Apple is expected to announce four new iPhone 14 models at its September 7 event, including a standard 6.7-inch model that has been widely referred to as the "iPhone 14 Max" in rumors. However, the device could actually end up having a different name.
According to a photo of an alleged iPhone case from Apple, shared by Twitter user "Tommy Boi," the new 6.7-inch model might actually be named the "iPhone 14 Plus" instead. This would result in the lineup consisting of a 6.1-inch iPhone 14, 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus, 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Of course, a photo like this could easily be photoshopped, but the "iPhone 14 Plus" name is still a possibility even if the leak is fake. The name "iPhone 14 Plus" could help to distinguish the device from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and make it clear that the device is not a maxed-out model in terms of specs despite having a large 6.7-inch display.
Apple last used "Plus" branding for the iPhone 8 Plus in 2017. Since then, Apple has used "Max" branding for its largest-sized iPhones, including the iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
An argument can still be made in favor of the "iPhone 14 Max" name, as Apple selling an iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max alongside an iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max would certainly provide some consistency. We'll ultimately have to wait and see which names Apple announces at its event just seven days from now.
Another Apple event is here, and we’re expecting a bunch of big announcements. On Wednesday, September 7th, at 10AM PT / 1PM ET, Apple will be holding both a virtual and in-person event to introduce its latest iPhones, Apple Watches, and more.
The new iPhones are expected to include a Pro model with a new chip, a notch-less screen, an auto-focus selfie camera, and also a higher price, while the lower-end iPhone 14 might come in a new larger size. A new Apple Watch Series 8 will potentially be equipped with a sensor that lets it monitor body temperature, and Apple might introduce an updated Apple Watch SE and a long-awaited rugged Apple Watch model that could withstand harsh environments. On the flip side, we might finally be saying goodbye to the aging Apple Watch Series 3. It’s possible an updated AirPods Pro model is in the cards, too.
As for new iPads and Macs, we’ll likely have to wait until later this year. We’re eventually expecting to see a new entry-level iPad that ditches its headphone jack, plus a next-generation iPad Pro that comes in a larger size than the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro model. Updated MacBooks Pros should come later on, too.
Whatever Apple throws our way, The Verge will be here to cover it.
Ever since Samsung Display showed off a 17-inch foldable OLED screen last May, laptop enthusiasts (myself included) have been waiting for the form factor of the future to hit shelves. After all, many of even the most exciting laptop releases of this year have been updates to long-standing designs – a 17-inch foldable is one of very few untouched frontiers remaining in this very established market.
Some ofthe biggestPC manufacturerseither have announced that they are, or are rumored to be, working on 17-inch foldable laptops. But in a move that should come as a surprise to nobody who’s familiar with the company and its antics, Asus looks like it might be first to the punch. I’m typing this on the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, which is the first shelf-ready device of its kind to hit reviewers’ hands. It’s a 17.3-inch laptop with a screen that folds in half. And people: It works.
Well, it mostly works. It does not work well enough that I think you should spend a whole $3,499.99 on it when it ships in (per Asus’s estimate) Q4. I ran into enough issues with it that I can’t, in good conscience, recommend it as a purchase for that amount of money.
But there are lots of great things about it. It’s a gorgeous OLED with brilliant colors. The keyboard is full-sized and very comfortable. And – to repeat – the screen folds in half. The experience is such an improvement from the last foldable I tried (Lenovo’s smaller and glitcher ThinkPad X1 Fold, back in 2020) that it makes me really excited for the foldable devices to come. I really think they’re getting there.
It folds
When fully unfurled, it’s a 4:3 17.3-inch tablet. When flipped horizontally and folded at a somewhere around a 90-degree angle, it’s a 3:2 13-inch notebook. (Well, 12.5, but close enough.) Close it up (with the keyboard inside – it fits perfectly) and you’ve got a little book of sorts that’s easy to slip into a purse. You can probably see why a device like this would be handy to have around.
There are other ways you could use it, of course. You could fold it horizontally and hold it like a book, though you’d probably need to be using some fairly specific apps for that to be ideal. You could use it in what Asus calls “Extended Mode,” meaning you fold it into the shape of a regular laptop, setting the top half to be a primary screen and the bottom half to be a secondary screen. You could just carry it around as a mega-large Netflix-viewing machine.
