iOS Devices

We got our first look inside the iPhone SE a couple of days ago when Chipworks took one apart. The company revealed then some of the mix of old and new components, but iFixit has now provided a closer look in its own teardown.

The main finding is that the entire display assembly is straight out of the iPhone 5S – right down to the FaceTime camera, which explains why that remained a paltry 1.2MP unit instead of the 5MP version in the iPhone 6S …

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In homage to its history, Apple has hung a pirate flag at its Infinite Loop Headquarters (images via @twfarley and @mjisrawi). On April 1st, 40 years ago, Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The iconic flag, complete with rainbow Apple logo for an eye, dates back to the creation of the original Mac. The Mac team hung the flag as an act of rebellion, distinguishing their cool work, led by Jobs, from the rest of the company which was preoccupied making the Lisa.

Watch Apple’s 40 year celebration video, first shown at its event last month, after the jump …

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In theory, photos taken with an iPhone SE or an iPhone 6s should generally look the same, but we wanted to briefly pit both devices head-to-head just to make sure. Both phones sport the exact same iSight camera specs, although the iPhone 6s does have a camera bump where the iPhone SE does not. In this post we showcase several photos and a couple of videos from both the iPhone 6s and the iPhone SE.
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[Update: Sprint says the issue has been resolved as of today and apologizes for the convenience.]

While Apple has fixed a few issues relating to iOS 9.3 with a subsequent iOS 9.3.1 update, there’s still at least one bug plaguing Sprint users that appears to be out of Apple’s hands. According to a handful of Sprint users across Twitter and Reddit, they have been unable to connect to LTE data following the iOS 9.3 update and are forced to use only 3G data. Today, however, Sprint acknowledged the issue and confirmed that it is working on a fix.

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Today is the official release day for the iPhone SE, and I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up my unit early this morning. For those of you who will likewise acquire an iPhone SE in the near future, or for those of you who are still unsure about a purchase, have a look at our hands-on video that touches on the top 15 iPhone SE features. We also have a brief look at some of the downsides of the iPhone SE for those wanting a balanced look at the latest new iPhone.
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Yesterday we detailed an Apple patent showing work on a stackable Smart Connector plug of sorts. Today we get a look at a similar invention aimed at making the I/O on future devices more versatile with Apple’s invention of a “Universal Magnetic Adapter” that could allow for more future-proof devices using only a single port. As pictured in the drawing accompanying the patent above, the technology allows for a single port that uses magnetic inserts as adapters for your various devices. Or in other words, MagSafe for everything using a single port and adapters for the various connectors.

In its patent, Apple describes the problem with the current mess of adapters and cables users have to deal:

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My experience with using every iPhone and iPad screen size to date has taught me two things: one size does not fit all, and you can usually get used to using any screen size if you use it long enough. The tricky part is that it’s not super easy to know immediately which screen size is right for you, and using any one screen size for an extended period of time tends to make it feel normal.

iPhone displays were at first large by most standards at 3.5-inches diagonally in 2007; BlackBerry “smartphones” had tiny displays and large keyboards. Android handsets gradually raised the scope of what qualified as a phone, pressuring Apple to go bigger with the 4-inch iPhone 5 in 2012. Then even bigger and much bigger in 2014 with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

I spent just a few days with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus before I decided I needed to exchange it for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, but after a year with that screen size I decided to size up with the iPhone 6s Plus last September. The experience has been mostly okay as I really think we can all get used to any screen size (even 3.5-inch!), but extended use this go around has made the drawbacks for me very clear. More on that below, but as promised I’m venturing over to the 4-inch iPhone SE at least until the new iPhones come out in September. These are my day one observations after making the jump:

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Apple has released iOS 9.3.1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The bug fix update to iOS 9.3, released last week, contains a crucial improvement for iOS users: it addresses the widespread issue where apps (and sometimes the whole OS) would crash or hangs when tapping links.

We’ll update the post if we spot anything else notable, although the Release Notes do not suggest anything else has changed …

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When Apple launched the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, it was a device I definitely wanted to try, but didn’t expect to keep. That gorgeous screen was more tempting than I’d expected, but it didn’t sell itself to me as a replacement for the smaller version, and in the end I decided I couldn’t justify keeping both.

The 9.7-inch version is a very different proposition. I absolutely love my iPad Air 2, a device that gets used for both consumption and creation, and the smaller iPad Pro retains the exact same form-factor while adding to its capabilities. For simplicity, I’ll skip the size references from now on and simply refer to it as the iPad Pro.

But will those enhancements be enough to make the upgrade worthwhile? I’m posting my first impressions today, and will report back again after around a week’s use. As ever, I’ll update in between if I have anything notable to say, but in this case I think that’s unlikely …

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Supply-chain sources cited by the variably-reliable Digitimes claim that Apple’s Q2 chip orders are down on previous years, and that demand for the iPhone SE is not high enough to offset declining demand for the iPhone 6s/Plus.

Shipments for the new iPhone SE will be unable to offset the fall in shipments for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices in the second quarter, the sources continued. The shipment target for the SE in the second quarter is four to five million units, the sources said.

Apple did caution that the current quarter’s revenue would see its first year-on-year fall in 13 years, the company predicting a drop of around 11%, which will be in large part due to (probably temporary) ‘peak iPhone.’ This latest report suggests that the slump may continue into the following quarter …

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As the iPhone SE is slowly beginning to reach the hand’s of customers around the world, the folks at ChipWorks have already been able to take Apple’s latest 4-inch phone apart to see what’s powering it all on the inside. It’s often been said the iPhone SE is an iPhone 6s crammed into the body of an iPhone 5/5s, and for the most part, it looks like that really is the case.

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Apple today announced a new browser, sort of. It’s called Safari Technology Preview and its meant for developers to be able to test and experiment with future web technologies and upcoming features. This is similar to Google Chrome Canary, which allows developers to play with in-development web technologies ahead of official releases. The app even comes complete with a new purple icon.

Apple will be updating Safari Technology Preview on a fortnightly basis, with each release signed for security. Download Apple’s new browser from the developer portal, with automatic updates through the Mac App Store.

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The iPhone SE may be Apple’s most muted iPhone launch in recent memory due to the fact that it’s not considered a flagship model for the company, but new data shows the 4-inch iPhone is attracting a large number of users in two of Apple’s most promising emerging markets: China and India.

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With Apple rumored to working on sleeker versions of its 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models in time for a possible reveal at WWDC, designer Martin Hajek has provided one possible take on how the new machines might look. His mockups essentially scale up the 12-inch MacBook design, the above image contrasting with the existing design.

The renders also incorporate a rather lovely OS X concept created by Andrew Ambrosino, the UX designer behind the standalone Apple Music app concept we showed you last year. The same duo also teamed up for a beautiful Apple TV concept.

You can see more renders below …

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While the FBI has so far refused to say whether or not it will let Apple know how the San Bernardino iPhone was unlocked, a second case in New York could provide the Cupertino company with a legal right to the information.

When the FBI first said that it might be able to access the San Bernardino iPhone without Apple’s help, halting its court case against Apple, that also brought a temporary halt to a second case in New York. There the DOJ was using the same All Writs Act argument in a Brooklyn court (above) to demand Apple help it unlock another iPhone in an unrelated drugs case.

That case was deferred in order to await the outcome of the FBI’s unlock attempt, and things could get interesting if the DOJ opts to return to the NY court …

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