Apple – Page 14

Amazon, Apple make a deal to offer Apple TV+ in a Prime bundle

Amazon, amazon prime video, Apple, Apple TV, streaming, subscriptions, Tech / Shannon Garcia / October 10, 2024

The Apple TV platform, tvOS, and the original Apple TV app were initially intended to solve this problem by offering an a la carte, consumer-friendly way to manage the options in a burgeoning streaming-TV industry.

However, Apple’s attempt to make the TV app a universal hub of content has been continually stymied by the fact that industry giant Netflix has declined to participate.

Users of the TV app and Apple TV set-top-box still must launch a separate Netflix app to see their watch history on that service, or to see if movies or shows they want to watch are available. Content from most other services—including Amazon Prime Video—is exposable through search within the app and rolls into a unified watch history.

Fighting to succeed in a messy business

Further, streaming services have become increasingly expensive, and streamers have begun trying to find new revenue from sources like bundles and advertising. The reasons for these trends are complex, but one of the key problems is that scripted television content is immensely expensive to produce—especially as the prestige TV era has driven up viewer expectations in terms of quality and production values.

As an early leader in the industry, Netflix established unrealistic expectations for everyone involved—consumers, production houses, investors, and so on—by simply throwing immense amounts of money into content without immediately seeing a return.

When larger economic factors put an end to that practice, streamers had to adjust—including Apple, which among other things is tweaking its film strategy for the new landscape.

Apple still offers several of those central hub features—for example, you can subscribe to services like Paramount+ and launch their shows from the Apple TV app, just like Amazon is doing with its app and Apple TV+ here. But the realities of the mess the industry finds itself in have clearly led Apple to keep an open mind about how it can attract and retain viewers.

Amazon, Apple make a deal to offer Apple TV+ in a Prime bundle Read More »

Former Apple hardware chief Dan Riccio is retiring

Apple, apple vision pro, Dan Riccio, executives, John Ternus, Tech, Vision Products Group / 9u50fv / October 10, 2024

Dan Riccio, one of Apple’s most prominent executives for more than two decades, will retire from the company this month, according to a report in Bloomberg that cites people with knowledge of the move.

Reportedly, Riccio has said he has been planning his retirement for the past five years, and his last day will be Friday, October 11.

Riccio began working at Apple in 1998, and by 2012, he had become the chief of hardware engineering. In that role, he oversaw several major hardware developments for Apple, including AirPods, the evolution of the modern iPhone, the iPad Pro, and more.

He held the title of senior vice president of hardware engineering during that time, then moved into a new role within the company in January of 2021. The public at first only knew that he was working on a “new project” at that time, but before long it became clear the project in question was what became the Vision Pro, Apple’s augmented-reality headset that launched this February.

The group that produced the Vision Pro is called the Vision Products Group within the company; that’s the 2,000-engineer-strong group Riccio has overseen since 2021. He was also involved in developing Project Titan, Apple’s smart car initiative that was eventually abandoned.

Former Apple hardware chief Dan Riccio is retiring Read More »

Using inside info, iPhone thieves arrive at your house right after FedEx

Apple, at&t iphones, iphone thefts, Policy / Shannon Garcia / October 10, 2024

There has been a rash of iPhone thefts around the US the past few months, conducted by “porch pirates” often seen on doorbell camera videos scooping up boxes right after they are delivered. Phones shipped by AT&T are being targeted more than those of Verizon and T-Mobile, according to a Wall Street Journal article published yesterday.

“The key to these swift crimes, investigators say: The thieves are armed with tracking numbers. Another factor that makes packages from AT&T particularly vulnerable is that AT&T typically doesn’t require signature on delivery… Verizon and T-Mobile require a signature on delivery for smartphones; AT&T generally doesn’t,” the article said.

The WSJ talked to Chris Brown, a police lieutenant in Deer Park, Texas, who “said the suspects were armed with inside information: AT&T parcel tracking numbers. Deer Park police are working with AT&T to investigate how the suspects got that information, he said.”

When contacted by Ars today, an AT&T spokesperson said the phone carrier uses multiple delivery companies and “ship[s] tens of thousands of packages a day without incident.” AT&T said it “require[s] signatures in several markets where we have experienced theft issues,” and that “we regularly make changes to our processes, whether it is [the] type of delivery or even type of packaging, to reduce instances of these thefts.”

