Apple

Elemental composition of iPhone 6s shell points to a significantly stronger Bendgate-proof body

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 19, 2015

The upcoming 'iPhone 6s' and 'iPhone 6s Plus' phones are expected to use a stronger 7000 Series aluminum body. A custom alloy designed for the Apple Watch Sport, 7000 Series aluminum is sixty percent stronger than standard aluminum alloys and just as light.

An elemental composition analysis of a claimed iPhone 6s shell performed by MacRumors gives us a deeper insight into the next iPhones' Bendgate-proof body.

For starters, the claimed part showed high iron levels of around eight percent on average. Not only does using iron enhance durability but makes the material easier to work with during the casting process.

iPad Pro with 2,732-by-2,048 screen reportedly appears in iOS app analytics

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

The so-called iPad Pro is indeed real and rocks a 2,732-by-2,048 pixel resolution screen as previously indicated, analytics firm AppSee said Wednesday. The firm captured the device's identifier in user logs: the iPad Pro identified itself as “iPad6,8.”

The first number designates a major hardware refresh and the second one variations within a generation.

By comparison, the iPad Air 2 model identifiers are “iPad5,3” and ”iPad5,4” for their respective Wi-Fi and cellular editions.

Stay away from new Mailbox for Mac update: it’s full of bugs and breaks support for Mavericks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

It's been more than two years since cloud-storage startup Dropbox acquired the popular iOS email client Mailbox, and a full twelve months have passed since a public beta of Dropbox for Mac launched, and the software still hasn't dropped the beta flag.

As a matter of fact, those among you who use Mailbox as your daily driver should hold on upgrading to the most recent release as it breaks compatibility with Macs running OS X Mavericks while introducing a host of new problems, as first reported by The Next Web.

KGI: iPad Pro with optional Force Touch-enabled stylus accessory entering production this fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in a note issued to clients Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, that Apple's 12.9-inch 'iPad Pro' will be entering mass production in September or October of this year.

The device will feature an optional Apple-made stylus accessory, sold separately, with built-in Force Touch support.

Apple Pay adds support for 18 new banks and credit unions

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Tuesday added 18 new banks and credit unions to the growing list of Apple Pay-supporting issuers in the United States. With these additions, Apple Pay is now supported by more than 400 financial institutions nationwide.

Launched in October of last year, Apple Pay is a mobile payment service that allows users to pay for goods and services using iPhone or Apple Watch. It's accepted at hundreds of thousands of retailers and restaurants around the country.

Study suggests that one in ten iOS users listens to Apple Music

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Roughly one in ten iOS users is listening to Apple Music, according to a new research study conducted by MusicWatch. The company, which provides consumer research for the music industry, collected data from the surveys of 5,000 U.S. consumers, aged 13 and older.

According to the research, a little over three quarters (77%) of iOS users in the United States are aware of Apple Music. Only 11%, however, of the group surveyed said they are actually using the service, and 48% of those who have tried it out said they are no longer using it.

OS X El Capitan beta 5 now available to public beta testers

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 18, 2015

Precisely two weeks following the release of OS X El Capitan public beta 4 and about three weeks after it seeded OS X El Capitan beta 5 to its registered developers, Apple today rolled out a fifth beta of the forthcoming Mac operating system update to public beta testers.

People who are on the beta program can download the new release through the Updates tab on the Mac App Store.

Likely fake (or are they?) rose gold iPhone 6s photos are making the rounds

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 18, 2015

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is arguably the most reliable Apple analyst on the planet, predicted back in June that Apple's forthcoming 'iPhone 6s' and 'iPhone 6s Plus' refresh would introduce a new color option: rose gold.

No, not the full 18-karat rose gold body like the Apple Watch but rather a coat of paint, but still... A batch of images surfaced Tuesday on Chinese social media are now making the rounds, allegedly depicting an iPhone 6s in rose gold (or pink, depending on your sense of color).

Have a look and tell us what you think in the comments.

SwiftKey rolls out rich Emoji Insights in new update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Right on cue, makers of the popular SwiftKey software keyboard for iPhones, iPads and iPods today rolled out a new feature designed to provide a valuable insight into which emoji symbols you use the most as your unique writing style and the emoji you use more than other people.

The app will even tell you which US state most reflects your emoji use. Called Emoji Insights, the new typing statistics shows you detailed highlights of your emoji use.

Google rolls out Hangouts web app with chatting, free voice and video calling and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 18, 2015

Just like the recently introduced standalone Facebook Messenger web app, Google's Hangouts service now runs in a browser. Taking advantage of modern web technologies, the Hangouts desktop web app can now live inside Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari, Mozilla's Firefox and other modern browsers, no app install required whatsoever.

Try it out at hangouts.google.com and let us know what you think in the comments.

Popular Paper drawing app is ‘coming soon’ to iPhone, FiftyThree announces

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 18, 2015

FiftyThree, makers of the popular iPad drawing app Paper which supports a range of styli, on Tuesday teased a forthcoming Paper refresh that will bring full iPhone compatibility.

Paper for iPhone is “coming soon,” wrote developers on a newly published webpage where you can register your interest and sign up to be notified when the app hits the App Store.

Or, just follow iDownloadBlog as we'll be making sure to keep you in the loop.

Rumor: iPhone 7s to run Intel-made modem chip

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 18, 2015

A claimed logic board that recently leaked strongly indicated that Apple's upcoming 'iPhone 6s' and 'iPhone 6s Plus' smartphone upgrades will use an improved Qualcomm modem chip, part of its ‘Gobi’ modem platform, with 2x faster LTE download speeds at 300Mbps.

But Apple could be looking to diversify its suppliers two years from now by adding Intel to its supply chain for baseband modems, if sources who spoke with DigiTimes are to be trusted.