Foxconn workers in Shenzhen will not report next week until further notice. Photo: Foxconn
Remember how just a few months ago, Foxconn profits were slumping because — as the anti-Apple brigade hysterically shrieked — the iPhone 5 was a dud, and the iPhone’s meteoric rise in popularity was finally done?
Yeah, well, Foxconn just posted a 41 percent year-over-year increase in profit, driven by strong iPhone sales.
I have a few things to say about external iPhone batteries, but we’ll get to that in a second. First, here’s the Jackery battery for the iPhone 5, a backup battery distinguished by being slim, having a nice sleek design, and featuring an absurdly pretentious video promo on the product page.
Maybe Distil Union’s ultra-minimal Wally iPhone “case” was a little too minimal for some, because the design outfit has come out with a more conventional case-wallet.
A new report from Bloomberg reiterates previous reports on Apple’s plans for the iPad family this year. According to Bloomberg, the fifth-gen iPad will be thinner with a design that more closely matches the iPad mini. The Wall Street Journal reported the exact same thing this morning. Expect thinner bezels around the display.
Bloomberg has also said that the iPad mini will be Retina-ified “in the last three months of the year” alongside the release of the 10-inch iPad 5. Awhile back there was a scare that we wouldn’t see a Retina iPad mini until 2014 due to manufacturing problems, but things are looking good now.
At this point in the rumor mill, certain bits of news are all but confirmed, like the September 10th date for Apple’s next iPhone event. Bloomberg is backing that date after it was reported by multiple other sources recently. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C.
We’re less than a month away from seeing what the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S will look like—fingerprint sensor and all—but some artists on Dribble have been dreaming of a new feature for the iPhone: an infinite screen.
Claudio Guglieri’s iPhone 6 Infinity mockup and template sparked a mess of awesome rebounds from other artists who added their own bits of flair to the idea of an iPhone with a display that wraps completely around the device.
The Skype app for iPad has been updated today to introduce support for HD video calling — but there’s a catch. The feature is only available on the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display, and not any of its predecessors or the iPad mini.
Decorations outside of the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco for last year's iPhone 5 event
Apple will hold its next iPhone event on Tuesday, September 10th, according to AllThingsD, a site that has a spotless track record when it comes to predicting these dates. Last year’s event for the iPhone 5 was held on Wednesday, September 12th.
2013 is, so far, what might be considered a year of regrouping for Apple. The company has seen huge success in the PC, smartphone and tablet markets, but it’s also pushed those about as far as they can go: Incremental improvements, not revolutions, are what we can expect for the Mac, iPhone and iPad from here on out. Meanwhile, the next big thing — the iWatch, the iTV, whatever — is still on the horizon.
To outsiders, it looks like Apple has stalled. Far from it. You only need to look at the changes Apple is making with iOS 7 to see that Cupertino isn’t standing still, and the company has signalled that it is committed to the future of OS X for at least the next 10 years. That said, all the products Apple is set to announce next month — the iPhone 5S, the iPhone 5C, the iPad mini 2 and the iPad 5 — are just sequels to what it’s already done.
People are getting impatient for the next major Apple revolution. And it’s not just outsiders. A new report suggests that Apple’s own board of directors is “deeply concerned” about Cupertino’s perceived slackening in the pace of innovation.
We’ve known for a long, long time that the fifth-generation iPad would borrow the iPad mini’s design cues and have thinner bezels on the side for a more streamlined form factor. Heck, iLounge’s Jeremy Horowitz said as much as early as January of this year, claiming that the iPad 5 would be “a lot smaller than one would guess is possible” with “virtually no left or right bezels.”
For months now, we’ve seen parts leak out of Asia confirming that report, including cases, rear shells, and more. Today, we have leaked images of the front panel and digitizer. And yup! Look, Ma! No bezels.
T-Mobile only recently started selling the iPhone, and it has proven to be a very good thing for the struggling carrier. By marketing itself as the hip “Un-Carrier” that charges less up front, T-Mobile is starting to see better days.
After the company reported healthy growth in its quarterly earnings report today, CEO John Legere made some comments about T-Mobile’s relationship with Apple. He said the carrier looks forward to carrying a “whole array” of Apple products in the future, hinting at more than just the iPhone. Could the iPad be next for T-Mobile after Apple announces new devices this fall?