AT&T also said it works “with law enforcement agencies and parcel carriers to protect our deliveries,” and that these crimes are “committed by sophisticated criminals that are being investigated by both federal and state law enforcement agencies.” We asked both AT&T and FedEx how many thefts there have been but did not receive an answer.

Here is a WMUR-TV report about such thefts occurring in New Hampshire, complete with footage from a doorbell camera:

Hampton camera catches porch pirate stealing package with iPhones.

AT&T: No evidence of hack

The WSJ quoted AT&T as saying that it has “no evidence of any breach of our systems, and this was not a hack.” If there was no hack, it’s possible the tracking numbers were obtained directly from an employee or contractor. AT&T told Ars that it still has no evidence of a breach or hack.

Using inside info, iPhone thieves arrive at your house right after FedEx Read More »

Man learns he’s being dumped via “dystopian” AI summary of texts

AI, AI language model, Apple, apple intelligence, breakup, chatgpt, chatgtp, ios 18, iOS 18.1, IPhone, large language models, machine learning, Nick Spreen, Tech, text messages / DJ Henderson / October 10, 2024

The evolution of bad news via texting

Spreen’s message is the first time we’ve seen an AI-mediated relationship breakup, but it likely won’t be the last. As the Apple Intelligence feature rolls out widely and other tech companies embrace AI message summarization, many people will probably be receiving bad news through AI summaries soon. For example, since March, Google’s Android Auto AI has been able to deliver summaries to users while driving.

If that sounds horrible, consider our ever-evolving social tolerance for tech progress. Back in the 2000s when SMS texting was still novel, some etiquette experts considered breaking up a relationship through text messages to be inexcusably rude, and it was unusual enough to generate a Reuters news story. The sentiment apparently extended to Americans in general: According to The Washington Post, a 2007 survey commissioned by Samsung showed that only about 11 percent of Americans thought it was OK to break up that way.

What texting looked like back in the day.

By 2009, as texting became more commonplace, the stance on texting break-ups began to soften. That year, ABC News quoted Kristina Grish, author of “The Joy of Text: Mating, Dating, and Techno-Relating,” as saying, “When Britney Spears dumped Kevin Federline I thought doing it by text message was an abomination, that it was insensitive and without reason.” Grish was referring to a 2006 incident with the pop singer that made headline news. “But it has now come to the point where our cell phones and BlackBerries are an extension of ourselves and our personality. It’s not unusual that people are breaking up this way so much.”

Today, with text messaging basically being the default way most adults communicate remotely, breaking up through text is commonplace enough that Cosmopolitan endorsed the practice in a 2023 article. “I can tell you with complete confidence as an experienced professional in the field of romantic failure that of these options, I would take the breakup text any day,” wrote Kayle Kibbe.

Who knows, perhaps in the future, people will be able to ask their personal AI assistants to contact their girlfriend or boyfriend directly to deliver a personalized break-up for them with a sensitive message that attempts to ease the blow. But what’s next—break-ups on the moon?

This article was updated at 3: 33 PM on October 10, 2024 to clarify that the ex-girlfriend’s full real name has not been revealed by the screenshot image.

Man learns he’s being dumped via “dystopian” AI summary of texts Read More »

Apple brings years-old features to iCloud web interface

Apple, dark mode, iCloud, iCloud.com, Tech / 9u50fv / October 8, 2024

In a rare event, Apple has rolled out substantial updates to the web-based iCloud interface meant to allow users to access Apple services like Mail and Photos when they’re away from a Mac, iPad, or iPhone.

The flagship addition is dark mode; it “will automatically match your device settings with a Light Mode or Dark Mode color scheme,” Apple explains as part of the update.

There is also now a way to customize the background for the iCloud web interface—specifically, you can choose between several colors.

A few apps received features that have been available on iOS and macOS for a while. For example, the Notes web app now supports pinned notes, and iCloud Drive supports shared views.

If you think all that seems like it’s pretty basic and late to the game, you’re not wrong.

The iCloud web interface has long seemed like an afterthought for Apple, and it has always been far behind Apple’s native software platforms in terms of features. How far behind? Well, consider this: dark mode was previously added to iOS way back in iOS 13.

Apple’s narrative to investors has long said that its services like iCloud are key to making up for slowed hardware sales in the mature smartphone market. To that end, the company has made this web interface available and has brought some of its services like Music and TV+ to other platforms like Windows and Android.