But overwhelmingly, there were two ways I found it useful to use the Zenbook 17 Fold. When I wanted a big-ass screen, I unfolded the thing, knocked out the built-in kickstand, plonked it on my desk, and used the Bluetooth keyboard on the surface in front of it. When I wanted to use it on my couch or bed, I flipped the screen vertical, folded it into a laptop shape, flattened the kickstand, and snapped the keyboard over the bottom half. That may sound like a whole thing and a half, but I promise it’s very quick. (And once the keyboard is on, Windows automatically compresses to the top screen.)
The foldable panel is rated for 30,000 open/close cycles. On paper, that seems good – it means that if you’re opening and closing this thing 10 times a day, you’ll get eight years out of it. (Asus has confirmed that this number refers to full open/close cycles — repositioning the angle of the screen doesn’t count towards that total.) At that point, other parts of this laptop are going to be a problem before the screen is.
I’m heavily caveating that, though, because we’ve seen reports of foldable phones creasing after a disappointingly short amount of time. Most people are going to be opening a phone many more times in a day than they’ll be opening and closing a laptop – this is just to reiterate that you never really know with these things.
And finally, to answer what I’m sure people are wondering: There is not quite a visible crease down the middle of the Zenbook. I do not see one at all when I’m using the device in tablet mode and staring directly at the screen. I do see a very distinct one when viewing it from the right or left side. This does not directly impact my experience as a user, but it is, well, not totally reassuring.
On the other hand, it folds. It’s a 17-inch panel that folds. That’s pretty cool.
It’s pretty
The last foldable I reviewed was a 13.3-incher, and the Bluetooth keyboard and touchpad that it came with were so tiny as to be borderline unusable (since they had to fit inside such a tiny chassis). On that model, some keys had four symbols crammed onto them, and the touchpad was not big enough to scroll. But the 17-inch form factor allows for a keyboard sized similarly to that of a 12.5-inch notebook, and this one was quite comfortable to use. I legitimately felt like I was typing on a regular Zenbook keyboard (and I love typing on those).
The keyboard is a bit thin. That’s not to say that the keys lack travel (they’ve got an excellent click) or that the build is flimsy – it just means that my strokes were very slightly depressing the deck. I am not someone who cares about this, and it did not interfere with my experience in any way. But I know it bothers some people a lot, so if you’re in that crowd, this isn’t the keyboard for you.
Overall, I prefer this one to most detachable keyboards I’ve used before, including that of the Surface Pro 8 — it actually feels a bit like a bigger and studier version of the keyboard on Asus’s Chromebook Detachable CM3, which I also praised. And, of course, you can go ahead and use a different keyboard if this one isn’t your speed.
Oh, and the keys aren’t backlit. I can understand this being a tradeoff that folks wouldn’t mind, especially for a detachable. But still, I...just kinda feel like a $3,499 device should come with a backlit keyboard.
The touchpad also has a decent click, but was a bit lacking where palm rejection was concerned – not only did it usually think I was trying to navigate when I put my palm on it, but it occasionally thought I was clicking.
Speaking of build quality: Across the board, it’s impressive. The chassis is all magnesium aluminum alloy with a nice professional color that Asus calls “Tech Black”. There’s no flex anywhere, and the faux-leather covering means I wasn’t too worried about battering it around. The one nitpick here is that the chassis surface – particularly the area around the logo – does pick up fingerprints fairly easily. They’re easy to wipe off as well, but it never took long for more to appear.
Show me this closed, and I’d believe it was a very fancy planner or something. The lid features the new Asus logo, a little arrow, which I much prefer to the big “ASUS” that was emblazoned across Zenbook lids until very recently. The kickstand is quite well camouflaged, and looks just like part of the fancy cover. Screen-to-body purists might notice that the bezels are a bit large, but that’s helpful if you’re holding the device as a tablet.
I am of mixed mind about the ports, which include two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C (supporting up to 40Gbps transfer speed) and a 3.5mm audio combo jack. One of the USB-C ports is on the side that includes the webcam, while the other is on the side to its left. This means that when you’re in 17-inch tablet mode, one of the ports is on the top of the display and one is on the left side; when you’re in 13-inch laptop mode, one is on the top, and one is on the top right. I personally think having wires sticking out of the top of the device is ungainly, and would prefer to just have at least one port on the bottom right edge, (though I recognize that Asus’s layout may be constrained).
