News tagged ‘Apple’

Apple has released first betas of macOS Sierra 10.12.1 and iOS 10.1 to public testers. Both software versions contain several bug fixes and minor improvements aimed at making macOS and iOS more stable and efficient. The latter one also features a new Portrait camera mode for the iPhone 7 Plus. Apple has seeded new public betas one day after the release of the developer builds.

If you have a compatible device and an account of the public software tester, you can download, install, and test macOS Sierra 10.12.1 and iOS 10.1 right now. However, if you expect to see new features or any other major changes, there’s no need to do this. Apple hasn’t yet included anything particularly interesting to the updates.

Stay tuned for more news on macOS Sierra and iOS 10.

Some users are complaining about poor sound quality during phone calls on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Most of those who complain own the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, however, there are some iPhone 7 users with the same problem. It is currently unknown if the problem is connected with the hardware of software. Apple hasn’t yet commented on the issue.

Hopefully, Apple will hear the users and investigate the issue. Since iOS 10.1 is already being tested by the developers and public testers, chances are, that the company will include a fix for this problem in the next update. If it is not the hardware that is faulty. In this case, the things won’t be so simple.

Apple unveiled the iPhone 7 at a media event on September 7th. Currently, the handset is available in the USA and a number of other countries.

According to the latest report shared by IHS, it costs Apple $220.80 to produce an iPhone 7 with 32GB of storage on board. The most expensive components are the 4.7-inch LCD display and the A10 Fusion processor. One of the cheapest parts is the battery. The total cost of the handset includes direct material costs of $215.80 and conversion costs (for example, for assembly, testing etc.) of $5.

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Apple has released macOS Sierra to users worldwide. The update contains a wide number of new features like Siri, Auto Unlock, Universal Clipboard, Apple Pay, improvements to Safari, Notes, and many other sections of the operating system. According to Apple, if you have a 2009 Mac computer or newer, you can upgrade to macOS right now.

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According to data shared by a research firm Mixpanel, iOS 10 is now installed on 34% of all compatible devices. Keep in mind that Apple released the new firmware version less than a week ago. 14.45% of users upgraded to iOS 10 in the first 24 hours after the release of the operating system.

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Some iPhone 7 users report that their devices fail to reconnect to the cellular network after being used in the Airplane mode. Apple has reacted to the problem and, according to the internal documents obtained by reporters, is investigating the issue.

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Apple’s iPhone 7 is faster than the Galaxy Note 7 in real life. The results of the recent speed test performed by PhoneBuff prove that the newly-released phone is much better at opening apps, editing videos, and keeping open games and applications active in the background.

PhoneBuff performed a test consisting of a set of typical everyday tasks. The final result of the iPhone 7 is 1 minute 40 seconds, whereas that of the Galaxy Note 7 is equal to 3 minutes 14 seconds. This difference becomes even more surprising if we take a look at the specs of both devices. Apple’s iPhone 7 features an A10 Fusion chip and 2GB of RAM, while the Galaxy Note 7 has an Exynos 8890 CPU and 4GB of RAM.

Currently, the iPhone 7 is available for purchase on several markets, while the sales of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 have been paused due to the problem with the exploding battery of the device.

According to some iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus users, Apple’s new handsets are making hissing noise when loaded heavily. In particular, users claim that they hear strange subtle noise coming from the back of their iPhones each time they use resource-intensive apps or perform other tasks that load the processor and RAM. Most likely, the issue is somehow connected with the new A10 Fusion chip embedded into both iPhone models.

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Apple has released two new iPhone 7 commercials highlighting the camera added to the smartphone capable of taking high-quality shots even in low-light conditions and its water resistance that can be useful in a number of different situations.

Two short ads are called ‘Midnight' and 'Morning Ride'. Both are available on Apple’s official YouTube channel and below.

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It is Sunday today, which means it is high time I told you about the most interesting posts of the last couple of days. Let’s not waste time and have a look at the articles worth your attention right now.

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Both iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are now available for purchase, so YouTube is becoming full videos comparing the durability of the new model with the durability of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s released in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Below you can watch several drop, bend, and water resistance tests shot by different users.

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Apple has changed the buttons that are used to force restart the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. On older devices, to perform a force restart it was required to press and hold the Sleep/Wake button together with the Home button. This combination doesn’t work on the newest iPhones because the Home button is no longer a physical one.

To force reboot the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, one has to press and hold the Sleep/Wake button along with the Volume Down button. There’s no need to test this yourself if your device works properly, just keep in mind the combination has been changed.

Below you can take a look at the short video shot by iClarified demonstrating the new method of force restart.

Apple announced the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus at a media event on September 7th. The pre-orders for both handsets went live on September 9th and the official release of the updated devices took place on September 16th.

As it turns out, the Home button on the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus requires skin contact to work. What this means is that if you cover the Touch ID sensor embedded to the button with any material and try to unlock the phone or use the button for any other purpose - it won’t work. While at first this doesn’t appear to be a big problem, it actually is.

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Aside from letting us know about the internals of the iPhone 7 Plus, the iFixit team has also performed a teardown of the Apple Watch Series 2 that went on sale in a number of countries together with new iPhones.

As noted by the experts, the smartwatch is much better protected from water. Furthermore, it has a new OLED display with integrated Force Touch, updated GPS, NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.0 hardware. There’s also a new S2 chip, better 273 mAh battery as well as some other improved components. The size of the wearable device is the same as the one the original Apple Watch has.

The smartwatch is packed with small parts, so disassembling it is quite a tough task. Similar to the first-generation Apple Watch, the 2016 model is rather difficult to repair, so its repairability score is 6 out 10.

Below you can take a look at the video and several photos of the teardown posted by iFixit.

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Looks like Apple plans to ditch the headphone jack across all devices its produces. MacBook users have recently begun receiving emails from the company with something like a questionnaire asking about various MacBook Pro features. One particular question of the survey is of the greatest interest for us. Here it is: "Do you ever use the headphone port on your MacBook Pro with Retina display?"

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