However, there seem to be limits to that. As noted, iCloud for web has historically been a subpar experience, and other key services like Messages have not been made available on other platforms at all, possibly to avoid losing the social lock-in advantage of Messages for iOS. (Messages is notably absent in the web app.)

Still, it’s nice to see any movement at all here. While iCloud.com gets infrequent and small updates, it remains actively supported at a basic level.

Apple brings years-old features to iCloud web interface Read More »

Apple kicked Musi out of the App Store based on YouTube lie, lawsuit says

App Store, Apple, apple developer agreement, intellectual property law, IPhone, iPhone app, musi app, music app, music streaming, Policy, youtube / Mike M. / October 8, 2024

“Will Must ever come back?”

Popular music app says YouTube never justified its App Store takedown request.

Musi, a free music-streaming app only available on iPhone, sued Apple last week, arguing that Apple breached Musi’s developer agreement by abruptly removing the app from its App Store for no good reason.

According to Musi, Apple decided to remove Musi from the App Store based on allegedly “unsubstantiated” claims from YouTube that Musi was infringing on YouTube’s intellectual property. The removal came, Musi alleged, based on a five-word complaint from YouTube that simply said Musi was “violating YouTube terms of service”—without ever explaining how. And YouTube also lied to Apple, Musi’s complaint said, by claiming that Musi neglected to respond to YouTube’s efforts to settle the dispute outside the App Store when Musi allegedly showed evidence that the opposite was true.

For years, Musi users have wondered if the service was legal, Wired reported in a May deep dive into the controversial app. Musi launched in 2016, providing a free, stripped-down service like Spotify by displaying YouTube and other publicly available content while running Musi’s own ads.

Musi’s curious ad model has led some users to question if artists were being paid for Musi streams. Reassuring 66 million users who downloaded the app before its removal from the App Store, Musi has long maintained that artists get paid for Musi streams and that the app is committed to complying with YouTube’s terms of service, Wired reported.

In its complaint, Musi fully admits that its app’s streams come from “publicly available content on YouTube’s website.” But rather than relying on YouTube’s Application Programming Interface (API) to make the content available to Musi users—which potentially could violate YouTube’s terms of service—Musi claims that it designed its own “augmentative interface.” That interface, Musi said, does not “store, process, or transmit YouTube videos” and instead “plays or displays content based on the user’s own interactions with YouTube and enhances the user experience via Musi’s proprietary technology.”

YouTube is apparently not buying Musi’s explanations that its service doesn’t violate YouTube’s terms. But Musi claimed that it has been “engaged in sporadic dialog” with YouTube “since at least 2015,” allegedly always responding to YouTube’s questions by either adjusting how the Musi app works or providing “details about how the Musi app works” and reiterating “why it is fully compliant with YouTube’s Terms of Service.”

How might Musi have violated YouTube’s TOS?

In 2021, Musi claimed to have engaged directly with YouTube’s outside counsel in hopes of settling this matter.

At that point, YouTube’s counsel allegedly “claimed that the Musi app violated YouTube’s Terms of Service” in three ways. First, Musi was accused of accessing and using YouTube’s non-public interfaces. Next, the Musi app was allegedly a commercial use of YouTube’s service, and third, relatedly, “the Musi app violated YouTube’s prohibition on the sale of advertising ‘on any page of any website or application that only contains Content from the Service or where Content from the Service is the primary basis for such sales.'”

Musi supposedly immediately “addressed these concerns” by reassuring YouTube that the Musi app never accesses its non-public interfaces and “merely allows users to access YouTube’s publicly available website through a functional interface and, thus, does not use YouTube in a commercial way.” Further, Musi told YouTube in 2021 that the app “does not sell advertising on any page that only contains content from YouTube or where such content is the primary basis for such sales.”

Apple suddenly becomes mediator

YouTube clearly was not persuaded by Musi’s reassurances but dropped its complaints until 2023. That’s when YouTube once again complained directly to Musi, only to allegedly stop responding to Musi entirely and instead raise its complaint through the App Store in August 2024.

That pivot put Apple in the middle of the dispute, and Musi alleged that Apple improperly sided with YouTube.

Once Apple got involved, Apple allegedly directed Musi to resolve the dispute with YouTube or else risk removal from the App Store. Musi claimed that it showed evidence of repeatedly reaching out to YouTube and receiving no response. Yet when YouTube told Apple that Musi was the one that went silent, Apple accepted YouTube’s claim and promptly removed Musi from the App Store.

