iPhone News

Infographic: the iPhone supply and manufacturing chain

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 14, 2013

Because of its size, popularity and visibility, Apple is being increasingly scrutinized for outsourcing gadget assembly to Asian contract manufacturers.

Although Tim Cook has pledged to bring some of the manufacturing jobs back to the United States with the new 'Made In USA' Mac Pro, critics still slam the company for sourcing product components from Taiwanese vendors. Per usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

For example, while iPhone screens are made by Asian vendors, its cover glass is being manufactured in the US by Gorilla Glass in Kentucky. As for the chips, the engine that drives the iPhone is Apple's in-house design, fabbed by Samsung in Austin, Texas.

I stumbled upon a very nice infographic that details the source of the many iPhone components, including the speakers, vibration motor, rear earth metals and more, jump past the fold to have a look...

Another supposed iPhone 5S rear shell shows modified Home button design

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 14, 2013

Another day, another iPhone "leak". With less than four weeks until Apple's September 10 event, a growing number of purported parts can be seen cropping up all over Asia.

The latest is this genuine looking backplate that shows enough tweaks and modifications not to be easily dismisses as an early iPhone 5 prototype design.

The most interesting bit about it is a slight change in the Home button assembly. It could be just Apple improving reliability of the Home button, but with all the rumors pointing to the fingerprint sensor integrated into the Home button, one never knows...

The eleMount is a premium surface mount for your iPhone and iPad

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

I don't currently use an in-vehicle mount for my iPhone. I've tried a few before, but each time I was more than disappointed with their build quality. But if I was going to try one again, I'd probably look for something like the eleMount.

The eleMount is a CNC machined all-aluminum mount for smartphones and tablets that looks like it was crafted by Apple itself. The best part, though, is that it doesn't use suction cups or clamps for mounting; it uses polyurethane pads...

Hands-on clip of alleged yellow iPhone 5C shell

Cody Lee ∙ August 14, 2013

At this point, we've seen so many photos of purported budget iPhone shells that it's hard to imagine Apple not launching the handset this fall. But just in case you are still skeptical, we're adding more evidence to the pile this morning.

A new hi-res hands-on video of a yellow iPhone shell, believed to belong to Apple's low-end handset, hit the web late last night. And it gives us an extremely close up view of both the outside, and inside of the so-called iPhone 5C's casing...

Preview: Reminisce

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Reminisce is an awesome upcoming recent app launcher. It makes launching recently used apps an extremely quick exercise in finger dexterity.

I've seen a lot of jailbreak tweaks over the years, and many of them make the iPhone a more efficient device to use. With that said, you'd be hard pressed to find another tweak that makes launching recent apps as efficient as Reminisce, and that's just with the preview version.

Interested? We've got the goods. Have a look at our hands-on video inside.

Apple acquires video discovery startup Matcha

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple has acquired second screen startup Matcha, according to a new report. The company helped users find interesting movies and TV shows online based on their own preferences, as well as those of their friends on various social networks.

The company mysteriously disappeared back in May of this year, leaving nothing but a brief note on its website saying that the service would no longer be available and that all user data had been deleted. And now we know what happened to it...

Foxconn profit surges 41% on the back of strong iPhone sales

Cody Lee ∙ August 13, 2013

Although Apple didn't really wow investors with its overall Q3 numbers, there was one particular metric it blew out of the water: iPhone sales. Wall Street was predicting the company to sell between 25 and 27 million handsets during the period, and it sold 30 million.

And the strong iPhone sales not only helped Apple post a $6.9 billion profit for the quarter, but it also gave Foxconn a boost as well. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the manufacturer's profits surged 41% last during its Q2 thanks to Apple...

Vevo finally gets full AirPlay support as rumored Apple TV app looms

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Vevo - a joint venture music video service operated by Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Google and Abu Dhabi Media - has had a nifty iPhone and iPad app available on the App Store for quite some time now.

Thanks to a March update, it's gotten a whole lot more useful by bringing out a disruptive feature called Vevo TV, always-on broadcast music channels that turn your iOS device into the MTV jukebox for the 21st century.

Now, we heard whispers of a forthcoming Vevo Apple TV "app" said to enable 24/7 entertainment later this month. In the meantime, Vevo just pushed a nice little iOS app update which has finally enabled full AirPlay support on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices...

Joint iPhone 5S, 5C launch could be the most successful in Apple’s history

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

If you're still scratching your head trying to figure out why high profile investor Carl Icahn just made a [rumored] $1 billion investment in Apple, consider this: the stock is down more than $200 from where it was a year ago, despite any major missteps, and the company is about to have another big fall.

How big? Well rumor has it that Apple is going to unveil two new handsets during its big media event next month. There's the iPhone 5S, the successor to the current iPhone, and the 'iPhone 5C,' an all-new low-cost model. And analysts believe that the two will make for Apple's biggest product launch ever...

NBC’s Sports Live Extra iOS app to stream all English Premier League matches in US

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

If you live in the United States and are a fan of the English Premier League, good news as 148Apps reports that NBC's Sports Live Extra app for the iPhone and iPad will be streaming all of the matches, right as they happen in real-time. The English Premier League is the single largest sports league in the entire world so you don't need me to tell you why this is newsworthy. Streaming matches will be free to subscribers of one of the eligible cable providers. Full details are right after the break...

Let’s Talk Jailbreak 23: Jailbreak news always follows

Jeff Benjamin ∙ August 13, 2013

It's been quite an exciting week full of Apple news, with the upcoming September 10th event, and the prospect of new iPhone hardware. Inside, Cody and Jeff discuss the long rumored budget iPhone, the iPhone 5S, iPads, and getting warranty coverage while running iOS 7. The duo also talks about the legitimacy of the Unthreaded jailbreak along with who might be behind it, and this week's top tweaks.

Facebook testing new VIP app to boost celebrity engagement

Cody Lee ∙ August 13, 2013

Facebook is working on a new mobile app, but you probably won't be able to use it. That is, unless you happen to be a Hollywood A-lister or a high-profile professional athlete. That's because the app is for VIPs only, or very important people.

The project is Facebook's latest attempt to entice famous people to share more stuff on their site—a move which is part of an even larger plan to compete more directly with Twitter for the attention of celebrities and their legions of followers...