an individual basis, there’s also a larger fiscal reasoning behind it.”

APPLE WANTS PRO CONSUMERS TO KNOW THEY’LL BE WAITING AT LEAST ANOTHER YEAR FOR THE MAC PRO

Apple understands that its new iMac Pro has a substantial crossover with the customer that might purchase the updated Mac Pro, and so the company wants to give some timeline clarity to help those pro users better grasp where the products stand in the pipeline. “We know that there’s a lot of customers today that are making purchase decisions on the iMac Pro and whether or not they should wait for the Mac Pro,” Boger added.

There’s a lot we still don’t know about the device. First and foremost, we’re unsure what shape it will take. The trashcan-style design of the Mac Pro was divisive, yet it was an integral design decision from Apple to enable a more modular setup with easier access to core components like memory and graphics. “As we said a year ago working on modular was inherently a modular system and in looking at our customers and their workflows obviously that’s a real need for our customers and that’s the direction we’re going,” Boger said in the interview.

Apple has also created an all-new internal team, called the Pro Workflow Team, dedicated to coordinating efforts across the company’s hardware and software teams to better ensure the end product meets the needs of the core target audience. In other words, Apple needs Final Cut Pro to run well on the new Mac Pro, so the Pro Workflow Team helps keep those two projects closely aligned. The workflow team is also tasked with interfacing directly with pro consumers and the communities of workers who use Apple hardware and software across graphic design, film editing, animation, and other industries.

There is also some talk now that the new Mac Pro may be one of the first devices Apple outfits with an ARM-based processor, as part of its groundbreaking shift away from Intel chips revealed by Bloomberg earlier this week. The timeline for that to happen is 2020, so it seems unlikely the new Mac Pro would use an all-new custom Apple chip set. But it is a possibility. Unfortunately, we won’t probably hear more about the new Mac Pro until much later this year, and even then details are likely to be sparse.

Apple releases first betas for iOS 11.4, tvOS 11.4 and watchOS 4.3.1

On Monday, April 3, Apple released the first betas for its upcoming iOS 11.4, tvOS 11.4 and watchOS 4.3.1 releases. These arrive less than a week after the official releases of iOS 11.3, tvOS 11.3 and watchOS 4.3.

iOS 11.4

In addition to squashing bugs introduced in iOS 11.3, being a point release, iOS 11.4 introduces some additional functionality.

During its March 27 Educational Event Apple announced that iOS 11.4 would launch the ClassKit Framework, used in conjunction with a new iPad app called Schoolwork that helps teachers and students keep track of assignments and progress.

Notably, iOS 11.4 welcomes the return of AirPlay 2. AirPlay 2 made an appearance in two of the previous iOS 11.3 betas only to be removed and we'll be updating our AirPlay 2 hands-on in due course. AirPlay 2 allows you to stream audio content to multiple supported devices simultaneously without drops-outs.

AirPlay 2 is also required in order to stream to multiple Apple HomePods, speaking of which iOS 11.4 also introduces HomePod stereo pairing. This functionality requires an upcoming HomePod firmware update to function which has yet to be released.

Messages in iCloud does exactly what it says on the tin, by synchronizing messages across multiple iOS and Apple Mac devices.

tvOS 11.4

The aforementioned AirPlay 2 makes a reappearance with both the 4th and 5th (4K) Generation Apple TV's becoming AirPlay 2 supported devices. As such they are once again visible within the Apple Home app.

watch OS 4.3.1

Being a minor update we expect this release mainly to squash any bugs introduced in the watchOS 4.3 release.

If Apple sticks to form, we can expect Public Betas later this week, but as always, install at your own risk.

Apple Watch Series 4 to have 15% bigger screen, refreshed design, larger battery

According to prolific Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, the Cupertino company is finally ready to refresh the design of its smartwatch this year. The new "more trendy form factor" will arrive with the Apple Watch Series 4, which is likely to debut alongside the new iPhones at an event in September.

The Series 4 will also boast a bigger touchscreen than its predecessors, by 15%. It's unclear if the increase in screen real estate will come at the expense of bezels or if we should expect the watch's dimensions to grow. The new smartwatch will also have a larger battery and upgraded health sensors for enhanced health monitoring.

Older models will remain on sale with lower prices, and that will drive sales to new records. KGI predicts 22-24 million units shipped in 2018, around 30% more than last year. Long term, sales should grow to 50 million per year.

