The evidence is strong that Apple is at least thinking about adding an OLED display to the iPhone, but now there's a suggestion that the company might also change the device's screen size. 9to5Mac reports that the latest investor note from well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims the company will release an iPhone in 2017 with a 5.8-inch OLED display and a "completely new form factor."
KUO PREDICTS SMALLER BEZELS AND A CURVED DISPLAY FOR THE 2017 IPHONE
Kuo predicts that the handset will take after the design of the iPhone 4, with a glass front and back and metal sides. Narrower bezels and a curved display will allow the 5.8-inch screen to fit into a form factor smaller than that of the current 5.5-inch iPhone. Kuo also suggests that the device will come with wireless charging and new biometric security features. He's not predicting that these changes will arrive until 2017, though, with 9to5Mac noting that this suggests Apple's next handset will stick close to the iPhone's current design.
These predictions aren't too far out of the ordinary, and, in a way, follow Samsung's lead — the Galaxy S7 Edge eliminated its bezels and used a curved display to fit a 5.5-inch screen into a phone smaller than the iPhone 6S. Kuo's reputation and history also give his predictions weight. Although his timings are often off, he's more often right than wrong about Apple's plans. Last November, for example, he predicted that the company would launch a new 4-inch iPhone that would "resemble an upgraded iPhone 5S." We now know it as the iPhone SE. We'll have to wait a while, though, to see if his 2017 predictions are true.
A look at the iPhone SE's size, memory, and other features to get an idea of whether an upgrade is worth your money.
Apple announced its newest iPhone this week, a 4" model called the iPhone SE. Many rumors and predictions turned out to be true, but a few missed the mark. We look at its size, memory, and other features to get an idea of whether an upgrade is worth your money.
Honey, Apple Shrunk the 6s
The iPhone SE is essentially a 6s in 5s' clothing. It includes the same A9 processor, which could provide amazing gaming capabilities for a 4" handset. It also offers support for the always-on "Hey Siri" function, adding hands-free accessibility to the personal assistant. The SE will also boast the same 12-megapixel camera of the 6s, as well as the ability to take Live Photos and 4K video.
The Cheapest New iPhone — Ever
Analysts theorized that the starting price for the iPhone SE would match that of the 5s, at $450 for a 16GB model. However, it appears Apple is discontinuing the 5s entirely, replacing it with the SE as the latest "budget-friendly" iPhone. Furthermore, the 16GB model of the SE is, at $399, $51 cheaper than what was predicted. And according to Apple, that's the "most affordable [introductory] price" ever for an iPhone.
You'll Still Want the Expensive One
Instead of a 32GB model, the SE jumps from 16GB to 64GB, the latter of which costs $499. If price isn't a huge factor for you, it's worth it to pay $100 more to gain four times the storage space. After all, iPhones are known for their lack of expandable storage.
No 3D Touch, Which is No Surprise
The event made no mention of 3D Touch, but did highlight Live Photos as a feature on the SE. It's safe to assume Apple would've emphasized 3D Touch if it were indeed going to be utilized to capture Live Photos on the SE. It's likely that users will have to use the "long press" that was theorized leading up to the new iPhone's announcement.
Answering the Call For Smaller iPhones
A huge group of consumers still prefer a tiny iPhone. Apple noted that they sold 30 million 4" iPhones (which includes the 5, 5s, and 5c models) in 2015 alone. Both the compact size and compact price tag suggest that Apple is focused on capturing upgrades from those shoppers specifically.
We've Seen Deals on New iPhones Within Days
For the iPhone 4s, it was nearly a year before we saw any real sales. With the 5, deals appeared after about 7 months. The 5s smashed those timelines, and we saw prices slashed within 6 days of its release. It's quite possible that the SE could see similarly rapid savings, but don't expect those deals to come from Apple. Rather than preordering, you should keep an eye on other retailers for price cuts.
The iPhone SE is Due for Release on March 31
As announced, preorders for the iPhone SE begin this Thursday, on March 24. The smartphone is set to be released next week, on March 31, and will be shipping the same day. It's available in two sizes, 16GB for $399 and 64GB for $499, and in the four colors that seem to be becoming standard for Apple products: Silver, Space Gray, Gold, and Rose Gold.
