Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones News - Page 1

There once was a time when the iPhone could do no wrong and Apple couldn't make them quickly enough to keep up with demand, but those times are now few and far between. According to a new report by the researchers at CIRP, Apple's share of the US smartphone activations has taken a tumble despite the fact that the report believes that Apple's installed user base is still higher.

The number of smartphone activations for Apple topped out at 40% in the first and second quarter of 2023, the report notes, But Apple experienced a new smartphone activation decline to 33%, a full third of all smartphone activations, in the United States during the first quarter of 2024. You don't have to be too great at maths to know that the figure means that two-thirds of all smartphone devices are not iPhones - and that means that they're all running Android.

The reason for that isn't always easy to come up with, but CIRP believes that Apple may be a victim of its own success. The latest iPhones are so good and they last for so long that people simply don't see the need to update so often.

With Apple having already confirmed that it will be holding a new event on May 7 we were already pretty sure that we knew what the company intended to show off. Now, it seems increasingly likely that all of the rumors were right - the event will focus on new iPads and yes, a new Apple Pencil.

That's the assumption that we can now make after Apple CEO Tim Cook shared a post on the X social network that hinted as much. The post, embedded below, mentions the Apple Pencil and includes a gif of of one, essentially confirming the news.

The rumors over the last few months had told us to expect a raft of new iPads and accessories to be announced within weeks, and those rumors had started to settle on May being the big month. Now Apple has confirmed that it will stream ane vent on May 7 and while it hasn't said what it will be about, there are surely few doubts as to its content.

Following recent rumors that the 12.9-inch iPad Air that we expect to be announced next month would feature an impressive mini-LED display, the person who shared that rumor initially now says it wasn't right after all.

Display supply chain analyst Ross Young is normally extremely accurate when detailing information about which displays will feature in future products, but he says that he got this one wrong. Writing in a paywalled post on the X social network, Young said that he had heard from supply chain sources that the new 12.9-inch mini-LED display was destined for the iPad Air but that other sources have now said that won't be the case after all.

The news will no doubt be a disappointment for anyone who had originally planned to pick up a new 12.9-inch iPad Air, although the lack of mini-LED display does make sense. Such technology, currently employed on the iPad Pro lineup, is expensive and it never quite matched up with a place in the iPad Air lineup. However, it was a possibility that Apple could be using up older iPad Pro inventory, but that doesn't seem to be the case now.

Apple is holding a special event on May 7 with new iPads expected to be the stars of the show. One of those iPads is set to be an all-new 12.9-inch iPad Air, reports have suggested, but that won't be the end of the new tablet arrivals according to a new report.

Supply chain analyst Ross Young had previously suggested that the 12.9-inch iPad Air will feature a mini-LED display, but in a paywalled post on the X social network, he now says that isn't the case after all. However, there IS some truth to the previous rumor in the fact that there is indeed a 12.9-inch iPad of some description, featuring a mini-LED display, in the works.

What that unnamed and mystery tablet will be, nobody knows. Young believes that it will arrive in the fourth quarter of the year which means that it will come much later than the expected OLED iPad Pro and new iPad Air announcements next month. The news is interesting because the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro uses a mini-LED display and will be replaced by an OLED version soon. That would suggest that the new 12.9-inch tablet won't be an iPad Pro, and with a 12.9-inch iPad Air debuting next month also, that leaves little room in the lineup for another 12.9-inch device.

Apple recently announced that it will be holding an online, streamed event on May 7 and it's roundly thought that it will see the company announce new iPads including a pair of iPad Pros. Now, a new report suggests that while that remains true, actually getting your hands on one of the tablets in particular could be more difficult than buyers might like,

The tablet is the 11-inch OLED iPad Pro, the smaller of the two tablets and often the most popular for those who want to be able to get the most powerful tablet with the added portability of a relatively small display. However, display analyst Ross Young believes that stocks of the 11-inch model might be harder to find than those of the larger 12.9-inch version. And it's the display that buyers can blame.

Young was writing via a post on the X social network that now appears to have been removed, but not before it was picked up by various outlets including 9to5Mac.