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Don't Buy an Apple Laptop Until the New MacBook Air Comes Out

The MacBook Air hasn’t gotten much love from Apple over the past few years, but that could finally change this spring. A new report from popular Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via MacRumors) claims we could get a cheaper MacBook Air in the next few months, and, until that happens, you should probably hold off on buying any new Apple laptop.

Kuo doesn’t go into any details beyond the price, which would drop below the current $999. It’s also unclear if this means Apple will bring back the smaller 11-inch Macbook Air (discontinued back in 2016) or simply slash costs for the current 13-inch laptop.

Either way, it could also be an opportunity to upgrade some of the hardware. Last June, Apple gave the MacBook Air a slight refresh, bumping up its processor speed but ignoring the aging screen—it still can’t display at full HD quality. We might also get a USB-C port, but personally I still prefer the old MagSafe charging method.

The simple truth is, despite years of neglect, the MacBook Air is still a great laptop. It represents a peak moment in Apple’s design history, just before the company decided that the best way forward was to remove the features people actually liked (MagSafe, the iPhone headphone jack, a decent laptop keyboard, etc).

If you care more about flashy features, like the useless MacBook Touch Bar or the actually-pretty-handy MacBook Pro Touch ID, then you probably shouldn’t wait around for this new MacBook Air. But if you want an incredibly solid laptop that won’t let you down, the MacBook Air is the way to go. Hopefully in a few months we’ll see the Air make the leap into 2018 with better hardware, or, at the very least, a lower price tag.

Apple allegedly working on over the ear, noise-cancelling wireless headphones

Apple is said to be working on its own set of premium over the ear, active noise-cancelling wireless headphones and will be launching them by the end of the year. This was first revealed by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi-Kuo and later confirmed by Bloomberg.

According to Bloomberg, work on these headphones has been on-again-off-again for over the past year. The product has gone through multiple revisions and will likely be redesigned again before launch or may even be scrapped altogether, according to people familiar with the matter.

Beats Studio3 Wireless powered by Apple W1 chipset

The headphones will feature the same seamless pairing process as the AirPods due to Apple's custom SoC powering them. We might see an updated version of the W1 chipset used inside the AirPods and some of the wireless Beats models, such as the recent Studio3 Wireless.

The AirPods have been a massive success for Apple despite the initial skepticism regarding the design. The new headphones should find success with those looking for more traditional design or just want something with active noise-cancellation. The AirPods themselves are also expected to get an update this year in the form of water-resistance and always-listening Siri support.

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Apple Patent Reveals Dual Screen MacBook, and It Looks Incredible

It could also be a two-in-one tablet.

By Kevin Litman-Navarro on February 28, 2018

Filed Under Augmented Reality, Cars, Computers & Design

On Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released a set of recently approved Apple patents.

Among the 26 new patents is a design for a dual screen MacBookthat would eliminate the keyboard and trackpad from their classic laptop design. Replacing the keyboard with a second display would allow Apple to radically reconfigure their MacBook series. Presumably, the new display would be touch-sensitive, meaning it could be used as a sketchpad and a touch keyboard, among other things.

The patent shows how the second display would replace the keyboard and trackpad.

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According to the patent, there are two different versions of the dual screen system. In one, the displays would be attached by a hinge, making it very similar to a traditional laptop. Another option would allow the two screens to separate entirely, making it more of a two-in-one device.

In addition to the dual screen function, the patent includes information about a design that would allow users to wear sunglasses while using the computer. “Polarizer layers and other optical layers in the displays may be configured to provide a viewer with the ability to view images on the displays while wearing vertically polarized Sunglasses,” the patent says.

It’s not too surprising that Apple is potentially building a new MacBook. Just last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company is currently working on technology that won’t be available for years, in part because of the long lead time to gather the necessary silicon.

“You have to have a forcing function,” Cook told Fast Company. “For us, on the product side, we have to come up with our silicon requirements three, four-plus years in advance. So we’ve got things that we’re working on now that are way out in the 2020s.”

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Some speculated that Cook was referring to advances in augmented reality and self-driving cars — perhaps we will get to see the dual screen MacBook in the coming years as well.

Strategy Analytics: Apple scores 51% of global smartphone revenue in Q4 2017

Strategy Analytics published its quarterly report on the smartphone revenue between October and December 2017. According to the data, Apple snatched $61.4 billion or 51% of the total $120.2 billion. Second came Samsung with $18.9 billion with a share of 15.7%, while third was Huawei with $8.4 billion revenue or 7% of the pie.

Morgan Stanley also published a research note for the same period, stating the iPhone market in China grew 12% on a quarterly basis.

