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 to use its own 5G modem for 2023 iPhone
Reports have emerged claiming that Apple will switch to using its own 5G modem for its iPhone line from 2023. At present, the company relies heavily on Qualcomm for the component, but Apple is keen to step away from using the chip giant. According to Nikkei, Apple is in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) over using its 4-nanometer chip production technology to produce the component. Apple bought Intel’s mobile modem business back in 2019, but these things evidently take time to bear fruit.
Shazam takes more time to listen
The Apple-owned music recognition app, Shazam, has been updated to version 15.0, and it’s gained a little patience in the process. Shazam will now take longer to listen to a track, “trying harder, for longer” to quote the developer. Shazam typically pinpoints a track in just a few seconds, but will listen for longer when it can’t find an answer. However, the point at which it gives up has been pushed back in the latest update, which should mean fewer failures. Apple bought Shazam for $400 million in 2018, and swiftly integrated it into Siri.
Driver’s license not coming to Wallet until 2022
One of the many eagerly anticipated features of iOS 15 ahead of its launch last year was the promised ability to add your driver’s license (or another form of photo identification) to the Wallet app. However, that feature has now been officially delayed to next year. Over on Apple’s iOS 15 website, the text for this ID cards feature has been quietly changed to “Coming early 2022”. It’s worth noting that this feature was only ever going to be a limited rollout in iOS 15, with certain US states getting first dibs.
Major Apple AirTag rival Tile acquired
When Apple’s AirTag tracking system arrived on the scene, there was one major player already doing something similar in the space: Tile. Apple’s presence has been disruptive, as no sooner had Tile CEO been quoted complaining about Apple AirTag’s “unfair competition”, then we received the news that Tile was to be acquired by location-tracking platform Life360 for around $205 million. The merged company now claims to be the “world leader in finding and location solutions”, which should place AirTag, as well as the wider Apple Find My ecosystem, on notice.