iPhone

Be safe.

Rene Ritchie, iMore:

Apple hasn’t even announced Face ID, the rumored facial identity scanner that would join or replace Touch ID, the fingerprint identity scanner, on the next generation of iPhones 8, but already we’re seeing a great deal of concern and even fear over how it will and won’t work.

And:

One of the biggest areas of fear, uncertainty, and doubt surrounding a potential Face ID facial identity scanner is that it will make it easier to law enforcement and government agencies to gain access to our devices.

Rene digs into the concern itself (someone could grab my phone and point it at my face to unlock it) and explores the validity of that worry.

A solid read, all the way through. Rene is a smart cookie.

Personally, I see Face ID and Touch ID as roughly equivalent in terms of someone using me to break into my phone. Add to that, Apple has not yet announced such a product. I’d prefer to save my worry for something a bit more tangible.

This is as of today. It’s all about smuggling. Pretty interesting.

Ben Miller works for a publisher that owns a site that sells iPhone repair kits. Yesterday, they received a dummy iPhone 8 in the mail from one of their Chinese manufacturers.

Here’s a picture of the so-called iPhone 8, next to an iPhone 7 Plus:

https://twitter.com/bensen/status/895260898033618946

Here’s another tweet showing the front and back:

https://twitter.com/bensen/status/895260575776813057

Supposedly, there are no plans for a plus-sized version of this model. Makes sense, given the device’s large screen real estate.

Is this the real deal? Judge for yourself. We’ll likely know in about a month.

Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

The iPhone 8 is widely reported to feature a front-facing 3D sensor which will enable face recognition for automatic unlock (supposedly replacing the need for Touch ID entirely). Moreover, code references suggest that the new OLED iPhone will be able to use that same sensor to enable even more sophisticated features, like automatically silencing notifications if the user is looking at the screen.

This is based on the recent HomePod data leak, not a verified feature. That said, I love this idea. As a developer, I also love the idea of exposing this part of the interface, allowing me to take one action if the user is looking at their screen, another if they are not.

Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

Last week, Apple released the first build of the upcoming HomePod’s firmware, allowing curious developers to unpack the code and learn a few additional details about the smart speaker. Now, developer Steve Troughton-Smith has discovered code that seemingly confirms that the upcoming iPhone will support face unlock…

Smith explains that the code indicates the existence of infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit, which is the framework responsible for Touch ID. The code further suggests that Apple’s face unlock feature will be able to detect partially occluded face and faces from various angles. The codename for the project Pearl ID.

Here’s the Tweet that confirms infra-red face unlock:

https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/891841607728844801

And this one shows off the bezel-less form factor:

https://twitter.com/_inside/status/891841836754644992

Very interesting. The reaction to this seems to be, the release of this specific information was not intentional. Hope this doesn’t cost someone their job. None of this is truly new information, more slightly more of a confirmation of what was already known.

From ex-Google Senior VP Vic Gundotra’s Facebook post:

The end of the DSLR for most people has already arrived. I left my professional camera at home and took these shots at dinner with my iPhone 7 using computational photography (portrait mode as Apple calls it). Hard not to call these results (in a restaurant, taken on a mobile phone with no flash) stunning. Great job Apple.

And:

Here is the problem: It’s Android. Android is an open source (mostly) operating system that has to be neutral to all parties. This sounds good until you get into the details. Ever wonder why a Samsung phone has a confused and bewildering array of photo options? Should I use the Samsung Camera? Or the Android Camera? Samsung gallery or Google Photos?

It’s because when Samsung innovates with the underlying hardware (like a better camera) they have to convince Google to allow that innovation to be surfaced to other applications via the appropriate API. That can take YEARS.

And:

Also the greatest innovation isn’t even happening at the hardware level – it’s happening at the computational photography level. (Google was crushing this 5 years ago – they had had “auto awesome” that used AI techniques to automatically remove wrinkles, whiten teeth, add vignetting, etc… but recently Google has fallen back).

Apple doesn’t have all these constraints. They innovate in the underlying hardware, and just simply update the software with their latest innovations (like portrait mode) and ship it.

And:

Bottom line: If you truly care about great photography, you own an iPhone. If you don’t mind being a few years behind, buy an Android.

