Table of contents for 190 in iPad & iPhone User

As we get closer to the release of Apple’s AR/VR headset, the launch date seems to be getting further and further away. What was once a possible January event, then a spring event, then a WWDC announcement, might now be attached to the iPhone 15 event in September. According to a tweet by Ming-Chi Kuo, the likelihood of a spring announcement of the headset is “decreasing”, while “the probability of the headset launch alongside iPhone 15 in 3Q23 is rising”. If the headset is unveiled in September, Kuo says Apple is still planning to ship the headset before the end of 2023. The prediction for the mass shipment schedule is unchanged, but the likelihood of Apple’s 1st-gen AR/MR headset release at the spring event is decreasing. Meanwhile, the probability of…

Rumours are swirling about how the iPhone 15 Ultra could be the priciest iPhone ever made, with a price tag that could top £2,000 for the top-tier storage options. But that’s a drop in the bucket for the person who bought an original sealed iPhone from 2007 at an auction for more than $63,000 (around £51,900). The 8GB iPhone belonged to cosmetic tattoo artist Karen Green, who was gifted the new phone in 2007 by friends to celebrate starting a new job. Since she already had a brand-new phone at the time, she never opened the box, and now the iconic handset has earned her enough to buy more than 50 iPhone 14 Pros – $63,356.40 to be exact. That price includes a 20 percent ‘buyer’s premium’, so the actual…

iPads are powerful and versatile devices, but they can be easy to underestimate. Apple likes to hide complexity under a surface of simplicity, and getting the most out of your iPad might not be as straightforward as you’d think. With that in mind, we’ve assembled 10 essential tips and tricks for iPad owners that will prove handy advice for anyone trying one of Apple’s tablets for the first time – and maybe even teach experienced users may a gem they weren’t aware of. 1. RETURN AND REFRESH Right off the bat, there are two gestures that every iPad owner needs to know: tap to return to the top of the screen, and pull to refresh the current page. Like the iPhone, they don’t apply to every single app, but they…

Your iPad isn’t only great for keeping up with the latest news from friends and world events, taking incredible photographs, playing games, and generally keeping yourself entertained, but it’s also a portable powerhouse that can organize your life while allowing you to get some work done. To make this happen you’ll need the right apps, so here’s our selection of the 10 best for productivity and organization. iPADOS APPS Before heading off to the app store to download productivity apps, it’s worth spending some time with those that Apple already includes on your device. Notes has seen some upgrades in recent years, allowing you to create entries with tables, lists, freehand drawing, text, scanned documents or photographs. These can then be stored in dedicated folders so you can organize your…

Whether you’ve recently gotten your first iPhone or are a veteran of Apple’s smartphone world, you might not be aware of how many excellent accessories are available to make your experience even better. From MagSafe batteries that keep the device charged when you’re out and about to car mounts that make it safe and easy to iOS controllers from getting the most out of the huge selection of games on the platform. But, with so much to choose from, where do you start? Here’s our guide to the best accessories for your iPhone. 1. ANKER MAGGO 622 MAGNETIC BATTERY Price: £50 from fave.co/3ZcFUVy The Anker MagGo 622 magnetic battery is a great way to ensure that your iPhone doesn’t run out of power when you’re away from a charging point.…

Price: £299 from fave.co/3kFW4rF Well this was a surprise. Apple ditched the HomePod back in 2021, indicating breezily that it intended to focus instead on the smaller and cheaper HomePod mini. But now it’s come crawling back, professing undying affection for the full-sized form factor. Or, in less dramatic terms, Apple has launched a 2nd-gen HomePod, and everyone is wondering what’s changed, and why the company thinks this time will be more successful. In our in-depth review of the 2023 HomePod, we intend to find out. DESIGN The HomePod 2 is a handsome speaker. It’s a neat, chunky but relatively compact cylinder with the edges smoothed off at the top and bottom. As with the very first iPad, the inward curve at its base invites the hand to pick it…

