iPhone XS Max is Apple’s Most Expensive iPhone Model to Date at $1,449 for 512GB

Now that the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have officially been announced, Apple.com has been updated with detailed pricing information for all versions of the new iPhones. We’ve rounded up the prices for the new iPhone XS models below, and note that these prices relate to the one-time payment option on Apple.com.

To start, the iPhone XS is priced the same as last year’s iPhone X, now with the added 512GB tier:

• iPhone XS 64GB – $999.00
• iPhone XS 256GB – $1,149.00
• iPhone XS 512GB – $1,349.00

With the iPhone XS Max, Apple not only has the biggest iPhone ever, but now the most expensive iPhone it’s ever sold, with the 512GB tier reaching $1,449.00:

• iPhone XS Max 64GB – $1,099.00
• iPhone XS Max 256GB – $1,249.00
• iPhone XS Max 512GB – $1,449.00

Estimates for monthly installment plans on AT&T place the iPhone XS Max 512GB at around $68.66 per month, while the iPhone XS 512GB is about $64.50 per month.

For those interested, all models of the iPhone XS and XS Max will be available for pre-order this Friday, September 14. Then, one week from Friday, the smartphones will launch on September 21.

The devices will be available in more than 30 countries and territories including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UAE, and US Virgin Islands.

Related Roundup: iPhone XsTag: September 2018 event
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Apple Releases New Beats Solo3 Wireless and UrBeats3 to Match iPhone XS and iPhone XR

Apple today unveiled Beats headphones in fresh color options that are designed to match the newly announced iPhone XS and iPhone XR models.

The Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear headphones, priced at $299.95, are available in Satin Silver and Satin Gold, two new shades that match the silver and gold iPhone XS models. There is no Space Gray option.

The UrBeats3 Earphones with Lightning connector, priced at $59.95, are available in new Blue, Yellow, and Coral colorways to match the iPhone XR models that come in those shades.

While the new Solo3 Wireless models are available for purchase starting today, the UrBeats3 models that match the new iPhone XR will be available later this fall, presumably when the iPhone XR models are released in October.

Tag: September 2018 event
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After No Sign of AirPower at Today’s Event Apple Wipes Most Mentions From Website

The long-awaited AirPower charging mat, which is designed to charge the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods all at once, did not make an appearance at today’s iPhone-centric event that saw the launch of new iPhone XS and iPhone XR models.

Apple did not mention the AirPower at all on stage, despite the fact that it’s now been an entire year since the device was announced in September 2017 alongside the iPhone X.

In addition to failing to give an update on the AirPower, Apple has also essentially scrubbed all mentions of the device from its website. Searching for AirPower doesn’t bring up anything, and the only place AirPower is listed appears to be on the page for the AirPods.

In a section of Apple’s AirPods site the AirPower is depicted alongside a mention of an optional wireless charging case, which is listed as “currently unavailable.” The wireless AirPods charging case was meant to be sold alongside the AirPower to enable AirPods wireless charging.

At this point, it’s not clear what’s going on with the AirPower. Apple originally said that the device would launch in 2018, but it seems like alongside new iPhones would have been the opportune moment.

It’s clear there are still technical details to be worked out, and earlier this year, rumors suggested that Apple was still working on issues with overheating and dealing with multi-device circuitry. At the time, Apple was said to be aiming for a September launch, but no AirPower is coming in September.

Apple still has a few more months to meet its 2018 deadline for the AirPower, so it’s possible we’ll see the device debut via press release in October, November, or December.

Related Roundup: AirPodsTags: AirPower, September 2018 eventBuyer’s Guide: AirPods (Caution)
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Lab-grown mini-brains will help us gain a better understanding of the real thing

Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have developed a rapid, cost-effective method to grow organoid “mini-brains” in a lab. These miniature brains, which replicate the architecture of brains but possess no level of consciousness, are created using stem cells. The researchers hope that these mini-brains will allow us to gain a better understanding of the real brains that they replicate.

“The brain is one of the most complex tissues in the body,” Alysson Muotri, director of the Stem Cell Program at UCSD School of Medicine, told Digital Trends. “While we have a good idea of anatomy and how the adult brain work, the understanding of human brain neurodevelopment is at a very mysterious stage. This is because the intact human embryonic brain grows in utero, and, thus, it is very inaccessible. There [is little information] about how the brain develops, [and] when it starts to function, yet there are many neurological disorders that starts in utero. It is [therefore] very important to learn how the brain develops, both in healthy and disease conditions.”