Readers, are you excited for the iPhone SE? Are you a fan of the smaller screen, or do you prefer the larger sizes of more recent models? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Apple has temporarily stopped offering the iOS 9.3 update for older devices like the iPad Air and earlier and the iPhone 5s and earlier due to installation issues some users have experienced. On older devices, iOS 9.3 requires users to input the Apple ID and password originally used to set up the device, which can lead to the device becoming stuck at the Activation Lock screen if the original account information can't be recalled.
In a statement given to iMore, Apple says it is working on a fix and plans to issue a new version of iOS 9.3 in the next few days. Customers with an affected device who attempt to download iOS 9.3 during this time will not be able to install the update as Apple has stopped signing it.
Updating some iOS devices (iPhone 5s and earlier and iPad Air and earlier) to iOS 9.3 can require entering the Apple ID and password used to set up the device in order to complete the software update," an Apple spokesperson told iMore. "In some cases, if customers do not recall their password, their device will remain in an inactivated state until they can recover or reset their password. For these older devices, we have temporarily pulled back the update and will release an updated version of iOS 9.3 in the next few days that does not require this step."
For customers who have already installed iOS 9.3 and have gotten stuck at the Activation Lock, Apple has published a support document with steps on how to solve the issue. Apple recommends removing Activation Lock via iCloud or attempting to enter an Apple ID or password through iTunes.
Update: Apple has released a new build of iOS 9.3 for the iPad 2 and may be planning to roll out updates for additional devices. Apple has not yet resumed signing iOS 9.3 for affected devices.
AFTER WEEKS OF rumors, no
one was surprised when Applerevealed its latest iPhone. The 4-inch iPhone SE is
essentially an iPhone 5s on the outside but with the more advanced guts of the
iPhone 6S on the inside. What is surprising is that, after going all-in on
bigger phones, Apple decided to go smaller again at all.
Turns out, Apple has plenty
ofgood reasonsfor pushing a smaller phone. Not least
among those reasons: a lot of people still want to buy them. At a time when
sales growth for the iPhone is leveling off, Apple looks like it’s aiming to
squeeze as many sales out of the market for its phones as possible.
During yesterday’s keynote
announcing the new phone, Apple vice president Greg Joswiak said that the
companysold more than 30 million 4-inch iPhones last year. That
may sound like a lot, but 30 million 4-inch iPhones out of 231 million total
iPhones sold by the end of Apple’s 2015 fiscal year only amounts to about 13
percent. Andanalysts are predictingthat
annual sales of the iPhone SE could come in even lower—closer to 10 million to
15 million. That’s not exactly an optimistic projection, considering Apple has
stillneverreported a decline in iPhone sales.
A set of iPhone SE handsets are seen on display during a media event at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California on March 21, 2016. JOSH EDELSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
But Apple has lately become much more realistic
about nearing the end of its era of certainty—when the company could feel
absolutely confident that iPhone sales would grow quarter to quarter. The
company revised its guidance for iPhones downwards for the first time this
upcoming quarter, saying it expected sales by the end of March to fall to
between $50 and $53 billion, lower than the $55.5 billion expected by Wall
Street analysts. The introduction of the iPhone SE could be a smart way to help
tide Apple over until the rumored announcement of a new flagship iPhone 7 in
2017. In other words, the iPhone SE is all about diversifying Apple’s existing
product line—and why not choose diversify its most mindblowingly successful
product of all?
Premium Yet Affordable
To be sure, Apple has explored a similar path in the
past. When the budget-minded iPhone 5c was introduced in the fall of 2013,
Apple’s aim was to secure a foothold in the Chinese market, where cheap and
locally made Android phones, especially from homegrown manufacturers such as
Xiaomi and Huawei, were soaring in popularity. But sales of the iPhone 5c
lagged behind the iPhone 5s as Chinese consumers sought out the pricier model
that also carried premium cachet. After the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were a smash
hit in the country, any remaining doubts of what kind of phones China wanted
from Apple seemed to be erased.
But Apple’s strategy with the iPhone SE looks markedly
different. “The iPhone 5c slapped on a plastic exterior that telegraphed
cheapness,” says Mark Hibben, a contributor to equity research service Seeking
Alpha. By contrast, the iPhone SE’s anodized aluminum case, which mimics the
color and styling of more expensive models, doesn’t send the same message,
Hibben says. “I think it has the right feature set to be an acceptable iPhone,
while still being affordable to manufacture, and affordably priced as a
result.”
