Tag Archives: iphone 5s

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Worst (and Dumbest) Apple Stories of the Month

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Since it’s the last Friday of September, and we feel like we’ve had a whirlwind of a month, what with the all the new Apple products to talk about — the iPhone 5S, the iPhone 5C, and the iOS 7 — we thought we’d enjoy ourselves a bit, and talk about some of the worst Apple stories of the month. From security hacks to hoaxes to INTENTIONALLY BROKEN IPHONES (!!!), we’ve got a whole bunch of good stuff to talk about. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the worst of the worst. You’ve earned it.

Apple Security Issues

One of the most touted aspects of the new iPhones has been its new security systems, particularly the Touch ID system. Thanks to a “bounty” put up on the internet, offered to the person who could crack the Touch ID, someone quickly claimed the prize, with a YouTube video as proof.

From ZDNet.com:

In a statement on its website, the CCC confirmed that the bypass had taken place, adding: “A fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with Touch ID.”

The video posted online on Sunday shows one user enrolling their finger, while later accessing the device using a different finger with a high-resolution latex or wood glue cast. The group detailed in a blog post how it accessed the device using a fake print by photographing a fingerprint and converting it.

“Apple’s sensor has just a higher resolution compared to the sensors so far,” said CCC spokesperson Frank Rieger on the group’s website. “So we only needed to ramp up the resolution of our fake.”

Another security issue was found to originate not in the hardware of the new iPhone 5S technology, but in the software of the iOS 7. Courtesy of Business Insider:

If you have an iPhone 5 or older and have updated your operating system to Apple’s new iOS 7 version, you should be aware that the password (or “passcode”) required on your phone’s lock screen no longer prevents strangers from accessing your phone.

They can use Siri, the voice-command software, to bypass the password screen and access your phone, instead.

Simply hold down the home button, even while the phone is locked, and wait for Siri to ask you what you want. From there, we accessed Facebook, Twitter, text messages, email and phone calls, all on our iPhone 5. We even got access to our contacts app.

The Ugly

But the most ridiculous story of the month has to be the whopper that the new iOS 7 actually will make your iPhone or iPad waterproof. Yes, you read that right: someone was able to convince others that a software upgrade could actually prevent an electronic device from being affected by water:

As The Independent first reported, a pretty convincing fake iPhone ad recently surfaced that promised just that for Apple’s new mobile operating system. The ad said that iOS 7 is able to “instantly detect sudden changes in thermo-distribution with the touch sensitive screen and home button.” It even went as far as to indicate that the update included a emergency “smart-switch” that would turn off the phone’s power if it came in contact with water.

And so that segues us into our last dumb story of the week — someone is wantonly breaking iPhones, and people are mad as hell about it! Oh, that would be us. Here’s a sample of some of the comments on our YouTube video of our iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C drop test:

why dont u guys just give them away to poeple [sic] instead of breaking them. no point we all know that phones break.

I cant [sic] buy a iPhone because its to [sic] expensive and they break them xD U should raffle the broken phones :DD

I think I could have figured out that all the screens would smash without breaking over $1500 worth of phones….

I just want to point out to our concerned viewers that we are an iPhone repair shop. We didn’t destroy these phones; we’re going to fix them all up! Everything is going to be okay!

Other people felt cheated that the phones were dropped multiple times, or with force:

Difference between drop test, and Throw test ? This noob

Of course it’s going to shatter when you chuck it on the ground. Who chucks their phone faced own on the ground?

The “drop test” was poorly done. When the 5s and 5c didn’t break, you chucked them down to the ground to ensure that they shattered. Very lame.

Fair enough. However, the whole point of these videos is that we want to show the durability of the phones. If you go back to our earlier drop tests, you’ll see that the phones were much more fragile. We hope that we’re doing a service by showing you the amount of stress an iPhone can handle. If we get a little rough, it will only serve to show you the force that a phone can no longer withstand. If anything, we think that this crop of iPhones — especially the 5C — is much more durable than its predecessors, and we give them a thumbs up.

