I've seen a few reports on the web claiming that the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus do not use sapphire crystal to protect the Touch ID sensor on the non-moving Home button and the camera lens. It would make sense for everybody to stop worrying because these reports are simply not true.
According to Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller on Twitter, both new iPhone models use sapphire protection for the Home button and camera lens, just like before.
After they began hearing earlier this year that the iPhone 7 would look just like the previous two models, the top brass at Samsung Electronics, including its mobile chief D.J. Koh, have made the decision to outmaneuver Apple and move up the launch of the Note 7 to early August. In hindsight, it was a risky, ill-fated move that has backfired and damaged Samsung's brand and reputation.
In its desire to beat the “dull” iPhone 7 to market, Samsung pushed suppliers to meet tighter deadlines which caused problems with the handset's battery, according to a report Monday from Bloomberg citing “people familiar with the matter”.
In addition to a pair of iPhone 7 ads showcasing water resistance and all-new camera sensors that capture more light in low-light situations, Apple today also released on its YouTube channel a new commercial for the Apple Watch Series 2.
Titled “Go Time,” the 60-second video takes us through the device's major enhancements like a faster processor, built-in GPS, improved water resistance, swim tracking and more.
Following its inaugural iPhone 7 commercial focused on water resistance, dual cameras and other new features, Apple today posted a pair of new videos on its YouTube channel. Titled “Morning Ride” and “Midnight,” these commercials challenge customers to “brave the elements with the water-resistant iPhone 7” and take better low-light pictures thanks to all-new sensors that capture more light than before.
Yesterday, we speculated that a faux speaker grille at the bottom of the iPhone 7 created by the removal of the headphone jack is for visual symmetry, based on drawings on Apple's website and a quote from John Gruber's iPhone 7 review. Today's teardowns from iFixit and Chipworks hint at a new component where the headphone jack would've been, suspected to channel sound from outside the phone into the mic.
Putting an end to speculation, Apple itself has gone on the record to confirm that the faux speaker grille acts as a “barometric vent.” According to the company, it's needed after all the waterproofing to help built-in barometer sensor measure altitude accurately.
Following iFixit's analysis of the components and internal layout changes in the iPhone 7 Plus, semiconductor experts over at Chipworks and TechInsights have performed a joint in-depth analysis of the chips in the 128GB iPhone 7 model “A1778” to identify the key integrated circuits at play.
The Apple-designed A10 Fusion chip is “incredibly thin,” Chipworks has discovered, thanks to TSMC's InFO packaging technique resulting in a thinner package. Perhaps more interesting than that, the AT&T and T-Mobile edition of the handset indeed comes with Intel's LTE modem inside versus Qualcomm's that powers cellular connectivity in other hardware versions of the device.
Repair wizards over at iFixit flew out to Japan to obtain their iPhone 7 Plus (in Rose Gold), performing their ritual teardown dance which has helped confirm what we've been suspecting all along: that a second grille at the bottom doesn't house a second speaker.
Other interesting observations gleaned from peeking under the hood of the iPhone 7 Plus include a replaceable Home button, a lot bigger Taptic Engine than in the iPhone 6s, a bigger 2,900 mAh battery, dust and water-proofing measures and other tidbits.
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.
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.
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.
Less than two weeks ago, iOS hacker Luca Todesco, better known to the community as @qwertyoruiop, showed off a working jailbreak on iOS 10, that he called yaluX.
Now he's at it again with an even more detailed video that demonstrates working Cydia Substrate-based jailbreak tweaks.
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.