“Apple’s decision to abruptly and arbitrarily remove the Musi app from the App Store without any indication whatsoever from the Complainant as to how Musi’s app infringed Complainant’s intellectual property or violated its Terms of Service,” Musi’s complaint alleged, “was unreasonable, lacked good cause, and violated Apple’s Development Agreement’s terms.”

Those terms state that removal is only on the table if Apple “reasonably believes” an app infringes on another’s intellectual property rights, and Musi argued Apple had no basis to “reasonably” believe YouTube’s claims.

Musi users heartbroken by App Store removal

This is perhaps the grandest stand that Musi has made yet to defend its app against claims that its service isn’t legal. According to Wired, one of Musi’s earliest investors backed out of the project, expressing fears that the app could be sued. But Musi has survived without legal challenge for years, even beating out some of Spotify’s top rivals while thriving in this seemingly gray territory that it’s now trying to make more black and white.

Musi says it’s suing to defend its reputation, which it says has been greatly harmed by the app’s removal.

Musi is hoping a jury will agree that Apple breached its developer agreement and the covenant of good faith and fair dealing by removing Musi from the App Store. The music-streaming app has asked for a permanent injunction immediately reinstating Musi in the App Store and stopping Apple from responding to third-party complaints by removing apps without any evidence of infringement.

An injunction is urgently needed, Musi claimed, since the app only exists in Apple’s App Store, and Musi and its users face “irreparable damage” if the app is not restored. Additionally, Musi is seeking damages to be determined at trial to make up for “lost profits and other consequential damages.”

“The Musi app did not and does not infringe any intellectual property rights held by Complainant, and a reasonable inquiry into the matter would have led Apple to conclude the same,” Musi’s complaint said.

On Reddit, Musi has continued to support users reporting issues with the app since its removal from the App Store. One longtime user lamented, “my heart is broken,” after buying a new iPhone and losing access to the app.

It’s unclear if YouTube intends to take Musi down forever with this tactic. In May, Wired noted that Musi isn’t the only music-streaming app taking advantage of publicly available content, predicting that if “Musi were to shut down, a bevy of replacements would likely sprout up.” Meanwhile, some users on Reddit reported that fake Musi apps keep popping up in its absence.

For Musi, getting back online is as much about retaining old users as it is about attracting new downloads. In its complaint, Musi said that “Apple’s decision has caused immediate and ongoing financial and reputational harm to Musi.” On Reddit, one Musi user asked what many fans are likely wondering: “Will Musi ever come back,” or is it time to “just move to a different app”?

Ars could not immediately reach Musi’s lawyers, Apple, or YouTube for comment.

Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience.

Apple kicked Musi out of the App Store based on YouTube lie, lawsuit says Read More »

Report: First wave of M4 Macs, including smaller Mac mini, coming November 1

Apple, Apple silicon, m4, Mac mini, MacBook Pro, Tech / Shannon Garcia / October 7, 2024

Reliable rumors have suggested that M4 Macs are right around the corner, and now Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is forecasting a specific launch date: November 1, following a late-October announcement that mirrors last year’s Halloween-themed reveal for the first M3 Macs.

This date could be subject to change, and not all the products announced in October would necessarily launch on November 1—lower-end Macs are more likely to launch early, and higher-end models would be more likely to ship a bit later in the month.

The list of what to expect is the same as it has been for a while: refreshed 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, a new M4 version of the 24-inch iMac, and an M4 update to the Mac mini that leapfrogs the M3 entirely. These will all be the first Macs to get the M4, following its unexpected introduction in the iPad Pro earlier this year.

The refreshed Mac mini is the most interesting of the new models—it’s said to come with a fully revamped design for the first time since the aluminum unibody version was released in 2010. The new Mac mini is said to be closer in size to an Apple TV box, but it will retain an internal power supply that doesn’t require a bulky external brick. The Mac mini lineup should still be split between two slightly different machines: one entry-level model with a basic M4 chip, and a higher-end M4 Pro version that bridges the gap between the Mac mini and the Mac Studio.

Report: First wave of M4 Macs, including smaller Mac mini, coming November 1 Read More »

No more bricked iPads: Apple fixes several bugs in iOS, iPadOS, macOS updates

Apple, iOS, ios 18, iOS 18.0.1, iPadOS, iPadOS 18, iPadOS 18.0.1, macOS, macOS 15.0.1, macos sequoia, Tech, visionOS, visionOS 2, visionOS 2.0.1, watchos, watchOS 11, watchOS 11.0.1 / DJ Henderson / October 4, 2024

On Thursday, Apple released the first software updates for its devices since last month’s rollout of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.