Lastly, and our favorite: apparently there are a bunch of conspiracy theorists, speculating that indeed we did not break an iPhone 5S, but a cleverly disguised iPhone 5.

later in the drop test the white iphone is a normal 5 not a 5s

The white one wasn’t the 5S. You can see by the way he is covering up the home button when dropping it.

Don’t you think its funny how he dose [sic] not show the home button on the 5s during the drop test. I think it was a 5 so that he could use the 5s.

Booo ! The white iphone was’t [sic] the 5s. You can tell by the way he’s covering up the home button.

Keep studying that Zapruder tape, guys. And thanks everyone for watching!

 

 

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Top iOS 7, iPhone 5S, and iPhone 5C Stories of the Month

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What a month to talk about iPhones. After the Apple Conference on the 10th about iOS 7 and the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c and all the speculation thereafter, and the subsequent release of those products on the 18th, not to mention our own durability video, we’ve been one-track-minded for some time. And since all of that, we’ve read review upon review about the benefits, drawbacks, myths, and overall quality of each new thing.

After about a week’s time, we’ve finally been able to sort through it all, and choose the best, the worst, and the outright ridiculous things on the internet about the iOS 7, the iPhone 5S, and the iPhone 5C. In this post, we’re going to go over the top stories — the best of them, the worst of them, and the just plain stupid.

iPhones 5S and 5C Sell $9 Million in First Weekend

Apple had high hopes for the release of the iPhone 5S and 5C, but even this was a surprise. Wall Street Journal reports:

The company also said that its quarterly sales and profit margin would likely be at the high end of the company’s previous forecast. Apple in July projected revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion and gross margin between 36% and 37%. The company’s stock jumped $23.23, or 5%, to close at $490.64 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Even the iOS 7 was an unexpected success. WSJ continues: “Apple also said that more than 200 million of its devices already were running iOS 7—a free overhaul released last week of the operating system used on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices.”

Even more interesting: the iPhone 5C, which was supposedly to appeal to lower-end markets like China, was outsold 4 to 1. And not just in the US. From the website Quartz:

Twenty-four hours after we found out that the iPhone 5s is out-selling the cheaper iPhone 5c by a ratio of nearly four to one, new data show that China and Australia, where the 5s is outselling the 5c five to one, are the two countries where the iPhone 5s is most popular.

Improvements in the iOS 7

There have been a lot of lists and breakdowns of the new operating system the iOS 7, so we picked from among them what we thought were the best qualities:

From C-Net:

Control Center

One of the most talked about new changes for iOS 7 is not new at all on Android phones, but I think I speak for most iOS users when I say the Control Center is an extremely welcome addition. It was always a pain to sift through the settings using a number of taps just to access the brightness controls. Same for Wi-fi settings, which — because of an old router at home — I ended up having to access frequently. Now, a simple swipe upward gives me easy access to these settings and more. Oh, and the flashlight button to turn on your flash when it’s dark is a great touch.

iTunes Radio

Frankly, when I heard Apple was making a Pandora-like radio option, I wasn’t that impressed. I mean, there are a slew of streaming-music and audio apps in the App Store and many of them are free — at least the radio features are. But now that I’ve used the app for a few days, I like it better than most streaming-radio apps I’ve seen.

Not only can you create a stream based on songs or multiple artists, but there are featured streams that are great for music discovery. Also, when I really like a song I’m listening to, I can buy it straight away from iTuneswithout missing a beat of the song or closing the app.

Camera app

The iOS 7 camera app is not a huge change over what we had in iOS 6, but I really like having the ability to swipe between shot types. The filters are also a nice touch for adding a quick effect, though I wish there were more to choose from. But what I particularly like is the ability to take burst shots. Everyone knows that not all photos come out perfectly, but if you can take several at a time, chances are at least one will be to your liking. I have an iPhone 5 so the burst shots feature is not as good as it is on the iPhone 5S (10 photos per second, along with slow-mo), but I’m glad there’s a slower variation available on the iPhone 5.

