Apple’s iPhone 14 range could launch earlier than usual this year
Apple’s new iPhones are set to arrive this September, but with a twist. Rather than launching on the second week of September as has happened in previous years, the new iPhones are now predicted to come earlier, according to a report from Max Weinbach, an often reliable source of Apple news. Apple also plans a pre-recorded iPhone 14 event as opposed to a live one, a further Bloomberg report states.
In his August PowerOn Newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says plans for a September iPhone launch are in full swing with the company already putting the pieces together internally. “I’m told that Apple has started to record and assemble its September media event, which is likely to take place in the first half of the month,” Gurman writes. The pre-recorded event could be a concession to the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to rage in parts of the world.
Weinbach also adds that Apple plans a September 6 launch, opening up its iPhones on the first week of the month rather than the second as it often does. As with Apple’s iPhone events, the company’s focus here is to be squarely fixed on the iPhone and its best accessory, the Apple Watch. This means there are no iPads or Macs expected to launch. The company could always announce a later event for October as it has done in previous years, with its new products going on sale to coincide with the holiday sales season.
From Digital Trends
Samsung Galaxy A23 5G variant goes official with Snapdragon 695 chipset
In March, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A23, a non-5G handset featuring 50MP quad rear cameras. Four months later, while we’re looking forward to Samsung’s next-gen foldable devices, the company quietly made official the 5G version of the Galaxy A23. The Galaxy A23 5G brings fewer changes than its non-5G variant, which includes a new 5G capable chipset.
Like the LTE variant, the Galaxy A23 5G also sports a 6.6-inches Full HD+ screen, an Infinity-V display. It is an LCD panel featuring 90Hz refresh rates and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
From Android Central
Bigger iPhone 14 Pro Max Camera Bump Shown Alongside iPhone 13 Pro Max
The camera bump on the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro Max is expected to be the largest rear lens housing Apple has ever installed on its flagship smartphones, and a new photo offers a rare glimpse at just how prominent it is compared to Apple’s predecessor device.
All iPhone 14 models are expected to see upgrades to the Ultra Wide camera on the rear of the device, but the iPhone Pro models could see significant improvements to the main wide-angle camera and updates to the telephoto lens.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the iPhone 14 Pro models will feature a 48-megapixel Wide camera, which would be a major improvement over the current 12-megapixel camera, as well as 8K video recording capabilities. The new camera is also likely to be capable of taking 12-megapixel shots through a process known as pixel-binning, which merges data from multiple smaller pixels on the camera’s image sensor into one “super-pixel” for improved low-light sensitivity.
As the image above shows, this will force Apple to substantially increase the height of the rear camera housing on the Pro models. Sourced from Twitter user @lipilipsi and shared by Majin Bu, the side-on shot shows the larger camera bump ridge on an iPhone 14 Pro Max dummy unit compared to the rear camera system on an iPhone 13 Pro Max.
From Macrumors
Gurman: M1 Pro Mac Mini ‘Now Off the Table’ as Apple’s Focus Turns to M2 and M2 Pro Options
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple had been working on an M1 Pro version of the Mac mini and intended to launch the device at the end of 2021 or at the start of 2022. He previously said that the company is now focusing on new Mac mini models with the M2 and “M2 Pro” chips.
Apple is believed to have been working on a new Mac mini for some time. It updated the entry-level Mac mini with the M1 chip in November 2020, but the high-end offering is still the Space Gray model with an Intel processor from 2018.
In March, a report claimed that Apple originally “had plans” to introduce high-end versions of the Mac mini with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, but they were “probably scrapped” in favor of the Mac Studio. That report also said that a new Mac mini is still in the works, with Apple skipping the M1 Pro and M1 Max to offer chips from the M2-series.
From Macrumors
Motorola shares extensive details on the Moto Razr 2022 and Moto X30 Pro
The launch of the Moto Razr 2022, X30 Pro and S30 Pro was pushed back to this Thursday, but the company has already revealed detailed specs for the new foldable and the X30 Pro. Here is a preview of what’s coming on August 11.
From Gsmarena
OnePlus Ace Pro launch rescheduled for August 9
Certain geopolitical obstacles prevented OnePlus from launching its OnePlus Ace Pro smartphone last week but now the company confirmed its plans to hold the launch event tomorrow, August 9 at 7PM China time.
