iPhone - page 80

Apple’s iPhone sales in the U.S. are starting to flatline, according to data from the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Growth of the iPhone install base in the U.S. has been on a downward trend for years now, but CIRP’s latest report reveals that growth was at its slowest rate ever during the first quarter of 2019.

Find out what’s going on in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for iOS.

Or read on to get the rest of the week’s best Apple news, reviews and how-tos in your browser.

Apple comes in third on this year’s Fortune 500 list, a ranking of companies based on revenue.

Apple lagged behind Walmart and ExxonMobil in terms of revenue. However, it massively outperforms both in terms of profitability. Interestingly, No. 4 on the list — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway firm — is also one of Apple’s biggest investors.

A ban on China’s Huawei company by the White House could wind up hurting Apple, concerned analysts claim.

President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans Wednesday to ban technology and services of “foreign adversaries” that pose “unacceptable risks.” But possible Chinese retaliation against major U.S. companies could hit Apple hard.

The moment smartphones gained the ability to track the number of steps people took every day, insurance companies were ready to find ways to use that data to offer people cheaper premiums.

The moment that happened, enterprising (and slightly underhanded) entrepreneurs were ready to give lazy people a workaround to make it look like they were walking much further than they really were.

What kind of workaround, you ask? Well, something along the lines of this:

The iPhone 6s is still alive and well in some markets — one of which is India, where the 2015 flagship is now being manufactured.

Apple is using this to sell the handset to locals. India has become an increasingly important market for the company as smartphone growth in other areas slows to a crawl.

It’s been impossible to get the Lightning earbuds that come with the iPhone XS, XS Max or XR to work on the USB-C ports of the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. Luckily, Anker is out here doing God’s work and has finally come up with a solutions: another dongle.

Apple may soon be forced to raise iPhone prices if Donald Trump’s latest round of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports goes into effect.

Trump wants to slap tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. The Office of U.S. Trade Representative began the approval process this week. Those tariffs could go into effect by June 24 and if that happens, some analysts predict Apple will raise iPhone prices by 14% or more to offset the costs.

WhatsApp users must update to the latest version of the app to avoid be infected by malicious software.

A security flaw in the popular messaging client allows the Pegasus spyware to be installed on your smartphone. WhatsApp is investigating the situation and urges its 1.5 billion users to update.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars now plays nicely with modern iOS devices.

Rockstar’s mobile hit is the fourth in the GTA franchise to add support for iPhone and iPad variants with edge-to-edge displays and the latest A12 processors. The latest version is free for those who have already purchased Chinatown Wars.

Samsung has started rolling out the new Apple TV app on compatible Smart TVs.

The app gives users access to all their iTunes content as well as Apple’s upcoming TV+ subscription service. You’ll need to install a firmware update to get your hands on it.

Apple Music enlisted clothing company LRG to become the latest company to handpick songs for a new set of curated playlists.

LRG, short for Lifted Research Group, became popular for its street wear thanks to endorsements from some of the biggest rappers and R&B artists in the world. As you’d expect, its new playlists are highly influenced by those genres too.

Apple’s updated TV app is finally ready for the public to dive into.

iOS 12.3 was released to the public today, adding the new Apple TV app to iPhones and iPads as Apple prepares to launch its streaming TV service this fall. The update also adds AirPlay 2.0 and Apple TV support to compatible Samsung smart TVs.

Leaked molds of this year’s iPhone lineup again hint at big camera upgrades for all three models. The molds reaffirm renders recently published by a number of tipsters.

Here’s what they tell us about Apple’s next-generation smartphones.

If you’re still rocking an older iPhone running iOS 7, you’re going to need to upgrade if you want to continue using WhatsApp.

The world’s biggest messaging service will soon stop working on iOS 7 devices. Other aging operating systems are going to get left out in the cold, too.

You can tell a lot about someone by their ringtone. Too bad the options on the iPhone are so limited. And too bad it’s such a headache getting ringtones from iTunes to your device.

