Apple Loop: New iPhone X Problems, No More Macbook Pro, Apple’s Failed iPhone 8 Gamble

iOS 11 Beta Addresses Battery Issues

While the public versions of iOS 11 continue to struggle with battery life, Apple appears to have found a fix. The latest beta version, iOS 11.11, reportedly cures the high battery drain. Gordon Kelly reports:

Popular YouTuber iDeviceHelp was first to spot dramatic battery improvements in iOS 11.1. His video shows an iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus each gain up to three hours of additional screen-on time compared to when they were running iOS 11.0.3. This goes a long way to correcting the circa 60% drop many iPhones suffered after upgrading to iOS 11.

Hopefully the changes will feature in a public release in the near future. 

More Wireless Charging Moves In Cupertino

Apple continues to invest in wireless charging this week with its purchase of PowerbyProxi. No details on the acquisition cost or how it will be used in the future, but with Apple planning its own proprietary charging system with AirCharge, it’s a good bet the technology will be appear there. Juli Clover has the details:

PowerbyProxi was founded in 2007 to develop wireless charging technology that lets people charge smartphones and other devices without requiring a cord. PowerbyProxi has developed the Proxi-Module, a modular wireless power system that can adapt and integrate into a wide variety of products and situations, delivering up to 100 watts of power to devices like drones and robots.

The Proxi-Module, which features a modular, waterproof design that lets it adapt to a range of use cases, is said to offer the highest power density of any solution on the market with an end to end efficiency of 91 percent, offering "unprecedented performance" with reduced power and heat losses.

No New MacBooks In 2017

Responding to a MacRumors reader, Craig Federighi (Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering) confirms that Apple will not be holding any more keynotes this year. That means no new products, and for those waiting for a new MacBook that means disappointment:

Although both the Apple HomePod speaker and the iMac Pro, announced at WWDC, should reach consumers before the end of the year, Federighi’s message of no more keynotes has the unspoken acknowledgement that there will be no more product reveals before 2018.

In all likelihood Apple will move the updates to the Mac machines to WWDC in June and put itself into sync with Intel’s roadmap. That also puts it in sync with the early releases from other manufacturers, but the Mac range has been subservient enough to Apple’s iPhone ambitions that Cupertino will see that as an acceptable compromise.

Apple Watch Points To Late Arrival Of Apple Pay Cash

With WatchOS 4.1 currently in beta, it’s possible to look at the features Apple is ready to roll out to its wearable (and by extension the rest of Apple’s ecosystem) and what is being delayed. David Phelan covers the news:

But the thing that looks like it might not be ready for primetime on the Watch is Apple Pay Cash, the highly anticipated peer-to-peer payment system, due for Apple Watch and iPhone ‘this fall’. These things take time to get right, of course, and this is a feature that is only due to premiere in the US in the coming months, so readers in other countries are not affected.

And the fact that it’s not in the release notes doesn’t mean that Apple couldn’t include it yet. But it does look likely, at least, that the feature will arrive on Apple Watch – and by deduction on iPhone – a little later than was anticipated.

And Finally…

New data from Apptopia reveals the power of being featured as an ‘App of the Day’ the Apple Store. Unsurprisingly, the promotional spot offers a huge boost to developers and guarantees visibility which should lead to increased profit… if Apple chooses your app. Sarah Perez reports:

On average, apps received a 1747 percent download boost if featured, and games saw a 792 percent bump.

As a reminder, the daily feature called “App of the Day” and “Game of the Day” arrived in the revamped iOS App Store in iOS 11 as a part of Apple’s new editorial strategy to improve app discovery. Instead of just offering app collections and top charts, the new App Store includes articles about apps, interviews with creators, curated lists, how to guides, and more.

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