The Cupertino company managed to rake in three times more revenue than the next best manufacturer due to iPhone’s average selling price of about $800. This is way higher than the global average of $300 for Q4 2017 - a massive 15% jump from $255 in Q4 2016. The smartphone industry has managed to increase pricing and revenues despite a decrease in volumes.

Samsung sales of Galaxy Note8 and Galaxy S8 models and fewer low-end sales kept a high average price of $254, while the median price for a Huawei smartphone sits at $205 because of its strength on the domestic market. Woody Oh, Strategy Analytics Director predicts the Chinese company will improve once it manages to join the US market, a step that is currently blocked by US Senate.

Morgan Stanley pointed out that Chinese users who buy iPhones are mostly loyal Apple fans. Android users would choose Chinese companies’ devices like Oppo and Huawei over older iPhones. Number-wise, over 3% of active installed phones are iPhone X, where the iPhone 8 Plus accounts for 2.63% and iPhone 8 has a 1.36% market share.

Source 1 • Source 2

Get a refurbished Apple Watch Series 3 for $50 off

Apple is offering its current-generation Apple Watch Series 3 with GPS (non-cellular) for $50 off the retail price of a brand new one. Currently, it is only available in Space Gray Aluminum with a black sport band for the 42mm size, and Gold with a Pink Sand colored sport band. They are priced at $279 and $309, respectively.

  

All of Apple’s refurbished products offer extensive inspection and have fresh batteries. They also come with original accessories in the box. The magnetic charger, manuals, and power brick are all included, as well as Apple’s standard, limited 1-year warranty, along with a 14-day return period. Refurbished Apple products are also eligible for AppleCare+.

Like any other refurbished product, there are likely limited quantities. We do hope that Apple will stock more color options to pass savings on to more folks. Check out Apple’s Refurbished and Clearance section to find savings.

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Apple sets record for most wearables sold in a single quarter

Apple has shipped a record 18 million smartwatches in 2017 and almost half of those came in Q4 - 8 million. Coincidentally, that's also a record for most shipped smart wearables for a single quarter, by any maker.

Out of the total 18 million shipped Apple Watches, close to 9 million were the latest Series 3. According to Canalys data the LTE-powered Apple Watch Series 3 is the fastest-selling LTE wearable on the market, totaling 1.6 million units shipped.

Apple's Q4 numbers were a solid 32% higher year over year than Q4 of 2016 while 2017 as a whole saw 54% more shipped Apple Watches than 2016.

Source

Apple ships the most tablets in the Holiday season, Samsung drops to third

Tablets are not selling as well as before - Q4 of 2017 saw 7.9% less tablets shipped compared to Q4 of 2016 while 2017 as a whole saw a decline of 6.5% over 2016.

And yet despite this turmoil Apple, Amazon and Huawei managed to see growth in slate shipments - both in the final quarter and in 2017 in general.

Apple shipped the most tablets in Q4 of 2017 and 0.6% more than the previous year while Amazon achieved a huge 50.3% jump over last year's Holiday quarter thanks to some aggressive discounts.

Samsung dropped to third in Q4 of 2017 and saw a 13% decline of tablet shipments compared to the final months of 2016. However, Samsung retained its second place in total tablet shipments for 2017, despite losing some market share.

Despite lackluster efforts from Huawei it still achieved a quarterly growth of 11.9% and yearly improvement of 28%.

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Apple sold fewer iPhones this holiday season, still made more revenue

Apple’s latest quarter report is out for the Holiday Season. This report includes initial iPhone 8 sales, as well as the first wave of iPhone X sales. Combined, the company shipped 77.3 million iPhones. This is just 1.15% below the same quarter from the previous year.

The higher cost of the iPhone X was just enough to offset the slight decline in total iPhone shipments, just enough, in fact, to bump Apple’s revenue for this quarter over the previous one: $88.3 billion vs $78.4 billion in revenue. The posted revenue was just above the predicted amount: between $84 to $87 billion.

iPhone X and the iPhone 8

During this quarter, Apple also sold 13.2 million iPads and 5.1 million Mac computers. The same quarter last year did fewer iPads (13 million), and slightly more Macs (5.4 million). Apple also highlighted that it has reached 1.3 billion active Apple devices around the world in January.

We’ve discussed this in the past: the smartphone industry is becoming very saturated and increasingly marginal updates year over year. A company even as big as Apple has had trouble keeping up with the slowly declining industry and analysts have even suggested that Apple may discontinue the iPhone X early.