The mini-brains are created by growing human pluripotent stem cells and then inducing them to form neural progenitor cells. This is achieved using small molecules added to a culture medium. These neural progenitor cells are then prompted to grow in three dimensions and expand, forming a sphere with multiple layers. Finally, the progenitor cells are turned into neurons and a type of glia cell that is also present in the brain, which then matures into a full organoid.

Researchers have been optimizing protocols for creating brain cells in a dish for decades. However, it is only more recently that researchers have learned that it is possible to induce growth in 3D in a way that allows the cells to self-organize in a structure that resembles the early stages of the human embryonic brain. This opens up the possibility of studying the early stages of human neurodevelopment in the lab. Doing so may provide new information about genetic disorders, such as autism, or the different ways in which viruses affect the brain.

To make the process of developing these mini-brains easier, the UCSD researchers have developed a protocol that makes it faster to convert somatic cells into 3D-brain organoids. “Besides cost and time, the biggest advantage is on the throughput,” Muotri continued. “We can now create hundreds of different brain organoids, from different individuals, at the same time.”

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Stem Cells and Development.

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Here are all the Apple Watches getting updated to WatchOS 5

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Arriving alongside the new Apple Watch Series 4, WatchOS 5 is the next huge step up for Apple’s thriving wearable ecosystem. This new version of Apple’s wearable OS is coming with a bunch of improvements, including better health and fitness tracking, a handy walkie-talkie mode, and a new feature for Siri that means she doesn’t need a trigger word to activate. WatchOS 5 has been available to developers since Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June, and it will be released for everyone else on September 17.

But despite all those new features and improvements, some Apple Watch owners might not be celebrating when the update finally drops. It turns out not every Apple Watch is getting the update to WatchOS 5, and some will be left behind. Avoid an update-induced headache come WatchOS 5 release day, and find out now if your Apple Watch is getting updated.

How to identify your Apple Watch

But before we begin, what if you’re not sure which model your Apple Watch actually is? After all, each generation of the Apple Watch has looked more or less the same — if you bought the latest “Apple Watch” without thinking too much about the model then you’re certainly not alone.

Thankfully, this is a situation that Apple has foreseen, and there is a simple way to discover which Apple Watch is perched on your wrist.

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Tap the My Watch tab, then hit General > About.
Scroll to the Model field, then tap it to reveal a model number beginning with “A”.
Note down that model number and compare it to Apple’s database to find out which Apple Watch you have.

Now that’s you’re sure you know which Apple Watch you have, it’s time to find out if you’ll be getting an OS upgrade.

Apple Watches that will receive WatchOS 5

Device

Apple Watch Series 3 (2017)

Apple Watch Series 2 (2016)

Apple Watch Series 1 (2016)

There’s nothing hugely surprising here; if you’ve bought an Apple Watch fairly recently, then you would expect it to stay updated with the latest and greatest of Apple’s updates for now. Last year’s Apple Watch Series 3, the Apple Watch Series 2, and the Apple Watch Series 1 from 2016 are all watches that will be receiving WatchOS 5 when it launches.

We didn’t include the upcoming Apple Watch Series 4 in this list because that watch will launch with WatchOS 5 already installed — so it won’t be an update.

Apple Watches that will not receive WatchOS 5

Device

Apple Watch (first generation) (2015)

Bad news for anyone still hanging onto their first-generation Apple Watch — it won’t be receiving an upgrade to the latest WatchOS, which means you won’t be sampling the latest additions and improvements to the OS.

But why isn’t your watch getting updated with the rest? Unfortunately, every piece of technology has a shelf life, and there comes a day when it simply isn’t worth the company’s time to keep pushing updates to an outdated model. Apple is known for supporting its tech for longer than other companies — there are five-year-old iPhones receiving the upcoming iOS 12 update — but even Apple has its limits.

The first generation of Apple Watch is actually pretty young for an Apple product, so it’s a surprise to see it getting the boot so soon. Which leads us to suspect that the reason isn’t to do with its lifespan — it’s linked to the watch’s hardware itself. Sometimes an update is too much for older hardware to handle, and it’s not a good idea to shackle future innovation in order to stay tethered to older hardware. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way of the tech world.

Does this mean you need to ditch your Apple Watch and go shopping? Not necessarily. If you’re desperate for the new WatchOS 5 then you’re going to have to invest in a new model — but if your Apple Watch is chugging along just fine and you’re otherwise happy with your wrist-based companion, why not keep it around? If it’s still a solid performer and WatchOS 5 is your only grumble, maybe consider living with the still capable WatchOS 4. After all, it’s still a heck of a smartwatch.

