TrueDepth Camera

Replacing iPhone notch with hole-punch camera makes no damn sense

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Replacing iPhone notch with holepunch camera makes no damn sense
This isn’t an improvement.
Artists concept: Cult of Mac

Apple might get rid of the screen notch in the 2022 iPhone. But before you start celebrating, there’ll be a hole-punch camera in its place, according a trusted analyst. If true, this will be one step forward and two steps back.

The notch is a superior solution to a hole in the middle of the display. Here’s why.

iPhone should steal these hands-free gestures from LG

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LG G8ThinQ
The LG G8ThinQ totally “borrowed” its look from the iPhone. The iPhone should borrow its gesture control system.
Photo: LG

The just-announced LG G8 ThinQ packs a forward-facing sensor that allows users to control some of the phone’s functions with hand gestures, with no need to touch the screen.

The sensors used by the iPhone for Face ID should be able to duplicate this functionality. And that, in turn could simplify use of the device.

How to make a great Memoji

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Memoji are awesome. Here's how to make your own.
Memoji are awesome. Here's how to make your own.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 12 lets you create Memoji, your own custom Animoji. What’s an Animoji? It’s a little animated character that — thanks to some facial recognition tricks from the latest iPhones’ TrueDepth cameras — copies your expressions live. This turns the cute Animoji critters into little virtual face puppets.

Now you don’t need to rely on a stock Animoji like Apple’s monkey, dog or space alien. You can create your own custom Memoji from scratch. You can make a virtual version of yourself, or you can create an original character. Or, as we’ll do today, you can copy a celebrity. Who? Let’s see …

Don’t be fooled: iPhone XS is not a boring ‘S’ upgrade [Review]

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iPhone XS and XS Max
There are over 1.4 billion active Apple devices in the world.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

If you ever watched schlocky ’70s sci-fi show The Six Million Dollar Man, you probably remember the opening sequence, during which a faceless narrator describes building a man who is “better than he was before. Better … stronger … faster.”

With the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, Apple’s engineers achieved just that type of incredible transformation. They fabricated phones that look “normal,” like last year’s iPhone X. But, just like the shadowy geniuses who built the bionic man, Apple indeed made the iPhone X better, stronger and faster — thanks in large part to the A12 Bionic chip that powers the new phones’ most advanced functions. (Other hardware and software upgrades help, too.)

Just like Col. Steve Austin, the ace astronaut who got $6 million worth of bionic implants after a devastating crash, the iPhone X received massive internal upgrades to morph into the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. While it looks like the same old (excellent) device, it’s actually far more fantastic and futuristic.

It’s a total bionic blast!

eBay’s new tech controls your iPhone with head movements

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HeadGaze uses the iPhone X 3D camera to move an on-screen cursor with subtle head motions.
HeadGaze uses the iPhone X's 3D camera to move an on-screen cursor with subtle head motions.
Photo: eBay

The TrueDepth camera on the iPhone X is what makes FaceID and Animoji possible. But a brilliant intern at eBay used to tech to create head-tracking software that can be used to control the iPhone.

HeadGaze has just been made open source, so any developer can build it into their own software.

Crazy GIF shows how iPhone X may pave the way for Apple Glasses

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smart glasses
Will smart glasses replace iPhone as our main communication device?
Photo: uMake

The iPhone X’s ugly notch could pave the way for Apple to dominate the smart glasses market.

Augmented reality glasses are poised to become the hottest tech gadget of the next decade and Apple’s already laying the foundation with the iPhone X. It may not seem like the two will be directly related, but this clever concept shows how the key lays in the TrueDepth camera hidden in the notch.

Check it out:

iPhone’s controversial notch could shrink in 2018

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Apple Watch
You’ll want this year’s iPhone for its cameras.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone’s controversial “notch” will get smaller this year, according to one group of investors.

Apple is expected to integrate Face ID into all three handsets it has planned for 2018. A smaller TrueDepth sensor means the cutout at the top of the iPhone’s display won’t need to be quite so big.

Cult of Mac Magazine: Your iPhone tracks your every move, and more!

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cover
For some folks, the significant locations data could be a fun way to see what they were up to in the past. For others, it could even prove useful, helping to remember client visits or track down that amazing restaurant you visited a few times while on vacation.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Your iPhone knows where you are, and it remembers where you have been. It keeps a record of your frequent hangouts — aka “significant locations” — and uses this data to make location-based suggestions using Siri and to power other features. Don’t panic, though. We’ll show you how to access your recent locations data, remove it, and switch it off altogether.

In this week’s issue, you’ll find that story and more. Learn how iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera could soon make capturing Hollywood-quality motion capture as easy as snapping a selfie. Discover how to quickly zoom text on iPhone and iPad. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

iPhone X makes stunning motion capture dirt-cheap

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Face ID iPhone X
Face ID can be used for more than just unlocking your iPhone X.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera system could soon make capturing Hollywood-quality motion capture as easy as snapping a selfie.