This mix of premium yet affordable—the iPhone SE
costs $399 without a contract, or comes free with a two-year contract—should
help Apple tap into new segments of the market that it hasn’t yet reached. No,
$400 off-contract isn’t dirt cheap; the average price for an Android smartphone
was about $215 by the end of last year, according to Bloomberg.
But Ryan Reith, an analyst for market research firm
IDC, says the iPhone SE will still likely appeal to a wide range of buyers,
from price-sensitive consumers in Apple’s more mature markets, such as North America
and Europe, to higher-end shoppers in emerging markets such as India. The idea,
as Apple itself said during yesterday’s keynote, is to make a phone appealing
enough so that those who have never tried the iPhone before finally make the
jump into Apple’s world.
Supply Chain Lessons
Hibben says the iPhone 5c may have created another
problem for Apple on the backend—namely, working with a different material. The
company would have had to adjust its supply chain to include an iPhone model
with a plastic exterior, which may have eaten into the savings it might
otherwise have enjoyed from using a cheaper material. While engineering the
more expensive 5s may have cost Apple more to begin with, it now has the
knowhow to produce that design efficiently at scale.
Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixIt, agrees, pointing out that
at one time, Taiwanese manufacturing company Foxconn had declared the iPhone 5
to be “the most difficult device” it had ever made. That’s not the case
anymore. “It’s always going to be easier for Apple to use existing supply
chains,” Wiens said. “By repurposing and reusing many components from the 5s,
Apple is certainly achieving cost savings.”
No, the iPhone SE won’t cure Apple’s slowing iPhone
sales growth. That will take something more dramatic—and probably bigger. But
at this point in Apple’s existence, even incremental growth is still
meaningful. Apple may not sell all the world’s smartphones, but it makes almost
all the profits. And the iPhone SE is one more way it can extract money from a
market that still craves something smaller and less expensive. “This isn’t
about market share, ultimately,” says Hibben. “This is about reaping most of
the industry’s profits—and I don’t think that’s going to change for Apple
anytime soon.”
AUSTIN – Science and technology have always cut with double-edged swords, capable of both propelling humanity to new achievements while threatening us with potential catastrophe.
That chilling theme was explored by two leading technologists at SXSW Interactive, a festival that has seen its share of humans rising up against the machines.
While no protests were in evidence so far this year - in 2015 a group called Stop the Robots demonstrated against an automated future – there’s still time. The 30th edition of SXSW is rife with provocative sessions such as Can AI Systems Really Think? and Androids and Future Life.
In separate talks, the promise and pitfalls of bothDNA sequencing and artificial intelligence were laid out by quantum physicist turned human genome expert Riccardo Sabatini, and telcom veteran turned entrepreneur Dag Kittlaus, who developed the virtual personal assistant Siri and sold it to a persistent Steve Jobs in 2010.
“It is important to prevent the bad side,” Kittlaus, 49, said during his cheerfully titled talk, Will AI Augment or Destroy Humanity? “It’s a good idea to keep an eye on this.”
When the moderator, tech author Steven Levy, asked Kittlaus if in fact supercomputers might not take over for entrepreneurs, using their digital brains to create things faster than humans, Kittlaus nodded.
“Yes, it will happen,” he said. “It’s just a matter of when.”
Kittlaus, it can be argued, is hastening the arrival of that day. Later this year, he will unveil Viv, an open source and cloud-based personal assistant that will allow humans “to talk to the Internet” and have the Internet talk back.
“The more you ask of Viv, the more it will get to know you,” he said. “Siri was chapter one, and now it’s almost like a new Internet age is coming. Viv will be a giant brain in the sky.”
Kittlaus said Viv would differ from Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Echo by being able to make mental leaps.
For example, asking Viv “What’s the weather near the Super Bowl” would cause it to “write its own program to find the answer, one that first determines where the Super Bowl is, and then what the weather will be in that city,” he said.
Levy laughed. “So,” he said, “if I stumble out of a bar and just say ‘I’m drunk,’ will it call me an Uber?”
Kittlaus smiled. “It might, or it might order you another drink."
PRIVACY ISSUES LOOM FOR SMART MACHINES
Such levity aside, privacy and security issues pop to mind when considering a cloud-based system that’s gobbling up data to create a digitized picture of our lives.
