Hasselblad True Zoom preview: The 10x optical zoom Moto Mod is finally here
There has long been talk of a Hasselblad Moto Mod camera module appearing for the Moto Z to transform it into a “proper” camera. And now it, under the True Zoom moniker, is finally here.
At Lenovo’s IFA press conference in Berlin we got to sample the new 10x optical zoom unit, as magnetically clipped onto the brand new Moto Z Play phone, to get a feel as to whether Motorola and Hasselblad have finally cracked the modular phone approach.
Co-designed by Hasselblad and Motorola, the True Zoom is engineered by Motorola rather than the prestigious Swedish camera maker. That can be felt when picking it up: it’s ultra-lightweight, which is great for the sake of portability, but doesn’t exactly ring true to Hasselblad’s typically metal make-up. It might look the part on the outside, but it’s something of a facade – a convincing one, though, with the Hasselblad logo and colour choices representing the company’s cameras well.
However, that weight issue doesn’t matter once the True Zoom is clipped onto a phone, which brings with it an inherent mass and makes the overall device easier to use. It’s super simple to magnetically clip on, open the default camera app and get shooting.
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The True Zoom has a zoom toggle to its top, which is ideally positioned to zoom between the available focal ranges. There’s no battery inside, but a separate on/off switch can be used to deactivate the zoom lens – which physically protrudes from the device when in use.
The True Zoom’s lens begins at a 25mm equivalent, stretching through to a 250mm equivalent at its maximum. It travels well, but as the lens is quite dark – the aperture begins at a paltry f/3.5 and drops to f/6.5 at the 250mm equivalent – the autofocus isn’t especially proficient in low-light conditions. That’s an inevitable problem when dealing with little light entering the camera unit. We’re wondering why Hasselblad didn’t push for a wider aperture with less zoom, really, to deliver a more premium experience.
In terms of sensor, the 12-megapixel unit on board offers 1.5-micron pixel size, which ought to mean better overall image quality. On the front the scribed 4.5mm (25mm equivalent) means a crop factor of around 5.5x, which defines the sensor size as around 1/2.3in size – or the same as that you’ll find in many compact cameras.
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As is stands the True Zoom transforms the Moto Z into a good-enough travel zoom equivalent, for the sake of £199. To our minds, though, we think Hasselblad has the opportunity to force its premium hand and opt for a larger sensor, wider aperture range and create something truly formidable.
As is stands we’ve seen few better easy-to-use camera add-ons – think DxO One for the iPhone, or the camera module for the LG G5 – so this first attempt is fun, and certainly ergonomically sound in use, but hopefully paves the way for a higher-spec follow-up.
Apple adds 2TB iCloud tier: Here’s what it costs and how to get it
Apple has introduced a new storage tier for iCloud.
While the previous high-end tier capped out at 1TB, the Cupertino, CA-based company has extended how much stuff you can save to its cloud storage service to 2TB. Here’s everything you need to know, including how much the 2TB option costs and how to get it.
What is iCloud?
Apple iCloud is a cloud-storage subscription service. It’s available for iOS devices, Macs, and Windows PCs, and apart from letting you store all your files and data, it lets you access all your stuff from any device. When you sign up for iCloud (whether as an iOS user or Mac user), you automatically get 5GB of free storage. You can use that storage for backups, iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Drive, Mail, and more.
Your purchased music, movies, apps, books, TV shows, and shared albums don’t count against your free storage. If you need more iCloud storage, you can pay for more. There are now four tiers available, starting at 50GB of space and capping out at 2TB. You’re billed every month for your storage plan unless you cancel by downgrading. You’ll also get an email every month to alert you of upcoming payments.
How much is the 2TB option?
You’ll still be able to pay $0.99 (£0.79) a month for 50GB, $2.99 (£2.49) for 200GB, or $9.99 (£6.99) for 1TB, but now you can get a 2TB option for $19.99 (£13.99). The pricing is similar to Google Drive, which starts at $9.99 a month for 1TB. When you choose a new storage plan, Apple immediately cancels your existing plan and charges you the prorated cost of the larger plan.
How do you get 2TB of iCloud space?
Apple has this support page that explains everything you need to know. You can buy more iCloud storage from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or PC.
iPhone and iPad
- On your iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage.
- Tap Buy More Storage or Change Storage Plan.
