Apple's contract manufacturer Foxconn is taking advantage of its acquisition of Sharp as the Japanese giant plans to set up an OLED production line in Zhengzhou, a city of six million people in an impoverished region of northern China, according to a report by Japan-based Nikkei that was cited Monday by trade publication DigiTimes.
KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo released a new research note on Sunday, giving investors his updated predictions for Apple's tablet plans. In the report, the noted analyst says the company is working on 3 new iPads for 2017: a 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2, a low cost 9.7-inch iPad, and a new high-end model with a bezel-free display between 10-10.5-inches.
The next iPhone may feature Tap to Wake, fast charging and other new features, reports Forbes. The outlet spoke to noted tipster Sonny Dickson, who laid out what he expects from Apple's next handset.
First Dickson says the new iPhone will include a "Tristar 3, Hydra" chip, which manages the charging port and supports fast charging. He doesn't offer up any additional details, though, and notes that just because it supports the tech, doesn't mean Apple will utilize it.
Rumored Apple partner Energous says its truly wireless charging tech is nearly market-ready. In a phone call ahead of CES, the company's CEO Steve Rizzone told The Verge their wireless charging transmitters, capable charging devices wirelessly from several feet away, will begin shipping by the end of 2017.
As you may recall, the company made a similar claim at CES 2015, but Rizzone says their plans changed after it signed a "key strategic partnership" following the convention. The deal saw Energous refocus its efforts on miniaturizing the tech, and gave its partner the right to be the first to ship it in its products.
Apple plans to introduce a next-generation Apple Watch in the third quarter of this year, reports Economic Daily News. Citing market watchers, the Chinese outlet says the new wearable will feature better performance and longer battery life.
The Watch is expected to be manufactured by Quanta Computer, who was responsible for building the first and second-gen models, and their focus will be improving the battery. The hardware will not likely see much change, the report added.
Apple is going to begin seeding iOS 10.3 betas next week, reports Sonny Dickson. The noted tipster tweeted out over the weekend that iOS 10.3 beta 1 is currently scheduled to be released to developers on January 10 with an all-new 'Theatre' mode.
Dickson doesn't go into detail on exactly what 'Theatre' mode is, but does say that it will feature a popcorn-shaped icon in Control Center. It's possible this is a stealth mode of sorts, with either a dimmed display or dark UI assets for less distraction.
Several analysts interviewed recently by The Wall Street Journal opined that iPhone 7's supposed lack of compelling features probably convinced many owners of the exploding Note 7 to opt for another high-end Galaxy handset, and not Apple's flagship phone.
Their remarks were corroborated today by supplier data collected by Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asian Review, which claims Apple is planning to cut iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus orders by ten percent starting in the first quarter of 2017 after they “sold more sluggishly than expected”.
Hedging its bets, Apple has apparently commissioned a third contract manufacturer to build iPhone 8 alongside established suppliers and longtime partners Foxconn and Pegatron. According to a Chinese-language report in the Economic Daily News newspaper, quoted by Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, Apple supplier Wistron will get to build some of the future iPhone units.
Samsung is probably going to rip off AirPods next: the company should debut all-new wireless earphones alongside Galaxy S8 launch, according to confidential information received by SamMobile. “Samsung is surely looking to put out a product that competes with Apple’s AirPods,” reads the report.
Samsung, of course, was found guilty of lifting Apple's hardware and software designs in the past.
It currently owes the Cupertino firm hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Back in 2015, Samsung copied the look and feel of Apple's wired EarPods for Galaxy S6.
According to a brief report in the Chinese-language Economic Daily Times newspaper that was quoted Friday by DigiTimes, strong sales of the W1-enhanced AirPods and robust demand for Apple's earphones during the year-end holidays have prompted supplier Inventec to increase production capacity. While Inventec declined to comment on its orders, it's reportedly begun expanding capacity at its Shanghai plants, which are currently working overtime to deliver orders.
On Tuesday, Apple afficionados were treated to a new wave of white shell iPhone 7 mock-ups and purported leaks hitting the internet, advancing the notion that the Cupertino-based company could plan to release a white counterpart to their Jet Black coating some time around March 2017.
From an aesthetic standpoint, everyone is going to have their two cents on the necessity of it in the grand scheme of things. Simply by moving the discussion from the fashion sphere to the finance department though, the ambivalence in regard to whether or not this iPhone release is genuinely necessary quickly crumbles and clearly comes down on one side of the fence.
As we will learn in late January, Apple’s first quarter of the fiscal year 2017 is going to look after itself nicely, but in view of the Q2 figures and a long summer following, Jet White definitely needs to happen. Two key reasons must be paid attention to in order to understand the imperative of a Jet White iPhone for a healthier bottom line in the fiscal year of 2017.
According to Japanese outlet Nikkei, cited by DigiTimes, Sharp is hoping to secure some camera lens orders from Apple for future iPhones. To boost its chances of cutting a lucrative deal with Apple, Sharp is now speculated to increase its investment in Japan-based lens module maker Kantatsu, in which it currently holds a 44 percent stake.
Sharp would need to compete with Taiwan-based Largan Precision, which currently supplies iPhone camera lens modules in volume. Sharp is owned by Foxconn, the world's top contract manufacturer that assembles iPhones.