OnePlus Ace Pro is expected to be a rebrand of the recently launched OnePlus 10T with identical specs including a 6.7-inch AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset and a 4,800 mAh battery with 150W charging. The only question marks left for OnePlus to answer are pricing and availability.
From Gsmarena
Apple tells suppliers to boost iPhone 14 production; Foxconn increases recruitment bonus
A Taiwanese report says that Apple had told its suppliers to boost initial iPhone 14 production from 90M units to 95M, an increase of more than 5%.
In response, lead iPhone assembler Foxconn is said to have substantially increased its recruitment bonus for iPhone workers …
Taiwan’s United Daily News reports.
The smartphone market may be sluggish, but Apple is bucking the trend. Recently, it has expanded total initial orders for the iPhone 14 series to 95M, an increase of about 5% over the original expectation.
The report suggests the move is a result of both Apple’s optimism over demand for this year’s line-up, and improvements to component availability.
UDN says that a number of key Apple suppliers has spoken of increased demand for their products during the peak timeframe for iPhone production.
Foxconn, more formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is said to have responded by offering greatly increased recruitment bonuses to iPhone workers as mass production kicks off.
The actual figure cited appears to be a typo, so the likely increase is from around $1,500 to about $2,250 – a rise of 50%.
From 9to5Mac
Twitter security flaw may have exposed over 5 million accounts
A Twitter bug left the identities of millions of secret accounts exposed through a hacker forum, the microblogging service has confirmed, adding that it has since fixed the vulnerability.
The loophole enabled bad actors to find out if a phone number or email address was associated with an existing account by just entering these pieces of information into the log-in flow.
“As a result of the vulnerability, if someone submitted an email address or phone number to Twitter’s systems, Twitter’s systems would tell the person what Twitter account the submitted email addresses or phone number was associated with, if any,” Twitter said in a blog post.
The security flaw stemmed from an update to Twitter’s code introduced in June of last year. Twitter fixed the issue after receiving a report last January through its bug bounty program. The company added that it found “no evidence to suggest someone had taken advantage of the vulnerability” when it first learned about the bug.
However, the bug report came too late because some bad actors had already exploited the flaw. According to a Bleeping Computer report, a hacker sold a database containing phone numbers and email addresses tied to 5.4 million accounts via a hacker forum for $30,000.
From Android Central
Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti gets an unprecedented $1,000 price drop
Nvidia board partners are continuing to apply aggressive price cuts to Team Green’s flagship GPU, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.
EVGA is offering an absolutely massive $1,000 discount in the form of a rebate for both the RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 model and the RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra version.
As reported by VideoCardz and Wccftech, the former is now available for $1,149, representing a huge drop from its manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $2,149, while the Ultra model is now selling for $1,199. The RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Black Gaming edition, meanwhile, has seen its cost drop by $600 to $1,399.
Although there’s no stock for it at the moment, the US KINGPIN Hybrid that was originally listed at $2,499 has also become more affordable with a new $1,999 price tag.
The $1,000 price drops follow reports that Nvidia would be changing the MSRP of the RTX 3090 Ti from $1,999 to $1,499. Its predecessor, the RTX 3090, should now be available for $1,299, a reduction of $200.
Elsewhere, the GeForce RTX 30-series is now being listed at 9% below its MSRPs on average (in Germany and Austria), while AMD’s Radeon RX 6000-series is now available for 14% below its official MSRPs.
From Digital Trends
Apple warns its suppliers about China following Pelosi Taiwan visit
Ripple effects are continuing to multiply after the controversial visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan just a few days ago. That visit sparked furious saber-rattling from China, for example, and even had some people fretting about WWIII. Fortunately, the worst-case fears about the Pelosi Taiwan visit didn’t come to pass. But that’s not to say her visit was completely consequence-free, either.
Following China’s hacking of Taiwan computer systems, military exercises, and Chinese jets even crossing into territorial lines, there have been other not-inconsequential downstream effects of Pelosi’s visit, too. Like a very specific warning that Apple reportedly sent out to its suppliers.
From BGR
