In the New York case regarding a locked iPhone 5S running iOS 7, a US Magistrate court judge has already ruled the FBI’s request to unlock Jun Feng’s iPhone was going too far. Now the FBI has asked a more senior judge to make the decision, based on the fact unlocking the iPhone is something that Apple can easily do, something that Apple has done before. As covered by Ars Technica, both this New York and the current San Bernardino case involve the FBI’s invocation of the All Writs Act in order to compel Apple to assist.
As you might expect, Steve Wozniak has come out in favour of Apple. The Woz has also called the entire case lame, saying that US telco Verizon already turned over all the phone records and SMS messages, neither individuals are linked to any terrorist organisations, and it’s crazy to expect there will be something on the phone that will make all of this worth it.
Hillary Clinton is sitting on the fence, saying the dispute between Apple and the FBI is the worst dilemma ever. If it comes down to deciding between protecting the privacy of individuals and investigating criminal activities and organised crime, she says then there’s no good decision. But I, for one, am glad Apple are siding with its customers on this one.
In other Apple-related politics news, the Huffington Post reports the top tech CEOs joined in a meeting on a private island in order to discuss how to stop Donald Trump. Among other topics, as it’s reported Apple CEO Tim Cook engaged in the encryption debate with one US Senator.
DigiTimes’ latest rumour says it’s possible we’ll see an 5.8-inch display on an iPhone in the future, which would allow for a wrap-around experience like Samsung’s Edge series of devices. While a flexible OLED display isn’t outside the realm of possibility, it’s unlikely that we’ll see such a design this year.
Apple has been granted a patent for using Liquidmetal on the home button of iOS devices. MacRumors explains this is a perfect application of the technology, which would allow a home button to deform slightly when pressed, but return to form when pressure is removed. There’s also another application of the technology, which says using Liquidmetal would make for a nicer switch beneath the actual home button itself.
Analysts expect Apple’s smaller iPhone to bring in $5.5 billion in revenue for the company. That might be a small drop in the ocean, but every raindrop raises the sea.
OWC has added PCIe flash storage upgrades for late model MacBook Pros and Airs. OWC’s Aura storage works with anything newer than Late 2013 MacBook Pros, and Late 2013 MacBook Airs.
Apple approved, and then pulled, an iOS app to adjust display temperature. It’s amazing that this made it through Apple review in the first place after the F.lux debacle.
Macworld says using an iPhone to take photos for a print magazine misses the point about iPhoneography. It’s not about making things harder for yourself, or showing that the iPhone can be used for “professional” shots, but that the best camera is the one you have with you that’s appropriate for the job at hand.
Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/03/wednesday-morning-news090316/