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Tech NewsNow the Senate Wants Answers About Apple’s iPhone Throttling Controversy
The fallout over Apple’s decision to throttle the performance of older models of iPhone with degraded batteries has continued to mount despite the company’s apologies, with Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee chair Sen. John Thune asking the company to give Congress more information. Per Reuters, Thune sent a letter on January 9th asking Apple … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
Seven Receive Medical Attention After iPhone Explodes in Swiss Apple Store
Seven people received medical attention on Tuesday after an iPhone battery overheated in a Swiss Apple store. Police in Zurich, Switzerland evacuated around 50 customers and staff from the store after an iPhone 6S battery overheated and started spewing smoke. The small fire happened as an employee tried to repair the device. The man was … Continued
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Tech News
Apple Will Sell You a $29 Replacement Battery Even If You Don’t Need One
After Apple admitted to slowing down older iPhones, the company tried to calm frustrated customers by dropping the price of out-of-warranty battery replacements from $79 to $29. Unfortunately, even that discount came with a catch, because unless your phone’s battery failed a diagnostic test at the Genius Bar, you wouldn’t actually be eligible for a … Continued
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Tech News
Apple’s iPhone Throttling Apology Tour Continues With Slash in Battery Replacement Price
Apple has slashed the price of replacement batteries for out-of-warranty iPhone models the company throttled earlier than expected, lowering the price from $79 to $29. Apple had originally throttled the phones as part of a solution to degraded batteries leading to iOS crashes, but their lack of transparency on the issue enraged many customers (and … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
We Tested 5 Wireless Chargers for the iPhone and This is the Best
A few weeks ago, I tested almost every one of Apple’s wired charging solutions to find out which one was best. Job done, right? Well not quite, because this year’s crop of iPhone’s are Apple’s first handsets to have built-in wireless charging too! Then, to make things even more confusing, Apple’s most recent software update … Continued
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Tech News
How to Tell If Your iPhone Battery Is Screwed and What You Can Do About It
Earlier this week, Apple admitted that it is deliberately throttling the performance of older iPhones running newer versions of iOS, explaining that artificially limiting the speed of those devices was necessary to prevent aging lithium ion batteries from failing. As TechCrunch explained, while users have long suspected the slowdowns were intended to cajole them into … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsOf Course Apple Is Getting Sued Over the Old iPhone Throttling Fiasco
Now that Apple has actually admitted to using software updates to limit the performance of older iPhones, people are pissed. So naturally they went and did what any angry American customer would do: sue. On Thursday, Apple was hit by two separate class action lawsuits, one filed in California, and another filed in Illinois. Both … Continued
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Tech NewsApple Says Poor Performance in Aging iPhones Is Part of Delivering a Good User Experience
After poor performance in older iPhones prompted an investigation by a number of Reddit users and additional testing by benchmark app maker Primate Labs, Apple has finally weighed in on the controversy surrounding its aging handsets. The verdict? It seems the people were right. In a statement made to Techcrunch, Apple said “Our goal is … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
Pokemon Go’s New AR+ Mode Finally Puts Apple’s ARKit to Good Use
More than a year after its initial launch, Pokemon Go is often remembered for its rabid players that overwhelmed parks and swarmed streets looking for cute little pocket monsters. But people tend to forget that Pokemon Go was also many people’s first experience with augmented reality. And while today’s trainer count is down from peak … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsHere’s One Explanation for Why Your Old iPhone Feels so Damn Slow
For years, people have complained about declining performance in their aging iPhones, an issue that’s commonly attributed to Apple’s software updates. Something beyond a rumor percolated just last week, when a Reddit thread suggested that the cause for the slow performance could be due to Apple throttling phones with degraded batteries. This inspired the makers … Continued
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Tech News
It’s Now Too Late to Get AirPods From the Apple Store (and Most Other Places) Before 2018
It is now officially too late to secure a pair of AirPods before the end of the holiday season via the Apple online store, MacRumors reported, with orders originating in the “United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and several other countries” now showing delivery dates in January. As MacRumors noted, the … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
Everything Apple Fucked Up This Year
People like to believe that Apple is a company that never makes mistakes. Never has that logic been so obviously flawed as it was in 2017. This year, it seemed like Apple couldn’t make it through a single week without some big, embarrassing screw up. So, for the sheer joy of it, we made a … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsSmartphones Might Get Super Exciting Again in 2018
Let’s face it, even though phones continue to get faster and companies continue to cram even more tech into people’s pocket computers, you wouldn’t be wrong if you said smartphones have gotten a little boring to the casual consumer. Much of the time, it seems people are much more concerned with making sure there’s a … Continued
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Tech News
Apple Pays Finisar $390 Million to Try and Lock Down Its Supply of Precious iPhone X Sensors
Tech giant Apple brought the iPhone X to market this year, but not without significant production stumbles that resulted in predictions of supply shortages for retailers and consumers. Reports on Wednesday show that Apple is moving quickly to ensure future access to some of the device’s more elaborate parts to decrease the odds of that … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
Google Promised a Way to Jailbreak the iPhone and It Delivered
Last week, a Google security researcher announced that he’d be releasing the goods that are needed to jailbreak the latest iPhones. For years, it was pretty easy to get all the customization options of Android on iOS, but the developer scene has since dried up. Even if you don’t plan on jailbreaking your phone, there’s … Continued
By Rhett Jones -
Tech NewsGadgets
Despite Overwhelming Evidence That This Is Foolish, I Refuse to Use a Case
Here’s a conversation I have a lot: Friend: WHOA. You don’t use a phone case? Me, incredulously, because you are looking at my phone and you know the answer: No. Friend, condescendingly: That’s ridiculous! You should really use a case. People who use phone cases fucking love to drag me for going naked, pointing out … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsThe Best Smartphone for Everyone
You did it. You waited out all the announcements back in the spring during Mobile World Congress and the deluge of new handsets that debuted this fall. But now, after upstarts such as Essential have had a chance to shine and giants like Apple and Samsung are done plying their latest wares, there’s a big … Continued
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Tech News
Foxconn Reportedly Used Illegal Student Labor to Manufacture iPhone Xs
Hon Hai Precision Industry, more commonly known as Foxconn, came into the public consciousness earlier this decade when a salvo of exposés described the degrading and often dangerous conditions its poorly-paid workers endured to build expensive trinkets like the iPhone. Today, the Financial Times reports that illegal labor practices persist. Six students, ages 17 to … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsGadgets
We Tested iPhone Fast-Charging and You Should Definitely Upgrade Your Charger
Your iPhone can charge a lot faster than you thought. When Apple announced the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X, the company glossed over the fact that all three of its new handsets were capable of fast charging—similar to what Android phones have been doing for years. Even now, if you go the spec page … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsApple Reportedly Wants a 3D Sensor on the Back of iPhones by 2019
After the relative success of Apple’s front-mounted 3D sensor on the iPhone X, which is the component that enables Face ID and the company’s playful Animojis, Apple is reportedly aiming to complement 2019 iPhones with similar tech on their backsides, too. However, according to Bloomberg, the rear-facing 3D sensors would function a bit differently than … Continued