Episode 100: An in-depth recap of the Apple iPhone 6s event, including a discussion of the iPad Pro, and Apple TV.
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Let’s Talk iOS 100: Wack’em
Jeff Benjamin
Jeff has been with iDownloadBlog since 2010, acting as resident video specialist, and tutorial expert. He earned his degree in Computer Network Systems back in 2001, but decided Cisco routers and the like just weren’t for him. Since then, he’s been heavily involved with online writing. He’s written for numerous tech and video game sites since the late 1990′s, and has a knack for explaining things in a simple, clear, and concise manner. Jeff works primarily from the east coast on his Retina Macbook Pro, and shoots video with a Canon DSLR. During downtime he likes to travel the world, visiting the various Apple Stores across the globe. You can email him at jeff [at] idownloadblog.com and follow him on Twitter @JeffBenjam or on Google+. Poll: Which iPhone 6s did you buy?
As expected, iPhone 6s pre-orders began in the wee hours on Saturday morning. Like always, Apple's latest iPhone proved to be a hot seller, and many of the models, especially the rose gold, are now on backorder.
All of us at iDB have our pre-orders in. What about you? Participate in our reader poll and help us tally some stats.
New iCloud storage pricing said to launch on September 25th
As noted in last week's iPhone 6s keynote, Apple will be significantly upping the value of its iCloud storage plans by providing much more storage for the money. Apple will be keeping around its free 5GB tier, but it's upping the amount of storage provided by its $0.99 tier by 30GB, and reducing the price of its highest $19.99 tier.
If you go to the iCloud section of the Settings app today and select the Upgrade iCloud Storage option, you'll still see the old pricing setup. This has left many to ask the question: when will the new iCloud storage pricing go live? An iCloud user who recently reached out to Apple support thinks they have the answer.
iOS 9’s trackpad mode comes back to the iPhone courtesy of 3D Touch
iOS 9 contains a new QuickType feature that lets you slide two fingers on the iPad's screen to activate a trackpad-esque mode. Called "easy text selection", this feature lets iPad users control the cursor by sliding two fingers anywhere on the screen, including over the keyboard, to select, edit, and move text.
While easy text selection appeared in the initial iOS 9 beta for the iPhone, it was thereafter removed and has remained an iPad-only feature up until now. But, as has been highlighted by a user on Reddit, the easy text selection is making an iPhone comeback, as long as you own a new iPhone 6s.
That's because easy text selection has been rolled into the new 3D Touch suite for the iPhone 6s. Indeed, you'll be able to use the trackpad-like features on the iPhone, but only on the new iPhones.
Breaking down the iPhone 6s model numbers and LTE band capabilities
Apple is shipping four different models of iPhone for its yearly refresh. The iPhone 6s sports two models—A1633 and A1688, while the iPhone 6s Plus feature models A1634 and A1687.
Although both iPhones in the 6s and 6s Plus lines are virtually the same, the model numbers differentiate the cellular LTE band capabilities of each phone. Thus, by familiarizing yourself with each model number, you can learn what networks each phone will support.
Why is this important? Say you wanted to order a new iPhone 6s in rose gold. As you might have heard, rose gold is proving to be very popular, and is selling out quicker than some of the other iPhone color options. Rose gold 64GB iPhones designated for T-Mobile and Verizon are now on backorder for 2-3 weeks.
But some rose gold models remain available—for example, some Sprint-designated rose gold models are still shipping on 9/25. By using our knowledge of iPhone model numbers, we might still be able to obtain a rose gold iPhone 6s to use with a provider like T-Mobile or Verizon by purchasing the Sprint model...
Confirmed: the iPhone 6s ships with 2GB of RAM
Good news for those worried about the RAM situation of the new iPhone 6s—it has been confirmed that both the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus will both sport 2GB of RAM. Well-known developer Hamza Sood confirmed the details by means of a tweet earlier today.
Apple rarely advertises the RAM contained in its products, but regardless of how Apple wants to downplay its importance, RAM is a big deal.
WaveFlow adds a visualizer to the iOS 8.4 Music app
Looking to add some additional pizazz to the Music app in iOS 8.4? If so, then you should consider giving WaveFlow a try.
WaveFlow, a new jailbreak tweak, adds a music visualizer to both your iPhone's Now Playing interface in the stock Music app, and on your iPhone's Lock screen. It only works with the stock Music app, but if that's your primary method for playing tunes, it's definitely work checking out.
MeetingDnD enables Do Not Disturb based on calendar events
The Do Not Disturb preferences in the stock Settings app provides a limited level of scheduling for the DND feature found in iOS. If you want deeper scheduling capability, you're going to need to rely on a jailbreak tweak like MeetingDND.
Just like the tweak's name alludes to, MeetingDND allows you to create blocks of Do Not Disturb time based on calendar events. Check out the details in this post for more info.
Here’s the first emulator built for the new Apple TV
One of the new Apple TV’s biggest upsides is its game playing ability. Indeed, Apple’s next generation Apple TV will focus heavily on gaming, and even comes equipped with a Wii-inspired motion remote/controller with a touchpad.
Certain developers are already licking their chops at the possibilities of the Apple TV as a gaming hub. In fact, one such developer has already used the now-available Apple TV simulator to run an emulator. This emulator allows for old-school games, like the Sega classic Golden Axe, to be played.
One such example is with an emulator named Provenance. Developed by James Addyman, Provenance is a multi-emulator capable of emulating games from a variety of legacy hardware. Provenance is already running on the Apple TV simulator found inside the latest version of Xcode.
First Apple TV 4th generation unboxing goes online
The just-announced Apple TV 4th-generation will be out sometime in late October, but a YouTuber by the name of Andru Edwards got his hands on a unit early. To our knowledge, this is the first unboxing of the Apple TV on the web. Check out the video and see it for yourself.
5 last-minute preparation tips before iPhone 6s pre-orders go live
The Apple Store is down and the stage is set for the release of the new iPhone 6s. We're hoping for a much-improved online ordering experience since Apple revamped its online store, but you can never be sure when it comes to Apple pre-orders.
The last big pre-order event was for the Apple Watch, and that was an absolute nightmare. Granted, Apple didn't have nearly as much Apple Watch inventory as it will have iPhone inventory, so things should be quite a bit better this go around.
Still, though, there are steps that you can take to make your morning a whole lot easier. Although there should be plenty of supply, you need not take any risks or create any unnecessary delays. You want to approach this ordering process in a strategic and tactical manner.
This is your mission. To succeed at this mission, you'll want to take the following five steps seriously...
Apple is now asking developers to submit app updates for iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, and watchOS 2
After the successful launch of the OS X El Capitan, watchOS 2, and the iOS 9 GM seeds, Apple is now requesting that developers submit their app updates to take advantage of the new features present in its latest OS updates. You can read Apple's bulletin via the Developer Center.