Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones News - Page 7

When Apple announced the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro in September the new phones were also confirmed to have support for the Qi2 wireless charging standard. Based on MagSafe, the standard is open to all who want to implement it which means that wireless charger makers no longer have to pay to license Apple's MagSafe technology. The benefit here is that there are more options while also making the chargers cheaper for people to buy. At the time, Apple confirmed that support for Qi2 would also be brought to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 via software updates.

However, Apple now appears to have also added Qi2 wireless charging to the iPhone 12 series of devices for the first time, and it did it via the iOS 17.4 software update that was released to the public earlier this month. Apple didn't make any mention of the new functionality in the software's release notes and it hasn't said anything since the release, either. But according to testing carried out by Macworld, Qi2 support is now very much alive and well on their iPhone 12 after installing the iOS 17.4 update.

Previously, using the non-MagSafe wireless chargers with the iPhone 12 meant a charging speed of just 7.5W, but as Macworld found out when trying to charge using a Qi2-compatible charger, the full 15W charging speed was available. In fact, there were instances where the third-party Qi2 chargers were performing better than the official Apple MagSafe Wireless Charger.

Google has rolled out a new landing page for Google Messages that provides a bunch of information regarding the benefits of its service and, particularly, the Rich Communication Services (RCS) communication protocol.

Apple announced in November 2023 that it was going to be adopting RCS sometime "later next year", which led most users to expect the update to roll out with the next big iOS update, presumably iOS 18, which is slated to be Apple's biggest iOS update ever. Now, Google has seemingly confirmed that with one of the new Android landing pages stating the following: "Apple has announced it will be adopting RCS in the fall of 2024. Once that happens, it will mean a better messaging experience for everyone."

Notably, Apple never specifically said when it was going to adopt RCS, which means Google's announcement is may have circumvented Apple's upcoming announcement. For those that don't know, Apple has been using SMS and MMS protocols when texting non-Apple smartphones, which means low-quality images/videos when sending to non-Apple smartphones, problems with group chats, and low security. The adoption of RCS will mean users will get typing indicators between Android and iOS devices, improved security, and many more features.

The world of smartphones might be full of foldable phones from most of the biggest names in the game, but Apple has so far refused to join in. To date, no foldable iPhone has launched and rumors about such a device's development are all over the place. While it's thought that Apple is indeed developing a foldable device of some description, when it will launch and what it will have to offer is unclear.

Now, a new DigiTimes report claims that Apple continues to work on a foldable iPhone but the news isn't positive. According to that DigiTimes report, Apple has moved some of the Apple Vision Pro engineers onto the foldable iPhone program but there is now an expectation that it will launch either in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027; That means that anyone hoping to buy a foldable iPhone is going to be waiting a good long while before it arrives. If, indeed, it ever does.

Apple is thought to be concerned that the current state of foldable display technology still isn't in a position to be able to offer the kind of experience that Apple wants.

Apple has long been one of the companies that manage to keep leaks to a minimum compared to some others like Samsung, but there are still plenty of leaks to go around. Apple is notoriously ruthless when dealing with employees who leak information to members of the press, and now it seems to have decided that it has to sue one former employee, too.

According to the lawsuit, reported by MacRumors, one now-former Apple employee was leaking information to specific news outlets and was responsible for information about the iOS 17 Journal app leaking to the public. It's also argued that he was the source of leaks relating to spatial computers, suggesting some of the Apple Vision Pro leaks were due to him.

The employee in question is Andrew Aude with Apple's lawsuit detailing some of the leaks. In the case of the Journal app, aude leaked the finalized features for the app to a journalist at The Wall Street Journal, Apple says. The same month the outlet posted a piece detailing Apple's plans for a journaling app.

After months and months of rumors, it had been thought that Apple would release its new OLED iPad Pro and refreshed iPad Air on March 26. That report turned out to be inaccurate with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman saying that Apple was likely to launch in April depending on how development of a new iPadOS release went. Now, Gurman has updated the timescale in a new report.

According to Gurman Apple's overseas suppliers have now started to ramp up the production of Apple's new iPads and the company intends to be ready to launch them in May. That's according to people who apparently have knowledge of the matter. However, Gurman has not named them because they asked not to be identified because the plans are not yet public.

