Apple

Last minute iPhone 7 leak shows new LED flash, glossy black colorway & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 7, 2016

We have some last minute images of claimed iPhone 7 units leaked by Vietnamese outlet Techsignin ahead of Apple's iPhone 7 and Apple Watch 2 event today. A pair of photos provide yet another look at the backside of the iPhone 7, showing a rumored new four-part LED flash, a slightly curved camera design, a waterproof SIM tray and more.

Of course, the photos also show off that new black colorway that many people seem to be clamoring for. Check out the images and post your thoughts in the comments.

Apple Online Store goes offline ahead of today’s iPhone 7 event

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 7, 2016

With just a few hours left until Apple's big reveal, the Apple Online Store has gone offline. “We've got something special in store for you,” reads the message. “And we can't wait for you to see it.” Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 7, Apple Watch 2, new Beats accessories and more.

As usual, the store will come back online after the event has wrapped up.

How to live stream the iPhone 7 event

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 6, 2016

It's that time of the year again and Apple's September 7th keynote will be kicking off tomorrow in what is expected to bring the unveiling of the next-generation iPhone and some other exciting surprises.

If you're ready to tune in and see what Apple has to offer, we'll be showing you in this piece how you can live-stream the event on various devices.

Apple trademarks “iPhone 7”, “Iris Engine”, “Touch Bar”, “Smart Button”, ”AirPod Case” & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

With 24 hours left until the iPhone 7 keynote, a bunch of Apple trademark filings have now surfaced, as recently discovered by lawyer Brian Conroy. The documents provide some solid hints as to some of the gadgets the Cupertino firm may have been working on and could release at tomorrow's event.

One of the more peculiar trademark filings is that for “Iris Engine”, potentially hinting at iris scanning capabilities believed to be coming to a future iPhone.

Another one is for “AirPod Case”, which probably denotes a carrying and charging case for AirPods, Apple's alleged Bragi Dash-style high-end Bluetooth in-ear buds.

KGI: Apple’s wireless AirPods will be high-end, use a bespoke low-power Bluetooth chip

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

Apple's wireless headphones, likely to be called “AirPods”, will take advantage of an in-house designed Bluetooth chip and be marketed as a high-end alternative to the Beats brand, which itself will be positioned in the mid-range market, according to a note by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In his report to clients, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, Kuo writes that Apple's custom-designed chip improves Bluetooth reliability, sound quality and battery performance for longer battery life versus an off-the-shelf chip.

iOS 9 adoption increases to 88 percent of devices ahead of iPhone 7 and iOS 10 release

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

Eighty-eight percent of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices are currently using iOS 9, a one-point increase over the iOS 9 adoption rate of 87 percent which was recorded about three weeks ago.

During the same timeframe, iOS 8 has gone from ten percent of devices in August 15 to nine percent of devices. 'Earlier' versions continue to power three percent of older devices out there, as per newest stats on the App Store dashboard for developers.

Apple Music for Android tops 10 million downloads in less than a year

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

Apple Music for Android has passed ten million downloads, according to meta data from Google's Play Store. Apple Music's Android app was last updated on August 25, bumping version number to 1.1.1 and bringing out various app and performance improvements. The app made its debut on Google's ubiquitous mobile platform as a public beta in November 2015, six months following Apple Music unveiling at WWDC 2015. In August 2016, it exited beta and is now for the most part on par with its iOS counterpart in terms of features.

Apple Watch 2’s larger battery shouldn’t make the device any thicker

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

Byte, a UK-based retailer that sells Apple-certified accessories and parts, recently posted a video in which they showed off a few supposedly genuine parts for a second-generation Apple Watch, including a thinner OLED Force Touch display and a significantly thicker battery potentially giving the wearable device a few more hours of run time.

Today, Byte published precise measurements for the above components and the numbers lead to the conclusion that Apple may have been able to squeeze in a much more powerful battery without making the Apple Watch 2 any thicker.

Apple Events app updated on Apple TV with text and graphics for iPhone 7 keynote

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

Apple over the weekend pushed an update to its Apple Events application for the Apple TV containing appropriate text and graphics for tomorrow's iPhone 7 keynote. For Apple TV owners planning on following the announcement on their big screen TV, the app will provide a live-stream of the event tomorrow. It also includes video replays of past events.

All iPhone 7 models are allegedly capable of shooting 4K video at a silky smooth 60 FPS

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

The iPhone 6s series brought the biggest camera jump so far, with the front shooter upgraded to a five-megapixel lens and the rear one going from eight to twelve megapixels with the ability to capture 4K video at thirty frames per second (FPS). Aside from other changes in the camera department, the next iPhone is said to double the frame rate for 4K recordings, letting you capture action at a silky smooth 60 FPS, according to a Vietnamese site that has allegedly used a real iPhone 7.

Here’s your final look at latest iPhone 7 dummies before Apple’s big reveal

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 5, 2016

Tech reviewer Michael Kukielka aka DetroidBORG recently published a quick preview of what the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are probably going to look like when they're announced this Wednesday. The video on his YouTube channel actually compares high-quality iPhone 7 dummies that are mostly based on rumor-mill reporting. Now, I know we've posted our fair share of these mockups in past months.

But with Apple's big reveal almost upon us, I thought you guys might want to take another look at the iPhone 7's design before the shiny new devices are unveiled.

iPhone 7 could provide at least 33 percent faster CPU performance than iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 5, 2016

Alleged GeekBench CPU scores posted back in the summer suggested modest performance gains for the iPhone 7’s A10 chip versus the iPad Pro's A9X processor, but were debunked as fake soon after.

Today, genuine-looking results of the GeekBench 4 synthetic benchmark of the iPhone 7's CPU were posted on the website of PrimateLabs, the company that makes and sells the GeekBench suite.

According to the published data, the iPhone 7 could have its CPU performance boosted by at least one third, or about 33 percent, versus the iPhone 6s.