O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: under

  • Rumor: Apple developing a quad-curve display iPhone to celebrate the iPhone’s 20th anniversary

    Rumor: Apple developing a quad-curve display iPhone to celebrate the iPhone’s 20th anniversary

    Sometimes Apple’s product roadmap gets weird, if not that much more interesting.

    Per 9to5Mac and Weibo, Apple may be developing an iPhone with a quad-curved display.

    According to noted Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station,

    Apple is testing a quad-curved display for next year’s expected ‘iPhone 20.’

    2027 will mark the iPhone’s 20th anniversay, and reports have indicated that Apple is working on something special. This model is said to feature a fully cutout-free display, albeit recent reports have stated that Apple is struggling to meet its goals for under-display camera and Face ID components.

    Essentially, a quad-curved display would wrap around the corners of the device to provide a bezel-free, all-screen design. This might explain why the iPhone 20 is rumored to drop physical buttons for haptic ones.

    Rumors of the quad-curved display iPhone have been circulating since last May, and it’s thought that Apple may have progressed with the design.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac

  • Leaked code hints at possible Touch ID feature for 2026 model Apple Watch devices

    Leaked code hints at possible Touch ID feature for 2026 model Apple Watch devices

    It’s the leaked code that hints at the really interesting stuff coming down the pipe.

    Per lines of internal development code spotted by both MacRumors and Macworld, Apple is looking at a major hardware upgrade for its 2026 model Apple Watch. The code hints at the company’s ongoing experimentation with biometric authentication for 2026’s Apple Watch lineup. The code mentions support for “AppleMesa,” which is Apple’s codename for Touch ID, suggesting that prototype models currently offer the feature in some way.

    At present, no other Apple Watch models, including the upcoming 2025 models, have included code for Touch ID. It’s unknown how Apple plans to accomplish this, and the rumored technique is that Apple could opt to place it under the display, as has been seen with some Android smartphones, or integrate it into a side button.

    Such a change could help make the Apple Watch more secure as a device and help reduce reliance on short numerical passwords.

    Apple could still abandon the ‌Touch ID‌ sensor on the prototype models and strip references to it out of its internal code, but the possibility of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 sporting the feature should now be taken seriously.

    The code references also reveal that the models “N237” (Apple Watch Series 12), “N238” (Apple Watch Series 12 with cellular connectivity), and “N240” (Apple Watch Ultra 4) will contain an all-new CPU with the identifier “T8320.” The S9 and S10 chips, as well as the upcoming S11, are all essentially the same chip with the identifier “T8310,” indicating that a meaningful S-series chip upgrade is highly likely next year.

    The leaked code also hints that there could be broader categories of Apple Watch devices. The new series is identified as “Watch8;” the Series 9, 10, and 11 are all identified as “Watch7,” pointing to a significant departure from previous models in 2026.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Macworld

  • Apple releases iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 updates

    Apple releases iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 updates

    Monday proved to be an update-o-rama as Apple released its long-awaited iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 updates.

    The iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates contain the following fixes, changes, and new features:

    • Priority notifications appear at the top of your notifications, highlighting important notifications that may require your immediate attention
    • Sketch is now available as an additional style option in Image Playground, allowing you to create gorgeous sketch drawings
    • Apple Intelligence features support 8 additional languages and 2 additional English locales, including English (India, Singapore), French (France, Canada), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (South Korea), Portuguese (Brazil), Simplified Chinese, and Spanish (Spain, Latin America, US)
    • The new Apple Vision Pro app, automatically installed for users with Apple Vision Pro, helps you discover new content, spatial experiences, and quickly access information about your device
      Apple News
    • Recipes from some of the world’s best recipe publishers are now available on Apple News+
    • Recipe Catalog allows you to browse or search to find the perfect dish and save it to your Saved Recipes
    • Cooking mode lets you easily follow step-by-step directions
    • The Food section also includes stories about restaurants, kitchen tips, healthy eating, and more

    Photos:

    • New filters to show or hide items that are not contained in an album, or synced from a Mac or PC, in the Library view in Photos
    • Reorder items in the Media Types and Utilities collections in Photos
    • Consistent filtering options in all collections, including the ability to sort by oldest or newest first in Photos
    • Option to sort albums by Date Modified in Photos
    • Ability to disable “Recently Viewed” and “Recently Shared” collections in Photos Settings
    • Hidden photos are no longer included for import to Mac or a PC if Use Face ID is enabled in Photos settings

    This update also includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

    • Safari recent search suggestions help you quickly get back to previous search topics when starting a new query
    • Setup Assistant streamlines steps parents need to take to create a Child Account for a kid in their family, and enables child-appropriate default settings if parents prefer to complete setting up a Child Account later
    • Screen Time App Limits persist even after a child uninstalls and reinstalls an app
    • App Store includes summaries for user reviews so you can get helpful insights from other users at a glance
    • Pause and resume of an app download or update on App Store without losing progress
    • New widgets for Podcasts including a Followed Shows widget to track your favorite shows and a Library widget to get to your most used sections, such as Latest Episodes, Saved, and Downloaded
    • Ambient Music offers the ability to instantly play music from Control Center, giving access to a set of hand-curated playlists that offer soundtracks for daily life
    • Apple Fitness+ Collections can now be added to Library
    • Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners can be controlled in the Home app as well as be added to scenes and automation

    Support for 10 new system languages including Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu

    New emoji:

    • Face with bags under eyes
    • Fingerprint
    • Leafless tree
    • Root vegetable
    • Harp
    • Shovel
    • Splatter

    CarPlay updates:
    iOS 18.4 also makes a few improvements to CarPlay. On cars with a screen that is big enough, the CarPlay Home Screen will now show three rows of app icons instead of two. Apple has also added a new API that will allow sports apps to show scores on a new Now Playing interface.