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‘Crop-dusting’ drones drop biodegradable sensors instead of pesticides

From self-driving tractors to farming robots, there’s no doubt that agriculture is in the middle of a high tech shakeup. But a new proposal from researchers in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. could take things to the next level — by using drones to carry out a futuristic version of crop dusting; only they’ll be dispersing tiny sensors in place of crop protection products.

These 3D printed biodegradable sensors, called “PlantCopters,” are modeled after dandelion flower and maple seeds, which can float through the air in a manner similar to miniature helicopters. They will then get stuck on the leaves of crops, where they can keep track of plant growth, health, and surrounding microclimate. This data can then be transmitted via Bluetooth.

“Due to complexity and expense, [similar technology has previously been out of reach for many] farmers, especially in the developing countries where most of the farming takes place,” Muhammad Mustafa Hussain, a professor of electrical engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, told Digital Trends. “We are reducing both complexity and price to bring high tech to farming. This development, when widely deployed, will generate big data which can be used by artificial intelligence to make and use execute intelligent decisions using robotics. This is the first step toward that direction.”

At present, the work is still in its relatively early stages. Researchers on the project have created long-lasting, low-power sensors which they have shown can detect even tiny amounts of growth changes in plants and then transmit this data. They have also demonstrated that prototype PlantCopters can be successfully dropped from a height of 50 feet, although a mass airdrop has not yet been attempted.

However, the promise of such a project is immense. Alongside some of the other agricultural technologies we mentioned up top, this hints at a data-driven, autonomous future for farming. Not only will tools of this type give farmers more information about their crops, they could also hopefully free up some of their time, too.

A paper describing this project, titled “Compliant plant wearables for localized microclimate and plant growth monitoring,” was recently published in the journal npj Flexible Electronics.

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Xs Max? Xr? Apple’s new iPhone names are a confusing mess

Apple has lost its way. It has become confused, unsure of what to do for the best, and it all comes down to an odd lack of planning. A lack of foresight even. No, we’re not talking about the new iPhone models — which we’re excited about getting our hands on — but the new nomenclature Apple has chosen.

It is, by far, the worst collection of letters arranged in some semblance of order we’ve seen in a while.

Naming excess

This year’s iPhone model range is called the iPhone XR, the iPhone XS, and the iPhone XS Max. None of this makes much sense. The biggest problem is that according to Apple, the iPhone X was the iPhone 10 — it’s a Roman numeral, see — because it was released in the same year as the iPhone’s 10th anniversary. That anniversary has passed, so why are we still celebrating it?

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

It was hard enough to keep from calling the damn thing the iPhone Eks before, and now we’ve got two new phones with names that when read by any normal person will be the iPhone Excess, and Excess Max. Not the iPhone 10 S. Ever. Why? Because there’s a big X in front of the S. If you want it to be called the 10, Apple, it needs to feature the number 10 in the name, exactly as you did with versions three-to-eight.

If a naming structure is going to be based on ascending numbers, let’s try to keep it in some kind of logical order, OK?

Now, we also have another point of confusion. Why Max instead of Plus? Plus has been the name-of-choice for the bigger iPhone since the iPhone 6. It’s well-established, people understand the difference between it and the regular phone, and it’s written properly instead of using a + sign. Why change it? Especially to a word that’s not only an informal abbreviation, and therefore cheaper sounding, but also less meaningful to the brand than Plus. What’s more, we’re all so indoctrinated that the bigger iPhone will inevitably be referred to as the iPhone XS Plus anyway.

We thought you cared about brand recognition and reputation, Apple?

What about nine, and two?

Yes, we get that Apple has previously followed up a new model with an S model revision a year later, and that the XS fits into this pattern. Except there is no pattern anymore. Did you like the iPhone 9? How about the iPhone 2? Apple forgot all about these phones, and has merrily skipped past them both. If a naming structure is going to be based on ascending numbers, let’s try to keep it in some kind of logical order, OK?

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The iPhone XR is even worse. Apple’s low-cost iPhone has always suffered with a stupid name anyway. The iPhone SE’s name is meaningless, so we’re glad it has gone away, but sadly it has been replaced by the iPhone XR, which bears no relation to the older iPhone 5C, and forgets all about the SE model it actually replaces entirely. Where did the R come from, all of a sudden?

Anyway, let’s recap. The new iPhone XS may be colloquially called both the iPhone 10S and the iPhone Excess, and iPhone XS Max may get referred to as the iPhone 10S Plus, or Excess Plus, or even Eks S Max, if we remember. Finally, the iPhone XR may actually stay safe, as it’s the only one without any history at all, except is it the 10R or the Eks R? Who knows, it’s all too confusing.

