Table of contents for 200 in iPad & iPhone User

On 27 December 2023, Apple was granted an appeal of the Apple Watch sales ban that had recently gone into effect. Apple can now sell the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US in its online and retail stores “while the court considers the motion for a stay pending appeal”, according to the order issued by the US Court of Appeals. Apple is in the midst of a patent dispute with Masimo. Masimo filed a suit with the US International Trade Commission (USITC), which found that Apple had infringed on its patents that relate to the blood-oxygen sensor in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. Because of the USITC’s ruling, a ban on sales of those two watches went into effect on 21 December on…

The iPhone 16 that will be released in 2024 could have A18 chips across the non-Pro and Pro models, according to a report by MacRumors (fave.co/3RLNu78). This information and other insights are based on sources that have seen early versions of iOS 18, the next version of the iPhone operating system. Apple has given iOS 18 the code-name Crystal, and it contains references to iPhone models D47, D48, D93 and D94, which could be the iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, respectively. iOS 18 also indicates that these phones will use a chip identified as t8140 (code-named Tahiti), which is the A18. It is not clear if the iPhone 16 Pro models will have chips branded as A18 Pro, and the non-Pro phones’ chip branded as…

See you later, 2023 – don’t let the door hit you on the way out. While the year might have ended with a bit of a question mark (who had Apple Watch patent fight on their bingo card?), 2024 is poised to be a big year for the company from Cupertino: new products, major updates, and perhaps even a surprise or two along the way. So, to whet your anticipation for the 12 months to come, I’m running down what I think will be the most significant Apple-related stories of the upcoming year – the ones that we’ll be looking back on in December as the big moves of 2024. I THINK, THEREFORE iPAD One thing that was missing from Apple’s line-up in 2023? The iPad. The tablet has had…

So you just got a new iPhone 15. Maybe it’s your first iPhone ever, maybe you just haven’t upgraded in a while. You went through the set-up, updated iOS to the latest (currently iOS 17.2), added your apps, set up your accounts and two-factor authentication…now what? You’re probably having a great time with your new iPhone already, but there are a handful of hidden and lesser-known features and settings that you’ll want to know about. Here’s a list of some of our favourite little settings and tips. You can do all this stuff in just a few minutes, and it might make your iPhone experience more enjoyable. 1. CHANGE FOCUS AFTER YOU TAKE A PHOTO With the iPhone 15, the camera app will automatically recognize when there is a person…

The iPad Air was last updated in March 2022 and rumours suggest that the arrival of a new model (or two) could be coming soon. Here’s all we know so far about the upcoming 6th-generation iPad Air. RELEASE DATE The past three generations of iPad Air arrived about 18 months apart, so we’re due an update. But Apple’s event on 30 October saw the company launch only new Macs. In fact, as we’ve already seen in our iPad (11th gen) preview (page 50), 2023 was the first year since the iPad’s introduction back in 2010 that no new model was launched. The general consensus among the most trusted Apple forecasters is that the next-gen iPad Air is in development, but the new models just aren’t ready yet. Perhaps the delay…

Apple launched two new watches in 2023: the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Series 9. It also still sells the Watch SE from 2022. With the arrival of the two new models, Apple discontinued the Series 8 and the original Apple Watch Ultra, however, you may still be able to buy those older models from resellers and from Apple’s Refurbished Store. In this guide, we will help you decide which Apple Watch is best for you. We’ll compare the features, specs and price, as well as offer advice on choosing cases, colours and straps in our Apple Watch comparison chart so you can be confident you are choosing the right Apple Watch. Here’s what you need to know before buying an Apple Watch. FEATURES Practically every Apple Watch offers the…

The big headline feature of iOS 17.2, which arrived recently, is the new Journal app, which provides a safe and encrypted means of writing about the events in your daily life. It uses on-device processing to suggest locations, events, photos, music, and more to round out your entries. It also includes a new Journalling Suggestions API that lets developers add ‘personalized journalling suggestions’ to third-party journalling apps. But if you’re not excited about journalling, you’ll still want to grab iOS 17.2 right away. There aren’t any other really huge new features, but rather many small quality-of-life improvements spread throughout common apps and services. Take Weather, for instance. Weather’s easily one of the most popular home-screen widgets, but you don’t have a lot of options. With iOS 17.2 you get several…

