Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones News - Page 1

Apple is set to hold an event on May 7, and while it will be streamed rather than an in-person event like the pre-COVID days, don't let that make you think that there won't be any big announcements. Apple is yet to confirm what those announcements will be, but the rumor mill has been in overdrive for weeks now and we have a pretty solid idea of what we can expect CEO Tim Cook and his band of merry executives to announce in its streamed video.

There have been rumors of new iPad announcements for months now, and with Apple having skipped the entire 2023 year in terms of refreshing its tablets, 2024 is set to bring plenty of updated models. The iPad Pro and iPad Air will be the star of the show come Tuesday's event, and there's plenty to get excited about.

If everything goes as expected, Apple will announce an update to its high-powered iPad Pro lineup. Both the 11- and 12.9-inch tablets are expected to be updated including new OLED displays for the first time. The same 120Hz ProMotion variable refresh rate is expected, but improved contrast and colors, not to mention a higher brightness ceiling, should make this the best iPad display ever.

If you're an iPhone owner who has been keeping up with the iOS 18 rumors you'll already know that there are some new features coming later this year. The iOS 18 software update is expected to bring plenty of AI smarts to the iPhone, and a new leak has detailed some of the beneficiaries of those improvements.

According to AppleInsider Apple intends to bring its AI capabilities to bear on a few different aspects of the iPhone, with both Siri and Spotlight likely to be upgraded.

The report details a new text summarization feature that will come to Siri as well as the Safari web browser. Apple is reportedly testing AI-powered enhancements that will allow people to get summaries of the webpage they're looking at, while Siri will be able to do something similar within the Messages app. Sources told the website that Apple's AI will be able to analyze message contents and then use its on-device large language model to generate a response.

Apple is getting ready to announce a ton of new devices and accessories at an event on May 7, meaning we're just days away from some new Apple gear. But while there are plenty of new things for us to look forward to, there are some things that definitely won't be announced. Instead, they'll come later in the year, and there's plenty to get excited about.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has outlined a number of new product updates that are expected to arrive in 2024 including the much-rumored AI features that have been in the works for a while now. And if the upcoming OLED iPad Pro and new iPad Air lineup aren't for you, there's sure to be something in this list that gets you interested.

At the top of Gurman's list is a new, refreshed iPad that will sell for a lower price point than the current 10th-gen model. That retails for $449 which is a lot more than the $329 that the previous generation sold for. With that in mind, it's thought Apple will aim to make the new model cheaper, although it won't arrive until much later this year.

You don't need to be following along with the Apple rumor mill too closely to be aware that Apple is very likely to announce not one, but four new iPhones this year. If it all goes the way we're used to, the new handsets will all be announced this coming September, and they'll include the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, and a new leak has shown off an unexpected tweak.

We've been hearing and seeing various leaks relating to these new iPhones in recent months but we've yet to see anything to do with the iPhone's MagSafe wireless charging solution. The iPhones will of course support MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging, but new molds appear to show that they will feature a revised version of MagSafe that's slightly smaller.

The molds, shown off by French website ShopSystem, appear to show that the ring of magnets in the center of the iPhones' rear panel will be smaller than in previous years. A comparison shows the iPhone 16 Pro alongside the iPhone 15 Pro and while the difference isn't a huge one, it's definitely there.

When Apple releases the iPhone 16 family of devices later this year there could be a new OLED display driver inside, according to a new report. While Apple has yet to confirm the news, it's thought that Novatek has picked up a new order for drivers ahead of the iPhone 16 manufacturing run.

The news, which comes via a paywalled DigiTimes report that was spotted by 9to5Mac, notes that a big increase in Novatek's orders of OLED Display Driver ICs (DDI) has been observed, with Apple being the customer in question.

Novatek is no stranger to Apple's supply chain so this move isn't a particularly surprising one, but it's another indication that Apple is readying the supply chain for its next generation of iPhones. It might also suggest that Apple is keen to diversify production, ensuring that there is less chance for a bottleneck further down the line.

Apple is holding a streamed event on July 7 and it's looking increasingly likely that the company will finally unveil the fabled OLED iPad Pro. We've been hearing rumors about this table for months, and the expected release date for it has continually been pushed back amid concerns about delays. Now, a new report has sought to add some context as to why those delays might have cropped up.