Keep checking in for more iPhone news, coming soon.

 

Drop Test

iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S Drop Test

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Well, it’s that time of year again – autumn, where the air gets a bit sharper, the trees burn yellow and red, the leaves fall, and we drop the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c from increasingly high places.

After months and months of waiting, wondering, and watching Apple’s every move, we’ve finally gotten our hands on the new iPhones. This year, we get two iphones to drop: the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S. As you may have known if you spend any time at all on the Internet, the iPhones 5C and 5S were released today — the iPhone 5C is supposed to be Apple’s more affordable phone, while the 5S boasts of new innovations such as the Touch ID, a fingerprint scan security technology, and an improved camera system.

You may have seen some of the photos — the new colors and cases and sizes — but how do they really measure up? Is the iPhone 5C a good value? How does it compare with its predecessor, the iPhone 5, and how does either compare with the much-ballyhooed iPhone 5S? and, most importantly, how durable are they?

The iPhone 5C is a departure from the usual brand of iPhones in that it is made from plastic, whereas the 5S is a more traditional iPhone, constructed from high-grade aluminum.

Here’s a 3-way comparison of the tech specs, comparing the iPhone 5C, the iPhone 5S, and the original iPhone 5:

 

iPhone 5

iPhone 5C

iPhone 5S

Height: 4.87 inches (123.8 mm)

Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)

Depth: 0.30 inch (7.6 mm)

Weight: 3.95 ounces (112 grams)

  • Height: 4.90 inches (124.4 mm)

  • Width: 2.33 inches (59.2 mm)

  • Depth: 0.35 inch (8.97 mm)

  • Weight: 4.65 ounces (132 grams)

  • Height: 4.87 inches (123.8 mm)

  • Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)

  • Depth: 0.30 inch (7.6 mm)

  • Weight: 3.95 ounces (112 grams)

Battery and Power

5.45Whr

  • Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery

  • Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter

  • Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G

  • Standby time: Up to 225 hours

  • Internet use: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi

  • Video playback: Up to 10 hours

  • Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

Battery and Power

5.73Whr

  • Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery

  • Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter

  • Talk time: Up to 10 hours on 3G

  • Standby time: Up to 250 hours

  • Internet use: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on LTE, up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi

  • Video playback: Up to 10 hours

  • Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

Battery and Power

5.92Whr

  • Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery

  • Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter

  • Talk time: Up to 10 hours on 3G

  • Standby time: Up to 250 hours

  • Internet use: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on LTE, up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi

  • Video playback: Up to 10 hours

  • Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

Camera

  • 8-megapixel iSight camera

  • Panorama

  • Video recording, HD (1080p) up to 30 frames per second with audio

  • FaceTime HD camera with 1.2MP photos and HD video (720p) up to 30 frames per second

  • Autofocus

  • Tap to focus video or still images

  • Face detection in video or still images

  • LED flash

  • Improved video stabilization

  • Photo and video geotagging

Camera

  • 8 megapixels

  • ƒ/2.4 aperture

  • Sapphire crystal lens cover

  • LED flash

  • Backside illumination sensor

  • Five-element lens

  • Hybrid IR filter

  • Autofocus

  • Tap to focus

  • Face detection

  • Panorama

  • –

  • –

  • Photo geotagging

Camera

  • 8 megapixels with 1.5µ pixels

  • ƒ/2.2 aperture

  • Sapphire crystal lens cover

  • True Tone flash

  • Backside illumination sensor

  • Five-element lens

  • Hybrid IR filter

  • Autofocus

  • Tap to focus

  • Face detection

  • Panorama

  • Auto image stabilization

  • Burst mode

  • Photo geotagging

As you can see, the iPhone 5S is the same size and weight as the previous iPhone 5, while the 5C is somewhat different — it’s a bit bigger and heavier. The easiest difference to note is the color change. Whereas the iPhone 5 only offered colors in white or black, the iPhone 5S comes in silver, gold, and space gray, while the 5C is the most colorful, with options of green, blue, yellow, pink and white, and the ability to choose one of their different colored cases. There are also new little perks, such as the charger, which is sleeker and more compact.