The new iPads are greatly anticipated after Apple did not release any new iPads throughout the entity of 2023. That marked the first time that no new iPads had been released in a calendar year since the first model launched. Now, Apple looks set to release four new tablets at once.

Extremely HD renders of Google's upcoming Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL have leaked online, revealing what buyers can expect out of the company's next-generation smartphones.

91mobiles and MySmartPrice published renders of Google's next smartphone back in January and they were believed to be the standard Pixel 9, but according to new reports those renders are actually the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL, per Steve Hemmerstoffer from OnLeaks. There are four 5K renders of the upcoming devices and a 360-degree video that can be seen above.

The renders reveal a slightly different design compared to the Pixel 8, with the Pixel 9 Pro featuring much more rounded edges and a thick rear camera module that houses a triple-camera setup. Furthermore, the renders show that the Pixel 9 will have a flat display and a centered punch-hole selfie camera.

Apple has confirmed that it will hold the annual WWDC event starting from June 10 and that's likely to be when the company will unveil the new iOS 18 software update, among others. Apple has yet to officially confirm what the update will have to offer but strong rumors have suggested that new AI functionality will very much be the order of the day. However, those hoping for Apple's in-house chatbot to debut are going to be left disappointed.

That's according to a new report by the well-connected Mark Gurman, writing at Bloomberg. According to him, Apple's chatbot won't be ready for iOS 18, but that doesn't mean that there won't be those rumored AI improvements this time around. Instead, Apple has plans to use technology from other companies instead.

We'd already heard from previous reports that Apple is in talks with both Google and OpenAI about potentially using their own generative AI technology instead. Baidu is also thought to be a company that Apple is in talks with, but its AI features will only be used in China.

With Apple announcing yesterday that it intends to launch the WWDC 2024 event on June 10 we now know exactly how long we will have to wait before we get to see what the company has been cooking in terms of new software updates. We're expecting new releases for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro and we've been told to expect big things. Now, a new report has again reiterated that fact, saying that the iOS 18 update will be "the most ambitious overhaul" of the iPhone's software that we have ever seen.

The iOS 18 software update has long been tipped to be a key update for Apple especially given its intent to bring new AI technology to bear this year. Now, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has again upped the ante, saying that people working on the new software update have told him that this will be a huge update for iPhone owners.

There are a few things that we've been told to expect from this release with Apple itself also tipping that that AI will be a focus this time around. SVP of marketing Greg Joswiak posted to the X social network to say that the event is going to be "Absolutely Incredible," with the choice of capitalization thought to be a clear nod to Apple's AI work.

Apple has long been rumored to have plans to launch a new iPhone SE 4 device as a new budget model for those who don't want to pay for more high-end models like the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. However, despite those rumors there has so far been no indication from Apple that the phone is on the way, and it's continued to be pushed back in terms of when analysts and commentators expect it to be released. Now, it seems that Apple has taken a key step towards making the new phone available.

According to a new report by IT Home, Apple is now ready to give BOE the contract to build the new displays for the iPhone SE 4 after Samsung Display and Tianma were also thought to have been in discussions with Apple. Today's report says that Samsung has decided to withdraw itself from negotiations over concerns in relation to pricing, despite already having iPhone 14 OLED displays that it could potentially have used.

It's reported that Apple wanted to get the price of iPhone SE 4 displays down to around $25 per panel while Samsung wasn't ready to budge from a $30 per panel price point. Tianma now seems unlikely to be the supplier of choice, however, with the company reportedly struggling to meet Apple's quality requirements which now leaves BOE as the primary option for Apple.

Apple's iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are expected to debut this coming September and while we are only six months on from the release of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, there are already plenty of rumors about what we can expect from the refreshed models. It would also appear that there are plenty of plans being made outside of Apple with a new iPhone 16 Pro case having leaked online.

That case, which was shared on the X social network by Sonny Dickson, appears to show an iPhone 16 Pro case with a space for what is thought to be called the Capture button. That button first leaked not long after the arrival of the iPhone 15 lineup and is thought to be designed to give iPhone owners a hardware button for launching and interacting with the camera app.

It isn't yet clear which company is behind the case, but it does show a cutout for a new button. It's been rumored that the button will be flush with the side of the iPhone itself, and it's also been said to be a capacitive button. Such a button was originally rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro's new Action button but that ultimately didn't happen.