Table of contents for 187 in iPad & iPhone User

All eyes were on the tech world last month as Apple capped a string of disappointing results from Google, Meta and Amazon. But Apple managed to buck the trend with another record-breaking quarter. For its fiscal fourth quarter, the company posted revenue of $90.1 billion, up 8 percent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.29, up 4 percent year over year. The quarter was buoyed by its two biggest categories: the iPhone and Mac. Apple enjoyed an extra week of iPhone 14 sales thanks to an earlier release (though that didn’t include the new iPhone 14 Plus, which arrived 7 October). Sales of the iPhone came in at just under $43 billion, an increase of 10 percent over last year, and Mac sales rebounded from a…

Despite positioning itself as a pro-privacy tech company, Apple has been accused by iOS developers of behaviour that ‘should raise many privacy concerns’. It all relates to Apple’s own apps, including the App Store, and the way usage data is allegedly shared with Apple even when the user has turned off analytics sharing and personalized recommendations. The Twitter account Mysk (fave.co/3Gp9VuL), which is run by a pair of developers in Canada and Germany, posted a thread warning that, if you’re using the App Store app in iOS 14.6, “every tap you make” is recorded and sent to Apple. This happens regardless of user preferences and settings, the developers claim. Apple has several toggles designed to reduce tracking, but the developers say that “opting‑out or switching the personalization options off did…

Apple is a bit like Superman. Wait, wait, hear me out. Sure, it only gets a chunk of its power from the yellow sun (thanks, solar), and maybe not even its rumoured smart glasses could disguise it as Clark Kent, but the company certainly isn’t short on superpowers: selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of products, commanding a prominent position in multiple technology markets, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, etc. But just as Superman has his kryptonite, Apple too has one large weakness that can bring the company to its knees: its over-reliance on China. Yes, the region provides a big chunk of the company’s sales, but even more to the point, it’s the epicentre of Apple’s global manufacturing and assembly. And when that’s threatened…

Which iPad is best for you? There is a lot of choice and it can be confusing. There are four different varieties of iPad, listed below, and each is available with or without cellular (including 5G on certain models), which costs extra. That’s before we get into storage capacity, colours and second-hand alternatives. Our in-depth buying guide assesses the whole range of iPads sold by Apple and explores all the factors that should influence your iPad buying decision such as value for money, how much storage you need and whether or not to buy a cellular version. We also reveal whether an updated version of each device is likely to be launched soon – answering the question of whether now is a good time to buy an iPad. EVERY iPAD…

Price: £1,299 from fave.co/3SSvYMU Sennheiser has engineered its flagship IE 900 in-ear monitors for comfortable long-term wear and to sound fantastic. That’s it. They’re wired, and there are no inline controls. There’s no active noise cancellation. There’s no microphone for phone calls. The IE 900 is a headphone designed for maximum audio quality, period. And Sennheiser delivers in that department. At this price, why choose an in-ear monitor instead of on-ear or over-ear headphone? If you’re on the move, the IE 900 are sufficiently well-built to use as a commuter headphone and the case will fit in your pocket. If you’re in the office, your co-workers won’t be commenting on your giant pair of cans. Ultimately, however, the IE 900 offer an immersive and intimate listening experience that’s different than…

Apple takes seriously the threat of targeted malware that hits its devices and extracts personal data from journalists, human-rights activists, opposition politicians, and others in the cross-hairs of repressive governments, criminal rings, and even spies-for-hire. Beyond suing companies in 2021 that Apple maintains produce ‘sophisticated, state-sponsored surveillance technology that allows its highly targeted spyware to surveil its victims’, and underwriting organizations countering cyber surveillance, Apple added a new high-security option to iOS 16 called Lockdown Mode. The vast majority of people don’t need to use Lockdown Mode, as it is designed to protect against tailored and targeted attacks that rely on delivering payloads via Messages and other means that exploit previously undisclosed bugs (so-called ‘zero-day’ flaws). These attacks can gain nonconsensual access to stored data, the mic and camera, and…

A new report from The Information (fave.co/3EImfVJ) explores Apple’s ongoing project to develop in-house search capabilities but paints a gloomy picture regarding the launch of a direct rival to Google search. According to the report’s sources, an Apple search engine, if it launches at all, cannot realistically happen within the next four years. Apple’s search plan was boosted in 2018 by the acquisition of the news/recommendation start-up Laserlike, which was founded by three former Google search employees. At the time, the project was a significant one for Cupertino, with Laserlike co-founder Srinivasan Venkatachary occupying a senior role in a search-focused team numbering at least 200 employees – and this was separate from, and in addition to, the team in charge of search on the App Store. But The Information reveals…

Apple has begun rolling out its new Rapid Security Responses feature to iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 beta testers. The mechanism, which is designed to speed up the delivery of security fixes on iPhone, iPad and Mac, was announced at WWDC and began testing back in October and appears to be ready to go – although we don’t yet know when it will first be made available to macOS testers. As Twitter account Appleosophy reports (fave.co/3TQ2KPr), this initial Rapid Security Response does not contain any actual security content. In Apple’s words, it is “for testing purposes only”. But future updates of this sort could be highly significant. At present, Apple’s only way of seeding patches for security vulnerabilities is through updates to iOS, iPadOS or macOS, such as iOS 16.1…

Price: £499 from fave.co/3OfwPXy It can be hard to get excited about the cheapest model in a range. Apple’s standard iPad has for years offered a blend of strong value and respectable specs without creating much of a buzz because the features it offers are either weaker than those on the Air, mini and Pro models, or arrive several years later. This latest iPad, however, may change that perception. It does some interesting things, particularly in terms of its position within the range – but not all of those things are good. Being interesting can be a mixed blessing. DESIGN From very first impressions, it’s clear that Apple has given the humble iPad a glow-up. Particularly if you’ve got one of the bright new colours: I tested the pink model,…