 Perhaps the biggest substantive difference between the different versions is the camera. The iPhone 5 and the 5C use the same camera, but the 5S has made major improvements. For one, there is increased sensor size, as well as the pixel size and the size of the aperture. It also added an amber flash to complement the white flash, giving pictures a more precise lighting.

There’s also the much talked-about Touch ID in the iPhone 5S, which can read fingerprints (you’ll notice in the video that there is an extra cable connecting sensor to the charging port assembly)

All 3 phones work with iOS 7, but only the iPhone 5S claims that its new processor, the A7 chip, works seamlessly with the new operating system.

 

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Apple Keynote Address 2013, Part 3: the iPhone 5S

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[Whew . . . almost done with our extensive recap of the Apple keynote address of the iPhone 5S. If you missed parts 1 and 2, you can click here for the iOS 7 or here for the iPhone 5C.]

The centerpiece for the Apple keynote address 2013 was without a doubt the iPhone 5S. This was the most awaited product for the tech crowd, the Apple fanboys, and general consumers who are looking for the latest upgrade. As interested as people were in the iOS 7 or the iPhone 5C, this was the main event.

iPhone 5S Design

A lot of hoopla had been made before the event about the new colors for the iPhone 5S (even here at iFixYouri Blog), but if you hadn’t already heard, they will be released in gold, silver, and gray, and is made from high-grade aluminum.

iPhone 5S Array

iPhone 5S Function

There are a lot of new innovations to the iPhone 5S, but today Apple focused on just 3 main ones: performance, the camera system, and security.

Performance

The big unveil for the iPhone 5S was the new A7 chip, which is 64-bit, meaning, as Schiller phrased it, “the world’s first and only such CPU in a smartphone.” Regarding integrations with the iOS 7 he goes on to say that “you’ve heard a lot about iOS 7, but what we haven’t told you is that its been completely engineered for 64 bit at the same time. It’s got a new 64-bit kernel, libraries, and drivers. All built-in apps have been reengineered. It’s a seamless dev transition, with full backwards compatibility.” And for the techies:

  • 2x General Purpose Registers

  • 2x Floating-Point Registers

  • Over a billion transistors

  • 100 square mm die size

What does this all mean in lay terms? That the The A7 is up to 2 times as fast as the previous generation of CPUs, and handles graphics up to 2 times faster — which means that the iPHone 5S will be 40 times faster than the original iPhone!

iPhone 5S Graphics
Demonstration of iPhone 5S graphics.

Apple also claims that the battery life is better than the previous generation. That remains to be fully conclusive, as the full chart of life expectancy is “incoming.”

The final piece was the M7, or Motion Coprocessor, which will continuously monitor motion data, accelerometer, and gestural data, and it can tell if you’re walking or driving. Schiller foresees “a whole new generation of health and fitness applications,” and even mentioned working with Nike on some of these apps.

Camera System

The new camera boasts a larger, f/2.2 aperture. It’s got a new, 15% larger active sensor area with 1.5 micron pixels, separating themselves from the competition by stating that “Bigger Pixels = Better Pictures”. Working with the new camera app, the new iPhone will be able to take the best pictures on the smartphone market.

Schiller explains: “Before you even take a picture, it’s setting light balance, and exposure. For the first time, it’s creating a dynamic local tone map around the image. For the first time, it’s doing autofocus matrix metering with 15 focus zones. When you do take a picture, it automatically finds the sharpest of multiple pictures.”

Other features:

  • The flash in the iPhone 5S has two LEDs — one white, one amber. It analyzes the lighting in the room, and adjusts to use a different color flash based on its analysis.