Those who’ve been following along know that several key features that didn’t make it into the initial release of iOS 18 are expected in iOS 18.1, but that’s not the update we got on Thursday.

Rather, Apple pushed out a series of smaller updates that fixed several bugs but did not add new features. The updates are labeled iOS 18.0.1, iPadOS 18.0.1, visionOS 2.0.1, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1, and watchOS 11.0.1.

Arguably, the two most important fixes come in iPadOS 18.0.1 and iOS 18.0.1. The iPad update fixes an issue that bricked a small number of recently released iPads (those running Apple’s M4 chip). That problem caused Apple to quickly pull iPadOS 18 for those devices, so Thursday’s iPadOS 18.0.1 release is actually the first time most users of those devices will be able to run iPadOS 18.

On the iPhone side, Apple says it has addressed a bug that could sometimes cause the touchscreen to fail to register users’ fingers.

No more bricked iPads: Apple fixes several bugs in iOS, iPadOS, macOS updates Read More »

Apple couldn’t tell fake iPhones from real ones, lost $2.5M to scammers

Apple, counterfeit iPhone, fake iPhone, IPhone, iPhone repairs, iPhone returns, iPhone scam, mail fraud, Policy / Shannon Garcia / October 4, 2024

Two men involved in an elaborate scheme duping Apple into replacing about 6,000 counterfeit iPhones with genuine iPhones were sentenced to prison this week, the US Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Together with their co-conspirators, the 34-year-old scammers, Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue, squeezed Apple for about $2.5 million, as employees for years failed to detect what the DOJ described as a rather “sophisticated” scheme between 2017 and 2019.

Now Sun has been sentenced to 57 months in prison and must pay more than $1 million to Apple in restitution. For his part, Xue was sentenced to 54 months and ordered to pay $397,800 in restitution, the DOJ said. Additionally, both men must also serve three years of supervised release and forfeit thousands more following the judgment.

The scheme depended on tricking Apple into accepting bogus phones during returns by spoofing serial numbers or International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers linked to real customers’ iPhones that were still under warranty. (Apple provides a one-year warranty for new iPhones discovered to have defects and sells insurance plans to extend the warranties.)

The scammers were caught and convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud after an Apple investigator tipped law enforcement off, a 2019 affidavit from postal inspector Stephen Cohen said.

Law enforcement intercepted packages and confirmed that thousands of counterfeit phones were being shipped from China, then submitted to Apple for repairs either by mail or in person. These counterfeit phones, Cohen said, were either out of warranty or contained counterfeit parts, but Apple “wrongly” believed that they were real phones under real warranties, often replacing dozens of fake phones fraudulently returned in a single shipment, Cohen said.

Apple couldn’t tell fake iPhones from real ones, lost $2.5M to scammers Read More »

Apple backs out of backing OpenAI, report claims

AI, Apple, Jony Ive, microsoft, openai, sam altman, Tech / Shannon Garcia / September 30, 2024

ChatGPT —

Apple dropped out of the $6.5 billion investment round at the 11th hour.

Samuel Axon – Sep 30, 2024 6: 03 pm UTC

Enlarge / The Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.

A few weeks back, it was reported that Apple was exploring investing in OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, the GPT model, and other popular generative AI products. Now, a new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that Apple has abandoned those plans.

The article simply says Apple “fell out of the talks to join the round.” The round is expected to close in a week or so and may raise as much as $6.5 billion for the growing Silicon Valley company. Had Apple gone through with the move, it would have been a rare event—though not completely unprecedented—for Apple to invest in another company that size.

OpenAI is still expected to raise the funds it seeks from other sources. The report claims Microsoft is expected to invest around $1 billion in this round. Microsoft has already invested substantial sums in OpenAI, whose GPT models power Microsoft AI tools like Copilot and Bing chat.

Nvidia is also a likely major investor in this round.

Apple will soon offer limited ChatGPT integration in an upcoming iOS update, though it plans to support additional models like Google’s Gemini further down the line, offering users a choice similar to how they pick a default search engine or web browser.