Apple can get it right

The main issue with the iPhone range’s names is that they’re too complicated. It’s not like Apple has some kind of decent-name-blindness either. Look at the Apple Watch. It’s simply called the Apple Watch, and the only way to know the difference is by series name. That’s how car manufacturers approach things. The BMW 3-Series, for example, has had the same basic name for decades.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Car geeks learn to differentiate models using the lesser known names; but to regular people, these don’t matter. It’s a 3-Series, just like it’s an Apple Watch. We don’t need an Apple Watch S, or an Apple Watch RS Max Turbo. We know what it is, everyone calls it the same thing, and everyone remembers the name without furrowing their brow trying to recall the right way to say it.

Does it matter?

Yes, names matter a lot, and Apple knows it. It understands names must be memorable, that’s why Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, a product to go along with the iMac, the iPod, and in later years the iPad. It’s also why the iPhone name is often used by marketing companies explaining how to name products. It’s product naming gold.

This marketing company singles it out in its advice on the subject, but Apple should have paid attention to the other tips the list contains, including making a name easy to spell, pronounce, and remember. Tech marketing company New Kind also advises against complicated names, and dissects how Tesla should move forward with its own, similar, naming issues.

What’s the solution?

Apple has teams of marketing professionals working on these names, and we have no doubt they know exactly what they’re doing, but this seems like a missed opportunity to start with a clean slate. The iPhone 8 and iPhone X should have signified the end of random numbers and letters being applied to the new iPhone models.

We already say the solution to all this in normal conversation anyway. When someone asks you, “What phone do you have,” the general reply is to say, “An iPhone,” without going into much further detail unless quizzed about it. Everything most people want to know is relayed here.

2018 should have introduced the iPhone, and the iPhone Plus (or Max, if it really has to be), along with the iPhone Lite, iPhone Minus, or iPhone Min. The cheap one is hard to name, so that’s where the marketers can earn their money. Note: Throwing letters and numbers at it is not the answer.

Apple should be exploiting to the power of the iPhone brand name to max (Plus?); rather than diluting it with pointless, illogical, and incomprehensible additional letters.

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Everything you need to know about the Apple iPhone Xr

Apple’s set of 2018 iPhones is finally here, and while the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max may get all the attention, not everyone has $1,000 to spend on a phone. Thankfully, however, those flagship phones aren’t the only new iPhones around — Apple has also launched a so-called “low-cost” iPhone Xr.

While a slight diversion from Apple’s usual naming scheme, the new iPhone Xr clearly has a lot to offer, and if you’re an iPhone user it may well be the best choice for your needs. Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s new iPhone Xr, and what makes it different from the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Plus.

Design

The first thing to note about the iPhone Xr is the fact that it features a modern iPhone design, with a notch at the top. The device seems to have slightly larger bezels than the iPhone Xs and Xs Max, but it’s barely noticeable, and you probably won’t feel it unless you’re moving from an iPhone X to an iPhone Xr. That display comes in at 6.1 inches — which is right in between the 5.8-inch iPhone Xs and 6.5-inch iPhone Xs Max. That display is an LCD display, and Apple calls it a Liquid Display. It has a resolution of 1,792 x 828, True Tone support, and more — though, unfortunately, it does not feature 3D Touch.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The back of the phone is perhaps the biggest diversion from the iPhone Xs and Xs Max — while the two more expensive devices feature dual-sensor cameras, the iPhone Xr instead offers a single-lens camera. We’ll go into the camera’s specs a little later. On top of that, the phone has an aluminum frame, which means that like other new iPhone models, it will support wireless charging. It also has IP67 water-resistance.

Another big point of difference between the iPhone Xr and iPhone Xs is the colors on offer. The iPhone Xs and Xs Max come in six different colors, including white, black, blue, coral, red, and yellow.

Specs

While the iPhone Xr does offer a slightly different design than the iPhone Xs and Xs Max, thankfully, the phone is relatively similar under the hood. The new device features Apple’s new A12 Bionic processor, which is the first 7nm processor, and should make for an ultra-powerful experience. The storage options are a little different than the iPhone Xs and Xs Max — storage starts at 64GB for all models, but while the iPhone Xs and Xs Max feature options for 256GB and 512GB, the iPhone Xr instead offers 128GB and then 256GB options. Still, that’s likely more than enough for the vast majority of users — especially when coupled with cloud storage.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The battery life on the iPhone, according to Apple, comes in at an hour and a half more than the iPhone 8 Plus — though Apple didn’t give a specific number of hours for the device.