  • Slo-Mo Cam

  • burst mode. If you hold your finger on the shutter, it can take up to 10 frames per second

  • auto-image stabilization; it takes multiple photos at once, and combines the sharpest parts of each image

Security

Possibly the most talked-about feature after the event, the new heralded security function is called the Touch ID. This is a fingerprint identification software that actually reads your prints (from multiple fingers) on the physical home button, which is now made of laser-cut sapphire crystal, surrounded by a stainless steel detection ring on top of the touch ID sensor.

This will take the place of the 4-digit security code, and even the Apple ID for app purchases.

The new iPhone 5S will cost $199 for 16-gigabytes, $299 32-gigabytes, and $399 64-gigabytes. They will be available for purchase on September 20, 2013 in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, United Kingdom. Will be available in 100 other countries come December.

——————

So that’s the wrap. iOS 7, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S . . . a whoooole lotta news here at iFixYouri. Stay tuned for our series of teardowns, coming as soon as we can get our hands on them.

[thanks to Greg and Darrell at Techcrunch for the live blogging]

News

Is This The New iPhone 5s (in Gold)?

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Gold iPhone 5s
Notice the difference in color from both the black and white versions.

Over at Buzzfeed, new photos have leaked showing what looks like it could be the new gold iPhone 5s we mentioned the other day. No word on whether these photos are legit, but it does seem to be the same size as the other two. Buzzfeed goes on to write:

“The blog that posted the images said the new “champagne gold” colored shell was provided by mobile phone parts supplierMoumontai. BuzzFeed could not verify the authenticity of the images.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is slated to announce its new device on September 10. Looks like we’ll find out in a couple weeks! Head over to Buzzfeed to see the other photos.

News

New iPhone Going Gold

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Gold iPhone?Looks like the iPhone is getting a new color – first black, then white, and now gold? The folks over at Techcrunch say so:

Yes, there will be a gold iPhone.

That’s the latest I’m hearing from multiple sources after several weeks of rumors and possible component leaks suggesting the same thing. At first, I couldn’t believe Apple would break from the tradition of offering the simple choice: black and white (or “slate” and “silver” if you prefer for the iPhone 5) for their flagship device. Gold simply seemed too gaudy, perhaps even tacky. But a few compelling arguments countered my disbelief. And now, upon checking, sure enough, there will be gold.

On Friday, Rene Ritchie of iMore, made the most compelling argument for the golden iPhone yet. After hearing from his own sources that the gold iPhone seemed to be real, Ritchie checked with his colleague Ally Kazmucha, who noted that gold would be one of the “easiest colors to anodize onto an iPhone”. Much easier than say, black (which is likely why the current black iPhone 5 has more of a “slate” back color).

It will be interesting to see if this trend of new colors continues as the iPhone evolves. The article goes on to talk about the rumored iPhone 5C and iPhone 5s:

Finally, I think one more reason why we’re seeing this golden iPhone now may be related to the rumored “iPhone 5C” device — that is, the lower-cost iPhone. While I have no concrete information about that device, there seems to be way too much smoke around it both existing and launching in several colors, for there not to be fire.

(I also wonder if the recent push by Apple to sell more iPhones from their own Apple Stores has to do with the strategy for the iPhone 5C roll-out.)

On his The Talk Show podcast this past week, John Gruber and I talked a bit about how Apple might differentiate the rumored iPhone 5S from the rumored iPhone 5C. Beyond speed and price, color seems likely to be a key differentiator. It’s entirely possible that Apple decided to keep the focus on white and black (again, silver and slate) for the high-end model, while choosing more playful colors for the lower end. But some people, bored of black and white, may have opted for the 5C simply to add some color to their iLives. So the gold iPhone 5S (with a white front plate, one would assume) would seem to be a decent compromise in that scenario.

We’ll keep you posted as we learn more stuff. We’re always excited when new Apple products are concerned . . .