But the screen is a highlight of this device (apart from the fact that it folds). It’s a 60Hz OLED touch panel with 2560 x 1920 resolution as a 17-incher and 1920 x 1280 resolution as a 13-incher. Brightness topped out at 257 nits, which is not impressively bright, but OLEDs tend to run on the dimmer side. I did, at one point, also see a line of stuck pixels on the right side of the device, which went away with a restart. I wish the refresh rate was higher – scrolling felt a bit stuttery and slow to me on this screen. Users will vary in how much they care about that, but I do feel that 60 is low for a device of this price.
Despite those nitpicks, the Zenbook makes for a pleasurable viewing experience. The screen covered 100 percent of the sRGB spectrum, 93 percent of Adobe RGB, and 100 percent of P3 in our testing – colors are rich and vibrant overall, with details clear. Asus also claims that it emits “70 percent less harmful blue light than an LCD display.” Overall, the company doesn’t appear to have sacrificed a ton of screen quality for foldability, which is an encouraging sign for the future of the category.
It does other stuff too
As of now, Asus tells me there is only one configuration of the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED. It includes a Core i7-1250U processor (two performance cores and eight efficiency cores), 16GB of memory, and 1TB of storage (PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD) with a 75Whr battery and a 65W adapter. The main thing to know about the system’s performance is that it’s fine, but not amazing – and certainly not the reason to buy this.
What I mean by “fine” is that much of the target audience probably won’t have a problem with these specs. I had a fine time running a pile of around a dozen Chrome tabs with Slack and Spotify active along with occasional Zoom calls overtop.
However, this wouldn’t be a great choice for more intense tasks. The chassis got quite hot while I was retouching a batch of photos in Lightroom. That program was also quite slow, freezing and lagging often while I desperately tried to move my sliders. I wouldn’t recommend this as your primary device if you think you’ll even occasionally need to use Lightroom or similar software. In case you’re curious about gaming, I got an average of 120fps from messing around with League of Legends). Feel free to play games around that level of intensity, but I wouldn’t recommend going for anything super demanding.
OLED laptops sometimes give me trouble with battery life, so I was a bit worried about the combination of OLED and 17-inch display on this device. So the fact that I averaged six hours and 36 minutes from continuous use of my aforementioned Chrome tab and Spotify load, with the screen around 200 nits of brightness, was a nice surprise. That is not an absurdly long time for laptops in general, but is a big improvement over what we saw from the X1 Fold. The device took 51 minutes to charge to 60 percent, which is fine.
Now, a potential wrench here is that the keyboard also needs to charge. I haven’t been able to test exactly how long it will last – it made it through the laptop’s lifespan with no problem – but Asus estimates up to 24 hours of use. The one time the keyboard died during my testing period, I did find that it had to charge for a few minutes before it was up and running again, and then I had to unpair/repair it before the device would recognize it. That could lead to some headaches if the keyboard were to die, say, in the middle of a meeting.
But I have some concerns
So far, I’ve painted what I feel is a fairly balanced picture of the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED. I really do think it is a device with some not-uncommon laptop flaws that is still, in general, usable. However, I did run into some problems that make it feel a bit more like a work in progress than a $3,499.99 device should.
First off, a couple things with the keyboard. When the Fold was in laptop mode, the magnets on the keyboard’s underside did a decent job of holding it in place on the bottom half of the screen. But getting it into place was sometimes a bit of a struggle, and I often had to finick around with its position before it would click in.
It’s also only meant to be fastened to the side opposite the webcam — it’s not supposed to go over the webcam (and it won’t click into place there, I tried). While I know most people probably want to have the webcam half be the top half when the Fold is in laptop mode, I personally don’t use the webcam that much and would love to be able to have that be the bottom half at times (since that’s where also where the ports are, and I’d prefer my ports be on the bottom).
The mandatory policies, for which an agreement is required, are:
A request for your region
Microsoft Software License Terms and Asus Notice
In addition, there is a slew of optional things to agree to:
Device privacy settings: Find My Device, Inking and Typing, Advertising ID, Location, Diagnostic data, Tailored experiences
Microsoft 365 free trial
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate free trial
Provide information such as name, region, email address, phone number, country, and / or serial number for Asus and its business partners to contact you. Release this information to register you for an Asus account, receive emails from Asus, and register for a McAfee account.
