Tag: iphones

Apple Will Use 5nm Processors For iPhones Starting 2020

Apple is best known for making premium smartphones which offer top of the charts performance. Though many other OEM’s have taken a lead in the design and optics department, none of them has even come close to the processing power Apple’s A-series of SoC’s have. Its latest chipset, the Apple A12 is reported to be a full generation ahead of Qualcomm and Huawei’s offering, the Snapdragon 855 and the Kirin 980 respectively. Fresh reports state that Apple is planning to use 5nm processors in iPhones starting the year 2020.

Apple’s 5nm Processors

Reports state that Apple’s chipset supplier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company(TSMC) will announce its 5nm fabrication process in a few days. The event will take place on February 25 at the Mobile World Congress(MWC) in Barcelona. Apple will reportedly soon place an order for the manufacturing of 5nm chipsets which will be used in the 2020 iPhones. This chipset is expected to be called the A14 Bionic and would support 5G and enhanced machine learning capabilities.

Apple’s new 5nm chipsets will be made using a new technology called Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography, developed by TSMC. This technology would allow the company to pack more transistors in a confined space, making the chip smaller. This would then result in increased performance and efficiency of the new smartphones. TSMC claims that it will be able to mass produce these chipsets by 2020, confirming the reports. There were also reports claiming Apple would release a 5G iPhone next year. This device is expected to have an Intel modem to support the new communication standard.

Also read: Huawei’s Foldable Phone, The ‘Mate X’ Leaks

Apple was one of the first company’s to unveil a 7nm chipset, the A12 Bionic in 2018; when they announced the current generation of iPhones . Other chipset manufacturers, like Qualcomm and Huawei also started manufacturing SoC’s using the 7nm fabrication process; but their products weren’t at par with Apple’s offering. In almost all the benchmarks, the Apple A12 Bionic has the Kirin 980 and the Snapdragon 855 beat. Unlike Apple, the competition isn’t likely to switch to 5nm chipsets as soon as next year, so they may release devices with 5nm chips in or after the year 2021.

February 23, 2019
Apple Sued By 60,000 South Korean Users For Slowing Down Older iPhones

Apple recently released iOS 11.3 software update with new features. In fact, this update also solves the CPU throttling issue on older iPhones. Users, who own an older iPhone model can now toggle between performance or battery life in the settings menu. However, the company warns that manually enabling the performance will drain the battery. Now, a large group of iPhone users in South Korea have filed a class action lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court against Apple for slowing down older iPhones.

Apple started to slow down (by throttling the CPU frequency) older iPhones with degraded batteries to offer better battery life. However, this was done without user’s consent. As soon as the news went viral, Apple CEO Tim Cook apologised the users and announced a new battery replacement programme at an affordable price.

The Lawsuit

60,000 iPhone users in South Korea are now demanding a compensation of US$ 188 per customer or US$ 12 million in total. This is also the one of the biggest action lawsuit that in South Korea. However, the initial number of users who wanted to file a lawsuit was near 400,000. The number lessened at the time of document verifications and other legal procedures. Similarly, Civic Group Activists have already filed a class action suits against Apple in South Korea in early 2018. They won the lawsuit with a compensation amount of US$ 2.2 million.

March 30, 2018
Two Arrested in Delhi For Stealing iPhones Worth 2.25 Crores

The price of possession of iPhones may have been too much for two Delhi persons who were caught with a consignment of 900 stolen iPhones.

The value of the total shipment considered to be 2.25 Crore. Mehtab Alam, 24, and Arman, 22, from Mahipalpur in New Delhi, decided to quit their jobs and jump the truck they used to drive previously to attain the stolen goods.

The two robbers held the truck driver captive before robbing the mobile phones near Rajokri flyover. They were caught within 48 hours at Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area. The gang of the robbers is estimated to be of 8 people

The robbery comes just weeks before the official launch of the iPhone 7 in India, which is said to happen on the 7th of October. The iPhones recovered from the loot are older model iPhone 5S’ and were being shipped from the warehouse to the distribution centre.

September 16, 2016
While FBI and Apple were Fighting in Court , LAPD unlocked an iPhone 5s : Report

A new report originating from the LA Times claims that while Apple and FBI were taking matters to court and creating a public issue over iOS privacy. Los Angeles police investigators obtained a method to open a locked iPhone 5s.

The LAPD was able to unlock and access information on the iPhone 5s which belonged to April Jace, wife of actor Michael Jace, accused in her killing at their South L.A. home in 2014.

The report mentions that LAPD found a “forensic cellphone expert” who could “override the locked iPhone function,”. There is no other information on how the iPhone was actually unlocked and it looks like only those involved will know the actual details of the case.

While the FBI managed to do this with a foreign third party organization, the appearance of a sum of US $ 1 Million which was paid for the obtaining the crack of the iPhone 5c in the San Bernardino case. It is also unknown what the version of iOS on the iPhone 5S which was unlocked by LAPD was, if similar the same “forensic cellphone expert” could have been used by the FBI and saved the US $ 1 MillionCould it be the infamous Siri bypass?

Could it be the infamous Siri bypass? Hard to tell!

[LA Times]

May 5, 2016