According to a paywalled DigiTimes report, picked up by 9to5Mac, Apple's requirement for a new type of OLED display has continually caused issues for suppliers. The report notes that the new iPad's OLED panels use a hybrid substrate that combines the glass substrate with polyimide materials. It's thought that this combines the advantages of both flexible plastic substrates and rigid glass substrates, all the while eliminating the issues associated with both. Essentially, buyers get the best of both worlds.

Apple is also set to use two-stack tandem technology for these displays, a first for the company. DigiTimes explains that this means that two OLED layers are stacked, as the name suggests, playing a high refractive index charge generation layer (CGL) in between them to connect the two organic light-emitting layers. The upshot? Making these displays is harder than making the other OLED displays Apple has used in the past.

Apple's getting ready to announce iOS 18 to the public in a few weeks, but before that, there's another beta program that needs to come to an end. That beta is for iOS 17.5, and the latest beta release has given us a hint at a new feature that will make it easier for people to send their iPhone to Apple when it needs to be repaired.

Currently, having Apple repair an iPhone requires that people disable the Find My feature for a couple of reasons. One is the fact that it ensures the iPhone is actually owned by the person who is trying to get it worked on. Two, it means that if Apple needs to swap the iPhone out for a new one, Find My is already disabled which means that the process of doing that is relatively simple. But now Apple is reportedly getting ready to make a new change that will remove the need to turn Find My off for good.

That news comes after 9to5Mac reported on evidence found in the iOS 17.5 beta that includes mention of a Repair State mode, with some beta testers already able to enable it. The new mode appears to be one that allows people to enable the feature which allows Apple to do what it needs to do without having the Find My feature disabled entirely.

Spatial video is a pretty cool feature and it's one that iPhone and Apple Vision Pro owners have been enjoying for a little while now. The feature takes videos that have been recorded using stereoscopic cameras to create a 3D effect, and while iPhones can't use that extra information to create a 3D video, the Apple Vision Pro of course can. But you need to capture that content using the headset itself or an iPhone 15 Pro series device. The situation was the same with the Meta Quest headset, too. But things have changed somewhat.

Those things changed thanks to a Meta press release that both sounds amazing and makes little sense at the same time. That press release argues that a new Meta Quest v65 software update brings with it a number of new features, not least the ability to view spatial videos captured via other cameras, not just the iPhone 15 Pro.

The press release says that users can upload videos using the Meta Quest mobile app, enabling them to view content "like never before." The press release then goes on to reiterate the fact that this applies to any iPhone, noting that while playback originally required that content be captured via an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, that's no longer the case. In fact, any iPhone that has iOS 17 or later installed can provide spatial videos for use on the Meta Quest headset.

If you're a user of the Safari web browser from Apple and use Google when searching for websites and other information, you aren't alone. Google is the default option, although it can be changed, so it stands to reason that it's probably the search engine that many users are already making use of without even thinking about it. And that, it seems, is something that's worth a cool $20 billion.

That's how much Google paid Apple in 2022 in order to make sure that it remained the default web browser in Safari. The news came out as part of the release of antitrust court documentation that both Google and Apple had sought to keep out of the public eye. Instead, Bloomberg reports, the figures were made available as part of the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google. It's alleged that Google holds a monopolistic position in the world of online search and advertising, although Google argues otherwise.

This trial began last fall with Apple execs confirming that Google paid it billions of dollars to remain the default option. However, nobody confirmed just how many billions were involved - although Google did say that it paid Apple 36% of the revenue it earns from search ads. That should perhaps have given us an indication of the kinds of figures that were changing hands.

Apple has confirmed that it intends to hold a streamed, online-only event on May 7 and there have been plenty of rumors about what that event will involve. We've been hearing for months now that Apple intends to announce a slew of new iPads, and that seems most likely. But a new report suggests that there could be something of a tease for what comes next, too.

That report, coming out of The Washington Post, suggests that Apple CEO Tim Cook will offer a hint at new AI features that will be announced later this year. More specifically, they're expected to debut at WWDC on June 10, with the company thought to have some big changes in store for iPhone owners. Those changes look set to be AI-based, although it's still unclear exactly what those new features will be.

The report doesn't suggest that Cook will go into details, simply saying that he will hint at new artificial intelligence features. Apple's iOS 18 and macOS 15 software updates are thought to be the biggest of the bunch this year, both benefiting from Apple's new focus on AI technologies. The company is thought to be in talks with both OpenAI and Google about using their generative AI technologies, but Apple is thought to have its own in-house solution available for some features, too. With the software set to be announced in June, Apple isn't expected to make any of the new updates available to the public until the fall.