According to a Bloomberg report (fave.co/3REHUES) that cites “people familiar with the investigation”, regulators in the EU are getting ready to hand down a decision prohibiting Apple’s anti-steering rules for music services. Currently, Apple requires that digital subscription services on iPhone or iPad offer subscriptions only through Apple’s own payment processing, for which the company takes 15- to 30 percent of every purchase. Services such as Spotify can allow you to subscribe on the web or somewhere else where they don’t have to pay Apple a big cut of the in-app-purchase fee, but they’re very limited in their ability to direct customers to do so. Apple prohibits companies like Spotify (and others) from actually providing links or other direct means of letting customers go somewhere else to pay. Spotify has…

The Wall Street Journal (fave.co/3NN0uZg) has the scoop on a new unannounced iPhone security feature debuting in iOS 17.3. Called Stolen Device Protection, it’s a new setting that makes it more difficult to make major changes to your Apple ID and digital life using only your iPhone’s passcode. The feature comes after a WSJ report in February 2023 (fave.co/3FWwCFI) highlighted how thieves would watch users enter their six-digit iPhone passcode before stealing the phone, and then use that passcode to lock the users out of their Apple ID, view their passwords, apply for Apple Card, send money, and more. The basic idea is simple: with Stolen Device Protection activated, your iPhone will require biometric identification (Face ID or Touch ID) to perform many actions – your iPhone passcode will no…

Apple doesn’t really like to use the words ‘Artificial Intelligence’ or ‘AI’, more often going with the more generalized term ‘Machine Learning’. But call it ML, AI, or whatever you want, it has roots throughout Apple’s products – especially on iPhone. It’s used in the Photos app, Camera, keyboard, Siri, the Health app, and much more. But it’s often used in what feels like mostly invisible ways. We don’t think about facial recognition when Photos groups images of people together for us. We have no idea how much AI is at play every time we tap the shutter button in order to get a great photo out of such a tiny camera sensor and lens system. If you want a really obvious example of AI on your iPhone, look no…

I’m sure this sounds familiar: You’re trying to install the latest iOS release, upgrade to a new iPhone, take photos or record video, or just download that cool app everyone’s talking about, and your iPhone says the storage is full. You’ve already deleted every app you don’t think you need, and there’s still not enough space on your iPhone. So you open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage, and, sure enough, your iPhone is full. Worst of all, a huge chunk of it is just listed as Other (renamed System Data in iOS 15). What’s that supposed to mean? How do you get rid of it? The Other/System Data storage sections are mysterious and confusing, and there’s no one answer that works for everyone, but hopefully, this guide will help…

Apple’s smallest iPad was given a substantial facelift at the end of 2021. The 6th-generation mini has a bigger display, Touch ID on the power button, USB-C instead of Lightning and an upgraded front camera. It represented the first major change to the design since the iPad mini was first introduced back in 2012. The mini celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2022 without an update and nothing was forthcoming in 2023 either. But a new iPad mini is rumoured to be in the works for 2024. RELEASE DATE It’s been more than two years since the 6th-generation iPad mini launched back in September 2021, and, based on the dates when other iPad mini models have launched, an autumn 2023 update for the would have made sense. However, since the ‘Scary…

It’s the start of a new year and after a few too many mince pies over Christmas, the perfect time to go out for in the fresh air. Thankfully, last year’s updates provide better ways to navigate the world around us, and even without a second-generation ultra wideband chip, you can still find exactly what you’re looking for. 1. NO GRID, NO PROBLEM For those of us of a certain age, it’s funny to look back at a time when we couldn’t rely on a device in our pocket to tell us where to go – unless that ‘device’ was a gigantic folded-up piece of paper. Nowadays, we’re so reliant on our devices to get to our destinations that it’s a real shock when we end up someplace where we…

The new StandBy feature in iOS 17 lets you turn your charging phone into a widget centre. Whenever the phone is on standby – you’re not actively engaged with it – and it’s plugged in via USB or connected to a wireless charging – StandBy activates. While it’s a seemingly simple feature, you can find yourself frustrated by how it behaves without interaction and when you inadvertently tap or swipe in that mode. While there’s a Settings > StandBy area to configure general features, you’ll search in vain for customization. For that, you have to engage StandBy mode by pressing the sleep/wake button on your phone while it’s charging. Turn your phone on its side and wait for StandBy to engage. If you jiggle the phone or tap at the…

