Sébastien Page

Sebastien is the Founder and Editor in Chief of iDB. Once a BlackBerry user, Sebastien instantly fell in love with the iPhone when it was first announced in 2007. Shortly after, he decided to start sharing his knowledge of the iPhone and its nascent ecosystem, which led to the creation of this blog. Sebastien currently owns 14 iPhones, 4 iPads, a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, a MacBook Air, 2 Apple Watches, 3 Apple TVs, countless HomePods and AirTags as well as a few pairs of AirPods.

iPhone Inc. is bigger than Microsoft, Coca Cola, Nike and many more

Sébastien Page ∙ September 26, 2013

We already knew the iPhone is Apple's number one revenue generator, but it doesn't help us visualize how big it really is until you compare it to something else. As a matter of fact, it is so big that comparing iPhone revenue to other companies' business units wouldn't paint a good picture. In order to really see how big of a business the iPhone is, you have to compare it to full size companies.

That's what the folks at Business Week did. So how big is iPhone compared to Microsoft, Nike or Coca Cola?

No, THIS is the first app to take advantage of the iPhone 5s’ M7 coprocessor

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Earlier today we ran a story about Strava Run, a fitness tracking app that tracks your runs and analyses your performances. Like many other media outlet, we believed Strava was the first app available in the App Store to take full advantage of the iPhone 5s new M7 coprocessor.

As it turns out, we were wrong. As many readers were quick to point out, Strava was not the first app available in the App Store to fully use the M7.

The first app to do bring Motion Activity M7 support to an app is Argus, an all around health and fitness tracker that has been been available for quite some time...

Apple’s top lobbyist nominated for State Department post

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

President Obama announced today his intent to nominate four new people to key Administration posts. Among them is Catherine Ann Novelli, Apple's Vice President of Worldwide Government Affairs.

Her title is a fancy combination of words which in clear English means she's Apple's chief lobbyist, a job she's held since 2007. Catherine Ann Novelli is nominated for Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Department of State...

iOS 6.1.3/4 jailbreak: almost there, but not really

Sébastien Page ∙ September 23, 2013

If the iOS 6.1.3/6.1.4 jailbreak was a Facebook relationship status, it would be "it's complicated."

In case you haven't seen @winocm's latest tweet:

https://twitter.com/winocm/status/382238106159570944

Nothing really new here from what we'd already been told in the last weeks, but progress is being made, and that is encouraging. It looks like at this point, only a few selected devices are slowing the process down.

On the iOS 7 front, pod2g said last week he was more and more confident in a jailbreak for Apple's latest mobile OS.

Apple Stores start being prepped with colorful iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c displays

Sébastien Page ∙ September 19, 2013

We're just a few hours away from the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launch here in the US, so it is not surprising to see Apple starting prepping its stores with colorful and somewhat original displays.

These displays are pretty original, if you ask me. From what I can tell, they're made of hundreds of little balls, brought together in a rectangular shape, and made of different colors...

My family cares about taking a good picture, not a megapixel count

Sébastien Page ∙ September 19, 2013

In an interview with USA Today, Craig Federighi illustrates what I believe is the essence of Apple:

"Look at the camera space, companies are chasing megapixels but the pictures often look horrible because of their tiny sensors," says Federighi. "My family cares about taking a good picture, not a megapixel count. We carry that through to all the decisions we make about our phone. What experience is it going to deliver? Not what number will it allow us to put on a spec sheet."

This is the thinking behind everything Apple does. And this is why my mom has an iPhone.

A comprehensive list of iOS 7 features

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 2, 2023

Since it was unveiled on June 10, 2013, iOS 7 has seen six beta and one final GM releases before it was made available to the general public today. If the overall look and feel of iOS 7 hasn't changed much since Apple first demo'd it on stage during WWDC, the mobile operating system has been constantly improved on with the usual "bug fixes and stability enhancements," but most importantly with new features.

These new iOS 7 features are sometimes obvious, but often very subtle. Over the course of the last three months, we've made it our mission to build a list of features that are new to iOS 7. It is not an exhaustive list, but this is probably as comprehensive as it gets. If you want to know all iOS 7 can do for you, you've come to the right place...