- Select a plan, then tap Buy, and enter your Apple ID password.
Mac
- On your Mac, select Apple menu > System Preferences, then click iCloud.
- Click Manage in the lower-right corner.
- Click Buy More Storage or Change Storage Plan.
- Select a plan, then click Next, and enter your Apple ID password.
Want to know more?
Apple has this support page with more details on the new tier and pricing across the globe.
Motorola Moto Z Play preview: Moto Mods meet mega battery life
It’s the era of modular phones. And Motorola, now under control of Lenovo, is one maker at the forefront of the interchangeable accessories concept. Its Moto Z phone was joined by a Moto Z Force in the States – but we’ve seen very little in the UK and Europe.
Now that’s set to change, with the announcement of the Moto Z Play, the big battery behemoth. Its 3,510mAh cell is said to last for up to 50-hours, which is a capacity rarely rivalled in the phone market.
We were first introduced to the Moto Z Play when sampling the new Moto Mods Hasselblad True Zoom camera accessory at Lenovo’s IFA press conference. It’s an interesting magnetically-connected accessory that transforms any Moto Z into a 10x optical zoom camera equivalent. In addition the Mods family also offers JBL SoundBoost speaker and Insta-Share Projector accessories.
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The new Moto Z Play is all about longevity, but for that longer-lasting life you’ll have to forego the premier Moto Z’s slender 5.2mm design, as the Play measures a slightly thicker 7mm.
It’s a big phone, but not any means huge by today’s standards and feels just about right in the hand. Like other recent Moto Z handsets there’s also a fingerprint scanner sat front and bottom, which, from our experience, works well in other iterations.
The Play’s 5.5-inch display delivers a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, again a drop compared to the premier Moto Z, but an expected one given the cut in price. The Moto Z Play will retail for “around €499”, meaning it ought to be around the £450 mark.
Considering that price point the build quality of the phone is solid and we rather like the white and gold finish of the model we handled. It’s got a water-repellent coating too, ensuring extra durability.
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Spec-wise the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, arranged in eight 2.05GHz processors and paired with 3GB RAM, might not sound top-of-the-tree, but actually that arrangement will be more than capable and assist the battery longevity.
To finish the mix the front-facing 16MP camera, complete with laser-assisted autofocus and an f/2.0 lens isn’t a million miles behind the premium Moto Z’s positioning. However, that massive protruding disc to the rear doesn’t look good at all if you’ve slipped a Mod unit off the back.
First Impressions
If longevity and affordability are high up your list, and you love the idea of buying into a modular phone, then the Motorola Moto Z Play might be the best access point into the Moto Mods family. And there’s nothing stopping you putting the Incipio OffGrid power pack Mod onto to back too, for a phone that might last for, well, forever?
PewDiePie’s Twitter temporarily suspended after ISIS joke
Yesterday, popular YouTube personality PewDiePie made minor headlines for losing his Twitter verification checkmark. Today, he was briefly suspended for the service. “I did this yesterday as a joke,” he explained on Youtube, teasing users who view Twitter verification as a status symbol. “But then America woke up and that’s when shit got stupid.” Overnight, Kjellberg says an account parodying Sky News posted a fake news story claiming he lost his verification status for having “suspected relations with ISIS.” Later, the YouTuber referenced the article on Twitter, joking that both he and JackSepticEye had joined the terrorist organization. Later, his account Twitter account was suspended.
We reached out for Twitter for details, but got back the usual: “We don’t comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons.” Since then, PewDiePie’s Twitter presence has been restored — albeit in a reduced capacity. At the time of this writing, the account’s million followers has been reduced to mere hundreds, and Kjellberg’s timelines is missing thousands of Tweets. Maybe it can be taken as a lesson: Don’t Tweet about being a terrorist. Even in jest.
Via: We The Unicorns
Lenovo’s Yoga Book is part tablet, part sketch pad
Let’s face it: Tablets are on the brink of death, and it’s difficult to get excited about a new slate these days. And even though tablet-laptop hybrids are taking off, that market is cornered by Surfaces and iPad Pros. So I wasn’t prepared to be as thrilled as I was by Lenovo’s latest offering. The Yoga Book, based on my experience with a preview unit, is not merely a mimicry of Microsoft’s Surface Book; it has impressively innovative features and a well-thought-out interface that make it a solid hybrid in its own right.