Dave here. I’ve been reading the Wisconsin papers as of late. The state is going gaga over the likelihood that Foxconn will build and operate a factory somewhere in the state.

From this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article:

Foxconn Technology Group will make a midweek announcement in Milwaukee that Wisconsin is the company’s choice, or at least its leading choice, for a huge new electronics factory, a source told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday.

And:

A second source separately told the Journal Sentinel that Foxconn would announce its plans for Wisconsin this week, but didn’t know where the announcement would be made.

And:

WISN radio talk show host Mark Belling said an announcement that Wisconsin has been chosen by Foxconn will be made Thursday at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

[See the second update below. Sounds like an announcement is coming tonight]

And from this article:

Foxconn Technology Group’s interest in southeastern Wisconsin, where the Asian electronics manufacturer is considering building a multibillion-dollar industrial campus, underscores an often-overlooked economic advantage for a region burdened with a Rust Belt image:

It has abundant access to water, an increasingly scarce commodity that analysts say is used in prodigious amounts in making the flat-panel displays that the new plant would likely produce.

Racine County and Kenosha County are nestled up against the Lake Michigan shoreline and boast a nearly inexhaustible supply of fresh water, at a time when parts of California, Arizona and Nevada as well as China, India, Singapore and Brazil have been forced to resort to water-use restrictions.

And from this USA Today article:

Monday evening, a private jet linked to Foxconn CEO Terry Gou flew from Santa Ana, Calif., to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., according to the FlightAware.com tracking website. The Gulfstream 650 is the same aircraft that landed in Milwaukee and Madison this month.

UPDATE: Fantastic Bloomberg Decrypted podcast episode dedicated to discussing the details of bringing jobs (like iPhone related manufacturing) to the US, and the types of jobs that go along with that sort of move. Hint: it’s mostly robots. [H/T Robert Davey]

UPDATE 2: According to CNBC:

Apple-supplier Foxconn will announce a plant in Wisconsin on Wednesday evening, accompanied by President Donald Trump, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a source with knowledge of the announcement told CNBC.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., will also be present at the announcement in Washington, a source said. No exact location for plant has been chosen — but southeast Wisconsin is under consideration, according to a source.

Yoni Heisler, BGR:

While Apple tends to keep upcoming technologies and features under lock and key, its upcoming facial recognition software will likely be based on technology it acquired when it purchased an Israeli machine learning company called Realface earlier this year. Consequently, a close examination of Realface’s cutting edge technology can provide us with a number of significant clues as to what we can expect out of the highly anticipated iPhone 8.

And:

The company also claims that its software can recognize faces with an impressive 99.67% success rate, a figure which is actually higher than the 97.5% success rate most humans are capable of when it comes to recognizing faces.

And:

Realface’s technology is said to be so sophisticated that it can filter out photos, videos and even sculptures designed with the express purpose of tricking the software.

Fascinating tech.

Jason Snell, Macworld:

This is one of those areas where Apple may be the victim of its own success. The iPhone is so popular a product that Apple can’t include any technology or source any part if it can’t be made more than 200 million times a year. If the supplier of a cutting-edge part Apple wants can only provide the company with 50 million per year, it simply can’t be used in the iPhone. Apple sells too many, too fast.

And:

Most cutting-edge technologies are going to cost more and initially be available in limited quantities, unless Apple makes huge investments in equipment and manufacturing and corners the world’s supply of those parts, which it has done on more than one occasion.

Apple’s has to balance discriminators against practicality, bleeding edge tech that can help the latest iPhone stand above existing phones against the problems that come trying to buy that bleeding edge tech in adequate and reliable quantities.

We’re homing in on a likely fall iPhone rollout and the rumors are flying. John Gruber, from a piece titled iPhone silly season:

With software Apple can (and does) play a bit fast and loose. iOS 11.0 won’t be baked until late August. But software can (and always is) patched. Hardware doesn’t work like that. Many of the decisions related to the hardware on this year’s new iPhones were made two years ago. (And there are decisions being made now for 2019’s new iPhones.)

Is there a 3D laser sensor on the back of the new iPhone? Is there a Touch ID sensor? I don’t know. But Apple knows, and has known for a while. Months, even.