Price: £149 from fave.co/3kyZI6x The Philips TAA6606 bone conduction Bluetooth sports headphone make it easy to listen to music while you’re running or engaging in other types of exercise, but audio performance takes a back seat to two other goals: Ensuring a secure but comfortable fit even while you’re moving around, and maintaining situational awareness while outdoors. Unlike conventional on-ear, over-ear, or in-ear headphones, you wear the Philips TAA6606 like a laurel around the back of your head, wrapping hooks over the tops of your ears. Rather than positioning speakers outside or inside your ear canal, a bone conduction headphone such as this rests its speakers in front of each ear and transmits sound through the bones in your skull. This design leaves your ears completely unimpeded from hearing sounds…

We’ve all seen the Google Pixel ad (fave.co/3ZsSnUV) where Giannis Antetokounmpo removes a ‘glitzy’ from his selfie with Simu Liu just by circling the unwanted photobomber with his finger. Now even iPhone users will be able to use the feature to clean up their photos – as long as they pay for Google One. As part of the latest benefits to its storage plan, Google says it has added “Extra Google Photos editing features”, including Portrait Light, Portrait Blur and Magic Eraser. At the time of writing, the features were rolling out to all subscribers. To try out the new features, open Google Photos, then select a photo. Tap the edit button that looks like a series of sliders. If Magic Eraser is available, it will appear under the Suggestions…

Apple released the first iOS 16.4 beta last month with a couple of notable new features, including the return of the new Home architecture update that was pulled in December, web push notifications, and a change to the way betas are installed. But most users will only care about the new emoji that will be available when they update. After bringing the melting face, biting lip, jar, beans, and bubbles to iPhone in iOS 15.4 last year, Apple is bringing 21 new designs and 31 variations with the upcoming update. These are the new designs as of the first iOS 16.4 beta: Heart: Blue, pink, grey. Smiley: Shaking face. Gesture: Rightwards and leftwards pushing hand with 5 skin tones each. Animals: Donkey, moose, goose, wing, jellyfish. Nature: Hyacinth, pea pod,…

There’s nothing like having the convenience of hands-free use of your iPad. Whether you’re in the kitchen, streaming a film, or working at your desk, a stand becomes an essential tablet accessory. Of course, those using their iPad for work may also want to pair the iPad with a keyboard (here are some of the best ones). An iPad stand will help your posture and viewing comfort, or make typing or using a stylus much easier. We’ve rounded up some of the best iPad stands out there for every budget – from the lightweight and portable, to the adjustable, to the ones that just look great, and one that will turn your iPad into a desktop workstation. 1. LAMICALL TABLET STAND Price: £14 from fave.co/3kveI5A The Lamicall Tablet stand is…

Every year, Apple introduces a new iPhone line, and its introduction is the most important event in the Apple calendar. As much as Mac sales are growing and Apple’s push into services is increasing, iPhone sales are at the heart of the company’s portfolio and serve as the driver for accessories like Apple Watch and AirPods. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro haven’t been out for very long, but rumours are already heating up about what to expect with next year’s iPhone 15 line. Here’s what we’ve heard so far, and what we expect based on Apple’s recent history. RELEASE DATE Apple usually introduces the new iPhones on a Tuesday or Wednesday around the second week of September. Therefore, we suspect the iPhone 15 will be unveiled on 12…

There’s an age-old take when it comes to Apple and hot new technologies: if the company hasn’t shipped whatever everybody else in the industry is currently focusing on, it must be behind. This is rarely the truth. Apple’s business is like the proverbial iceberg: we only see the tip of what the company’s doing, while the vast majority of its research and development efforts are looming beneath the surface. Just look at its finances in its most recent quarter: it spent $7.7 billion on R&D, accounting for more than half of all of its operating expenses. The latest technology to feature in this storyline is, of course, artificial intelligence. How can the company compete in this burgeoning new market if it doesn’t come out with a chatbot or image generator…

