It seems almost certain that the next-gen iPhone's front panel will be comprised of sapphire glass, with Apple apparently looking strengthen up a feature prone to shattering. As for sapphire glass's credentials as a robust material, we've already seen via the key and knife test that it can hold its own, and so now, as ever, the time has come for the car test.
When Apple started extending the previews of songs that were longer than 2 minutes and 30 seconds back in 2010, licensing was a big factor in reason that not all songs received the updated 90 second previews at the same time. Now, Apple appears to be reducing some of those previews to just 30 seconds, no matter the length of the song, across both the desktop and mobile versions of the iTunes Store.
Apple has just rolled out version 11.3 of its iTunes app for Windows and Mac, bringing a bunch of notable new features as well as the customary performance tweaks. Details, as ever, can be seen after the fold.
When it comes to the Apple versus Samsung duel, any small victory on either side is amplified, with each respective party always eager to celebrate one-upmanship in terms of sales, advertising, or general popularity polls. But with heavyweight chip-maker TSMC having now taken a large portion of Apple's next-gen microprocessor orders - a hardware component that Samsung has long since been the main provider of - the Cupertino company just dealt its arch nemesis a major blow worthy of a quiet fist-pump.
At this year's Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple delivered quite a few surprises with regards to OS X 10.10 Yosemite, but one feature we had been almost certain of many months prior to WWDC was that of the appearance. We knew, given the significant alterations made with iOS 7, that the Cupertino's thirst for uniformity would spill over to the Mac, and so it proved with the showcasing of a decidedly flattened-out Yosemite. Even though, as ever with such drastic visual changes, it's probably going to take some developers weeks - even months - to update their apps in compliance with the new look, some eager folk have already been trying to imagine what the icons of some stock and third-party apps may look like when given the Yosemite treatment.
Even though, for quite a while, we've had a pretty solid idea of what's in store for the iPhone 6, we're now starting to encounter some solid evidence through numerous component leaks, and today, we've been treated to a close-up look at the rear shell of the 4.7-inch model of Apple's upcoming handset. As well as a few high-quality images, there's also a video to accompany this latest discovery, and below, you can catch all of the details.
The Internet is abuzz with rumors and reports surrounding the upcoming iPhone 6 these days (both of them, apparently), and rightly so, since there’s hardly been a device in recent history that has been so extensively leaked. However, that doesn’t mean that Apple’s current reigning smartphones, namely the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s, are to be discarded just yet. In an effort to boost sales and keep the interest piqued in their offerings, Apple has partnered (once again) with eBay for a “low-profile Factory Outlet store” that is selling Apple Certified refurbished iPhones at a much discounted price, all complete with Apple’s one-year warranty.
With the manufacturing process for the iPhone 6 now apparently under way, we're witnessing a lot of component leaks, and in what is claimed to be a legitimate sighting of the enigmatic device's SIM tray, we have evidence that the next-gen device will arrive in Silver, Gold and Space Gray color configurations.
With the forthcoming iPhone 6, Apple is expected to break from tradition in a number of key areas. Notably, the display will see the biggest size increase since the original handset back in 2007, while the overall design will draw much of its inspiration from the iPod touch and iPad Air / iPad mini. Another tidbit we've continually heard over the past couple of weeks is that the front panel will be comprised of sapphire glass, as opposed to the Gorilla Glass from Corning that Apple has long since utilized. Following a leaked video yesterday showcasing the panel's ability to bend, another clip has today appeared offering a glimpse of how the front shell may cope with scratches.
Apple has continued to push the boundaries in its efforts to pack high-end technology into unfathomably small housing, but while we continue to marvel at the likes of the MacBook Air and iPad mini with Retina display, we've also been impressed with how Apple continues to thin-out the iPhone. This long-standing trend is set to continue with the next-gen model, with some suggesting that the iPhone 6 will be as slender as 6mm, but even though early adopters will likely be impressed by the svelte nature of the device to hold, the slimline finish will also mean that battery capacity will only see a modest improvement.