Camera

As mentioned, perhaps the biggest difference between the iPhone Xs and Xs Max, and the iPhone Xr is the fact that the iPhone Xr only has a single-sensor camera — meaning the phone won’t offer features like Portrait Mode. The camera on the iPhone Xr comes in at 12-megapixels with an aperture of f/1.8, and has support for Portrait Mode through machine learning — not through the dual-sensor camera like on other iPhones. We’ll have to wait and see just how high quality that Portrait Mode is.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

On the front, the iPhone Xr features the same TrueDepth camera system as the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max, meaning you get the same Face ID features as other new iPhone models.

Price and availability

The iPhone Xr will be available for pre-order starting on October 19, with a shipping date set for October 26. The device will come in at $749, making it the iPhone of choice for those that like the iPhone X design but aren’t a fan of the high price tag.

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Ex-Rolls-Royce engineer looks to conquer the tiny home market with the Conker

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Conker Living

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Conker Living

How will we all live in the future? If some science fiction stories are to believed, it could be in shiny and spherical pod-style homes that resemble giant soccer balls on stilts. If the year 3000 can’t come around quick enough for you, former Rolls-Royce and Bentley engineer Jag Virdie has your back.

Virdie recently launched “The Conker,” a new type of spherical dwelling that can be installed in a single day, and brings with it the possibility of stylish off-the-grid living. It also has the added benefit of making your friends think some kind of luxury alien spacecraft has landed in your backyard.

“The aerodynamic shape of the Conker negates the need for guttering, and allows it to harvest water and be easily fitted with solar panels on the exterior,” Virdie told Digital Trends. “What we have created is [something] that allows people to create whatever environment they want — both inside and out. You can really make it bespoke, using whatever patterns or colors you want on the outside, and whatever furniture or colors you want on the inside.”

The full-size Conker is around 13-feet tall and 12.6-feet in diameter. Its shell is made from aluminum and recycled plastic, while the walls contain more than 200mm of insulation, which promises to make it heat efficient in both summer and winter. To gain access to the pod, you’ll use a hatch-like door and steps, similar to the kind of entrance you would find on an airplane. Inside, the surprisingly spacious Conker boasts wood floors and, on request, a wet room, toilet, kitchenette, and other essentials that truly turn a pod into a home.

It costs a shade over $45,000 “with all the bells and whistles,” although cheaper options are available if you don’t want all the extras. That relatively high price point puts it above some other micro homes, but there are no extra costs tacked on on top. For instance, it doesn’t need to be installed on a concrete base or any kind of foundation. And, heck, with the possibility of solar-powered off-the-grid living, you won’t even necessarily have energy costs to pay!

“There are several markets that we’re looking at,” Virdie said. “One is the ‘glamping’ market because they’ve really been the first to express their excitement. There has also been interest in having them as a garden room or office — which is how I use mine. There’s also potential for it as a building which can easily be assembled or dismantled to function as, for instance, a temporary bar for shows, music festivals, and other events. There’s a lot that the Conker can do.”

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MacOS Mojave officially launches on September 24

During Wednesday’s Apple event, the company announced that MacOS Mojave will be exiting its beta status on September 24. The operating system was announced earlier this year at the Worldwide Developers Conference and developers and consumers have been helping Apple test the OS since then in beta editions. At the time, Apple promised that Mojave would be available for all Mac users on a compatible system to download this fall, and now it looks like users will be able to experience Mojave later in September.

“MacOS Mojave will be available this fall as a free software update for Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later, plus 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro models with recommended Metal-capable graphics cards,” Apple announced.

MacOS Mojave delivers a number of notable upgrades to the Mac experience. It brings a new night mode, bringing a dark theme interface to the Mac. The new Mojave night mode is designed, as Apple highlighted during its WWDC keynote, to help reduce eye strain for night owls who prefer to get work done in the dark. Apple will also be revamping its MacOS App Store with a refreshed design, and the company promised that some iOS apps will be available on the Mac for the first time with Mojave. These include popular apps from the iPhone, like News, Home, and Voice Memos. The Home app will allow Mac users to control their smart home setup from the Mac.

Other features include enhancements to the Finder, desktop stacks, dynamic desktops, Quick Actions, and an easier way to mark-up screenshots.

Another big Mojave update — and one that likely isn’t as attention-grabbing as the night mode — is that the new operating system is designed with user privacy in mind. The Safari web browser on Mojave will be updated to make it harder for sites to track you on the internet. Data privacy is becoming a growing topic of interest with lawmakers. With the European Union passing stricter privacy regulations earlier this year and California following suit this summer, the topic is now part of the national conversation with Apple scheduled to testify before the Senate about its privacy practices later this month.

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