Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/08/monday-morning-news280817/
Bloomberg reports Apple will be revealing the upgraded Apple TV this year, with support for 4K and HDR content. They claim it’s possible Apple will unveil the new set-top box at their event in September, which will be shared with whatever announcements we get about new iPhones. Launching alongside it will be a renewed focus on live TV content, possibly even a new TV app that can aggregate live TV content streaming within apps.
The New York Times, on the other hand, tells us about the next iPhone. It’s been ten years since the launch of the original iPhone, which is a long time in the tech industry, and the iPhone is still an incredibly dominant force in the marketplace. Brian Chen claims Apple are targeting a US $999 price point for the next flagship, which puts the Australian price of the next iPhone firmly into $1500 territory.
An L-shaped logic board shared on Twitter seems destined for a future iPhone other than the flagship model, and MacRumors claims it’s for the S-revision of the Plus-sized iPhone based on matching screw hole locations consistent with the current iPhone 7 Plus logic board. The bare logic board doesn’t give us any juicy details about what the next iPhone will be like, but if App Store updates are any indication, expect performance improvements.
The latest iOS 11 beta release contains icons that suggest more Apple Watch workouts are on the way, with dancing, surfing, and even AFL listed as possible tracked activities. It’s not known whether these workouts will launch with watchOS 4 within the month, as they’re not present within the latest watchOS firmware, but they’re definitely in iOS 11.
The iOS 11 beta release has also given us more details about the Apple Pay Cash Card that will be coming later this year. It’s been pretty quiet following the reveal of the person-to-person Apple Pay Cash Card at WWDC, but new strings suggest that users will have to identify themselves using photo ID before being allowed to use the service. Not that it matters for us anyway, as Apple Pay Cash Card will only be available within the US at launch.
Apple has removed several popular Iranian apps from App Stores worldwide, following US sanctions against the country. The Verge says it’s a particularly rough move for Iranian developers who have recently faced harder restrictions, and Apple originally began removing apps that facilitate transactions for businesses or entities based in Iran in January.
Over in the US, Apple has added banners to its website and the iTunes Store prompting users to donate to Hurricane Harvey, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross service to aid those affected by the tropical storm.
There’s an article from CNBC which says it makes no sense for Apple to be creating original video content. There’s plenty of other great areas that Apple could pay attention to, but the author writes there’s nothing special about giving consumers more to consume, especially when there’s already plenty of other companies doing the same thing.
The Shelf looks like a great idea for an incredibly useful iPad productivity app, enabled by the drag-and-drop feature that’s new in iOS 11. It’s not quite out yet, but look out for it in the App Store when iOS 11 launches.
Tidbits tells us about the problem with abandoned apps, saying that it’s almost about that time where the App Store will either becoming increasingly relevant or fade away into obscurity as a fad. But it’s not just about abandoned apps, there are plenty of other App Store problems long-term, too.