Luke Dormehl - page 92

Everyone’s excited at the possibility of a 5G iPhone next year — but the next-gen connectivity will come at a price. Both literally and figuratively.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new logic board required for 5G could take up approximately 10% more space. This could mean making the iPhone thicker to accommodate. It could also wind up costing Apple 35% more for the component.

Unlike many critics, horror legend Stephen King seems to be enjoying new Apple TV+ series The Morning Show.

In a tweet early Monday, King praised the show as “instantly involving,” with “characters you care about.” “What’s not to like?” he wrote. Coming from the writer behind It, The Shining and Shawshank Redemption, that’s high praise.

A futuristic post-apocalyptic world in which a virus has robbed humanity of its eyesight and reduced the human race to a few million people. Even speaking of sight in this world is heresy. Add in muscular man mountain Jason Momoa and a Game of Thrones budget and you’ve got See.

What did I make of the first episode of Apple TV+’s fantasy series? Read on to find out….

In the month leading up to the launch of Apple TV+, Apple spent $19.9 million on worldwide TV ads advertising its new streaming service.

While that’s definitely a big number, however, it’s only half (or just over) the $38.6 million Apple spent on iPhone ads during the same month.

Question: How do you get billboards for a new product up as quickly as possible after launch, without spoiling Apple’s perfectly orchestrated unveiling? Answer: You put up the billboard, then add the product afterward.

If that sounds like way too much effort, we’re guessing you won’t be hearing back from Apple about your marketing job application anytime soon.

Apple TV+ launched this morning. Costing $4.99 per month (or free to anyone who buys a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac), the subscription service brings Apple’s eagerly anticipated original TV shows to anyone who wants to watch them.

But what exactly does the service feature so far? And what’s the timeline for the release of Apple’s other shows? Check out our rundown.

Apple has upgraded five executives to Vice President status. This includes one returning early iPhone executive, a report from Bloomberg notes.

Paul Meade is the new VP of hardware engineering, Jon Andrews is now VP of software engineering, Gary Geaves is VP of acoustics, and Kaiann Drance is VP of marketing. Apple has also brought back Bob Borchers, who has been named VP of product marketing.

Apple TV+ service launched this morning. And, with it, The Morning Show, Apple’s star-studded drama about the goings-on at a morning news show.

It stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. With that cast, it’s an illustration of the ambitions Apple has for creating top-tier entertainment for its streaming show. But is it any good? Here’s what I made of the first episode.

Newly leaked screenshots depict an updated AirTags section in the “Find My” app. Although they are referred to by their codename “B389,” the screenshots show how AirTags findability will work.

AirPods are the rumored item tracker tags which promise to help users to locate bags, keys, and assorted other valuables.

There are plenty of reasons to be enthusiastic about Apple’s massive earnings call yesterday. One analyst who’s not happy, however, is Barclays analyst Tim Long. In a note to clients, Long writes that Apple average selling price for iPhones may be slipping.

Apple stopped reporting unit sales for the iPhone last year. Instead, it focused on ramping up the average price it sells each iPhone for. Perhaps not enough, though.

Apple TV+’s post-apocalyptic fantasy show See seems like Apple’s attempt to tap into the fandom of Game of Thrones (or, at least, the seasons up until the last two when everyone loved it.) Jason Momoa starred in both shows. His pick for a personal favorite? See. Here’s why.

China has been one of the biggest causes of Apple instability in recent times, particularly when it comes to trade tensions between China and the United States. Things may be starting to stabilize, however, as Tim Cook noted in Apple’s earnings call yesterday.

That’s good news when it comes to the country Cook has said is Apple’s future biggest customer.

Tim Cook thinks Apple’s awesome new AirPods Pro are “complementary” to the original AirPods. No, he’s not just referring to the fact that there is a space in the market for both products. He thinks many AirPods Pro customers will buy and own regular AirPods as well.

And you know what? Given Apple’s amazing track record in the “hearables” area, I don’t have any problem believing he might just be right.

The makers of a product allowing users to run iOS firmware in a web browser have hit back at Apple.

Apple sued the former iPhone jailbreakers behind Corellium in August. However, Corellium counters Apple’s claims of IP theft by saying that it is performing a crucial function for security researchers.