The Yoga Book has the same shiny “Watchband hinge” as Lenovo’s Yoga 900 convertible laptops, which makes the book’s spine look like links on a wristwatch. That, together with a metal casing and slim silhouette, lend the book a clean, modern aesthetic. I particularly like the gold version, which is only available for the Android variant that costs $499. A $549 Windows 10 model is also available, but that (disappointingly) only comes in black.
This book’s cover may be pretty, but what really impressed me lies beneath. The Yoga Book’s standout feature is its keyboard, which is essentially a giant touchpad. There are no physical buttons — just a flat surface with the outline of keys.
The absence of physical buttons helps the Yoga Book look and feel more like a regular tablet with a flat back when you unfold it all the way around. Plus, without the uneven surface, you can use the bottom half of the device as a stand, with the keyboard facing down. The hybrid is also a lot lighter (1.52 pounds) than it would have been with a full keyboard, although it’s still heavier than the Surface 3 (1.37 pounds without a keyboard).
But those aren’t the main reasons for doing away with keys. The real pièce de résistance is housed within the flat surface, and Lenovo calls it the “Create Pad.” Tap a button to the top right of the keyboard and the outlines disappear, leaving you with a blank canvas. It’s like a Wacom digitizer tablet that you can draw on with the included stylus.
Lenovo adapted Android 6.0 Marshmallow to automatically start recording your doodles in the company’s default note-taking app (which is the only app in the tablet that stores your input in the background) once you put the stylus to the touchpad. When you start writing, a small window pops up on the bottom right of the screen and captures your scrawls. This happens whether the tablet is awake or asleep, which is super convenient. It’s basically like having a piece of paper ready for you to write on whenever you need, and it worked well in our demo. But because the screen stays off when you’re writing while the Yoga Book is asleep, it’s hard to know what you’re jotting down.
Those who can’t give up their paper addiction, however, will love this next feature. With a little finesse and jiggling of the stylus’ nib with the included pen cap, you can pull out the nib and replace it with an ink cartridge to make a real pen. Oh, and did I mention that “Real Pen” is what Lenovo named this stylus?
With the ink nib, you can write on real paper for a more old-school experience. And if you place the paper on the Create Pad, whatever you scrawl there will also show up in the Yoga Book. I tried placing an inch-thick notebook on top of the surface and wrote on it with the Real Pen, and I was impressed when the system still detected my scribbles.
This won’t work with a regular pen, though; you’ll have to use the one Lenovo provides. It’s designed with Wacom’s “feel IT” tech that responds to the electromagnetic resonance (EMR) film built into the keyboard, which enables the real-time digitization.
All of this adds up to an experience that will delight and win over notetakers, and I’m incredibly stoked by what I’ve seen so far.
But I don’t think the Yoga Book will appeal to road warriors. Sure, the Windows version will run desktop apps and multiple apps simultaneously, making it suitable for productivity. The Android version has Lenovo’s multiwindow support (until it gets updated to Android Nougat, which has that feature baked in), so it can handle multitasking as well. The Yoga Book is powered by an Intel Atom x5 processor and has a generous 8500mAh battery that Lenovo said should last for up to 15 hours of general use. Its 10.1-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS display should also be a decent canvas for multimedia.
But for a 2-in-1 to truly facilitate productivity, it needs a real keyboard. Even though Lenovo thoughtfully designed the layout with more generously sized keys and spaces and implemented haptic feedback, predictive text and autocorrect (the latter two are only on the Android model), I still struggled to bang out more than a few words at once without a typo. Lenovo said it would take about two hours to get used to the new keyboard, but I’m not sure I believe that.
The stark change may alienate those who depend heavily on physical keys. For those people, Lenovo still has slightly more traditional hybrids. The company also unveiled a super thin Yoga 910 convertible laptop, which has a full-sized physical keyboard and bends all the way around to become a 14-inch tablet.
Still, Lenovo deserves props for making a bold, innovative move. As a lover of notebooks and real-life writing, I can’t deny that I’m incredibly excited to try out the Yoga Book in the real world. And for those who prefer pen and paper (I imagine that includes artists, designers and students), the Yoga Book is a compelling candidate that could trump the iPad Pro and Surface.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Motorola’s new Moto Z Play is cheaper, but not compromised
Well, that was fast. It’s been just over a month since the Moto Z and Moto Z Force landed in the US and Motorola has already cooked up another phone to go with them. The new Moto Z Play is the last and least expensive member of the Moto Z Family, and you’ll be able to nab one for yourself in the US starting on September 8. Sounds all well and good, but here’s the big question: How does Motorola’s modular vision scale down to more modest smartphones? Pretty well, actually.
