2018 LCD iPhone May Simply Be Called "iPhone"

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Guggenheim analyst Robert Cihra believes that Apple will be making a change to how it names iPhones in a bid to simplify its lineup.

Apple launched the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus alongside the iPhone X. This year, the company is expected to launch three new iPhones, including a 6.1-inch notched LCD model with a $550-$600 price tag.

2018 LCD iPhone May Simply Be Called

The analyst believes that Apple will refer to this mid-range 6.1-inch iPhone as only the “iPhone.” The 5.8-inch iPhone X will also be simply referred to as the iPhone X.

We think Apple may use this upcoming cycle to formally change its iPhone naming/branding pattern,” according to the analyst, with the “mid-market LCD-based iPhone” simply called “iPhone” without any numbering. The high-end iPhone for the generation will apparently keep the “X” suffix to denote its increased specifications. – Robert Cihra.

While this will definitely help in simplifying the naming of the iPhone lineup, it will end up creating confusion down the line among consumers as they will have to refer to an iPhone X from the past from the year it was launched.

The analyst also believes that the lack of a plus-sized iPhone X was a notable miss from Apple this year. However, with the company planning on launching a 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus this year alongside “a solid refresh” of the 6.1-inch LCD model with features carried over from the iPhone X, Apple should see its 2018 iPhone lineup fare far better than its 2017 lineup.

Source: iphonehacks

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Apple is giving away an extra free month of service to the original Apple Music trial customers who didn’t become paying subscribers following the expiration of their 3-month free trial.

Reddit user ashindn1l3 reported receiving a notification following the expiration of his free three-month trial that took him to the webpage page with Apple’s offer. This has permitted non-subscribers to get an additional month of free music before actually subscribing.

Apple Music Offering Extra Free Month to Trial
“Come see what you’ve been missing in the new Apple Music, like a simpler design that makes finding what you want and discovering new music, easier than ever,” reads Apple’s message.

TUTORIAL: How to cancel and view Apple subscription from auto renewing?

Customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong and other markets have reported being notified by Apple about the offer via push notifications and emails.

It is entirely possible, as some commenters pointed out, that this offer is limited to those who signed up for a free trial following Apple Music’s redesign in iOS 10. Apple appears to have been running this promotion for at least six months now.

Other streaming companies are also offering similar freebies.

Google Music offers a three-month trial. Amazon Music comes with a four-month trial. Spotify and Apple Music both offer three months of free music before they charge your credit card although we saw 6-month Apple Music and Spotify trials with certain carriers and partners.

Pricing and promotions for Apple Music vary from country to country. In some markets, for instance, these Apple Music trials require a small payment. According to Apple, they currently have about eight million trial accounts.

Faced with competition from Apple Music which passed 40 million subscribers, Spotify has boosted its free tier with such perks as on-demand playlists, a data saver mode and more.

Source: idownloadblog

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UBS predicted earlier this month that Apple would continue to see declining sales in China as competition from local vendors increases, and the latest data from Canalys suggests that this is exactly what’s happened.

The company reports that local brand Xiaomi overtook Apple to take fourth place in the first quarter of this year …

China is a tough market for all players at present, Canalys sayingthat total smartphone shipments declined 21% year-on-year.
"Smartphone shipments in China suffered their biggest ever decline in Q1 2018, down by more than 21% annually to 91 million units, a number first passed some four years ago in Q4 2013. Eight of the top 10 smartphone vendors were hit by annual declines."

The exceptions were Huawei – which grew its sales slightly by 2% – and Xiaomi, whose shipments grew by 37% over the year.

The company attributes the decline to consumer fatigue. All the flagship products look similar, and the marketing too has a samey feel which gives people little incentive to upgrade. While Apple’s iPhone X was an exception, its pricing is a huge barrier in China’s extremely competitive marketplace, and the prospect of a trade war with China could make things even worse.

Canalys says that China is ‘increasingly becoming a four-way contest’ between Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. For the first time, it lumped Apple into the ‘Others’ category.

The only comfort Apple can draw is that Samsung is having an even worse time in the country, the Korean company’s sales falling by more than 50%.

Source: 9to5mac

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t’s no secret that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been pushing and praising the company’s augmented reality (AR) efforts. With iOS 11 and ARKit, Apple made most of its iPhones and iPads capable of AR experiences. Now, a new report is sharing alleged details for a potential AR/VR headset.

CNET is reporting that Apple may be taking this to the next level. In addition to AR, the company is said to be working on a virtual reality (VR) headset that combines both technologies for a singular immersive experience.

Codenamed T288, the report states that Apple plans on building a headset with an 8K display in each eye, making it a whopping 16K display on the headset. But that’s not all, it also says that it’ll be a standalone device, not requiring a Mac or iPhone to power it. The projected release date is sometime in 2020. This corroborates a previous report from Bloomberg stating the same release year.

At the same time, the company is also reportedly working on a pair of AR glasses and has already begun talking to component makers about the manufacturing of such a product. This should be taken with a grain of salt as Apple could potentially kill the project at any time. However, it is interesting to take a peek into what the company is doing behind closed doors, and potentially a future product that we can all get excited about.

VR, on the other hand is interesting. Apple has in the past said that AR is the future, while not focusing much on VR. With that in mind, having a 16K display for your VR experience would truly bring the technology to the next level as most VR headsets hardly break the 1440p/2K resolution, and most of those require your smartphone or computer to operate.

Source: 9to5mac

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A tweet by President Trump suggested that foreign trade would be a focus for yesterday’s Oval Office meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook.

This now appears to be confirmed by follow-up meetings Cook had whilst in Washington.

Reuters reported the meetings.
"Cook, who has urged calm during the recent flare in U.S. trade tensions with China, held private talks with Trump in the Oval Office. He also spoke with the president’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer."

The meetings followed the beginnings of a trade war between the USA and China. Trump kicked things off by announcing plans for hefty import tariffs on steel and aluminum, before setting his sights on consumer electronics.

Lobbying by Apple and other tech companies seems to have persuaded Trump to back off, but his threat of $100M of duties on Chinese imports led to China retaliating with an initial round of $50M tariffs on US imports.

Cook will have been seeking to calm the waters and play his part in seeking to avert an all-out trade war between the two countries which are likely to damage both economies. It’s often been said that there are no winners in trade wars, only losers.

Cook and Trump disagree on many other issues, among them DACA, immigration more generally, diversity and climate change. The two do at least agree on corporate tax reform, however. A White House official described the meeting as ‘good’ while Apple made no comment.

Source: 9to5mac