iPhone 6s
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Apple gets early approval for $500 million iPhone throttling settlement
Apple's $500 million settlement over iPhone throttling has received preliminary approval, but COVID-19 is pushing back the final go-ahead.
Apple will fix some iPhone 6s 'no power' issues for free
Some iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices may suddenly refuse to switch on due to component failure, and Apple has launched a repair program to fix them for free. While the tech giant didn't say what parts are prone to failure, it said the issue only affects devices manufactured between October 2018 and August 2019. That's after Apple discontinued the model in the US following the announcement of the iPhone XS and XR, but as Bloomberg noted, the company continued selling the 6s models in select markets like India.
Here's why the iPhone 6s has a smaller battery
Although the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus don't look all that different, Apple has sneaked in a few major hardware changes. 3D Touch was one of the big announcements, which allows the iPhone to determine how much pressure you apply to the screen and display shortcuts and other features accordingly. However, this enhancement appears to come at a small cost: battery size. In a video introducing the iPhone 6s family, Apple briefly flashes the battery capacity of the base model. Its 1715 mAh rating is a touch lower than the 1810 mAh battery in the iPhone 6.
Here's how Apple's Force Touch might work on the next iPhone
We've been hearing for months that Apple's upcoming iPhone models will be force-sensitive, just like the Apple Watch and its newer MacBook trackpads. Now we have an idea of how the company's "Force Touch" technology -- which enables pressure sensitivity and haptic feedback -- could work on future iPhones, courtesy of 9to5Mac. Sources say that it could be used to replace instances where you typically hold down your finger on the screen, for example, to highlight or paste text. Force Touch on iPhones will also resemble the way the technology is used on new MacBooks: You can press down on the display to drop new location pins in Apple Maps, or use pressure-sensitive scrolling in media players. Not surprisingly, 9to5Mac notes that Apple has built in support for iPhone Force Touch on iOS 9, and it's also working with developers to integrate it into their apps. The technology could also make its way into Apple's next round of iPads, based on references in iOS 9.
John Gruber: Next-gen iPhone may feature "the biggest camera jump ever"
The original iPhone camera was nothing to write home about. Even at the time of its release, photo quality on the original iPhone lagged behind a number of competing smartphones. Today, the story is much different. Today, photo quality on the iPhone is arguably best in class and Apple, understandably so, loves talking about it. They even made a commercial about it. During every iPhone unveiling, it's a safe bet that Phil Schiller well spend a good deal of time talking about all of the great new picture quality and engineering enhancements Apple managed to bake into the latest and greatest iPhone. Looking ahead to the iPhone 6s (assuming Apple keeps its iPhone nomenclature intact), Apple may have few camera tricks up its sleeve. During the most recent episode of John Gruber's podcast, "The Talk Show", the well-connected Gruber passed along an interesting nugget he picked up from a "birdie of a birdie." The specific thing I heard is that next year's camera might be the biggest camera jump ever. I don't even know what sense this makes, but I've heard that it's some kind of weird two-lens system where the back camera uses two lenses and it somehow takes it up into DSLR quality imagery. While iPhone rumors are a dime a dozen, especially this early on, Gruber network of "birdies" are on-point more often than not. If Gruber's off-hand remark comes to fruition, a dual camera implementation would certainly help improve overall image quality and photos in low light conditions. DSLR image quality would be incredible, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. If Apple goes down this route, they wouldn't be the first company to release a smartphone with dual cameras; the HTC M8, released earlier this year, incorporates such a feature. On a related note, Engadget this past February profiled a startup called Corephotonics which developed a dual camera implementation of its own.
Paging Colonel Panic to the White Courtesy iPhone
TUAW love Colonel Sanders and kernels of popcorn, but as far as colonels and kernels go, you probably don't want a kernel panic on your brand new iPhone 6. Reader Jason Lang sent in this screen of sadness. Normally, iOS devices automatically reboot on kernel panics but this one did not. I wrote back and suggested Jason try rebooting. A hard boot involves pressing and holding the Sleep and Home buttons until the screen clears and the little white Apple appears. Unfortunately, this didn't fix Jason's problem nor did trying to restore through iTunes. After consulting with a variety of developers, I ended up recommending that Jason take the unit over to an Apple store for replacement. (Whether any stores will have stock to do replacements at the moment is an open question.) Best guess on the table, courtesy of developer Sam Marshall, is a bad chip out of the factory, "extremely rare but it can happen," he told me. How did your iPhone delivery go? Add a comment below and tell us all about your new baby phone. And don't forget: the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are dropportunities waiting to happen (TM Victor Agreda), so take care with your gadget! Thanks, Mike Ash, Kevin Ballard, Sam Marshall, and Wess Cope