Apple will be deploying the world’s “most advanced” 5G mobile processors when it debuts its first 5G iPhones next year, a new report claims.

Apple is lagging behind rivals such as Samsung, Huawei and even smaller companies like Oppo and Xiaomi in launching its first 5G handset. However, the report claims that Apple’s ready to pull the stops out to make its next iPhone special. And it’s hoping for sales to match.

Apple is gearing up to celebrate Veterans Day with a new Apple Watch Activity challenge, scheduled for Monday, November 11.

To earn the Veterans Day badge, you’ll need to complete a workout of 11 minutes or more that day. The challenge is open to users in the United States, although you may want to check to see if it’s available if you live in a non-U.S. country. (Not that it should stop you working out, of course!)

In the market for a Type-C Hub, accessory organizer, power bank and wireless charger for your MacBook Pro and iPad Pro? Of course you are!

The BentoStack PowerHub promises to eliminate desktop clutter with a stackable solution to give you everything you need to use your devices on the go. And it’s all packed into a design inspired by (what else?) a compact Japanese lunch box. Check it out.

The preview episodes of See, Apple’s would-be Game of Thrones fantasy series with Jason Momoa, didn’t exactly take reviewers by storm. Hailed by the Hollywood Reporter as “rarely better than so-so” and the Telegraph as evoking “unintentional laughter,” this show sounds like it’s got a long way to go before it’ll start scooping up major awards as Apple hopes.

One thing it will be getting, however, is a second season — as star Alfre Woodard confirmed to the U.K.’s Radio Times.

Apple’s launched its first bundle deal for Apple TV+ — but you’ll have to be a student to take advantage of it.

On Dickinson star Hailee Steinfeld’s Instagram page, the singer/actress noted that Apple Music subscribers on Apple’s $4.99 Student plan will receive Apple TV+ in addition to Apple’s streaming music service.

European antitrust regulators are asking online retailers if they are contractually obligated to use Apple Pay over rival services.

The European Commission suggests it has information that Apple could have restricted online payments for goods and services using rival payment solutions. This would be in breach of EU antitrust rules.

Imagine being able to touch your iPad or iPhone screen and feeling like you’re touching metal, wood, or fur — despite the fact it’s just a flat glass display. Impossible, surely? Not if a new haptic feedback patent Apple has filed comes to pass.

This haptic feedback technology could complete the sensory AR experience Apple is aiming for. Slap on some AirPods and summon up some ARKit visuals, and you’d have truly immersive augmented reality.

Apple is reportedly going all-in on OLED displays with the 2020 iPhones. But despite the big advances OLED represent, it seems that many users aren’t yet ready to part ways with their LCD screens.

At least, that’s one takeaway from a new report which claims that Apple is putting in more orders for the LCD iPhone 11, while sales of the higher-end iPhone 11 Pro Max remain flat.

Apple is seemingly taking a mixed approach to the way it will debut new Apple TV+ shows. According to the company, it will release three episodes of The Morning Show, one of its flagship series, when the service launches on November 1. After that, new episodes will debut every Friday.

That’s a change from Netflix’s approach of dumping every episode of a new season at once. It’s also a change from Apple’s plan for Dickinson, which star Hailee Steinfeld recently revealed will debut all 10 episodes straight out of the gate.

Mario Kart Tour, Nintendo’s long-awaited Mario Kart game for iOS, enjoyed the second-biggest mobile game launch month in history. (And Nintendo’s biggest.) Across both Android and iOS, the game racked up 123.9 million unique downloads in its first four weeks.

That’s more than 5x the downloads that Super Mario Run‘s 21.8 million downloads.

The first Apple TV+ reviews are out — and, broadly speaking, they’re not great. Critics generally slammed the marquee shows on the Apple TV+ slate. Anyone wanting to pull together a movie poster with positive pull-quotes would need to do some serious wading through bile to emerge with choice excerpts.

That’s a shame. And while it might seem easy to write off the bad reviews — based on the just the first few episodes of four shows, all shown to critics prior to the service’s launch — the poor reception might suggest deep-seated problems for Apple TV+. It sounds like a service that suffers from a lack of vision.