PATREONItems tagged with iPhone
When Apple first introduced Face ID with the iPhone X back in 2017, it tossed Touch ID fingerprint recognition into the trash bin for its flagship smartphones. All you had to do was simply lift your iPhone and look at it and would unlock. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made things a lot harder for those with a Face ID-equipped iPhone. Because most of us are now wearing a mask when we go out, unlocking your device, authenticating purchases, and opening banking apps means that you must dip your mask down so that the Face ID hardware can fully scan your face (or enter your passcode to unlock the device). That kind of defeats the purpose of wearing a mask and is more than annoying if you must...
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We are just a few months removed for the launch Of Apple's iPhone 12 lineup of smartphones, but the rumor mill is already cranking into high gear about their upcoming successors. The iPhone 12 family brought the introduction of 5G technology for Apple's flagship smartphones, and brought a smaller form-factor with the iPhone 12 mini. A new report, however, suggest that the next-generation iPhone 13 Pro family will include a feature that was previously rumored for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max: a 120Hz display panel. 120Hz panels are commonplace in today's Android flagships, while we've also seen 90Hz options in mid-range Android smartphones. Apple, for its part, has stuck with 60Hz panels...
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In May of this year, Apple patched a silent but deadly exploit that went after iPhones using specially crafted wireless payloads. This exploit is a simple memory corruption attack that allows any malicious person to do whatever they want to an iPhone: be it collecting data such as images and messages, or shutting down the device entirely. First unveiled on Tuesday, the exploit is spectacular to watch and learn about over the course of the 30,000-word writeup. This exploit was discovered by Ian Beer of Google’s Project Zero earlier this year. As he was locked away at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he used his time to create a “wormable radio-proximity exploit” which lets...
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It's time for Apple to face the music [again] when it comes to “throttlegate”, which came to a head nearly three years ago after it was determined that the company was throttling the performance of iPhones that had chemically aged past a certain threshold (usually around 80 percent or below original capacity). Once Apple was caught red-handed, it apologized, issued the iOS 10.2.1 update with Battery Health functionality, and started offering battery replacements on its iPhones for a low $29. Unfortunately for Apple, that wasn't the end of the matter. Over the summer a number of states -- spearheaded by Arizona -- decided to action against Apple for anti-consumer practices...
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It does not appear as though Epic Games and Apple are close to kissing and making up, which means Fortnite remains a no-show in the App Store. However, that does not necessarily mean there is no way to play it on an iPhone or iPad device. Fortnite could be making a semi-triumphant return to iOS devices, and without Epic Games conceding its dispute with Apple. And NVIDIA would be the one to thank. Say what, now? NVIDIA does not have a dog in this fight, but it does have a cloud gaming service. I am of course talking about GeForce NOW. The streaming service has been expanding its catalog of games, and also extending its reach, having added support for Chrome OS devices (Chromebooks, mostly) this...
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Yesterday, Apple reported a record-breaking quarter, where it earned $64.7 billion in revenue thanks to strong Mac sales, better than expected iPad sales, and its booming Services division. However, one area that saw a significant decline was its iPhone business. Apple recorded $11.1 billion in sales in the China region during Q3 2019, but that number fell 28.9 percent to $7.9 billion. During the company’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook talked about the poor showing in China. "Back in April, I said we were in the most challenging environment in which Apple, as a company has ever operated," said Cook. "China is the region that was most heavily impacted by the absence of the new iPhones...
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Smartphones have never been all that easy to repair, but that hasn't stopped owners from fixing (or attempting to fix) broken screens, dead charging ports, speakers that don't make sound, and a host of other issues. There's nothing quite like the feeling of using a heat gun to melt some adhesive underneath a screen and then using a suction cup to pick up the front of a thousand-dollar smartphone to replace a broken part. Thankfully, we have guides on the internet, and very few are more helpful than the ones from the folks at iFixIt. They're at it again, too, as they've published a teardown guide for Apple's newly-released iPhone 12 and 12 Pro. Interestingly, the two iPhones, released just...