Price: £849 from fave.co/3ArwpHR At Apple Park, 2022 was the year of the premium product, with the company aggressively pushing customers towards Pro versions of the iPhone and AirPods. The Apple Watch too has got its flagship, and this time it actually offers some extra features beyond being made out of a costly material. But the Apple Watch Ultra is a different proposition to the iPhone 14 Pro and AirPods Pro. The Apple Watch Ultra isn’t a straightforward upgrade where you pay more to add only improvements; it’s a niche device that some customers will love, but most absolutely shouldn’t buy. DESIGN The Ultra is considerably bigger than any previous Apple Watch model. It’s almost twice as heavy as the lightest Series 8 model and weighs 19 percent more than…

Price: £99 from fave.co/3gX5nkS There’s no doubt that massive growth in the consumer electronics market comes at a cost to the planet. Is there a way to enjoy all the benefits of modern audio while also offsetting the damage? Skullcandy wants to counteract some of those environmental costs in its new Transparency series, which includes the limited edition Skullcandy Transparency Jib True 2 Wireless Earbuds (£45 from fave.co/3UHkltV) and the Transparency Hesh Evo Wireless Headphone. We’ve reviewed the Transparency Hesh Evo headphone here, and it’s a pair of cans that will definitely get a reaction when you wear them outside your house. GREEN CREDENTIALS Partnering with TerraPass and EcoChain, a pair of companies that aim to help businesses make their products and manufacturing chains more eco-friendly, Skullcandy promises that the…

If you receive unwanted calls to your phone number on an iPhone, texts or iMessages in the Messages app, or unwanted incoming calls in FaceTime, you can block them by phone number or email address. Any number or address you add to a block list via FaceTime, Messages or Phone serves as a block across all three apps and associated services. HOW TO BLOCK A PERSON A phone number is blocked for incoming phone calls and incoming text messages. If the phone number is also associated with an iCloud account, that person can’t send you an iMessage or initiate a FaceTime call, either. An email address must be associated with an iCloud account to block that person – they won’t be able to send an iMessage or start a FaceTime…

After the European Union passed a law mandating that all new electronic devices that charge with a plug need to support USB-C, all eyes turned to Apple and its Lightning-powered iPhone. Now we have an answer: Apple confirmed that the iPhone will switch to USB-C. In an interview with Joanna Stern at The Wall Street Journal Tech Live conference last month, Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, was surprisingly candid when asked about the future of USB-C on the iPhone: “Obviously, we’ll have to comply; we have no choice.” However, it’s clear that Apple isn’t happy with the move. Joswiak pointed out that the EU Commission originally wanted to use Micro-USB as a global standard over a decade ago, which would have stymied the development of both…

Apple’s most recent financial quarter has come and gone, and the company posted (yet again) record revenues, pulling in a zillion dollars and ending its latest fiscal year with just shy of $100 billion in profit alone. Let that sink in for a moment. $100 billion is such a large number as to be utterly incomprehensible to most of us who will never approach anywhere near even a single billion in our lifetime. It’s bigger than the gross domestic product of some countries – and not just a few of them. More than half of the countries in the world. Most of them. And again, that’s profit, not revenue, which was a soaring $316 billion, putting it in around the top 40 countries. On the one hand, good for Apple.…

Apple has updated its entry-level iPad for 2022 but is also keeping the older model in the current catalogue. There’s a good reason for this, as this time around the two iPads are different in many ways. So, should you go with the cheaper 9th-generation device or embrace the modern aesthetic that comes with the 10th-generation revamp? We compare the two so you can make the right choice. DESIGN For the 10th generation of its most affordable iPad, Apple has given the device a complete makeover. Gone is the Home button and prominent bezels of its predecessor, replaced instead by a similar design to the iPad mini and iPad Air. The display has been increased in size from 10.2 inches to 10.9 inches, thanks to the new design. Like the…

Going wireless, whether you’re talking about a mouse, a speaker or a pair of headphones, is wonderfully convenient: who wants to worry about cables getting tangled up or snagged? But there are downsides too, and the most obvious of these concerns the battery. Apple’s AirPods wireless earbuds have what you might call a primary battery life of around six hours, before you have to put them back in their case for charging. That’s time when you can’t listen to music, but at least you can do it on the go. But after around 30 hours the case itself will be drained of power, and at that point you’ve got to head to a mains plug. Is there any way to make your earbuds last longer between charges? Yes. In this…

Each year, Apple ushers in a new A-series system-on-chip to pair with the latest iPhones. In 2022, the company has taken an entirely new path. The new A16 processor is reserved only for the ’Pro’ model iPhones, while the standard iPhone 14 models get the same A15 we were introduced to 2021 (the 5-core GPU version that was found in the iPhone 13 Pro models). The this-year and last-year split is not the only unique thing. The A16 is, more than usual, a relatively minor evolution on the previous SoC. There are a few changes to be sure, but the average user is unlikely to notice them. The differences between A15 and A16 appear to be relatively mild compared to Apple’s typical yearly cadence. Earlier this year, I made some…

The Do Not Disturb option added to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS should be entered in history books for their contributions to people’s uninterrupted periods of sleep and focused times while working. However, what if want to provide an exception for people important in your life, particularly for emergencies? iOS has offered a bypass for several releases in a couple of different places. With Do Not Disturb, you could allow anyone in your Favourites list in the Phone app to bypass the DND setting for calls. A separate option for calls and the only way to pass through text notifications required a non-obvious process: open a contact, tap Edit, tap Ringtone (for calls) or Text Tone (for texts), and then tap Emergency Bypass. You can make this change in either or…