There are three mandatory agreements and 12 optional ones.
Once the keyboard was paired, there was sometimes a lag between what I was typing and what would show up on the display if I hadn’t used the keyboard in a while. For example, I’d every so often start typing after picking up the laptop and the first three strokes or so just wouldn’t register, or would take a beat to pop up. Not the biggest deal, but something that would get annoying if I were using this as my primary device every day. It’s not uncommon to see some sort of delay from Bluetooth keyboards, but this was a bit worse than what I’ve experienced with other ones. (While the laptop supports up to Bluetooth 5.2, the keyboard is connected via Bluetooth 5.)
Last thing with the keyboard: I found an issue that I often find with this sort of detachable deck, which is that sometimes when I was using it on my lap, the angle it was at would mean the touchpad thought it was depressed when I wasn’t depressing it. This wasn’t a huge problem – a bigger problem was that this occasionally happened with the keyboard keys too. A couple of times during testing, the keyboard thought I was holding down a letter key, and I had to furiously smash the Backspace to get it to stop the endless string of letters it was producing.
And then there was some software stuff. It’s hard to know how much, if any, of this is Asus’s fault. But a user shouldn’t particularly care who’s at fault with these things – glitches are glitches.
For one, the dock occasionally disappeared when I opened a full-screen Chrome tab in laptop mode, and it didn’t pop up when I moused around the bottom of the screen. Upon investigation, it turned out that I’d somehow toggled on an “Automatically hide Windows taskbar” setting. Fair enough — nobody wants a dock burned into their OLED — but the taskbar should still be popping up when my cursor is in the area.
Additionally, about a day into my testing process, the unit automatically stopped flipping its desktop’s orientation when I flipped the device around. In other words, Windows would be oriented vertically when I turned the Zenbook on, and when I flipped it horizontally to be in tablet mode, Windows would stay vertical and just be sideways. I ended up having to dig through Display Settings and manually flip the desktop to Landscape every time I switched modes, which was really a pain.
Finally, an issue I had with the Zenbook Fold continues to happen here: I am sideways on Zoom when I take calls in laptop mode. I have not figured out a way to fix this – when I physically flip the laptop on its side, the picture stays sideways. I know you can always take Zoom calls in tablet mode (this puts the webcam on the side, but there’s a Motion Tracking feature you can turn on that will keep you centered in the frame), but it’d be nice to be able to take them in laptop mode too.
Oh, and there’s bloatware on it. I was getting popup ads from the MyAsus software, and McAfee came pre-installed. That’s not a glitch per se, but I felt like I had to mention it.
Again, $3,499.
If this laptop didn’t have the problems it has, it would be a great laptop. That is, of course, something you can say about every single laptop that’s ever been reviewed.
But the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED really is a step towards something excellent. It’s a very nice-looking device. Its compactible form factor makes it a dream to carry around. And it’s two sizes of laptop in one – which is something I, personally, would find quite useful in my daily process.
It’s far from a workstation, and not something you’d want to use for more than a general office workload. If that’s understood, though, the experience is generally smooth, and not nearly as error-ridden as the ThinkPad X1 Fold’s was a year and a half ago. About 95 percent of the time, using the Zenbook 17 Fold was like using any other OLED laptop.
But five percent of a product’s lifespan still adds up to quite a bit of time. I do think the problems I’ve encountered, combined with the very, very high price, make it difficult for me to recommend this as a daily driver.
Still, this product is quite useful, and it’s very cool. The fact that it exists, and that it mostly works, is a great sign for this new category of device. I think a really excellent foldable from Asus is probably on the horizon.
And now it’s time to keep an eye on Reddit and see when exactly people start complaining about a crease.
Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge
Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (all measurements are approximate)
The letter keys are 0.75 x 0.75 inches with 0.125 inches between them. The keyboard is not backlit. The Caps Lock key and Bluetooth keys have indicator lights. The power button is 0.125 x .375 inches and the volume keys are 0.5 x 0.25 inches. The keys are black with white text and take very little force to depress.
The speakers reached an average of 71 decibels in my testing.
The laptop cannot be opened with one hand. It can be tilted back flat.
The touchpad is 4.125 x 2.375 inches and takes a small amount of dedicated force to depress.