What’s amazing is that Apple managed to market and sell a smartphone experience for $1000. What’s not amazing is that this may be prompting other smartphone makers to try the same thing. The first one on that list is Samsung with the Galaxy Note8, it was $950 when it launched and we might be able to expect that its successor will be sold for $1000.

In any case, we don't see Apple slowing down any time soon. 2018 rumors have swirled about three new iPhones this year, all of which may have employ the same iPhone X notch-style display.

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Apple updates pricing in the App Store for selected countries

JANUARY 2018

Apple started contacting developers regarding tax and foreign exchange rate changes that will affect pricing on the App Store in addition to adjusting developer proceeds within selected countries.

The countries that will see their App Store prices change are:

Czech Republic: Prices will decrease for apps and in-app purchases (excluding auto-renewable subscriptions)

India: Prices will decrease for apps and in-app purchases (including auto-renewable subscriptions)

Turkey, Nigeria, Belarus, Armenia: Prices will increase for apps and in-app purchases (excluding auto-renewable subscriptions)

Behind the scenes, Apple will administer the collection of taxes and remittance of tax to authorities in following countries in accordance with the tax rates:

Armenia: 20%

Belarus: 20%

Saudi Arabia: 5%

Switzerland: changed from 8% to 7.7%

Turkey: 18%

United Arab Emirates: 5%

Tim Cook says the next iOS update will allow users to disable intentional battery slowdowns

Apple CEO Tim Cook today shared that the next update to iOS 11 will allow users to disable battery performance throttling on their device. The move comes after Apple last month admitted it intentionally slows down iPhones as they get older to prevent issues that may arise as the batteries depreciate.

In an interview with ABC News, Cook said the update will arrive next month in a developer release before a wider public rollout. “We’re going to give people the visibility of the health of their battery so it’s very, very transparent,” he says. “This hasn’t been done before.”

PhotVergeo by James Bareham / The 

Cook also says the update will more clearly inform users when their iPhone is automatically reducing its performance in an effort to prevent unexpected shutdowns. “If you don’t want it, you can turn it off,” Cook says, though he maintains that this is not recommended — something Apple stands by in its apology letter that addressed consumers after the backlash in December. Apple currently faces multiple class action lawsuits after admitting to intentionally slowing down iPhones.

The next iOS 11 developer beta is expected in early February, which means a public release will follow some time in March.

(Source)

Samsung's dedicated AI chips to outclass Apple and Huawei in the second half of the year

Apple and Huawei have already introduced AI-focused chipsets last year, the A11 Bionic and Kirin 970, respectively. Not one to allow itself to be left out of the latest trends in the mobile world, Samsung is reportedly working tirelessly on a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) of its own.

For mobile devices, the company is said to have already reached "the technological levels of Apple and Huawei", or so unnamed sources in Korea claim. Samsung will even "come up with better chips" (than Apple and Huawei) "for sure in the second half of the year". The race is on, then.

Samsung Galaxy Note8

The company only started developing its NPU in the second half of 2017, which is the reason for the delay compared to its competitors. With an NPU, a smartphone can process, analyze and store data without the need of a cloud server.

Samsung is likely to showcase some of its NPU's capabilities at MWC in Barcelona next month, though it's unclear if that will be an open presentation or a 'behind closed doors' type of event. The first handset to come with Samsung's NPU built-in will be the Galaxy Note9, which is apparently scheduled to launch in September.

(Source)

Apple Announcing iOS 5, iCloud and Mac OS X

Announcing iOS 5, iCloud and Mac OS X Lion This Monday.

Apple Announcing iOS 5, iCloud and Mac OS X Lion This Monday.  It has now been confirmed that Apple is going to announce iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion and iCloud on Monday. Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be making these announcements in his keynote address at WWDC 2011, scheduled to start on Monday June 6th, 2011.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who is still on a medical leave of absence from the company, will be taking the stage at WWDC 2011 and announcing these new services.

iOS 5 is going to be the platform on which the next generation iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is going to run on. Much has been speculated about the features that iOS 5 is likely to bring, and now, come Monday, we shall know what iOS 5 is all about. On the other hand, Apple is also going to preview Mac OS X Lion, the eighth major release since the original Mac OS came out. Also, the much rumored Apple cloud service is also going to be formally announced, but now we do know that Apple was indeed behind iCloud all the time. Let’s see what services iCloud has to offer! On another note, full press release has been embedded below for your reading pleasure:

CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.