O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: identifiers

  • Rumor: All four iPhone 16 models to feature A18 chip

    Rumor: All four iPhone 16 models to feature A18 chip

    It’s been rumored that all four of the upcoming iPhone 16 models will use the A18 chip. Per new code changes discovered by Nicolás Alvarez, five new iPhone models have surfaced in Apple’s backend code, with evidence each of them is powered by the A18 chip.

    As noted by MacRumors, the code refers to the following iPhone identifiers:

    iPhone17,1
    iPhone17,2
    iPhone17,3
    iPhone17,4
    iPhone17,5

    These also fall within Apple’s past naming conventions, and “Apple’s iPhones typically tie identifier to chip,” the report explains.

    Apple’s current iPhone 15 lineup sees the lower-end models equipped with the less powerful A16 Bionic, while the higher-end models use the A17 Pro. This processor difference, along with differences in RAM allotments, is why the iPhone 15 Pro models support Apple Intelligence and the non-Pro models do not.

    At present, it’s unknown as to whether the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature an even more powerful version of the A18 chip.

    Apple is also rumored to be increasing the RAM in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus from 6GB to 8GB. There have also been rumors that the smartphone will offer a significantly faster Neural Engine among its hardware.

    It’s unclear why there are five model identifiers in Apple’s backend. One of them could refer to an upcoming version of the iPhone SE, although this remains speculation.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac, @Nicolas09F9, and MacRumors

  • Meta launches Threads app as an alternative to Twitter

    Meta launches Threads app as an alternative to Twitter

    Meta on Wednesday officially launched Threads, its now social media app that the company has been developing as an alternative to Twitter.

    Meta is linking Threads to Instagram, which means Instagram usernames port over to Threads, and Instagram users have the option to follow the same people they follow on Instagram.

    The launch also seems to be taking advantage of Twitter’s recent gaffes. Over the last few days, the company introduced rate limits for Twitter users, cutting down on the number of tweets that are visible per day. With this decision, Twitter spiked interest in alternative apps. Mastodon and Bluesky are already positioned as Twitter alternatives but have not widely taken off as of yet.

    From its own end, Bluesky, which is still in development, has been slowly ramping up and adding beta testers.

    Threads allows for simple Instagram conversion and integration, which can help its installation numbers. The application also supports posts that are up to 500 characters in length, with photos, videos, and links supported.

    In spite of all this, concerns have been expressed as to the user data Threads may be collecting, and the App Store entry suggests information like usage data, location, contacts, identifiers, purchases, health & fitness, browsing history, and more will be collected and linked to users, but it has the same disclosures as Instagram. Twitter collects and utilizes similar data as well.

    Meta has stated that Threads does not appear to be using any data to track users across websites and apps owned by other companies now, making it more private than Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

    Threads has launched in the United States, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and 100 other countries, but it will not be available in European Union countries at this time due to the Digital Markets Act.

    Threads can be downloaded from the ‌App Store‌ for free.

    If you’ve tried the app and have any feedback to offer, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via MacRumors and the App Store

  • Up to six forthcoming iPad Pro models hinted at via Appsee log traffic

    Additional hints have surfaced as to new iPad Pro models, an app analytics platform claiming to see logs of model identifiers for unreleased models for the tablet, labels that seemingly correlate with other rumors about the 2018 refresh.

    Mobile analytics firm Appsee stated that the model identifiers “iPad8,1,” “iPad8,2,” “iPad8,3,” “iPad8,4,” “iPad8,5,” and “iPad8,8” have recently started to appear on its platform. The identifiers first surfaced last Monday, with the identifiers in the latest report joined by two other labels, namely the missing two from the set: “iPad8,6” and “iPad8,7”

    Appsee has yet to note any references to “iPad8,6” or “iPad8,7” in its logs, although it may be likely that the models still exist, if not being used in a way that it could be seen by third-party analytics systems.

    (more…)

  • iOS 12 developer beta 2 contains references hinting towards upcoming Apple Watch models

    With the recent release of the second developer beta of iOS 12 beta 2, a number of new Apple Watch identifiers have been discovered within the system.

    While this is not uncommon, it does hint at some cool next-gen Apple Watch models to be had down the line.

    The new Apple Watch identifiers found are Watch4,1, Watch4,2, Watch4,3 and Watch4,4. Those numbers match the existing variants of the Apple Watch Series 3, which are Watch3,1 through 3,4. There are also references to the model numbers corresponding to the new devices, which include MTUD2, MTUK2, MTX92 and many others.

    (more…)

  • Evidence of unknown iPad models surface in developers notes, speculation of forthcoming “iPad mini” grows

    When in doubt, there’s always some interesting stuff in the logs.

    Per the cool cats at MacRumors and his own blog, developer Marco Arment he noticed the two “curious entries” in Instapaper’s device stats on Friday, positing the device identifiers could offer clues to the supposed tablets’ internal hardware.

    As a side note, Arment said, “There were also a few iPhone5,1 devices, but that’s not a surprise — that’s almost certainly next month’s new GSM iPhone,” but didn’t give specifics.

    While Arment concedes the unknown “iPad2,5” and “iPad2,6” identifiers can conceivably be spoofed, he has “never had a device show up [on the logs] that didn’t end up being a real, about-to-be-released Apple device.”

    Arment goes on to explain that when Apple first launched the iPad 2 in 2011, the Wi-Fi, GSM and CDMA versions were tagged with the internal designations iPad2,1, iPad2,2 and iPad2,3, respectively. Alongside the release of the New iPad in March, Apple unveiled a quietly updated iPad 2 Wi-Fi model with a new A5 processor manufactured on the 32nm process, identifying it as “iPad2,4.”

    It is possible that the new “iPad2,5” and “iPad2,6” devices discovered by Arment could simply be GSM and CDMA versions of the iPad 2 carrying the 32nm A5 chip, but the developer believes such a move would be unusual so late in the product’s lifecycle.

    If the unknown devices turn out to be a smaller iPad, Arment said, the Apple-assigned identifiers suggest “the iPad Mini is, effectively, an iPad 2” with an A5 processor and 512MB of RAM.

    “This is all speculation, of course,” Arment writes, “but I’m convinced: like the leaked Dock connector, this move is so ingenius that it’s most likely to be what Apple has really done.

    Apple is rumored to debut the so-called “iPad mini” at a special event in October. Many expect the tablet to sport a 7.85-inch screen and boast a design resembling an iPod touch.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.