Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones News - Page 3

With Google's big Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro unveiling now just a week or so away there is more attention than ever on what the company will announce in terms of features and specifications. We can surely expect some big camera upgrades and Google's use of AI tools should make for an interesting list of features. But how much will all of the new hotness cost when it becomes official?

That's a question that we might now be able to answer after a leak of what appears to be a Google pricing chart appeared on X, the social network previously known to the world as Twitter. That post comes via leaker Kamila Wojciechowska and seems to have all of the information we could possibly want to know - including further confirmation of specifications across both devices.

Starting with those all-important prices, the leak suggests that the Pixel 8 will start at $699 this year, an increase of $100 over the current Pixel 7 price of $599. That'll get you a Tesnor G3 chip, just like the Pixel 8 Pro. The difference is that the Pixel 8 comes with 8GB of RAM while the Pixel 8 Pro has an upgraded chip with an extra 50% memory, taking it to 12GB.

The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are set to be announced very soon indeed but we might not need to wait all that long to know what the new models will offer in terms of cameras. A new leak claims to have outed all of the new specifications a week or so ahead of time.

With all of the attention now on Apple and its recent iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro releases it's leaks like this that continue to remind everyone that there are now Google phones just around the corner. Apple might have launched four new handsets but Google is being much more conservative with just two new models on the horizon; the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro.

This new camera leak comes courtesy of the folks at 91mobiles and tipster Kamila Wojciechowska. According to them, there are a few things that buyers of the new models should be looking forward to.

In classic Apple fashion, the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism telephoto camera is expected to make its way into the next-generation iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max next year. However, there will be some changes, according to one industry analyst.

It's typical of Apple's flagship Pro Max model to debut a new technology that eventually ends up in its cheaper models of iPhone once manufacturing and cost of that new technology reaches an appropriate level. According to industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a new Medium post, he has heard news that Apple has asked its supplier of the iPhone 15 Max's new tetraprism telephoto lens to increase specifications for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max in order to keep up with demand.

The analyst says that Apple is asking its supplier to increase specifications in order to boost yields, but there is a problem that may fall back on consumers. This purported increase in specifications is said to come with a price increase of about 30%, taking the original cost of the telephoto lens from $6 to $6.50. It's unclear if this price hike will fall back on consumers.

A YouTuber has taken apart Apple's recently released iPhone 15 Pro Max to see exactly how much titanium is present in the new chassis.

Apple announced that its latest generation of iPhone Pro models will feature a new and improved titanium chassis that the company describes as an "aerospace-grade titanium design" that uses "the same alloy that spacecraft use for missions to Mars." Notably, Apple also states that due to the adoption of titanium, the latest Pro model devices are the lightest iPhone Pros ever released.

JerryRigEverything has put those statements from Apple and others to the test by completely dismantling a new iPhone 15 Pro Max. After removing the front glass and the myriad of tiny screws, the YouTuber uses an angle grinder to cut the chassis in half. The cross-section of the chassis reveals that Apple has used approximately 1mm of titanium to overlay an aluminum chassis. The titanium is on the outside, while the aluminum is on the inside.

It's no secret that Google is getting ready to announce its new phones in the coming weeks and while the models have never been a secret, they're starting to leak more and more. The latest leak comes via MySmartPrice and a number of high-resolution images that appear to confirm the colors of the unannounced handsets.

We're already pretty sure that the new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will be announced in October and now this leak gives us our best look yet at what those phones will look like while confirming the colors that people will get to choose from. And those colors are a sight for sore eyes for anyone who doesn't like the rather muted look of Apple's new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro lineups.

As the report notes, it now looks like the Google Pixel 8 will sell in Peony Rose, Grey, and Obsidian Black color options while people going for the Pro models can expect to choose between Sky Blue, Porcelain, and Black Obsidian.

When Apple announced that there would be no new first-party leather iPhone cases or Apple Watch bands it said that the new FineWoven accessories would replace them. But those who have already got their hands on those accessories have so far been left unimpressed and it seems that there might be a reason for that - the FineWoven fabric is indeed woven and finely so, but it has its problems.

