Monday Morning News

Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/10/monday-morning-news301017/

With iPhone X pre-orders now out of the way, Apple has released a statement saying pre-orders were “off the charts”. While that doesn’t give us any idea of how many iPhone X devices were pre-ordered over the weekend, shipping times for the iPhone X in Australia are now at the 5-6 week mark for all models. If you pre-order now, there’s a good chance you’ll get your device before Christmas.

As for how well the iPhone X has sold compared to the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, things are a little murky there, too. With no hard and fast number released from Apple, it’s hard to tell whether iPhone 8 sales have surpassed iPhone X pre-orders. Instead, sales estimates from consumer analytics firms say iPhone 8 and 8 Plus sales account for less than iPhone 7 and 7 Plus units in the same timeframe last year. Maybe we’ll know more when Apple releases their financial quarterly results later this week.

US retailer Best Buy is not, charging an extra $100 on the already high price of the iPhone X. A statement provided by the company says customers want the flexibility of being able to purchase a phone the way they want, attempting to justify their price premium by saying “sometimes that has a cost”. I’m not sure what flexibility they’re talking about, but perhaps your wallet will be slightly more flexible after purchasing.

With Apple outlets talking about the high price of screen replacements and out-of-warranty repairs for the iPhone X, I decided to check out the out of warranty repair prices in Australia, and it’s… not good. Replacing just the screen on the iPhone X will set you back $419, with “other damage” coming in at $819, over or close to half the cost of the device, depending on which capacity you buy. Kinda makes you wonder whether you should be considering the $299 AppleCare+, which could be worth it unless you have particularly good insurance.

The Verge tells us the tale of the Apple engineer who was fired because he let his daughter record a video of the unreleased iPhone X on Apple property. The original video has since been taken down, but is still available pretty much everywhere, and the entire story is a stark reminder of why it’s important to respect a company’s unreleased IP.

A review of the iPhone 8 from Six Colors says that it’s the device that people on the two-year upgrade cycle will be buying… if they’re not getting the iPhone X. The iPhone 8 is a perfectly fine smartphone, with many improvements and new features over its predecessor, it’s just that there’s also the iPhone X to consider for anyone buying a new iPhone.

Apple has shown off a version of Final Cut Pro X that will support HEVC, improved colour tools, and even support for VR. Final Cut Pro X 10.4 isn’t out yet, but was shown off at the Final Cut Pro X Creative Summit, with a release date scheduled for later this year.

Macworld talks about unreliable iOS and macOS features that are far from just working, including reminders, iCloud Keychain, and Mac/Apple Watch interactions that either work or they don’t, often with no rhyme or reason.

The third-generation iPad will be marked as obsolete within Apple’s repair system starting tomorrow, meaning that no parts or replacements will be possible. Originally released in 2012, the third-generation iPad was out for just six months before being replaced by the iPad fourth generation, which ditched the 30-pin dock connector for a Lightning port.

Apple’s latest product, besides the iPhone X, is a leather sleeve for the 12-inch MacBook. It retails for the rather steep price of $219 in Australia, coming in both a Saddle Brown and Midnight Blue colour schemes.

[quote=“bennyling, post:1, topic:3762”]
Mac/Apple Watch interactions that either work or they don’t, often with no rhyme or reason.
[/quote] In this article problems with unlocking a mac with an apple watch is discussed. For me it works every time, except after restarting, when its not meant to work.

It’s been hit and miss for me until High Sierra and my Apple Watch 3, which seem to be stable.

Near enough to flawless for me since it first became a thing. I think it’s not worked maybe twice in that whole time.