But first, a quick note. The Z Play will set you back $408 when it launches or $17 a month if you’re cool with installment plans. Unfortunately, Z Play is still going to be a Verizon exclusive in the US for at least a month or so. After that, you’ll be able to buy a fully unlocked version of the original, svelte Moto Z and the Z Play in October. One word: finally.
Moving on, the Moto Z Play packs an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 and 3GB of RAM. It’s a decidedly mid-range chip compared to the high-powered 820 Moto Z fans are used to, but it was still more than enough to keep things moving briskly. Swiping through apps, playing a few games, snapping on MotoMods all willy-nilly — none of this threw the Z Play for a loop.
Meanwhile, the 16-megapixel camera around the back churned out better shots than expected. For those of you keeping count, that’s actually a higher resolution than the super-slim Moto Z can shoot at, but I prefer the latter’s detail a little more. Shots taken with the Z Play were bright and had nicely rendered colors, though there were a few occasions where I got some strangely soft edges even in broad daylight. On the plus side, the camera packs a dual-focus system that leans both on phase detection and a laser-focusing module to quickly acquire targets.
The software situation was what you’d expect. As usual, Motorola gave us a mostly stock version of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow festooned with its intelligent gesture tricks — think twisting the phone to launch the camera and waving your hand over the screen to see the time and your notifications. I didn’t notice any major differences in performance between the Z Play and the either of the other Moto Zs I had lying around — a testament to the power you can squeeze out of an ostensibly mid-range chip. And since it’s a Verizon device, expect plenty of bloatware to greet you: I counted 14 pre-loaded apps I wanted nothing to do with. (The Amazon and Audible apps are here as well, but at least they’re useful.)
Anyway, toss all that into a glass-and-metal body and throw in a bright 5.2-inch screen running at 1080p and you’ve got the Moto Z Play in a nutshell. It’s familiar, it’s cheap and — believe it or not — it’s a little more special than you’d think.
Its battery life is pretty insane, for one. The combination of the power-sipping Snapdragon 625, Marshmallow’s Doze feature and a 3,510mAh battery means the Z Play often stuck around for more than two days of pretty consistent mixed usage. If you’re an especially light user, expect to see it last for closer to four full days before needing a charge. Not bad at all. The battery here is actually a little bigger than the one in the US-only Moto Z Force, making it one of the biggest batteries Motorola has ever produced in a phone (only the earlier Moto X Force tops it, at 3,760mAh). Oh, and there’s another thing.
It has a headphone jack.
Some facepalmed when Motorola removed that classic port from the Moto Z and Moto Z Force, but the company remained steadfast. It’s the way of the future, they claimed, and other players would follow suit. (Hint: Motorola was talking about Apple). Motorola might be right about this sea change in audio interfaces, and to be fair, the USB Type-C dongles they included with those earlier Moto Zs worked just fine. Still, I had to ask: Doesn’t this look like Motorola’s trying to bounce back from a controversy? To hear Motorola’s spokespeople tell it, there’s a headphone jack here simply because the design of the Z Play’s logic board had room for it. That’s it. Motorola wasn’t compromising on its vision or responding to a backlash — spokespeople say the company saw an opportunity and went for it. Sounds like spin to me, but whatever, we’ve got a headphone jack again!
For now, the Z Play seems to strike a commendable balance between price and performance — stay tuned as we see if that first impression holds up.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Lenovo’s two new tablets include a lower-cost Surface Pro rival
Lenovo’s hoopla at IFA may be focusing on its creative-minded Yoga Book, but there are two new bread-and-butter tablets that are worth your attention, too. The 12.2-inch Miix 510 is a Surface Pro-alike for people who want a reasonably speedy 2-in-1 Windows tablet, but aren’t willing to pay a premium. It sports a lower-resolution display than the Miix 700 (1,920 x 1,200) and is both heavier (1.9 pounds without the keyboard attached) and thicker (0.39 inches), but it promises to be more powerful. You can have up to a 6th-generation Core i7 processor inside rather than a Core M, and up to a 1TB SSD — if it weren’t for the maximum 8GB of RAM and 7.5 hours of battery life, the new Miix could easily go toe-to-toe with Microsoft’s current flagship slate. There’s even optional LTE data, which has been sorely missing on the Surface Pro line.