OpenAI has been on a successful tear with its products and models, establishing itself as a leader in the rapidly growing industry. However, it has also been beset by drama and controversy—most recently, some key leaders at OpenAI departed the company abruptly, and it shifted its focus from a research-focused organization that was beholden to a nonprofit, to a for-profit company under CEO Sam Altman. Also, former Apple design lead Jony Ive is confirmed to be working on a new AI product of some kind.

But The Wall Street Journal did not specify which (if any) of these facts are reasons why Apple chose to back out of the investment.

Apple backs out of backing OpenAI, report claims Read More »

Report: Apple changes film strategy, will rarely do wide theatrical releases

Amazon, Apple, Apple TV, culture, movie theaters, movies, Tech / DJ Henderson / September 27, 2024

Small screen focus —

Apple TV+ has made more waves with TV shows than movies so far.

Samuel Axon – Sep 27, 2024 9: 42 pm UTC

George Clooney and Brad Pitt stand in a doorway — Enlarge / A still from *Wolfs*, an Apple-produced film starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Apple

For the past few years, Apple has been making big-budget movies meant to compete with the best traditional Hollywood studios have to offer, and it has been releasing them in theaters to drive ticket sales and awards buzz.

Much of that is about to change, according to a report from Bloomberg. The article claims that Apple is “rethinking its movie strategy” after several box office misfires, like Argylle and Napoleon.

It has already canceled the wide theatrical release of one of its tent pole movies, the George Clooney and Brad Pitt-led Wolfs. Most other upcoming big-budget movies from Apple will be released in just a few theaters, suggesting the plan is simple to ensure continued awards eligibility but not to put butts in seats.

Further, Apple plans to move away from super-budget films and to focus its portfolio on a dozen films a year at lower budgets. Just one major big-budget film is planned to get a wide theatrical release: F1. How that one performs could inform future changes to Apple’s strategy.

The report notes that Apple is not the only streamer changing its strategy. Netflix is reducing costs and bringing more movie production in-house, while Amazon is trying (so far unsuccessfully) to produce a higher volume of movies annually, but with a mixture of online-only and in-theater releases. It also points out that movie theater chains are feeling ever more financial pressure, as overall ticket sales haven’t matched their pre-pandemic levels despite occasional hits like Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Cinemas have been counting on streamers like Netflix and Apple to crank out films, but those hopes may be dashed if the media companies continue to pull back. For the most part, tech companies like Apple and Amazon have had better luck gaining buzz with television series than with feature films.

Report: Apple changes film strategy, will rarely do wide theatrical releases Read More »

iFixit’s iPhone 16 teardown finds a greatly improved battery removal process

Apple, iFixit, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iphone 16 pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, teardown, Tech / Kelly Newman / September 27, 2024

iFixit —

The new iPhones received a repair score of 7 out of 10.

Samuel Axon – Sep 27, 2024 9: 06 pm UTC

iFixit’s iPhone 16 and 16 Plus teardown.

iFixit has published teardown views for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, along with their larger cousins, the Plus and Pro Max.

The videos are really marketing for iFixit’s various repair kits and other tools and products that you can buy—and sometimes these videos now have lengthy plugs for some new product or another—but nonetheless, the videos almost always include interesting insights about devices’ components.

Tearing down the iPhone 16, iFixit confirmed one thing we already suspected: One of the mmWave antennas was removed and replaced in that same spot by the Camera Control button. It also found that the camera systems in the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are almost interchangeable, but sadly aren’t because of the placement of a single screw and the length of a single cable. Too bad.

The disassembly process for the Pro phones is mostly the same as before, but thankfully, there’s been a redesign that reduces the risk of damaging the OLED panel when tearing the phone down.

The biggest discovery was that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have a superior battery replacement process compared to earlier phones. Instead of pull tabs, they use an adhesive that lets go when affected by an electric current.

iFixit says this is one of the easiest battery removal processes in the industry, which is high praise, especially when it’s directed toward a company with a difficult record on that front.

iFixit’s iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max teardown.

Unfortunately, the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max haven’t moved to the new battery replacement process found in the 16 and 16 Plus. On the bright side, it’s much easier to service the USB-C port than before, though Apple doesn’t sell that part separately.

iFixit gave all the new iPhones a 7 out of 10 repairability score, which is historically high for an iPhone.

The videos go into much more detail, so check them out.

Listing image by iFixit

iFixit’s iPhone 16 teardown finds a greatly improved battery removal process Read More »