People with early iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro case deliveries have been noting for the last few days that the cases are easily marked by fingernails and other items likely to be found in pockets. What's worse, those marks don't seem to be self-healing in any way and they can't even be removed by rubbing, either. Now, the teardown experts at iFixit have taken one of the new iPhone's cases apart to see what gives. And it turns out that the material is indeed a good one, but it might not be suited to what it's being asked to do.

The iFixit people put the new material under the microscope and found that each individual fiber measures around six microns thick which is around 1/12 the width of a human hair. They're very finely woven together to create the finish that we see on the cases and watch bands, and there is little doubt that the FineWoven name fits. But when stress testing the case iFixit found that it was very easy to damage.

It's now been around a day or so since early adopters managed to get their hands on the new iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, not to mention the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. But it's the Pro and Pro Max that are proving particularly controversial right now after people started to realize that they have a new icon in their status bars that they really, really don't like.

Now that the new Pro iPhones don't have a traditional mute switch it's harder to tell if your phone is in silent mode or not. To help with that, Apple has added a new bell icon to the status bar, just beside the clock. When silent mode is turned on, the bell with a strike through it appears to warn people that they won't receive audible alerts when they receive notifications and calls. But some people seem to really dislike it. Thankfully, and very unlike Apple, there's an option to disable the bell altogether.

The good news was provided by YouTuber Marques Brownlee who shared the details in a post on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. Brownlee, better known as the MKBHD YouTube channel name, says that there is an option in the Settings app that removes the bell for good. It can be found in the Sounds & Haptics portion of the setting and is well worth checking out if you're someone who wants the icon gone from their status bar.

We're firmly in the middle of new iPhone hysteria right now with people lining up at Apple Stores around the world to get their hands on the new hotness. The iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max are all now on sale and early reports are that people are loving their new handsets. But it seems that some models might be proving more popular than others.

While it was already likely that the iPhone 15 Pro Max would prove the most popular of the four new models given its new 5x tetraprism camera and people's leaning towards bigger handsets, a new report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that there are two models in particular that aren't hitting expectations in terms of demand. And they both have 6.1-inch displays.

Writing in part of a larger Medium post discussing Apple's supply chain situation, Kuo said that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro are falling short of expectations with there being the likelihood that Apple will cut orders for those models unless it slashes prices. The latter is extremely unlikely, suggesting that the former is the way Apple will go.

So you're picking up your new iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro from the Apple Store or a courier just dropped it on the doorstep - however you got the thing, you're going to want to make sure that it's running the latest software before you try and set it up.

We aren't talking about iOS 17 of course, that'll be preinstalled on every iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro that comes out of Apple's factories. Instead, we're talking about iOS 17.0.2, a new update that was rolled out yesterday and targets only Apple's newest iPhones. Those with iPhone 14 models, for example, can't install it. And now we know why - the new iPhones have a bug that prevents them from being properly set up.

Specifically, Apple's latest iPhones won't let you restore from another iPhone in order to keep all of your data. You have to either do it via an iCloud or computer backup instead which is less than ideal. Apple knows that, and there's already a fix - that fix is iOS 17.0.2, and we'd suggest that you let your new iPhone install it before you try and migrate away from your old iPhone.

While most people are still waiting for their new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models to arrive on their doorsteps, some people have been lucky enough to get their hands on them already. And one of those decided that they wanted to see what was going on inside. In this case, it was the iPhone 15 Pro and PBKreviews took the handset apart to see what makes it tick.

The video was actually in the name of repairability - they wanted to see how easy it would be to repair the iPhone, especially given Apple's claims that it is easier to replace the back glass this time out. And, it turns out, Apple was right.

You can watch the full video above but the gist is that replacing the back glass on an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max is much easier than doing it on an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max. PBKreviews explains that all a repair shop would need to do is heat the back of the iPhone and then pry the back glass off before disconnecting a single flex cable. The back glass itself also includes the MagSafe charging coil and other connectors.