Update: Corning sent an email to clarify some of the claims made in this post, which I’ve included in the body of the post and at the bottom.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Even though the latest iPhones are made from glass front and back, they would be “nearly unbreakable” if just a bit thicker.

That was the message from glass manufacturer Corning during an open house at its Silicon Valley research center Tuesday.

“If the glass on the latest smartphones was just a little bit thicker, it would be nearly unbreakable,” said Dave Young, a Corning marketing communications specialist, at the event.

Case-makers are already preparing themselves for this fall’s big iPhone refresh.

New images show updated case designs for an iPhone XS successor with a larger camera module. They line up with recent rumors that have claimed Apple’s next-generation flagships will have a third rear-facing camera sensor.

In the bad old days, there used to be just one way to send an email attachment from your iPhone. You had to find the file or image, and use the share sheet to send it via email. Then, you’d add the address, subject line and message, and send the mail. And if you needed to add another file to that email? Tough.

Now, things are much better. There are now several ways to send mail with attachments on iOS — the exact number depends on whether you’re using the iPhone or iPad. Let’s check them out.

The fifth beta for iOS 12.3 was released to developers this morning, arriving just one week after iOS 12.4 beta 4 came out. Apple seeded watchOS 5.2.1 beta 5, tvOS 12.3 beta 5 and macOS 10.14.5 beta 5 to developers as well.

It appears that this beta mostly focuses mostly on performance fixes as Apple readies it for launch soon. iOS 12.3 will probably be the last major update before Apple reveals iOS 13 at WWDC 2019 at the beginning of June.

Apple CEO Tim Cook sounded absolutely ecstatic to count Warren Buffett as one of his company’s investors during an interview at Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders meeting this morning.

Cook made a cameo in the company’s opening video — that also introduced Apple’s new Buffett-themed game — and sat down with CNBC to talk about his relationship with Warren, Apple’s culture, privacy and more.

Apple started its work week to news of its stock in freefall thanks to Sunday tweets by President Donald Trump threatening to tag more Chinese goods with a 25 percent tariff unless the two countries can reach a trade deal by Friday.

This may be just another Trump Twitter rant to put pressure on negotiations. But if he follows through on an additional $200 billion in goods, Apple may be forced to build iPhone, iPads, and Macs elsewhere.

Microsoft kicked off its annual Build 2019 developer conference this morning and to the surprise of Apple fans, the Windows-maker showed off some new software that runs on Mac.

Windows 10 users have been able to test early builds of Microsoft’s Edge Chromium browsers since last month, but it looks like Mac users won’t have to wait long to test out Edge. Microsoft doesn’t have a launch date yet, however, it briefly teased Edge running on macOS in a new video.

GT Advanced Technologies, the company that was supposed to make sapphire screens for the iPhone early this decade, has been charged with misleading investors by the SEC.

The SEC’s investigation found that GT and its CEO violated antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws as part of its deal to supply Apple with sapphire. After failing to meet certain performance requirements, GT caused “significant investor harm” by reclassifying over $300 million in debt to Apple. Sadly, the company’s punishment is pretty much just a slap on the wrist.

The song you’re listening to on your iPhone is a bit too quiet, so you adjust the volume. Perfect. Then the song ends, and the next one blasts your ears. You fumble your iPhone from your pocket and tap the volume down a notch or two.

Thanks, Apple Music. Why can’t you just play all the songs at the same volume? Obviously that’s what everyone wants.

Wait, what’s that? You can? How?

Wall Street received surprisingly better-than-expected news from Apple’s Q2 2019 earnings report today — and the stock is soaring in after-hours trading.

iPhone sales remain down, but pretty much every other facet of the company’s business is firing on all cylinders. Customers are falling in love with the iPad all over again. Services are booming. And Apple’s wearables business is now the size of a Fortune 200 company.

Despite plenty of doom and gloom from analysts over the last 12 months, Apple’s future is looking bright again.