Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/09/monday-morning-news110917/
With Apple’s big event happening on Wednesday for those of us in the GMT+10 timezone, Ars Technica has a summary of what we’re likely to see from Apple’s big reveal. I’d consider the next iPhone lineup — whatever they actual devices are going to be called — a lock, along with an Apple TV hardware refresh to bring 4K and HDR support to the masses. There’s talk of an updated Apple Watch with LTE, and finally, we’re also expected to get release dates for iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, tvOS 11, and the rest of the software that Apple has been beta testing for the past few months.
Over the weekend the iOS 11 GM was leaked to 9to5Mac and MacRumors, as reported by the BBC, and Gruber is confident in saying the leak came from within Apple. I see this is a double-edged sword: while we get confirmation about some specific aspects of the next iPhone that we didn’t previously know, it also kind of spoils Apple’s presentation if you already know what’s coming. But at the same time, seeing how Apple sells those features will still be pretty good.
The D22 iPhone (the one with the OLED display everyone’s been talking about) has had some of its features revealed to us by the iOS 11 GM. New and confirmed features include portrait lighting from the camera flash, a bunch of new video capture resolutions and modes, and a True Tone display. There’s a bunch of other smaller details, but in the interests of not spoiling everything, click though to see everything.
For whatever reason, the iOS 11 GM refers to the “updated” iPhone models as the iPhone 8 and the 8 Plus, with the OLED-equipped model getting the iPhone X moniker. It seems weird for Apple to skip the S revision this time around, although it could be because they don’t want to be perceived as “behind” flagships from other manufacturers.
Ming-Chi Kuo says all iPhone X models will come with a black bezel to further enhance the aesthetics of the device. There’s a few sensors in the notch that look unsightly unless they’re hidden from view, and having a black screen bezel with an OLED display will make it hard to differentiate where the screen ends, leading to even more of an edge-to-edge display illusion.
The Face ID setup process has been detailed in a series of tweets by the developers who took apart the iOS 11 GM, and it really seems as though this will be replacing Touch ID. It’ll be interesting to see how Apple sells this feature as a Touch ID replacement — and even more telling if it works just as well, as anything else would be certain doom for the company.
With an LTE-equipped Apple Watch expected to be announced by the end of the week, 9to5Mac says there’s a good chance the Watch will share the same phone number as your iPhone, with some telcos implementing a shared plan that will be cheaper than adding a separate plan to whatever you currently pay for. Owing to the fact that we’re basing all of this off strings found in the iOS 11 GM, details are still thin on the ground and we’re not 100% sure on how this will all hang together.
If you want to stream 4K media on the updated Apple TV, strings from the iOS 11 GM say you’ll need at least a 15Mbps internet connection to do so. I’ve heard of people with 100Mbps fibre having issues streaming content from Apple’s content servers, so we’ll have to see how this all goes in our internet backwater.
With all the hype surrounding the next iPhone, AppleInsider says the biggest reveal will be Apple Park. It’ll be the first time the public will enter the Steve Jobs Theater, with some lucky few getting to see the rotating elevators and hidden demo area up-close and in-person.
Stephen Hackett wonders whether we’ll see two Apple events before the end of the year. Last year Apple had their usual September event which showed off new iPhones, with the new MacBook Pro being announced separately in October. It’s possible we’ll have an October event, but I would have thought something closer to the end of the year for the iMac Pro, HomePod, and whatever else Apple decides to update.