Apple’s current battle with the FBI over providing code to crack open a killer’s iPhone is one matter; granting access to a thinking machine that is privy to a person’s smallest details would be quite another.
Kittlaus’ answer to a question about secure data was less than convincing: “It will be up to you to tell it what you want to tell it.”
The issue of machine learning outgunning human brainpower currently is on bold display in South Korea, where an AI machine called AlphaGo is thrashing a champion Go player Lee Se-dol. AlphaGo is a program created by DeepMind, a British company that was bought by Google two years ago.
Ironically, Kittlaus is working on a novel that features dangerous AI.
“It’s a Siri out of control scenario,” he explained with a smile as the packed room laughed. “The machine seems to be right all the time in its predictions, so the question becomes, how do you trust that machine when you don’t know how it’s making its decisions.”
THE DILEMMA OF CREATING SUPERBABIES
On the topic of DNA sequencing, humans will have to bear the responsibility of ethically handling the coming leaps, said Sabatini, 34, a researcher who captivated TED 2016 last month with a lecture that found him hauling 175 thick books on stage – the full genetic make-up of DNA-sequencing pioneer J. Craig Venter. Sabatini works for Venter's company, Human Longevity Inc.
“We should as a species get informed, because this is a controversial topic,” said the Italian scientist. “We need to come to an ethical understanding, or we might get to an unhealthy story.”
Sabatini said that as we understand more about our genetic makeup – of which “only about 1% is clear to us” – there will be the opportunity not only to check for potential diseases before they ravage the body, but also to genetically modify a future human to have more appealing traits. Call it man-made Darwinism.
Specifically, Sabatini said that it is possible based on current genetic sequencing to see what lines of our human code correspond to not just physical features, but also to so-called superpowers that include the ability to sleep just three hours the night and see well in the dark.
President Barack Obama speaks at the opening Keynote during the 2016 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival at Long Center on March 11, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for SXSW)
President Barack Obama believes law enforcement officials should be able to force Apple to unlock iPhones when investigating certain criminal cases, but he cautioned against “willy-nilly” searches of mobile devices.
Obama’s comments were among his most substantive on the ongoing debate about Apple’s dispute with the Justice Department, which wants the technology behemoth to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. His administration has been trying to help bring about a resolution, but so far as failed to do so.
The White House has tried to avoid weighing in on the specifics of the case, but Obama’s comments Friday at the South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, make clear he believes Apple has a responsibility to unlock the device.
"If [law enforcement officials] can't get in,” he said of iPhones, “then everyone is walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocket."
The president warned against “fetishizing our phones above every other value,” saying “that can't be the right answer."
Notably, Obama said he comes down "way on the civil liberties side" of the debate, meaning he agrees with those who believe the data on iPhones should be protected at all costs.
But, saying his role as president means he has to turn over every possible leaf to keep Americans safe, he argued “there has to be some concessions" that allow the federal government to gain access to iPhones in the case of some criminal cases.
Still, Obama said he is intent on ensuring the federal government cannot simply go looking "willy-nilly" inside individuals’ iPhones "without oversight or probable cause.”
Though some might criticize Obama for making arguments on both sides of the debate, he contended Friday that “you cannot take an absolutist view on this.”
Remember six
months ago when Snapchat introduced itscrazy selfie
lens featurethat sort of went viral? Facebook wants in on the “how’d
you do that” action too so it bought the recently launched app Masquerade(stylized
as MSQRD) to instantly have access to its own selfie filter
features.
Masquerade, which only launched on iOS in December, works
similarly to Snapchat’s filter feature seen above by using facial recognition
over video to transform faces with comical filter effects.Tech Insiderfirst
reported the acquisition; the developers behind the popular iOS app later
confirmed the acquisition (without disclosing deal details) ina blog post. For
Masquerade fans, the founders say to expect the app (which is also available on
Android) to continue to be maintained with new features coming soon:
Now,
we’re excited to join forces with Facebook and bring the technology to even
more people. Within Facebook, we’re going to be able to reach people at a scale
like never before. For starters, we’ll be able to bring our technology to
Facebook’s audience of nearly 1.6 billion people. This is a scale of audience
we never imagined was possible.
While we
will be partnering with Facebook to integrate our technology, the app will stay
up and running so you’ll continue to record fun selfies and keep using the
product. You can also expect us to keep adding fun features!
