Very sketchy images have surfaced showing off supposed future iPhone product packaging, raising the potential of Apple calling a new iPhone the iPhone 6 SE. Whether this is meant as a successor to the 4 inch iPhone SE or the ‘real’ name for the iPhone 7, due to be announced early next month, is unclear. An upgrade to the iPhone SE is not expected and has not been rumored, as the device only launched a few months ago.
A Kickstarter campaign which got fully-funded on day one is offering a choice of two external GPUs for MacBook Pros that offer up to ten times the performance of the top-end built-in one. Connected via Thunderbolt 2 or 3, the Wolfe Pro gets you an NVIDIA GTX 970 GPU for $599, with estimated delivery in March 2017.
The GTX 970 has 1664 cores operating at 1050MHz, for a peak computing power of 3.49 teraflops, with rendering speeds almost ten times higher than a maxed-out 15-inch MacBook Pro with AMD R9 M370X GPU. Frame rates exceed 70 frames per second, creating a machine suitable for high-end gaming and VR applications.
The company also promises that backers will be given the option of upgrading to the even more powerful GTX 1060 when available …
The Australian banks have been denied permission to act as a monopolistic cartel in the country, preventing them from negotiating collectively with Apple over Apple Pay terms for the time being as reported by Reuters. Australian banks are resisting adoption of Apple’s mobile payment solution (available in iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s), referring to hefty fees and loss of customer control.
Apple says that the banks are being anti-competitive by blocking the introduction of innovative payment technologies like Apple Pay. The banks want to force Apple to open up the NFC chip to third-party developers, which Apple says would cripple the security standards of its platform.
Bob Messerschmidt is in a good position to talk about the development of the Apple Watch. It was his heart-rate sensor startup that Apple bought for use in the Watch, and the company then hired him from 2010 to 2013 to work on the project. An interview with Messerschmidt by FastCo provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of developing a new Apple product.
Of particular interest is the tension between the engineering and design teams, engineers putting forward the best approach from a technical perspective, designers pushing back where that approach conflicts with their knowledge of trends, fashion and user behaviour …
With Twitter winning the bid for Thursday night NFL football, the company is keen to get its live streaming content in front of eyeballs. This apparently includes Apple TV, according to a report by the New York Times. Twitter is holding talks with Apple regarding a new app which would enable Apple TV customers to watch NFL live through the Twitter app.
