iPhone News

Details on ‘imminent’ AppleCare+ launch in Europe

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 30, 2013

We already told you that Apple has cancelled support personnel vacations from September 15-28 and is now training AppleCare support employees on iOS 7 and iTunes Radio ahead of the iPhone 5S/5C introduction next month.

Yesterday, word on the street was that Tim Cook & Co. were gearing up to roll out the extended AppleCare+ coverage for iOS devices in key European markets.

First details are now beginning to trickle in.

Allegedly, the AppleCare+ launch is now "imminent" in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Switzerland, at least initially. If true, this will be the first time Apple offered the $99 extended coverage and premium support service to customers outside the United States, Canada and Japan...

Read More

Apple canceling support staff vacations ahead of iOS 7 launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 30, 2013

Just like it did ahead of every iPhone launch since the original iPhone's release back in the summer of 2007, Apple is now canceling vacations for its AppleCare support personnel ahead of next month's release of new iPhones. Specifically, Apple is restricting employees from taking time off from September 15 and all the way through September 28.

Of course, Apple during this two-week window is expected to announce and start selling the iPhone 5S/5C and release iOS 7 for public consumption. Just earlier today, we reported the firm is now asking its registered developers to update their applications with app icons optimized for the new iOS 7 sizes...

Read More

Hacker claims to have iOS 6.1.3 untether binary

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

With iOS 7 on the horizon, many rumblings have been surfacing lately about the possibility of an iOS 6.1.3 jailbreak. First there was UnthreadedJB, who after releasing an obscure iOS 5.1 jailbreak for CDMA enable iPhone 4's, claims to have an iOS 6.1.3 jailbreak. Those claims have never been solidified by any independent sources, so the verdict is definitely still out about its legitimacy.

But there's still hope. iOS hacker winocm, well known throughout the jailbreak community, took to twitter this morning to confirm that he has a binary for an iOS 6.1.3 untethered jailbreak.

Read More

Ahead of September’s reveal, Apple now asking devs to submit app icons at new iOS 7 sizes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 3, 2017

With less than two weeks left until the looming iPhone 5S/5C event, Apple is now reportedly asking developers to submit larger app icons optimized for the new iOS 7 resolutions. Because Apple has slightly enlarged app icons in iOS 7, third-party applications which support only iOS 6 icon sizes appear with a small white border on the iOS 7 Home screen.

The company wants to avoid this so it's now demanding that developers submit app icons in the new iOS 7 120-by-120 pixel resolution for the iPhone and 152-by-152 pixels for the iPad...

Read More

Official: iPhone trade-in program launches today across Apple Stores in US

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 29, 2016

Despite Tim Cook dodging questions about the then-supposed iPhone trade-in program during June's earnings call, the rumors have turned out true after all.

Apple on Friday officially launched the new iPhone Reuse and Recycling Program, basically a trade-in initiative aimed at boosting iPhone sales at Apple's own retail stores, which currently comprise only twenty percent of iPhones sold (Cook wants to sell half of all iPhones at company stores).

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Read More

Mophie’s battery cases get playful color options

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Mophie's Helium series of battery-extending cases for Apple's iPhone 5 are a no-brainer for power users who can't get through their day on a single charge. The California-based accessory maker offers the Helium cases in three flavors: the 13 percent thinner standard-edition Juice Pack Helium with a 1,500mAh battery, the even thinner Juice Pack Air (just 0.63-inches thick) with a bigger 1,700mAh built-in battery and the latest Juice Pack Plus which rocks a 2,100 mAh battery, good for an additional ten hours of 3G/LTE talk time/web use.

And now, in time for Apple's September 10 big reveal of the colorful iPhone 5S/5C, Mophie has introduced a burst of color options...

Read More

AppleCare employee training commences ahead of iOS 7 launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 29, 2016

Apple today has reportedly begun educating its support army on the intricacies of iOS 7 and iTunes Radio and is training AppleCare employees to efficiently handle customer queries and help them transition to its revamped operating system, a reliable blogger has learned Thursday.

With iOS 7 now looming on the horizon and the software's official launch and public availability pegged for September 10, the AppleCare staff training is said to focus mostly on the visual changes in iOS 7, with specific emphasis on a few cherry-picked features. The company is also asking AppleCare employees to basically tell puzzled customers iOS 7 still works the same even though it looks significantly different than its predecessor...

Read More

AT&T vacation blackout confirms rumored September 20 iPhone 5S/5C launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Following a report that T-Mobile is canceling vacations for store employees between September 20 and September 22, another story has affirmed that rival AT&T is now following suit. Specifically, the carrier is said to be blacking out vacation days for the second half of September, seemingly in preparation for the iPhone 5S/5C launch date.

That's a tell-tale sign of an impending iPhone launch: carriers want to ensure enough staff is on hand to handle an influx of customers at launch. Notably, AT&T did the same last year ahead of the iPhone 5 launch, as well as every single year starting with the original iPhone launch back in 2007.

Putting these pieces together, new iPhones are very likely going on sale in the United States and a few major international markets on Friday, September 20, which would be ten days after the official unveiling...

Read More

Best Buy offers 50% off iPhone 5 for Labor Day

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 17, 2017

Next Monday is Labor Day, a national holiday in the United States, and the nation's top electronics retailer Best Buy is hoping to counter Apple's upcoming iPhone trade-in program by offering the iPhone 5 half price. That's right, you can get a brand new 16 or 32GB iPhone 5 for at least half of its normal asking price, by trading-in your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S in good condition (no water damage or screen cracks).

Of course, you're expected to commit your soul to AT&T, Verizon or Sprint for two more years. This is obviously becoming a thing for Best Buy: just two weeks ago, they were offering a $200 credit in exchange for your iPhone 4S in working condition...

Read More

Cut the Rope is Apple’s Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 17, 2018

If you're a sucker for physics-based puzzlers as I've always been but really can't stand Angry Birds anymore, Cut the Rope is a much-needed refreshment from Rovio's bird-slinging franchise. On the surface, the concept seems dull: you're tasked with feeding candy to a little green monster named Om Nom while collecting stars.

But it's how developers executed the super-realistic physics gameplay and paired it with colorful cartoonish visuals that blows mind.

Tens of millions of players can't be wrong and I'm also guilty of falling in love and getting addicted to Cut the Rope. Already downloaded more than 300 million times around the world, the game's never been free on the App Store so it's kinda big deal  that Apple's just made Cut the Rope its Free App of the Week...

Read More

It seems iTunes Match subscribers will get unlimited iTunes Radio skipping

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 29, 2013

The song-skipping feature that long stalled Apple's iTunes Radio talks with record labels could get a boost when iTunes Radio, which was announced at June's WWDC, launches this Fall as part of the iOS 7 refresh and iPhone 5S/5C launch.

Apple on its part hasn't definitely confirmed whether the free ad-driven service will in fact impose a ceiling on the number of song skips akin to Pandora and other digital radio services.

For what it's worth, iOS 7 Beta users currently can't bypass the song-skipping limit. In my testing, for example, iTunes Radio wouldn't allow me to skip more than six songs each hour per a specific station. But according to a new report, things could change come this Fall as Apple could enable unlimited song skipping for iTunes Match subscribers...

Read More