As it is, the pricing may make you forget the shortcomings. Lenovo hasn’t outlined the entry-level specs, but the Miix 510 will start at $600 when it ships in October. That’s inexpensive enough that you might just get a higher-end model and still undercut its Microsoft equivalent.
Oh, and Android fans? Lenovo hasn’t forgotten about you. It’s also unveiling the Yoga Tab 3 Plus, a 10.1-inch Android Marshmallow slate that slots neatly between the no-frills Yoga Tab 3 and its higher-end Pro counterpart. You get the Pro’s 2,560 x 1,600 display, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front cam and 32GB of expandable storage, and there’s even more RAM (3GB versus 2GB). However, this is otherwise a decidedly mid-range tablet– you’ll find a quad-core Snapdragon 652 processor and a slightly less capable 9,300mAh battery. You should still net an estimated 18 hours of battery life, though, and the Yoga Tab 3 series’ signature rotating stand (complete with a hole for hanging from the wall) remains intact.
Appropriately, you’re getting a middling price. The Plus will arrive in October for $300, or $100 more than the basic Yoga Tab 3 but well below the $500 of the Pro. If you like Lenovo’s take on Android tablet design, this is probably the sweet spot.
Update: We added hands-on pictures of the Miix 510 hybrid. As expected, it is clearly inspired by the Surface Pro, though the device doesn’t feel as premium as Microsoft’s. That said, we’ll see how it holds up once we test it in a more private setting, not on a demo table where dozens of other journalists are trying to pry it away from you. Unfortunately, Lenovo didn’t have the Yoga Tab 3 on display, but we’re told we might get a chance to see it in person later this week.
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Source: Lenovo
Hasselblad reveals a MotoMod that replaces your Moto Z’s camera
Remember the days before the Moto Z launched, when a mysterious camera MotoMod was leaked along with a handful of other snap-on accessories? Remember when the Z and Z Force launched, and that camera was nowhere in sight? Well, the wait is (almost) over. Motorola just revealed the fruit of its close collaboration with Hasselblad today — the $250 True Zoom — and it’s set to launch on September 15th.
Like, say, Sony’s peculiar lens cameras, the True Zoom replaces the 13/16/23-megapixel on the back of whichever Moto Z you happen to own. Instead, you’ll start working with a 1/2.3-inch 18.9-megapixel with big (think 1.55 micron) pixels and a 10x optical zoom. You’ll probably notice a few things right off the bat. First off, everything’s really well constructed. The mod itself is light, and when it’s strapped to a Moto Z the textured grip is easy to hold on to and the zoom rocker around the shutter button works like a charm. With a big lens housing, a xenon flash and dark trim, the whole thing looks exactly like a pricey point-and-shoot from a distance. More importantly, the True Zoom behaves like one, too.
Early test JPEG and RAW shots came out remarkably crisp in both bright and low-light conditions, just as you’d expect from a sensor with pixels that big. (Friendly reminder: Fretting about megapixels is almost completely pointless these days.) That crispness persists even when you’re zoomed in all the way, which is frankly incredible. Think about it: The more you zoom, the more the minute motions of your hands get magnified. Lackluster stabilization would make for a Monet-like soft image at best and a hot blurry mess at worst, but the True Zoom does an incredible job of keeping things tight and focused.
You can even reach beyond the limits of lens thanks to an additional 4X digital zoom, but really, you’re better off steering clear. That’s nothing against Hasselblad — digital zoom is just by nature a lousy compromise. (Alas, a pre-release software update basically bricked our True Zoom demo unit so we’ll update this story with sample photos once we get another to play with.)
Frankly, it’s a little strange to see Hasselblad dabbling with smartphone accessories of all things. In case you’re not familiar, the storied Swedish company specializes in expensive medium format cameras — at time of writing, the cheapest new Hasselblad camera on the market will set you back more than $6,000. To hear company spokespeople tell the tale, Hasselblad has been exploring more consumer-friendly options for a while, and Motorola’s high-speed MotoMod connector was intriguing because of how seamlessly it allows third-party hardware to meld with the host device. Speaking of seamless, the True Zoom also plays nice with third-party camera apps, though whether you need them is another story. The stock Moto Camera app has been tricked out with extra scene modes and presets for sports and night photography.