In a demo showing you don’t need millions of dollars in studio equipment, Big Screen VR founder Darshan Shankar tweeted a demo of some motion capture work that is being done using nothing more than an iPhone X and commodity body trackers.

Check it out:

Apple makes big investment in TrueDepth sensor maker

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TrueDepth Finisar
TrueDepth sensors in production at Finisar.
Photo: Apple

Apple has invested a substantial sum of cash in TrueDepth sensor maker Finisar.

The $390 million fund will allow for increased research and development spending, and high-volume production of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). It will also allow Finisar to open a new production facility in Texas, creating more than 500 jobs.

Clips gets iPhone X-powered update with 360-degree selfies

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Clips
Clips 2.0 is available now.
Photo: Apple

Apple is coming out with a big update to its video-making app Clips today that will be sure to delight users if you’re lucky enough to have an iPhone X.

Clips 2.0 is launching with an all-new feature called “Selfie Scenes” that takes advantage of the iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera to create augmented-reality scenes and stages behind the user.

iPhone X review: Apple’s finest smartphone ever

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iPhone X
Don't worry about burn-in on your iPhone X.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Smartphones are changing, and every manufacturer possesses its own take on what the future should look like. Apple’s vision is the iPhone X, which arrives 10 years after the original with big changes and an even bigger price tag.

For iPhone X, Apple did away with aluminum unibodies, chunky bezels, Touch ID and the beloved Home button. In their place, iPhone X sports polished stainless steel and smooth glass, an edge-to-edge Super Retina HD display, and Face ID.

The result proves stunning. Apple just made the iPhone exciting again. But is iPhone X worth $999?

With iPhone X, Apple reinvents the camera. Again.

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iPhone camera
Sure you can take pictures with it. But the iPhone X shows the future of the camera will have little to do with the photographic image.
Photo: Apple

Each generation of iPhone has brought with it a camera more amazing than the last. As users ogled over higher resolution, bigger sensors and new computational features, few saw the device’s evolution as more than just the making of a better camera.

But the iPhone X gives the camera a new job description — it’s not just a photography specialist anymore. How iPhone cameras function in the future will have little to do with the photographic image. And the iPhone X previews the innovations to come.

2018 iPhones won’t get rear-facing TrueDepth camera

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Face ID
These are the sensors that power Face ID.
Photo: Apple

The 2018 iPhone won’t come with a rear-facing TrueDepth camera, according to one of the most accurate Apple analysts in the business.

KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo sent investors a note today that the array of sensors that power Face ID and animoji will stay at the front of iPhones, for now.

Apple, Foxconn execs to discuss iPhone X production woes

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iPhone X on its box
iPhone X finally hits Apple's refurbished section.
Photo: Apple

Apple and Foxconn executives will meet later this month to discuss ongoing iPhone X production woes, according to a new report.

Apple operating chief Jeff Williams is planning to sit down with Foxconn chairman Terry Gou, sources say. It’s likely the subject of that meeting will be to solve manufacturing issues that are causing severe iPhone X supply constraints.

Apple explains how it tried to prevent Face ID from being racist

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FaceID
The iPhone X's FaceID feature looks impressive.
Photo: Apple

Apple says it has done extensive testing to ensure that Face ID treats everyone equally when the feature launches next month with the iPhone X.

Face ID has attracted a slew of security questions from the public wondering how Apple plans to keep biometric data private. U.S. Sen. Al Franken also asked what Apple is doing to protect against racial, gender or age bias in Face ID.

Apple finally responded to the senator’s question, providing a deeper look into the testing process.

iPhone X’s biggest feature may come to iPad Pro in 2018

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iPhone cameras
The True Depth Camera keeps an eye on you.
Photo: Apple

Apple will include Face ID and the TrueDepth Camera in 2018 iPad Pro models, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors Monday morning.

Kuo, who has a highly respectable track record on Apple predictions, also said the technology that is part of the soon-to-be-released iPhone X, will be standard issue in future iPhones.

‘Romeo and Juliet’ to blame for iPhone X’s latest production woes

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Juliet
Romeo and Juliet sensor components are to blame.
Photo: 20th Century Fox

The TrueDepth facial recognition 3D sensor is reportedly the latest manufacturing bottleneck when it comes to the iPhone X, and is causing Apple’s suppliers to turn out just “tens of thousands” of finished handsets per day — against possible preorders of 40-50 million.

A new report sheds a bit more light on the exact problem being faced by Apple’s suppliers. Apparently, it relates to a pair of components dubbed Romeo and Juliet, which make up the sensor in question.