Table of contents for 162 in iPad & iPhone User

It’s tough to keep track of time in the middle of a global pandemic, but apparently three months has passed since Apple’s last quarterly earnings report. So here we are again, with Apple executives reporting record revenues almost sheepishly while going to great lengths to praise their co-workers and customers for their resilience during trying times. As usual, in Apple’s conference call with financial analysts, there are a few interesting things that stick out of the talk of OpEx and OI&E and other financial industry buzzwords. Here are some of them. GOOD TIMES FOR THE MAC The Mac has been around for 36 years, and yet Apple has never had a quarter like the most recent one. The Mac generated $9 billion in revenue, up a staggering 29 per cent…

If you were disappointed with the lack of AirPods announcements at the iPhone 12 event, you might not have to wait much longer. A new report from Bloomberg says Apple is working on two new AirPods models, including a cheaper AirPods Pro, as well as a third-gen AirPods and the long-rumoured over-ear studio headphones. According to Mark Gurman and Debby Wu, the new earbuds will feature a new H2 wireless chip and reportedly won’t arrive until 2021. The cheapest model, which looks to be a slight revamp of the existing AirPods, will have “a shorter stem and replaceable ear tips”. Despite a similar look, they would not, however, include the higher-end features of the AirPods Pro such as noise-cancelling. It’s not clear whether Apple would keep the £159 (with wired…

Congratulations! You’re now the proud owner of a new iPhone 12 Pro or 12. You probably want to dive right into the phone the moment you get the box in your hands, but try to contain your excitement and do a little prep first. We have a little set-up advice you’re going to want to pay attention to. Sure, it seems like an unnecessary drag, but this stuff is going to really save you a lot of time and frustration later. 1. BACK UP AND RESTORE That’s right, you’re going to want to back up your old iPhone after you have your new iPhone 12 in hand, so the backup is as up to date as it can possibly be. You can back up via iCloud, in iTunes or…

As it revealed the new iPad Air during its Time Flies event, Apple took the wraps off its latest mobile system-on-chip (SoC), the A14 Bionic. Built with a bleeding-edge 5nm manufacturing process, it is Apple’s most advanced SoC ever and likely the fastest mobile chip on the planet. Earlier this year, we took some educated guesses about what we might expect from the A14. Now that Apple has revealed a few details, this FAQ can tell you what this fantastic SoC is going to do for the Apple products in which it appears. THE FIRST 5NM CHIP As expected, Apple claims to be the “first in the industry” to make use of the 5nm process technology to manufacture chips. That means smaller chip features and more transistors in a given…

The best headphones are the ultimate tool for intimate listening experiences. Whether you’re listening on your phone, a digital audio player, a disc player, or even a PC or gaming console, when you’re ready to shut out the world and be one with your music, there is nothing better than a great set of cans. And you probably have multiples of them, since most every smart device and digital audio player comes with a pair; but it’s a safe bet that you’re really not satisfied with any of them. Comfortable high-quality headphones can transform your audio experiences ranging from listening to music and podcasts to watching TV programmes and films. Whether you prefer the isolation of in-ear headphones, the comfort of an over-the-ear model, the convenience of wireless, or you’re…

In September, Apple revealed the Apple One bundles, a set of plans that package Apple’s services together at prices that are lower than if you signed up for each service individually. Apple offers three options: Individual: (£14.95 per month): includes Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV+ and 50GB of iCloud storage for one user. It offers a £6 savings per month over à la carte pricing. Family: (£19.95 per month): includes Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV+ and 200GB of iCloud storage. It can be shared with up to six family members (yourself and five others). This plan offers an £8 monthly savings over à la carte. Premier: (£29.95 per month): includes Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple TV+, and 2TB of iCloud storage. Can be shared…

