Scared off by the price tag on those AirPods you’ve been wanting? Just wait for…another year or two.
Apple is reportedly working on a couple of new AirPods products, according to respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo tweeted late Wednesday night that a new $99 model as well as an updated version of the luxury, over-ear AirPods Max are coming. The catch? Don’t expect either to ship until the second half of 2024 at the earliest.
After refusing to add touchscreens to its Mac computers for years, Apple is finally ready to change course.
This is according to a new report by Bloomberg, whose Mark Gurman claims that Apple has engineers “actively engaged” in this project and that the company is “seriously considering” producing touchscreen Macs for the first time
The Apple Watch Series 8 is the best smartwatch you can buy right now. It is feature-rich, user-friendly, gorgeous, and extremely reliable.
However, that recommendation comes with caveats — and the biggest one is that you need to own an iPhone to use the Apple Watch. That means that if you’re using an Android smartphone, the Apple Watch simply isn’t an option. But don’t worry, there are plenty of great alternatives. Digital Trends has reviewed more than 100 smartwatches, fitness trackers, and wearables, so we have all the deep insight you need to find your ideal smartwatch.
The European Union isn’t having any of Apple’s exclusionary business practices.
First, Apple was forced to make iPhones USB-C compatible by 2024, and now the company must allow third-party app stores on its iPhones and iPads. Per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is complying with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, a series of strict rules aimed at breaking down anti-competitive practices from Big Tech and improving interoperability for consumers.
Amazon became the latest technology giant that’s likely to conduct large-scale layoffs, according to the New York Times. On Monday, the outlet reported that the company planned to lay off some 10,000 people, citing “people with knowledge of the matter.”
It’s the latest post-pandemic labor rout in the tech industry. Earlier this month, Twitter laid off roughly 3,000 employees. Meta laid off over 11,000 people last week. Google, Apple, and Disney have announced plans to cut costs or slow down hiring.
AT LONG LAST, Apple says the iPhone will be getting USB-C ports. Earlier this month, the European Union passed legislation that requires all phones and tablets sold in the EU to use USB-C charging ports by 2024. It’s a move that has huge ramifications for a company like Apple, which sells iPhones with the same physical design in every region of the world. And all of those iPhones currently use Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector to charge and to connect accessories.
This week, Apple finally acknowledged that it will bring USB-C ports to the iPhone. Apple senior vice president of world marketing Greg Joswiak confirmed to Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern that USB-C ports are coming.
While some new versions of existing devices really just offer a few new features, Apple states that the just-announced 10th-Gen version of the iPad has been completely redesigned. The company has also unveiled a “supercharged” 6th-Gen iPad Pro.
First (and maybe foremost?), the new iPad features a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display that extends right to edges of the device. This setup provides more screen area on an iPad which is “nearly the same size as the previous generation.” The display boasts 2360 x 1640-pixel resolution, 500 nits of brightness, and True Tone technology – the latter automatically adjusts the picture’s white point based on ambient light color and brightness.
Another notable new feature is the inclusion of Apple’s A14 Bionic chip, which is claimed to deliver a 20% increase in CPU performance and 10% improvement in graphics performance. According to Apple, the chip also makes the new iPad up to five times faster than the best-selling Android tablet. The A14 Bionic’s 16-core Neural Engine is additionally claimed to boost machine learning capabilities by up to 80%.
In the past two months, Apple, Google and Samsung have all unveiled their newest smartphones and other devices with the goal of getting consumers to upgrade ahead of the holidays. But in the process, these and other companies may also be adding to a growing problem: electronic waste.
The limited lifespan of many tech gadgets combined with few options to fix older devices, have caused the issue of e-waste to surge over the years. United Nation’s data indicates the world generated a staggering 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste in 2019, and only 17.4% of that was recycled.
Friday marks International E-Waste Day, an annual opportunity to reflect on the impacts of electronic waste and do more to repair or recycle them. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEE) Forum, a Brussels-based nonprofit that has spearheaded the occasion since 2018, said the focus this year is on taking action with the small bits of e-waste many people may unintentionally hoard, including your old cell phone, headphones, remote controls and computer mouse.
Posted in Tools and Information
Tagged Apple, e-waste, Google, old gadgets, old phones, Samsung
AS I WAS getting a haircut last week, my hairdresser asked if I’d seen the new iPhone. She didn’t know my occupation but saw my Apple Watch and, as is obligatory in that line of work, was making small talk. “Does it look any different?” was the main query. I reached into my back pocket and with a flourish handed her the iPhone 14. A surprised smile quickly gave way to disappointment. “It’s exactly the same as my iPhone 11,” she said.
This is the problem for Apple. The few elements the public might recognize as new have gone to the iPhone 14 Pro models, such as the Always-On display and Dynamic Island. The Pros also have new 48-megapixel sensors for the primary rear camera, something Apple hasn’t fiddled with since 2015. This means the phones capture more detail so you can print your pics large, for example, and it allows for more editing options. But be honest—how many people do you know who print poster-sized photos or delve into RAW settings on their handset?
Facebook and Instagram are using a sneaky loophole to collect Apple iPhone users’ data, according to two new class action lawsuits filed against the social network’s parent company, Meta.
According to the lawsuits, Meta has been injecting javascript tracking code into websites that users visit via the in-app browsers in Facebook and Instagram for iOS, but without user permission.
Dispatches From The Front 