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News bites – the stories you may have missed (12 August 2022)

Plenty of Apple, iPhone, and iPad news gets released every single day – but we know you’re busy, so we’ve got your back. Here, we’ve picked out some of the most important stories from the past week or so and summarized them for easy digestion. You’re welcome.

Let’s take a quickfire look at some of the most interesting recent headlines of late. As ever, click through to read the full stories if you want to know more!

iPhone 14 Pro could be more expensive

The iPhone 14 Pro is in line for a price bump over previous models, according to a new report from reliable TF Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo. While he couldn’t offer any specifics, Kuo has tweeted about “price hikes” for both the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. This would appear to tally with numerous reports claiming that there’ll be more of a gap between the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro this year. The new Pro models will apparently have a faster processor, a more refined display notch, and a more advanced camera system than their non-Pro brothers.

Samsung launches new foldable phones

While rumors of a foldable iPhone persist, Samsung is now officially on its fourth generation of bendy handsets. Apple’s great South Korean rival has announced the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4, both of which wrap high-end specifications in bodies that literally fold in half. The Fold 4 essentially unfurls into an iPad mini-like compact tablet, while the Flip 4 resembles those classic pre-iPhone flip phones of yore, albeit with an iPhone 13 Pro Max-sized display.

Google tries to strong-arm Apple into adopting RCS

Google has produced a website explicitly aimed at pressuring Apple to “fix” its iOS messaging system. We’re all aware of the cosmetic blue bubble/green bubble divide between iOS and Android, but it also leads to “blurry videos, broken group chats, missing read receipts and typing indicators, no texting over Wi-Fi, and more”, according to the website. Google’s solution is for Apple to adopt the Rich Communications Services (RCS) standard, which would essentially correct all of those above issues when messaging between iOS and Android. As Apple would point out, however, there are still end-to-end encryption weaknesses with the RCS format.

Battery percentage returning in iOS 16

Apple is returning the sorely missed battery percentage indicator to its rightful place on notched iPhones with iOS 16. The latest beta version, iOS 16 Beta 5, has revealed the good news, placing a precise figure for your phone’s remaining battery life within the battery indicator in the top right corner of the screen. While this will benefit the majority of iPhones sporting a Face ID notch the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini don’t appear to be in line for the amendment. Evidently their 5.4-inch displays are just too small in Apple’s estimation.

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