The academic research institution Eurecom (fave.co/47Xe9F5) has discovered security holes in the Bluetooth wireless standard that could allow a threat agent to impersonate devices and set up man-in-the middle attacks (fave.co/3TkE8ll). The holes have been in several versions of the Bluetooth protocol, including the current 5.4 version, as well as the 5.3 version that’s used in Apple’s current hardware line-up. Eurecom has developed a set of attacks called ‘Bluetooth Forward and Future Secrecy’ (BLUFFS) that exploit the discovered Bluetooth weaknesses. According to a research paper (fave.co/41onMKl) by Eurecom’s Daniele Antonioli, “The attacks exploit two novel vulnerabilities that we uncover in the Bluetooth standard related to unilateral and repeatable session key derivation.” “We show that our attacks have a critical and large-scale impact on the Bluetooth ecosystem,” wrote Antonioli, “by evaluating…

Unless you have an obvious problem with your Apple device like a cracked screen, it can be hard to tell if an issue your device is having is something that needs repairing or a software-related issue that just needs a reinstall. Short of trial-and-error, such an issue requires heading down to the Apple Store for a Genius to diagnose the problem. Now you can save yourself a trip. Apple has announced that its Diagnostic troubleshooting suites are available for iPhone and Mac as part of its Self Service Repair program. Apple explains that the tool is “intended for users with the knowledge and expertise to repair Apple devices” and “will give customers the same ability as Apple Authorized Service Providers and Independent Repair Providers to test devices for optimal part…

So you just unboxed your brand-new iPhone. Maybe it’s the first one you’ve ever had. Maybe you’re replacing an older iPhone that has seen better days. Maybe you get an iPhone every year. Whatever the reason, you will enjoy your time with your new phone so much more if you spend a little time learning some tips and tricks. Some of these you may already know, others you may have never heard of, but they all make life with an iPhone a little nicer. 1. CHOOSE A SAFE PASSWORD It’s boring but important: while you can unlock your iPhone with your face or finger, your iPhone is only secure if nobody can guess your passcode. If it’s 123456 you’re asking for trouble. iOS will prompt you to create a six-digit…

Apple had been expected to update its most affordable iPad in 2023, but the normal release window came and went without a single iPad making its debut (apart from a slightly tweaked version in China). So, what does this mean if you’re considering picking up an Apple tablet. Should you wait or will it be a long time before we see the 11th-generation iPad enter the scene? Here’s all we know so far about the iPad 2024. RELEASE DATE For the past few years Apple has had a steady release schedule. It would normally appear alongside the latest iPhones in the September event and hit the stores before the end of that month. 2022 saw a slight adjustment to this with a revamped iPad (10th generation) making its debut in…

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 may have only debuted in September 2023, but the clock is already ticking for the release of their successors. Apple has a pretty set release schedule when it comes to the Apple Watch range. Usually, the new devices are announced at the September events (alongside the new iPhones). The new Watch models then go on sale soon after. The only divergence from this pattern was in 2021 when the Apple Watch Series 7 didn’t arrive until October. Here’s when the past few generations were announced: Apple Watch Series 9/Ultra 2: 12 September, 2023 Apple Watch Series 8/Ultra 1/SE (2nd generation): 7 September, 2022 Apple Watch Series 7: 18 October, 2021 Apple Watch Series 6/SE (1st generation): 15 September, 2020 Going by these…

iMessage has been something of a revelation for Apple. Not only is it a sleek and reliable messaging platform, but it’s also proven to be one of the features that will keep people in the Apple ecosystem as they don’t want to lose their blue bubble. But even with RCS on the way next year, there’s always room for improvement. With this in mind, the following WhatsApp features would be a great addition to Messages in iOS 18. 1. HIDE AND LOCK CHATS One of the newest features WhatsApp has introduced is being able to hide your locked chats away from your normal discussion list and have them only appear when you enter your password. Not only does this mean you can stop people from seeing certain conversations if they…

With Find My enabled, nearly all your Apple gear can be tracked if you lose it. But what happens if it takes you a while to notice and your iPhone or iPad’s battery runs down before you do? What location information does it send to that point, and then how long do you have to use Find My to identify its location? Apple has added ever more ways for Find My on an iPhone or iPad to provide a signal that helps you find it over time. But there are limits depending on type and model. POWERED OFF iPHONE STILL SENDS ITS LOCATION If you have an iPhone 11 (any model) or later with iOS 15 or later installed, your iPhone continues to send a short-range signal over Bluetooth even…