What we have here isn’t Hasselblad at its most ambitious, but Hasselblad at its weirdest, its most experimental. The jury’s still out on whether anyone actually wants (or needs) to carry something like this around, but hey — there’s still something to be said for ambitious, elegant weirdness. Stay tuned for more as we continue our testing.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Dogs process differences between spoken words and tone
One pinnacle of human development has been the ability to comprehend language, thought to be a major achievement separating us from the animals. So it was assumed with dogs, but new research reveals that canines understand more subtleties in speech than we thought thanks to similarities in brain regions to those of humans.
Two mechanisms are needed to us to understand what another person says: words and intonation. Vocabulary conveys information, but higher and lower changes in tone alter a message’s meaning. The study, performed by a team at Eötvös Loránd University, looked into how much dogs depend on these mechanisms — and found that they understand both to degrees, likely due to similarities in brain structure to humans’ gray matter.
The team noted that vocabulary learning “does not appear to be a uniquely human capacity that follows from the emergence of language, but rather a more ancient function that can be exploited to link arbitrary sound sequences to meanings,” according to Wired. Which may explain how humans and dogs communicated both separately and to each other in times before language developed.
In their experiments, the team spoke words to dogs both in praising and neutral tones. The canines understood vocabulary regardless of intonation, telling the difference between complimentary words flatly delivered and neutral words spoken in a praising tone. This suggests that the animals could discern meaning separate from vocal pitch. Hopefully this will lead to a better scientific understanding of the neural pathways involved in speech and language processing.
Via: Wired
Source: Science
What to expect from Apple’s ‘See You’ iPhone event
It’s that time of year again. It’s the end of summer, and Apple is once again on the cusp of introducing a new iPhone. Only this year, there’s a different buzz. There’s been talk of Cupertino playing it relatively safe with a new smartphone for the second year in a row or even taking away the time-honored headphone jack. What’s the deal with that? And of course, this is likely just the tip of the iceberg. The Apple Watch is getting long in the tooth, new versions of iOS and macOS are nearly ready… and as many will tell you, large swaths of Apple’s iPad and Mac lineups are gathering dust. But just what are you going to see when Tim Cook and company take the stage? We’ve rounded up some of the more plausible leaks, rumors and educated guesses to help set expectations for Apple’s September 7th media extravaganza.
The next iPhone: Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away
Rendering of the rumored “iPhone 7 Plus” by Martin Hajek.
Historically, Apple has introduced a major redesign of the iPhone every two years, with a milder “S” update in between. However, this year is something special: The Wall Street Journal and other sources expect the next iPhones (unofficially known as the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus) to play it safe. While there will reportedly be more substantial outward changes than you saw in the iPhone 6s, the Cupertino crew isn’t poised to reinvent the wheel either. It would largely share the same aesthetic that you’ve seen since 2014’s iPhone 6, complete with that curved but mostly featureless aluminum frame. The cleaner antenna lines and possible new colors (rumors have swirled of dark black and blue options) may be the only conspicuous ways to show that you have a new phone.
That’s not to say that the changes would be purely cosmetic — far from it. The standard-size iPhone is expected to get a larger camera that will offer improved light sensitivity while the larger Plus variant may tout dual cameras that offer better focusing and low-light photography, much like what you find on the Huawei P9. There’s also talk of a Force Touch-style home button, a speedier A10 chip, an increased 32GB of baseline storage (with a 256GB option) and even possible dual-SIM support for countries like China and India. One rumor has claims we’ll see higher-resolution displays, but the jury’s still out on that report.
There’s one big thing you probably won’t get this year, though: a headphone jack. As with the Moto Z and LeEco’s latest phones, you’ll have to either plug into the data port (in this case, the Lightning port) or go wireless to listen to your tunes. This doesn’t mean that your favorite wired headphones will instantly become obsolete, mind you. Some leaks have suggested that Apple may offer a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter to accommodate the legions of headphones on the market today. There’s no guarantee that this connector will come in the box, but you’ll probably have some kind of fallback if you’re not quite ready to embrace Bluetooth.