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Yesterday, we brought you news of the new 3DMark WildLife graphics benchmark, which is the latest cross-platform test from the folks at UL Benchmarks. UL explains that WildLife is primarily tasked with measuring GPU performance across platforms, and two distinct tests are available. The standard WildLife test is designed to give feedback on how a game performs over a short period of time. With mobile games, people typically play in brief spurts when they find some free time; be it on the bus, on the subway, or a quick battle royale session on your lunch break, but not always. The 3DMark WildLife Stress Test, on the other hand, shows how a device performs over a longer stretch...
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On this episode of HotHardware's Two And A Half Geeks podcast, we'll be talking up AMD's recently announced Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000 series processors, Google's new Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 Android smartphones, the latest 5G Apple iPhones, a vintage eMachines system reborn with Ryzen and Radeon firepower and details of our EK Fluid Gaming PC giveaway, which is winding down... Show Notes: 05:08 - Apple Unveils 5.4-Inch iPhone 12 mini Starting At $699, iPhone 12 Pro Rocks LIDAR And Dolby Vision HDR Video Capture 14:09 - Google Pixel 4a 5G Review: Big Screen, Great Camera And Value 23:12 - Rage Against The eMachine: A Ryzen And Radeon Retro Revival 29:46 - AMD Unveils Ryzen 5000 Series With Up...
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Friendly reminder that if you were planning to participate in a proposed $500 million settlement with Apple over reduced iPhone performance, you now have less than a week to do it. The deadline to submit a claim (or multiple claims, depending on your situation) is next Tuesday, October 6. Any claims received after that date will not be eligible for any benefits under this particular settlement. The settlement stems from what has been unofficially referred to as "throttlegate," in reference to the discovery that Apple was slowing down the processor on some iPhone handsets with older batteries. If taking Apple at its word, this was intended to "deliver the best experience for customers." Here is...
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It’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the launch of the 14th iteration of iOS, and users are just now gaining the ability to set third-party apps to launch by default (for certain actions). Android has had this feature since its inception, but we digress. Apple first announced this change at its virtual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) earlier this year. The first app to take advantage of this new feature right now in the iOS 14 beta (and by extension, the iPadOS 14 beta) is Google Chrome. The change came with the most recent version of Google Chrome which landed in the App Store yesterday, version 85.0.4183.109. Now, when you click a link in...
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"Epic" might be the best word to describe what's sure to be a prolonged, dramatic court battle between gaming heavyweight Epic Games and iOS App Store walled garden builder Apple. By now you're familiar with the somewhat sneaky direct payment method Epic hid from Apple inside the iOS version of Fortnite during the review process. Following Apple's subsequent removal of Fortnite from the app store and ultimately a termination of Epic's developer contract, the developer has struck back. Epic has asked the U.S. District Court of Northern to step in and force Apple to roll back what the Unreal creator calls "Apple's retaliation" to prop up its iOS App Store monopoly. The developer's filing states...
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It looks as though Adobe is in hot water over its latest Lightroom update for iOS and iPadOS. Adobe has widely embraced Apple's mobile platforms, especially with regards to iPadOS given that many people like to use the incredibly powerful iPad Pro to manage and edit photos on-the-go. The latest Lightroom 5.4 update, however, featured a destructive bug that has caused some customers to lose not only their app presets, but also their photos. Mohamad Alif Eqnur wrote on the Lightroom Mobile support community about his issues, stating, "After I updated the apps on Apps Store, all of my pictures and presets gone. I really need this to be fix as soon as possible. Please help me as I really...
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Epic Games be “taking one for the team” by standing up to Apple’s App Store policies, which it has deemed anticompetitive. Epic says that it isn’t seeking money in its lawsuits against Apple (and to a lesser extent, Google), but it is instead seeking a new fee structure for app developers that doesn’t result in a 30 percent cut for Apple. Epic’s revolt against Apple has resulted in Fortnite being removed from the App Store, but there’s still a way for you to reinstall the game… with one big caveat attached. First of all, it should be noted that when Apple kicks an app or game out of the App Store, it’s not actually...
