Thursday Morning News

Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/04/thursday-morning-news130417/

A research note claims all of Apple’s iPhones released this year will feature 3GB of RAM and Lightning connectors with faster charging. MacRumors notes that the iPhone 7 Plus already has 3GB of RAM, so the regular-sized model and whatever third size Apple release will be the only ones to get a bump in RAM. USB-C charging is likely on the cards also, at least replacing the end that was previously a regular USB connector.

The same research note also says Apple are struggling with integrating the Touch ID underneath the OLED display. It seems unlikely that Apple would remove Touch ID completely or settle for a compromise such as relocating the Touch ID sensor to the rear of the device like many recent flagships from other companies. It seems more and more likely Apple will push back the expected release date for the new iPhone, instead of releasing something that would be a compromise on the design.

A concept design of a modular Mac Pro shows us what such a machine might look like. The design looks good enough, but the photos make it seem proportionally too small, like there’s no way Apple would be able to fit standard PC components into such a tiny enclosure and cool them sufficiently. But hey, it looks OK.

The Hover Camera Passport is the latest flying thing to hit Apple’s shelves, both in-store and online. A US$500 bundle gives you the selfie-taking drone, two batteries, power adapter, charger, and bag for storage. Unfortunately, there’s no good news for Australians who want to get their hands on the semi-autonomous drone, as the bundle is only going to be available in the US, UK, Canada, China, and Hong Kong.

Speaking of Apple Stores, Apple are internally promoting employee challenges with tees and pins. These physical rewards have started popping up over social media over the last few weeks, and it seems the promo is being run the Challenges iOS app, with Apple employees entering a unique code to participate in the challenge.

It’s hard to believe there still isn’t an Apple Watch app for Spotify, but that’s soon going to be fixed. The void has been filled by third-party developers, and one in particular is now partnering with Spotify in order to build out the Apple Watch portion of the Spotify iOS app.

An Apple patent describes a waterproof AirPods case that’s capable of charging your iPhone and Apple Watch. It’d have to be slightly bigger than the current dental-floss sized AirPods charging case, but the bigger battery might mean the capability of providing some charge to your laptop, too.

The Verge writes that AirPods are great and all, even if they do make you look like an alien. But soon enough, everyone will be using wireless earbuds, and the true aliens will be the ones with the distinctive white cords snaking into a pocket.

It’s not strictly related to Apple, but Jeff Atwood’s take on computing power being free and power being expensive reminded me of how Apple’s data centres were powered by 100% renewable energy. It’s an achievement that Apple can be proud of.

Business Insider interviewed a NYU student who spent six weeks working undercover in an iPhone manufacturing facility near Shanghai. The conditions weren’t great, the pay was awful, but the experience will never be forgotten.

The news returns on Tuesday.

What an utterly deplorable place to work, shocking conditions really - if Apple actually cared they would so something more than just say “their pay has gone up and they make more the average”, money isn’t everything Apple… or maybe it is to the richest company on the planet.

I sincerely hope that people reading about these facilities will seriously reconsider their allegiance to Apple.

And switch to who? All phones are pretty much made there. I think the way forward is to lobby Apple and Samsung etc to improve conditions.