The 2nd-gen HomePod has only been on shelves for a week, but many shoppers might think it’s been out for years. Even though Apple’s original full-size HomePod was discontinued in 2019, the new model is nearly identical to the old model, and it’s unclear how Apple expects the HomePod 2 to do any better this time around. With this in mind, we put the two models head to head in a blind audio test. The speakers were set up close together in the same room, and the reviewer (me) sat in the sweet spot while an assistant reviewer (my wife) streamed a playlist of assorted tracks to each speaker. For fairness, she mixed the order and I wasn’t told which speaker was playing until I had delivered my verdict. After…

When Apple releases the new iPhone 15 Pro this autumn, it could offer a significant jump in performance and power efficiency than the past few models. That’s because of the A17 chip, which is almost certain to use a new 3nm chip-making process that is significantly faster and more efficient than the current 5nm process. And it could be a while before any other chip comes close. According to DigiTimes, Apple is going all-in on 3nm for the iPhone in 2023, reportedly snatching up TSMC’s ‘entire initial 3nm supply’. Apple is a priority customer for TSMC and it pays a premium to get first dibs on new manufacturing process technology – prior reports have said that TSMC charges $20,000 per wafer, which typically yields several hundred chips. It’s not unusual…

In a recent edition of his Power On newsletter (fave.co/3DhI7qd), Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman warns that 2023 will be a “light year” for iPad releases… as in a year that will bring spec bumps, rather than astronomical leaps forward. Next year, however, will be a different matter, he says, with a “major revamp” on the way for the iPad Pro. Spring 2024, according to Gurman, will bring “an updated design and OLED screens for the first time” to the iPad Pro range. This is big (and arguably overdue) news. Apple hasn’t significantly changed the Pro’s design since 2018, when it removed the Home button, squared off the edges, and curved the screen corners. If you’re not keeping track, that’s four generations in a row that the company has rolled out…

Apple has always marketed the iPad as a device for productivity, but its form factor has often placed limitations on the amount and quality of work that can be completed. This is perhaps most apparent in the lack of a physical keyboard. Although the versatility of an on-screen keyboard is great, it undoubtedly holds you back when typing out long articles or sending multiple emails. It can also be frustrating to lose so much of the screen to a virtual keyboard. Apple has tried to address this in its iPad Pro line, but even then the keyboard is an optional accessory. With more and more iPad models supporting the smart connector in addition to Bluetooth connectivity, there are a huge variety of keyboard options on the market. Here are our…

If you own an iPad and an iPhone, this has happened to you at some point, maybe even all the time: You find yourself using functions and features specific to your tablet, and then you switch to the iPhone and find that you can’t do those things anymore. If you could, everyday tasks would be easier and more efficient. Apple brought even more new productivity tools to its tablet in iPadOS 16 that would be great to have in our pockets. Here’s our wish list of iPad features we’d like to see on the iPhone one day (soon). 1. APPLE PENCIL It’s been seven years since iPad users got the gift of the nifty invention known as the Apple Pencil, and you still can’t use it on an iPhone. Though…

Apple will almost certainly kick off WWDC with a keynote presentation, as it does every year. And as it does every year, it will unveil its new operating systems for release in the autumn: iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, watchOS 10 and tvOS 17. As is also tradition, we’re going to make a wish list of some of our most-desired features and changes. Since this year’s release is rumoured to be more maintenance and smaller improvements than flashy new features, we’ve focused on things we want to see improved in iOS 17 – little tweaks that will make a big difference in how we use our phones. Apple certainly doesn’t come to us for advice about this stuff (and it’s too late to make major changes anyway), but it’s…

Price: £379 from fave.co/3jy5XXJ Bowers & Wilkins has updated its flagship wireless, in-ear headphone. And while this isn’t a from-the-ground-up redesign – the B&W Pi7 S2 use the excellent same drivers as the model that shipped in 2021 – improvements in a host of other areas result in better battery life and longer Bluetooth range. More importantly, if your primary consideration is the quality of an earbud’s audio reproduction, they deliver fantastic listening experiences. Your decision could get more complicated as you consider other features, such as active noise cancellation, EQ options, and price. Bowers & Wilkins has helped define the British hi-fi audio sound for nearly six decades with its highly regarded loudspeakers. The company entered the powered speaker market with its iPod-compatible Zeppelin speaker in 2006 (since updated…