And:

If the new iPhone ships without a Touch ID sensor and there is no replacement authentication technology that is as good or better than Touch ID — that would be a dead canary in the coal mine.

From this Bloomberg piece by Mark Gurman:

For its redesigned iPhone, set to go on sale later this year, Apple is testing an improved security system that allows users to log in, authenticate payments, and launch secure apps by scanning their face, according to people familiar with the product. This is powered by a new 3-D sensor, added the people, who asked not to be identified discussing technology that’s still in development. The company is also testing eye scanning to augment the system, one of the people said.

A move to add 3D face scanning is one thing. A move away from Touch ID is another thing entirely. Apple proved they are willing to (have the “Courage” to?) make a major hardware shift, forcibly doing away with one technology (the 3.5 mm headphone jack) to usher in a newer technology (Bluetooth headphones).

Will this be the case with Touch ID? As John Gruber says, that decision has likely already been made.

My two cents? “As good or better than Touch ID” has to address accessibility. If I am visually impaired, I can unlock my iPhone with my finger in the dark. An edge case, certainly, but one that is a bit of a litmus test for any Touch ID replacement.

In a low light environment, will I be able to unlock my iPhone with a facial scan? If I am in a meeting, I can subtly unlock my iPhone with my finger. Will I have to hold my next generation iPhone in front of my face to accomplish the same thing?

As John says, that would be a dead canary in the coal mine.

UPDATE: The new system is said to include an infrared camera and low angle support (hat tip to Rene Ritchie), which would solve the low light and hold the phone in front of my face scenarios. Other use cases include unlocking the phone while driving (say, to take a look at your map) and the mechanic of approving an Apple Pay purchase. All of these seem legitimately solvable if the underlying tech works as rumored. This is yet another opportunity for yet another magical Apple experience.

Colin Gibbs, FierceWireless:

Apple began to pursue the prepaid market more aggressively in 2016, as the market research firm gap intelligence noted in September, and that pursuit has only grown more ambitious over the last year. The iPhone’s prepaid retail channel placements more than doubled from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017, growing from 15 SKUs to 46 SKUs, and they increased 35% from the first quarter of this year to the second quarter, according to fresh data from the San Diego-based firm.

And:

Meanwhile, Apple secured a new prepaid distribution deal through Costco in the second quarter, and it increased prepaid retail placements at AT&T (up 200% quarter over quarter) and Best Buy (up 125% quarter over quarter), according to gap intelligence. The iPhone has seen 15 new retail placements across five prepaid carriers recently, gap intelligence said.

Who owns the pre-paid market? Android. This is a natural market for the iPhone SE, 5s, and 6, Apple finding ways to sell more phones, compete in every market.

John Gruber, Daring Fireball:

I created a bit of a stir the other day when I suggested the OLED iPhone “Pro” could start at $1,500.

Let’s take a serious look at this. $1,500 as a starting price is probably way too high. But I think $1,200 is quite likely as the starting price, with the high-end model at $1,300 or $1,400.

And:

You can’t talk about iPhone specs and pricing without considering scale. It’s not enough for Apple to create a phone that can be sold for $649/749/849 with 35 percent profit margins. They have to create a phone that can be sold at those prices, with those margins, and which can be manufactured at scale. And for Apple that scale is massive: anything less than 60–70 million in the first quarter in which it goes on sale is a failure — possibly a catastrophic failure.

In short, new iPhones aren’t defined by what Apple can make for a certain price, but by what Apple can make for a certain price at a certain incredibly high quantity.

What follows is a relatively long logic chain, but one that is well worth making your way through. By the end of John’s post, I was convinced that Apple will indeed be introducing a deluxe iPhone tier this fall, or soon thereafter.

UPDATE: Fascinating response to Gruber’s post from Philip Elmer-DeWitt [H/T Jason Hooper]. At its core:

Is Gruber speaking for Apple for himself when he defines terms and describes bundles?

I put the question to him this morning, but I don’t expect a candid answer. He’s a man who knows how to keep a secret. Besides, a good journalist will protect his or her sources, even when their names are out of the bag.

Gruber responds: “I have no inside information in this regard [2017 iPhone pricing]. Nada, none, zilch. Feel free to quote me on that. I have no comment regarding my tweets on inductive charging and can’t believe you even asked about that.”