The Zenbook does not support fingerprint or facial logins.
Windows 11
Windows 11 includes a built-in screen reader (Narrator). It supports third-party screen readers, including NVDA from NV Access and Jaws from Freedom Scientific. A full list of compatible software can be found on Microsoft’s website.
Windows 11 supports voice typing (accessed by Windows + H) and speech recognition (toggled with Windows + Ctrl + S).
Color Filters, including inverted, grayscale, red-green, and blue-yellow, can be toggled with Windows + Ctrl + C. Contrast themes are toggled with Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen. Standard Dark Mode and custom colors are also available under Personalization.
Caption color and size can be customized and appear close to the bottom of the screen.
The keyboard can be remapped with Microsoft’s PowerToys. Sticky Keys is supported. An on-screen keyboard is available.
The cursor’s size and speed can be adjusted, and gestures can be remapped in Touchpad Settings.
Windows 11 supports eye control with external eye trackers.
Windows 11 includes a Snap Layout feature, accessed by hovering over the Maximize button on any open window.
The next iPhone SE will finally drop its current design and switch to one that will allegedly be identical to that of the iPhone XR from 2018. That is, if a new rumor on the matter is to be believed. Its source is Jon Prosser, talking on the Geared Up podcast, and he has provided reliable information in the past, so maybe this does in fact pan out.
But you probably shouldn't get the bubbly ready just yet, as there was a new iPhone SE launched earlier this year, and it came two years after its predecessor. And thus, if Apple keeps the same release pacing for this series, it means the new model, the one that's going to look like an iPhone XR, will only arrive in 2024. By which time that design will be six years old. You can clearly feel how much Apple cares about its most affordable phone, can't you?
iPhone XR
Moving on to devices the company definitely cares about, the iPhone 14 Pro series is now rumored to sport an upgraded ultrawide camera, with 1.4μm pixel size. That would be a big increase from the 1.0μm pixel size on the iPhone 13 Pro's ultrawide camera, and it unsurprisingly has led to the components being more expensive for Apple to source.
iPhone 13 Pro
The sensor is apparently made by Sony, while the "compact camera module" is made by LG Innotek, and both companies are set to be beneficiaries of the price increase. On the other hand, buyers of the two Pro models coming out later this year will theoretically be the beneficiaries of better ultrawide shots, especially at night. Let's see if that actually happens.
Article From & Read More ( Next iPhone SE to look like the iPhone XR, iPhone 14 Pro to get new ultrawide camera - GSMArena.com news - GSMArena.com )
https://ift.tt/tZCYaRn
Technology
Trademark filings spotted by Bloomberg suggest Apple might incorporate “Reality” in the name and branding of its long-rumored mixed reality headset. Three separate filings show trademarks for “Reality One,” “Reality Pro,” and “Reality Processor,” matching the realityOS name that cropped up in Apple’s code and a trademark application that potentially refers to the headset’s operating system.
The applications weren’t filed by Apple itself, but by a company called Immersive Health Solutions, LLC. Companies like Apple often use the names of shell companies when filing for a patent or trademark to help keep their plans private. But, as Bloomberg points out, the Delaware-based Immersive Health Solutions was registered by Corporation Trust Co. — another shell company that also appeared on the realityOS trademark.
In addition to the US, applications were also filed in the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica, and Uruguay. All three filings mention “virtual and augmented reality headsets, goggles, glasses, and smartglasses.” It’s possible that the “Reality One” trademark refers to the name of the headset itself, while “Reality Pro” indicates a spec-boosted version that Apple has planned down the road, in line with the same “Pro” moniker Apple applies to its higher-end devices. Meanwhile, the name “Reality Processor” may allude to the headset’s processing unit, which is rumored to be an M2 chip.
Article From & Read More ( Trademark filings point to 'Reality' branding for Apple's mixed reality headset - The Verge )
https://ift.tt/ywz8bNH
Technology
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71302538/acastro_170731_1777_0002_v1.0.jpg)
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71306237/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0008.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983392/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0007.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983396/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0012.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983388/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0001.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983455/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0009.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983397/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0013.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983395/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0011.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983391/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0006.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983390/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0004.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983389/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0002.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23983394/226158_ZENBOOK_17_FOLD_PHO_mchin_0010.jpg)
