Plenty of Apple, iPhone, and iPad news gets released every single day – but we know you’re busy, so we’ve got your back. Here, we’ve picked out some of the most important stories from the past week or so and summarized them for easy digestion. You’re welcome.
Let’s take a quickfire look at some of the most interesting recent headlines of late. As ever, click through to read the full stories if you want to know more!
Apple cracks down on Chinese leakers
Of all the well-sourced leaks and rumours that emerge concerning Apple products, especially come iPhone launch time, it’s fair to say that a very large proportion emerge from the company’s supply chain in China. That’s something that Apple is clearly keen to address, judging by recent reports from Chinese leakers Kang and Duan Rui. Both tipsters have taken to their Weibo accounts (China’s major social media platform) to claim that Apple has sent warning letters to a number of Chinese leakers, demanding that they refrain from sharing details and images relating to forthcoming releases.
New iPhone SE set to supply 5G on a budget
Another person with enviable supply chain sources, of course, is TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. According to his latest note to investors (via MacRumors), the next iPhone SE will be the cheapest 5G phone Apple has ever released, taking that title from the iPhone 12 mini. Apparently set for a 2022 release, the new affordable phone will sport a very similar design to the current iPhone SE, so don’t expect a shift to the flatter, larger-screened approach of the current iPhone 12 crop. As suggested, though, one feature it will borrow from the iPhone 12 could be 5G connectivity.
Award-winning CARROT Weather app responds with typical candour
Regular readers will know how much we love CARROT Weather as an alternative to Apple’s sharp-but-dry Weather app. Its darkly humorous quips, seemingly delivered from the viewpoint of a sociopathic AI, are as funny as they are informative, and a great way to start the day with a chuckle. Apple clearly thinks so too, having recently handed out an Apple Design Award for the app. The developer’s award unboxing video is just about the perfect response, filled to the brim with robotic disdain for us idiot humans.
Want to side-load apps? Buy an Android, says Apple exec
As Apple continues to argue its case against proponents of a more open, collaborative approach to app distribution, one executive has spelled out the stark choice. If you want to be able to side-load apps (i.e. install them from places other than the App Store), there’s a platform for that. It’s called Android. Apple’s head of user privacy, Erik Neuenschwander, told Fast Company that Apple’s walled garden stance was actually providing more choice, not less. “Sideloading in this case is actually eliminating choice,” he said. “Users who want that direct access to applications without any kind of review have sideloading today on other platforms.” Neuenschwander then likened the Android alternative to being “duped into some dark alley”.