There’s one last, looming question about this iPhone: When will it arrive? An AT&T retail leak hints that the carrier may be bracing itself for an in-store launch on September 23rd, but that’s an unusually long wait for Apple. It typically prefers a release on the second Friday following the event, which would be the 16th. Well-known leaker Evan Blass has heard that the retail launch is slated for the 16th, so it seems like the more probable date.
The first Apple Watch refresh
Unless you count new bands and case colors as hardware upgrades, the Apple Watch has gone untouched since it arrived almost a year and a half ago, in April 2015. That makes it ripe for an upgrade… and many suspect that it’ll get its first big revision at the September event. From a logical standpoint, that makes sense. WatchOS 3 has been in testing all through the summer, existing supplies are running low, and Apple likes to showcase major platform revisions with new hardware. Besides, rumors originally had the new wristwear showing up in March. If it wasn’t quite ready then, it may well be ready now.
So what will you get if it does show up? Much like the iPhone 3G, this second model may be more about addressing the first model’s glaring issues than a complete revolution. Early rumors of a camera have died, and cellular data isn’t expected to make the cut due to battery-life concerns. Instead, the big deal may be GPS: You could get accurate navigation and run tracking without relying on your iPhone.
After that, it may be a matter of refinements. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is often on the ball about Apple plans, believes that the next Apple Watch will have a barometer for altitude tracking, stronger water resistance, a larger-capacity battery and a faster processor. That last part is particularly important. While WatchOS 3 will speed up many tasks all by itself, a CPU upgrade could further reduce those annoying wait times that plague the Apple Watch today.
The real mystery is when you’ll see the second-generation smartwatch. There haven’t been any credible leaks, and there’s no extensive history to rely on. The six-week gap between the March 2015 Apple Watch introduction and launch day isn’t typical for the company. If the hardware is ready to go, though, we could imagine it arriving side-by-side with new iPhones in mid-September.
Software upgrade release dates: iOS 10 and more
Software usually plays as big a role in Apple’s September events, and this year is likely no exception. Given that Apple always ties new iPhone hardware to new iOS releases, we’d expect to see a date for the iOS 10 upgrade at the event. The firm tends to ship those updates at least days before the new iPhones arrive.
As for other software? That’s harder to determine. WatchOS 3 seems like a shoo-in for a release date announcement (it’s been in developer testing as long as iOS), especially if there’s a new Apple Watch unveiled at the same time. A tvOS software update is less certain when there’s no word of a matching Apple TV hardware upgrade, although it could happen when Apple TV software updates have sometimes arrived alongside new versions of iOS. And a macOS Sierra launch? Well, that’s up in the air. Although Apple delivered El Capitan in late September last year, there’s no certainty that Sierra will be ready in a similar timeframe. It may have to wait until there’s new Mac hardware. On that note…
Wild cards: new Macs and iPads
Conceptual rendering of a MacBook Pro with an OLED touch strip.
If you ask devotees about what Apple needs to upgrade next, many of them will shout “Macs.” It’s for good reason, too. Outside of the 12-inch MacBook and iMac, the majority of the Mac lineup hasn’t been updated in more than a year. Some of this is due to Intel’s slowing refresh cycle and diminishing performance returns, but it’s still true that Apple’s computer line could stand an overhaul.
But will it get that overhaul in September? It doesn’t seem likely. A recent Bloomberg leak claims that a MacBook Pro with a fingerprint reader, an OLED control strip and USB-C is in the works for the fall but won’t show up on September 7th. And mum’s the word on other Mac revamps outside of vague hints of a MacBook Air refresh. Apple did recently stop selling the Thunderbolt Display and is rumored to be building a stand-alone 5K screen that would go well with new Macs, but the mill has been silent on its fate in recent weeks.
You might see new iPads. The iPad Air 2 is nearly two years old, and AppleInsider tipsters have hinted that at least the 12.9-inch iPad Pro may get an upgrade. Like the Mac, though, there’s nothing strongly suggesting that replacements for either will show up in September. Any updates might end up waiting until a separate October event, if not next year. Just keep an open mind — few would have expected the iPad Pro to be introduced alongside the new iPhone last year, and Apple may be content to introduce modestly improved tablets in September rather than save them for later.
Images: Martin Hajek (iPhone render); Reuters / Andrew Kelly (Apple Watch); Martin Hajek (MacBook Pro)
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