Your chopped off finger wouldn’t unlock your iPhone 5s anyway

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

One of the first things that came to my mind when Apple officially unveiled Touch ID during last week's iPhone event was that on top of getting your iPhone 5s stolen, you're now at risk of getting your finger chopped off so the thief can unlock the device.

Worry not, because apparently, chopping your finger off wouldn't allow anyone to actually get into your iPhone. Here is why...

This week’s top stories: iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iOS 7 jailbreak, and more…

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place.

If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network.

We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+.

Everything you need to know about the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c This is the iPhone 5s iPhone 5s pricing and availability: starts at $199, available on September 20 iPhone 5s online orders to start at 12.01am PST on September 20 Apple to offer advanced iPhone 5s reservations on September 17 in China Why isn’t Apple allowing pre-orders for the iPhone 5s? Why it’s an iPhone 5s and not an iPhone 5S Check out these gorgeous photos taken with the new iPhone 5s Say hello to the iPhone 5c The misunderstood iPhone 5c The price of an unlocked iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c Unlocked 16GB Yellow iPhone 5c first to sell out Apple seeds iOS 7 GM to developers: this is what’s new Planetbeing provides update on iOS 7 jailbreak status Pod2g says he’s becoming increasingly confident in iOS 7 jailbreak Hands on with iOS 7 new ringtones and alerts sounds Apple details Touch ID: no on-device fingerprints, 48-hour wipe, doesn’t like moisture Download the new iOS 7 wallpapers now Wallpapers of last week: t-shirt images look amazing The best apps for getting things done Apps of the week: CanOpener, Heroes of Loot, Vert, and more…

Of course, don't forget to listen to the latest episode of our podcast, Let's Talk Jailbreak:

We’re social! Find iDB on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net, YouTube, and in your RSS reader. Also make sure to subscribe to our new podcast!

iPhone 5s online orders to start at 12.01am PST on September 20

Sébastien Page ∙ September 13, 2013

The iPhone 5c might already be available for pre-order, but for some reason, Apple will not let you pre-order the flagship iPhone 5s. We speculated why, but we'll probably never know for sure the reasoning behind this decision.

If it's been clear since this week's event that the iPhone 5s would be available in store on the 20th, the exact time hadn't been made official until today, when Apple sent an email to customers saying the iPhone would be available for order online at 12.01am PST (3am EST)...

Surprise! Samsung’s future smartphones will feature 64-bit processors

Sébastien Page ∙ September 12, 2013

Kim Yoo-chul reporting for the Korea Times:

The co-CEO implied that upcoming Samsung Galaxy-branded smartphones will be more powerful and faster by confirming that they would have 64-bit processing capability. [...]

“Not in the shortest time. But yes, our next smartphones will have 64-bit processing functionality,” Shin said, adding he followed the media coverage of Apple’s new iPhone.

Notice the "not in the shortest time." Of course, it will take them a minute to adapt to the new standard Apple just set.

The misunderstood iPhone 5c

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

There weren't many surprises left yesterday during Apple's iPhone event where not one, but two devices were unveiled. There was of course the iPhone 5s, the new flagship device, and also the iPhone 5c, the rumored inexpensive iPhone aimed at emerging markets and first time smartphone buyers. At least that's what we all believed.

If we all knew early on what the iPhone 5c was going to look like, there was something we were not certain about: the pricing. With an estimated unsubsidized price tag of $450, the iPhone 5c was supposed to hit the sweet spot. It was not Samsung-cheap, but it was not iPhone-expensive either, making it the defacto budget iPhone Wall Street had been pushing for.

Wall Street had actually brainwashed us to believe that a cheaper iPhone was what Apple needed in markets where the company isn't doing as well as it should, such as China, and other parts of Asia, Russia, etc.

Whether Wall Street is right or not doesn't matter because, as always, Apple didn't let the money men dictate the company what to do. As always, Apple went Apple's way and unveiled a device that is everything but affordable. It sure is $100 less than the top of the line iPhone 5s, but starting at $549 off contract, the iPhone 5c is still $100 more expensive than our wildest expectations.

So what happened?