following up on the iPhone processor slowdown scandal that’s been plaguing the company, Apple on Thursday offered an apology and has also lowered the price of out-of-warranty battery replacements to $29. The company has also stated that it will issue a software update in early 2018 to let users find out more information about the health of their device’s battery.
The new battery replacement is marked down from $79 and will be available for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, starting in late January and available worldwide through December 2018.
Apple offered the following letter of apology regarding the issue and following controversy:
“December 28, 2017
A Message to Our Customers about iPhone Batteries and Performance
We’ve been hearing feedback from our customers about the way we handle performance for iPhones with older batteries and how we have communicated that process. We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologize. There’s been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue, so we would like to clarify and let you know about some changes we’re making.
A number of iPhone X owners have discovered that Face ID isn’t available as an authentication method for the “Ask to Buy” feature, which allows parents to approve their kids’ iOS purchases and downloads. At present, the parent, or controlling Apple ID account holder, must enter their entire Apple account password to approve each individual purchase attempt.
As a result, users are frustrated given that this equivalent functionality was available on Touch ID devices and seems to have been lost in the transition to the iPhone X. Face ID can be used as an authentication method for other purchases, just like Touch ID before it—but Touch ID also worked for “Ask to Buy,” and Face ID doesn’t.
Apple is presently facing no less than eight individual lawsuits over claims it artificially slowed down iPhones with aging batteries. The cases were filed in U.S. Federal Courts in California, Illinois, and New York.
Each of these cases is pushing for class action status.
The first cases were filed in California and Illinois just after Apple confirmed the iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7 all experience slower performance as their batteries age.
Apple’s efforts to develop a non-invasive glucose monitoring system using the Apple Watch may still be a few years away.
Per two sources close to the story, Apple is continuing research on a noninvasive continuous glucose reader, but the technology is still considered to be years away according to industry experts.
The story comes a few months after CNBC reported that Apple had devoted a team of experts to developing an Apple Watch technology that could monitor blood sugar levels throughout the day. It was later reported that Tim Cook has actively tested glucose monitors on Apple’s campus which he has since acknowledged.
Come 2017, the Computer History Museum will release the Apple Lisa OS as a free, open source project. Apple’s Lisa, which was the first computer with a graphical user interface, debuted in 1983.
The computer was considered a flop, selling only 10,000 units on an R&D investment of US$150 million. The Lisa caused a fight between Steve Jobs and then-CEO John Sculley, which caused Jobs to leave Apple.
Amidst the ongoing legal kerfuffle between Apple and Qualcomm, Apple may be eyeing a partnership with Taiwan’s MediaTek, which could supply baseband modem chipsets for iPhones beginning in 2018.
The story was first broken by DigiTimes, which has a hit-or-miss track record on stories such as these, but has landed some good scoops where iPhone components are concerned.
An anonymous source stated that MediaTek “has a chance” to secure modem orders from Apple. As of now, Apple has already transferred half of its iPhone modem chipsets from Qualcomm to Intel, following Apple’s lawsuit filed earlier this year, accusing Qualcomm of withholding nearly $1 billion in rebates.
It seems as if some 5K iMac Pros have arrived a bit early.
A slew of images posted to Instagram and a video on YouTube have shown the desktop and assorted Space Gray accessories arriving in the hands of customers.
Japanese Mac site Mac Otakara has also posted a video and photos of the iMac Pro tearing through several benchmarking applications.
The iMac Pro starts at $4,999 and is available in 8, 10, 14, and 18-core configurations.
It’s December 25th, it’s Christmas here in the United States and as such, the staff of O’Grady’s PowerPage will be taking the day off to spend time with friends, family, and amazing food (including the fabled Barylick Christmas Lasagna).
Have a safe and happy holiday, put the computers and devices aside for a bit, see the people you’ve missed and care about and have no fear, as we’ll be back tomorrow with the latest in macOS and iOS mobile news, rumors, tips and features.
Apple is thought to be building an EKG heart monitor into the next generation of its Apple Watch. The Apple Watch Series 3 already features an all-day heart rate monitor that tracks beats per minute while wearing, but third-party accessories are needed to add EKG functionality.
It’s thought that the version being tested will have the user squeeze the frame of the Apple Watch with two fingers from the hand that’s not wearing the device according to one of the sources. The Apple Watch will then pass an imperceptible current across the person’s chest to track electrical signals in the heart and detect any abnormalities like irregular heart rates.
