Apple surprised developers today with the release of the first beta for iOS 11.2.
iOS 11.2 beta 1 was seeded to developers even though iOS 11.1 still hasn’t been released to the public. The update comes with a number of new features as well as bug fixes and performance improvements.
The new MacBook Pro is set to receive a “recommended” rating from Consumer Reports after working with Apple to discover why tests showed the laptops suffered from unreliable battery performance.
The culprits? A hidden Safari setting and “an obscure and intermittent” bug.
It will be many months before developers see Apple’s first iOS 9 beta, but the Cupertino company has already begun testing the update internally ahead of this fall’s release. The software has starting appearing in analytics data for a number of sites in recent months, including our own.
With Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone set to make its debut this year, there’s no doubt the company has a number of prototype devices — all with different designs and specifications — in testing within its Cupertino headquarters. One of those handsets is said to feature a 3.95-inch widescreen display with a 640 x 1136 resolution that’s taller than all the existing 3.5-inch iPhone displays we’ve seen to date.
With every new iPhone, we know to expect a faster processor and faster GPU. However, a weird report coming out of Germany says that Apple isn’t just testing new CPUs and GPUs for the next generation of iPhone… they are also testing some truly bizarro resolutions that could indicate that Apple will radically redesign the iPhone in 2012 to be even higher resolution and with an entirely new aspect ratio.
Hackers have been hard at work attempting to port Apple’s new Siri assistant to older devices, but according to one report, their efforts may be wasted, because Apple is doing the same thing. The Cupertino company has reportedly issued a “special build” of iOS 5 to its staff, which introduces Siri to the iPhone 4 for testing.
A number of major carriers all over the globe have begun receiving a near-final build of Apple’s upcoming iOS 5 software for testing, according to one report. The software is said to be a newer than the beta recently seeded to developers, and includes a number of features that we’re still yet to see in previous betas, including that much-rumored speech-to-text technology.
Since launching the CDMA iPhone for Verizon back in February, Apple has been producing two models of the iPhone 4: one for AT&T, and one for Verizon. A dual-mode iPhone 5 with support for both CDMA and GSM networks seems like a no-brainer next time around, then, and according to at least one iOS app developer, the device is all but confirmed by logs that show a dual-mode device in testing.
As the launch of Apple’s iPhone 5 looms closer, components for the device have been cropping up all over the place. The latest provides an indication that the device is close to launch, with a prototype batter labeled ‘DVT_B3’.
It’s increasingly beginning to look like that rumor claiming the iPhone 5 won’t launch until October was incorrect. Not only has Apple reportedly sent the fifth-generation device for carrier testing — a step taken only weeks before a scheduled launch — but according to DigiTimes, the company has ordered 10 million iPhone 5 units expected to begin shipping in September.
A rather sketchily sourced report says that the iPhone 5 is now in the hands of AT&T’s Mobility division, which is responsible for third-party testing of smartphones before they officially debut. We’re pretty skeptical, but if it’s true, it could mean that the next iPhone could be announced by the end of the month.
The iPad 2 has beaten off competition to earn the top tablet rating in a recent Consumer Reports test. Devices tested along with the iPad 2 included tablets from Archos, Dell, Motorola, Samsung and ViewSonic. In a press release issued on Tuesday, electronics editor Paul Reynolds said that Apple’s device is ahead of its competitors on both quality and price:
So far, Apple is leading the tablet market in both quality and price, which is unusual for a company whose products are usually premium priced.
Each tablet was evaluated in 17 criteria, which included touch screen responsiveness, versatility, portability, screen flare, and ease of use. The iPad 2 topped the ratings, scoring ‘excellent’ in nearly every category.
Apple’s chief competition for the time being is the Motorola Xoom – which boasts the same 10-inch screen as the iPad but adds a built-in memory card reader and support for Adobe Flash. However, the Xoom’s $800 price tag doesn’t do it any favors.
The biggest difference between the 10 tablets tested was battery life. Obviously the iPad 2 came top with an impressive 12.2 hours of use, while the Archos 70 Internet Tablet could only manage an embarrassing 3.8 hours.
The first generation iPad was also part of the test, beating many of the other tablets but drawing equal with the Xoom.
So, it’s official – right now the iPad 2 is the best tablet available. But you already knew that.