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While many developers have complained that Apple takes too big of a chunk out of the profits for apps they sell on the App Store and on in-game purchases, few attempt to do anything about it. Epic Games, the developer behind the popular free-to-play shooter Fortnite, is taking on Apple and Google in court. Fortnite was recently booted from both the Apple App Store and Google Play for blocking both from their cut of the profits from in-game purchases. While Android smartphone users can install the game directly from Epic, iPhone users (who have never previously downloaded the game) are unable to obtain it at all without paying insane prices on eBay for used devices. Some iPhone users are trying...
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Sales of Apple's popular iPhone handsets could potentially fall off a cliff in the near future, plummeting by as much as 30 percent if US President Trump's executive order banning WeChat stands, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated in a research note. While maybe not disastrous, such a precipitous drop in iPhone sales would certainly hit Apple hard. Trump signed the executive order last week, noting that WeChat has over 1 billion users and is owned by Tencent, a Chinese company. "Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information. In addition,...
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Apple has reported its fiscal Q3 2020 earnings, and the company was able to successfully weather the coronavirus/COVID-19 storm to the tune of $59.7 billion in revenue for the quarter (thanks in part to robust sales of the new iPhone SE). Remarkably, this was an 11 percent increase in revenue for the company compared to Q3 2019, with 60 percent of that money coming from international sales. Quarterly profit rang in at $11.25 billion for the quarter, or $2.58 per diluted share. Gross margins also increased compared to the same period last year, coming in at 38 percent versus 37.6 percent. Other items of note for the quarter include an upcoming quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, which will...
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A pair of new rumors going around suggest Apple may delay the launch of its new 5G iPhone models and new iPads. Apple typically launches its new devices in September, but it's quite possible that the iPhone and iPad models will be delayed until October. The first indication of a delayed launch comes from Qualcomm's Q3 earnings report noting the company will see a "partial impact from the delay of a global 5G flagship phone launch" impacting its Q4 projections (covering July, August, and September). While Qualcomm certainly doesn't say the delayed launch is the 5G iPhone family, it's pretty well implied. The new iPhone models are the only devices expected to launch in that time frame that could...
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Over the years, Apple has found itself in hot water over some of its business practices. One of the most significant problems Apple in recent memory was the so-called "throttlegate" or "batterygate" in 2017. Apple was caught slowing down the processor of iPhones with older batteries, leading many users to replace a device, thinking it was defective rather than replacing the cheaper battery. Apple agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit initially filed in 2017 on behalf of owners of impacted iPhone devices earlier this year, and affected users can now file for their share. The class-action lawsuit accused Apple of secretly throttling older iPhone models. Eligible iPhone owners are beginning to...
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Roughly two weeks ago, Apple gave us our first look at iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, which are the latest versions of the company's mobile operating systems. After iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 were announced, Apple immediately made beta 1 versions available to developers. On Tuesday, the company followed up with beta 2 for developers. When it initially announced iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, Apple said that the first public beta would be available in July, and true to its word, that time has come. Devices Eligible For The iOS 14/iPadOS 14 Public Beta These are the current devices that are eligible for the public beta (and the final release this fall). iOS 14 iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max iPhone XS iPhone...
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Apple is always out to save some money with its products and increase accessory sales on the backend. In the past, Apple has pushed accessory sales with iPhone models when it did things like move away from the 3.5 mm headphone jack to Lightning port for connecting headphones (which prompted the meteoric rise fo AirPods). According to notable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple won't even include a wall charger in the box with the iPhone 12 models. The new 20W power adapter, which is the charger that plugs into the wall and features a USB-C port, will be sold separately according to Kuo. While many iPhone users will be moving to the iPhone 12 from previous generations of Apple devices and will have chargers...
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TikTok has taken the world by storm as people of all ages uses the social networking platform to share videos. People use the platform to lip-sync to their favorite songs, perform short skits, or any number of humorous hijinks that the platform has been recognized for over the past year. It’s become a blockbuster app that is especially popular with the young adults. However, users have raised privacy concerns about the app ever since it launched in the United States, with many questioning whether the Chinese government was somehow using the app to spy on Americans. Today, TikTok isn’t doing itself any favors in assuaging those fears after it was found that the app has been accessing...
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