Masquerade, which features technology
that could easily make its way to Facebook’s own app, isn’t the first time the
major social network has tried to take on its competitor Snapchat with similar
features.
Three years ago, Facebook turned its ‘poke’ feature from its
websiteinto
a standalone appthat worked a lot like Snapchat, butpulled itafter few updates and little traction a year
and a half later. Giving the whole Snapchat thing another shot, Facebook
later introduced another standalone app calledSlingshot, then
fast-forward a year and a half later andthat too disappeared.
But Masquerade’s
outlook seems promising at least in the short-term, and their technology could
easily be put to use throughout Facebook’s photo services and messaging apps
like Instagram and Messenger, and the standalone Masquerade app sound like
it has some new features in the pipeline for its fans.You can download Masquerade for
free on the App Store.
If you’re looking to unwind
this fine Sunday by sampling the latest App Store delectables for your iPhone,
iPad or Apple Watch, look no further: Cult of Mac has your hookup!
Whether
you’re on the hunt for a fun racing game, a new and surprisingly great
alternative to Siri, or a promising photo and video-editing app created by a
16-year-old dev, we’ve got what you’re searching for.
Check
out our picks below. You won’t be disappointed.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Quite possibly against my
better judgment, I’m excited aboutBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which
will finally bring to the big screen the epic Dark Knight vs. Man of Steel
clash comic fans have been waiting for since Frank Miller’sDark
Knight Returns graphic novel.
This
week, Injustice: Gods Among Us got
a new update, bringing the Zack Snyder versions of Superman, Batman and Wonder
Woman to the super-powered fighting game’s roster — alongside a handful of
other new characters.
Whether
the idea of staging a Supes vs. Bat-fleck battle on your iOS device appeals to
you will no doubt depend on your level of geekery. But it certainly got me
to re-download this entertaining free-to-play fighting game.
Available for:iPhone/iPad Costs:Free (with in-app purchases) Get it from:App Store
glaze
There are some great video
and photo-editing apps available for iOS, but if you’re looking for a new one
to play with try out 16-year-old (!) developer Ryan Stephen’s glaze app. Simple
to use and with a neat range of filters, basic drawing tools, and text boxes
available, it is a nifty app that can be applied to everything from
selfies to video to, yes, even Live Photos on the iPhone 6s.
Well
worth a punt at $0.99 — and, heck, when 16-year-old Stephen winds up becoming
the next Kevin Systrom or Mike Krieger (two guys who made a little thing called
Instagram), you’ll be able to say you downloaded one of his first apps.
Available for: iPhone/iPad Costs: $0.99 Get it from: App
Store
Facer
Previously available only
for Android Wear, watchface customization app Facer has now landed on Apple
Watch — giving users the ability to customize their watches in various ways.
This
includes Instagram and Tumblr picture integration, flashcards to help you learn
and memorize facts, and licensed material from brands includingPopeye,GarfieldandBetty Boop.
A
“must have” if you’re an Apple Watch user!
Available for:Apple Watch Costs:Free Get it from:App Store
Thumb Drift – Furious One
Touch Car Racing
A fun racing game for iOS,Thumb
Drifttakes the
simple game mechanic of “drifting” and runs… well,driveswith it. A big complaint about many
games on iOS is that the touchscreen isn’t a worthy substitute for either a
controller or a keyboard/mouse setup. InThumb Drift, the touchscreen controls
work fantastically well — arguably better even than previous alternatives
— and are a large part of what makes this game so fun.
I
love the flat shaded, low polygon-count graphics, too. And who can hate a
racing game where each crash results in your car exploding into pieces like
it’s made of matchsticks?
Available for:iPhone/iPad Costs:Free Get it from:App Store
Hound Voice Search & Assistant
I use Siri a lot more than
many people I know, but there’s no doubt that Apple hasn’t yet perfectly nailed
the virtual assistant concept.
Hound
is an attempt at a rival app, which gives users quick and accurate voice
search, using a card-based approach not dissimilar to Android’s Google Now. You
can get weather, news, directions, hotel locations, restaurant info and far
more — all executed in a way that often betters Apple’s built-in Siri.
Definitely
worth a download, although it’s unfortunate that there’s no way to set up iOS
so that it activates Hound by default instead of Siri. Still, if you find
yourself using it regularly, it’s only a couple of extra taps to get it up and
running.
Available for:iPhone/iPad Costs:Free Get it from:App Store