    Finally, iOS 18.4 also adds the ability to set a default navigation app for users in the European Union. This applies to your iPhone and also to CarPlay.

    Where the macOS Sequoia 15.4 update is concerned, the update offers a significant redesign of its Mail app, which began on the iPhone and has now made its way to macOS. At the heart of the updated Mail app is a big change to the way your inbox works.

    Messages will now be automatically sorted into the following categories:

    • Primary
    • Transactions
    • Updates
    • Promotions

    The app also features a hidden All Mail view to the right of Promotions. The new Mail app also features a Digest View to help consolidate messages from the same sender into a single unified thread. Contact photos are now available inside the inbox, along with other UI updates and tweaks. If you’re not a fan of the changes, Apple provides ways to disable most of them and get the Mail app back to the way it was before.

    New Apple Intelligence features

    • The Image Playground app gets a new capability: you can now create images in a Sketch style, joining the existing Animation and Illustration options.
    • You can also now create a Memory movie in the Mac’s Photos app—a feature that first hit iOS last fall.

    Apple Intelligence has added eight new languages plus two freshly localized English variants, for 10 new options total.

    The new options include:

    • French
    • German
    • Italian
    • Portuguese (Brazil)
    • Spanish
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Chinese (simplified)
    • English (Singapore)
    • English (India)
    • Apple Podcasts widget expansion

    For Apple Podcasts fans, the new version of the app has a Followed Shows feature that lets you easily access recent episodes from shows you follow, while the customizable Library widget can be configured to show different app sections, such as Downloaded or Saved.

    Quick Start has finally come to the Mac, along with proximity pairing. Whenever you’re setting up a new device, Apple has long offered Quick Start on the iPhone and iPad. The feature lets you scan a code on your iPhone or iPad to transfer settings from that device to the new hardware. Now in macOS 15.4, the Mac can be used for Quick Start too. The process works just like on other devices, with macOS showing a code that can be scanned to transfer settings over.

    As always, the newest iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Updates can be located, downloaded, and installed by navigating to System Preferences, and then choosing General > Software Update or Software Update and proceeding from there.

    If you’ve had a chance to try the new updates, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via 9to5Mac (1, 2)

  • Rumor: Apple could move Face ID component under the display for iPhone 14 Pro model

    Rumor: Apple could move Face ID component under the display for iPhone 14 Pro model

    A reliable leaker has noted that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 14 Pro could feature a pill-shaped camera cutout at the top of the display as well has have the notch removed. To accommodate this change, the leaker said Face ID hardware will be moved under the display.

    The notion of moving the Face ID component under the display has been rumored previously by display industry consultant Ross Young, who has proven to be a reliable source of display-related information for future Apple products. Last year, Young accurately claimed that the new iPad mini would feature an 8.3-inch display with the home button removed.

    According to @dylandkt, moving Face ID under the screen would not affect the feature’s reliability.

    Apple is rumored to be planning a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro and a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max for release in September of this year. The lineup is also expected to include a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 and a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, and as of now it appears that these models will continue to have a notch, with a pill-shaped camera cutout limited to Pro models.

    Last year, @dylandkt shared accurate information about products like the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro before they were released.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and @dylandkt

  • Rumor: Apple could source under-display fingerprint sensor from Qualcomm to bring Touch ID feature to next-gen iPhone

    If you’re a fan of Touch ID on your iPhone, there’s a chance that it’ll be embedded under the display in a next-gen iPhone.

    Apple has arranged for a representative to meet with Taiwanese touchscreen-related manufacturer GIS next week to discuss development of an iPhone with an under-display fingerprint scanner for release as early as next year.

    The reports indicate that Apple plans to use Qualcomm’s ultrasonic fingerprint sensor technology in at least one iPhone model that could be released in either 2020 or 2021. GIS would cooperate with Qualcomm to supply necessary components. 

    This lines up with other rumors that have stated that Apple is looking to release an iPhone with both Face ID and under-display fingerprint authentication in 2020 or 2021. 

    There are currently two types of under-display fingerprint sensors, including optical and ultrasonic. Optical variants rely on light from a smartphone’s display to create a 2D image of a fingerprint, while ultrasonic variants make use of high-frequency sound to generate a 3D image of a fingerprint. 

    Qualcomm currently supplies ultrasonic fingerprint sensors for Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note10 smartphones, although Apple’s handsets could use more advanced versions of the technology by either 2020 or 2021.

    During a closed-door briefing at the 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Qualcomm director Gordon Thomas reportedly indicated that Qualcomm plans to create even larger under-display fingerprint sensors than the one used in Samsung’s latest smartphones, with an eventual goal of developing a sensor that works across virtually the entire display. 

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Economic Daily News (1, 2)