Price: £579 from fave.co/35ODQc4 Visually, you have to look very carefully to notice that the new iPad Air isn’t an iPad Pro: the angular, nearly all-screen case design was previously reserved for the more expensive tablets, but Apple has found room for an Air in that exclusive club. This isn’t the only area where this release sees the Pro and Air lines come closer together – in terms of CPU, in fact, the Air model is technically two generations ahead. But let’s take things one step at a time. Over the following pages, we test and evaluate the new tablet’s design, new features, performance, battery life and tech specs, and help you decide if this is the iPad for you. PRICE The new Air starts at £579. It’s noticeably more…

With more models, new screen sizes, and a whole lot of new camera tricks, upgrading or switching to the iPhone 12 is a no-brainer. Deciding which phone to buy, well, that’s another story. Luckily, we’re here to break it all down for you. DESIGN While Apple didn’t completely reinvent the iPhone as it did with the iPhone X, the iPhone 12 definitely has its own style. It features flat edges and a uniform construction not unlike the iPhones 4 and 5. The antenna lines are more of a design element this year as well, and the camera array on the back has been slimmed down a bit for a more seamless flow. Like last year, the Pro models feature stainless still versus the iPhone 12’s aluminium, as well as a…

The future is here. Yes, last month marked the release of the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Air. But we also got to meet Apple’s latest processor design. The A14 is here, and it’s going to be playing a major part in the entire Apple universe for the next year. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT The iPhone would probably continue to be a popular product even if its speeds were comparable to top-end Android phones. But we haven’t had to test that theory in a while, because ever since Apple began designing its own processors, it has accelerated away from the competition. For the past few years, by the time the new iPhones and Apple-designed A-series processors have arrived, the fastest smartphones available on the Android side have yet to…

Ever since the first iPhone launched with just a dozen apps, Google has had a central role in Apple’s handset. But according to the Financial Times, Apple is preparing for a world where that isn’t the case anymore. While the paper has no direct information about Apple’s post-Google strategy, it has pieced together several clues that could add up to big changes for how we search on our iPhones. In iOS 14’s new spotlight search, for example, Apple has “begun to show its own search results and link directly to websites when users type queries from its home screen”. That’s a subtle change and one most of us are unlikely to notice, but as the FT notes, it “marks an important advance in Apple’s in-house development and could form the…

Price: £1,099 from fave.co/3l1Oi68 Delayed by one month thanks to the ravages of 2020, Apple’s new iPhones are here at last – and there are four of them. In the first leg of what’s shaping up to be a Sisyphean ordeal, I’ve reviewed the iPhone 12 Pro. It’s got the same screen size (6.1in) and tech (OLED) as the standard iPhone 12, but costs considerably more. Do the powerful camera set-up and other upgraded features offer enough to justify the price? I’ve tested the 12 Pro’s photographic capabilities, as well as its battery, graphics and processing performance, to help you decide if this is the phone for you. PRICE The 12 Pro, which is available right now, starts at £999 for the lowest-capacity version. Here’s the full list: 128GB: £999…

When it comes to the size of the iPhone, a lot of us who tend to buy the most mainstream iPhone are a bit like the proverbial frog in the gradually boiling pot of water. In upgrading from the iPhone 4 to 5, from 5s to 6, and from 7 to X, our phones just keep getting a little bit bigger. Sure, there were larger options – in the past couple of years, two larger phones bracket the main iPhone on price. But with the exception of the SE, there were no smaller options. With the iPhone 12 line, though, Apple has made things interesting. Not only has Apple subtly cranked up the heat on that boiling pot, but it’s provided a place to leap to if the heat is…

There was big news out of Cupertino last month. Apple announced a new, smaller version of one of its products at a cheaper price point, potentially opening it up to a whole new class of customers. I speak, of course, of the HomePod mini. Yes, yes, there were iPhones as well, but I found myself more drawn to the new, smaller, and 100 per cent more globular smart speaker. Part of that may have been intrigue, yes, but a more substantial reason is that I’m trying to figure out exactly what Apple’s strategy for this product line is. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what Apple seems to be doing. THE PRICE IS THE THING If there’s a bold move for the HomePod mini, it’s all about that price point. To get…