7 screen protectors for your new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

If you pre-ordered the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, or are hoping to score one in-store during launch weekend, you're going to want to start thinking about accessories. We've already recommended some good cases and Bluetooth headphones, and now it's time to talk about screen protectors.

Despite its largely familiar design, the iPhone 7 features a few tiny changes (wider earpiece, for example) that likely mean your iPhone 6 and 6s screen protectors won't fit properly. But never fear, we've rounded up some great, inexpensive options to help keep your screen scratch-free.

New low quality mode in iOS 10 Messages uses circa 100KB per sent image

As you know, iMessage overcomes many of the limitations of standard MMS. Every time you attach an image taken on your iPhone and iPad to an iMessage, it's delivered in its original size and resolution. Some downscaling may occur, but only for very high resolution images: those taken with an iOS device are always delivered in their original form without any resizing taking place.

And herein lies a problem for those of you who send a lot of images via a cellular data connection.

Knowing a typical photo taken on an iPhone 6s weighs in at between three to five megabytes (or even more), it does add up pretty quickly. If you're concerned about cellular data consumption (as you should be), pay attention as Messages on iOS 10 offers a brand new low quality mode.

We've determined it downscales images sent through iMessage to circa 100 kilobytes each. In other words, for the amount of data you'd normally spend to shoot someone a single photo via iMessage you get to send 30 to 50 images in low quality mode.

Apple’s free app of the week: Super Phantom Cat

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Super Phantom Cat. This means that for the next 7 days, you can download this popular retro platformer for both iPhone and iPad for free—a solid savings of $2.

This charming side scroller is beloved for its beautiful retro graphics and whimsical character design, retro styling, and easy Mario-esque controls. It also features an awesome chip tune soundtrack, unlockable characters, and bonus levels.

iPhone 7’s second grille at the bottom is for the mic, not a second speaker

One of the smaller but no less important features included in both new iPhone 7 models is an entirely new and “immersive” stereo speaker system that Apples claims provides twice the sound. Risking to be chastised in comments for bringing this up, I do feel we need to clear up the confusion and reiterate that a second speaker grille at the bottom of the phone does not actually house a speaker and is there purely for cosmetic reasons.

Apple releases second macOS Sierra Golden Master to developers

Just eight days after releasing the macOS Sierra Golden Master, Apple has released a second version of the GM to registered developers today. Available via the Apple Developer Center, the new GM is build 16A323, while the previous one was 16A320. Scheduled to be released to the public on Tuesday, September 20th, this version of macOS Sierra will most likely be the final version.

New Surface ad wants you to think that your Mac “ain’t fast enough”

It's been only three days since Microsoft's advertising department unleashed a new ad salvo at Apple's direction in the form of a commercial for its Surface Pro 4 tablet/laptop hybrid and now it's posted yet another video to conveniently reiterate its message ahead of iPhone 7's launch tomorrow. Titled “Power of Touch”, the 30-second commercial doubles down on the ”the Mac lacks a touchscreen” theme.

Not only does Microsoft poke fun of the fact that Macs are long overdue for a refresh (yours supposedly “ain't fast enough” lately), but also disses the Mac for not shipping with a detachable keyboard or a stylus.

Using the Reminders app on Apple Watch

Apple Watch offers a standalone Reminders app, and as you'll soon learn, it can be just as functional as the iPhone app.

The introduction of an official Reminders app on Apple Watch was great because this little app on your wrist will help you get through all your errands throughout the day and keep track of your busy life.

The app is used with Siri since there is no keyboard to input text on the Apple Watch like there is on your iPhone. With that being said, using the Reminders app may feel a little awkward at first, but it should become a second nature to you in no time at all.

iMessage bubble and screen effects not working in iOS 10? Try this

One of the flagship features of iOS 10 is the new pack of bubble and screen effects you can use to give some pop to your messages. If you're anything like me and my wife, this is the first thing you tried after installing iOS 10. But if you're anything like me and my wife, you might have also ran into some problems where one of the devices was able to send effects, but not receive them.

Motorola is telling supposed real-life iPhone loyalists to “Skip the Sevens”

Remember Motorola? Yes, they're still in the business and some of the handsets they make come with cool features, like quick customization modules that snap onto a phone using integrated magnets to add features like powerful speakers, external battery packs and so forth. It also made the first Android handset with a special low-power chip which made possible an always-listening “OK Google” mode.

With the iPhone 7 sales about to kick off, the Lenovo-owned company is now telling customers to “skip the sevens” and has produced a video in which supposedly genuine Apple fans express their disappointment with incremental iPhone 7 improvements like “a little better camera” and “a little faster processor”.

What happens next is a typical marketing crap.