Apple regularly releases new software updates to the public and as part of that, it also releases earlier beta updates to developers as well. The current wave of betas is for iOS 17.5 and the company has now made the third beta version of that update available for registered developers to download.

Those who are registered developers can sign in using their Apple ID and then choose to download the latest beta via the usual Software Update mechanism within the Settings app. However, we would always suggest that only developers who have a spare device should do that - as good as Apple's betas currently are, they can still prove problematic and installing the releases on a mission-critical device can still cause unexpected issues further down the line.

The lack of a need to install this beta on most devices is driven home by the fact that there are no huge new features in this beta, especially if you don't live in the European Union. The most notable change in this release is the option for app developers to offer their apps for download directly from their own websites, not just the App Store or authorized third-party app marketplaces.

Many members of the younger generation cringe when they get a hold of a parents phone as they quickly realize that parent doesn't close apps once they are done using it, leading to the assumption they are wasting battery life. But what if I told you that assumption was wrong?

Or at least it is for iPhone users. Users around the world are always looking for more ways to save battery, and one of those strategies is closing every app after use is done or in a large fell swoop every now and again. 9to5MacApple reports iOS chief Craig Federighi answered a question about if closing apps saved battery, to which he said, "no and no". Additionally, Apple's own support pages state that force-quitting an app should only be done if the app stops responding or is freezing.

Why is this the case? iOS is simply that good. Quitting apps seeming like the logical thing to do to save battery life is based on the presumption that more apps running in the background = more battery being drained. This isn't the case for iOS, as Apple's operating system freezes background apps, suspending any resources they demand to run, meaning background apps don't impact battery once they aren't being used (unless they have background processes such as GPS tracking or background music playing).

One of the first apps that appeared on the iPhone way back in 2007 was the Calculator app, a simple calculator that has so far not been made available on the iPad. It's pretty amazing that there has so far not been a calculator app, built by Apple, available on the iPad to date. But that could finally be about to change and it's thought that it might happen sooner rather than later.

That's according to MacRumors, with a report detailing that after 14 years Apple is getting ready to bring the iPhone's Calculator app to the iPad. The report cites unnamed sources familiar with the matter, saying that the new Calculator app will be part of the iPadOS 18 software update.

This news follows a report from last week that some of Apple's upcoming AI features will include a new math feature linked to the Calculator app. That appears to be part of this new Calculator app news, but the original AppleInsider report does add extra context. We're told to expect a resizable window and a list of recent calculations and more.

As we get ever closer to the June WWDC event at Apple Park we're learning more and more about what we can expect from the big opening keynote. That keynote will be streamed online and has historically been when Apple previews all of its big new software updates. This year iOS 18 is expected to be at the forefront of those previews and we've been hearing a lot about potential new AI features. Now, a new report has added more color to Apple's plans for those features.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, writing in the weekly Power On newsletter, Apple's AI features will not use server-side components as is normally the way but rather go the other route, and run the large language models required to make them work on-device instead. That will mean that the features will use Apple's iPhone chips to process requests and handle data. As a comparison, chatbots like ChatGPT use servers that handle processing over the Internet.

Gurman says that Apple's large language model will run entirely on-device which will mean that there are some benefits to be noted. One of those benefits is that Apple will be able to boast performance improvements due to the lack of an internet request. With no need to send information to a server and then wait for a response, iPhone owners can expect a speedier experience than might otherwise be possible.

After months of rumors and guesswork, Apple has now finally announced that it will hold a special event on May 7. Dubbed the "Let Loose"m event, Apple is yet to confirm exactly what the new event will entail but the rumors suggest that we will see a number of new iPads and accessories.

The event itself will be a virtual one and take place at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET. Apple says that people will be able to watch along online but there appears to be no suggestion of any kind of in-person event this time around.

In terms of what the event is expected to see Apple announce, the OLED iPad Pro will no doubt be the biggest new unveiling. If everything goes the way that we've been told to expect, the event will see a refreshed 11-inch model joined by a refreshed 12.9-inch model, while both will sport upgraded OLED displays. Those displays should offer improved colors and blacks while saving power, too. On the inside, we're expecting Apple to bring the M3 chip to the iPad lineup for the very first time while there is also a suggestion that the FaceTime camera will move to the side of the display, away from the top.