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Romance scams are nothing new, but their potential impact has expanded due to mobile technology and the connectivity of our smartphones to core financial services, banking, and investment opportunities. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that 2021 was a “goldmine” for scammers, and $770 million was lost due to social media scams alone during the year. Investment, cryptocurrency, and romance scams were the most common ways fraudsters cashed in....

While Apple is continuously rolling out the feature to new cities, Transit for Apple Maps is a pretty nifty tool if it’s available in your areas, and if you rely on public transportation heavily. One of the best features of transit in Apple Maps is when in underground tunnels, as it will tell you which side of the terminal you need to leave on, and what streets you need to walk on....

One of the great benefits of modern cell phones and carriers is that you’re able to put calls on hold while you’re on a phone call. While you could easily create a 3-way call, that’s not always convenient nor appropriate for the case. That’s where Call waiting comes in, a feature that lets you have two separate calls and lets you interact with an incoming call. Disabling the feature will force all incoming calls to go to voicemail if you’re currently in a call....

In an incredibly sneaky move, it turns out the iPhone 12 does not actually cost $799 as advertised. If you go to the website and look at the pricing for the iPhone 12, the SIM-free price is actually $829. The iPhone 12 mini is similarly $729, and not $699. The top-line advertised prices actually include a $30 carrier discount, which is only available on AT&T and Verizon plans. That means if you are buying SIM-free unlocked or through T-Mobile or Sprint, the phone cost is $829....

A new video today from EverythingApplePro on YouTube offers a series of rumors on what to expect from this year’s iPhone 13. The video cites exclusive details from prominent leaker Max Weinbach, claiming that the iPhone 13 will feature an always-on display, small design tweaks, and more. There’s also a tidbit on the Apple Watch Series 7, with the video reporting that glucose monitoring will not be ready for this year....

Update: In the UK, the iPhone 5s has just gone on sale. Shipping estimates stand at 7-10 days. At the time of writing, all models are expected to be delivered in the first week of October. The iPhone 5s has just gone on sale in Australia. However, as has been noted several times, supply of the 5s is extremely constrained. As a result, Apple is already quoting 7-10 day shipping estimates for the device....

I had two immediate impressions when first picking up the iPhone SE. First, ‘wow this feels small!’. Having gotten used to the iPhone 6 and 6s as the new normal, the SE really does feel like an iPhone mini when you first handle it. But the second, which followed seconds later, was ‘… in a good way.’ I’m old enough to have used the very first mobile phones, which were ginormous....

Although the glory days of iPod are long over, rumors have stirred recently about a new 7th generation iPod touch. While we’ve yet to see any official hardware leaks, a new concept render video from ConceptsiPhone demonstrates the best possible (yet unlikely) scenario should a new iPod touch come to fruition. While a simple processor and camera boost are the most likely changes to come, the render shows an entirely redesigned product, featuring iPad Pro-like design with an even smaller notch than what’s currently featured on iPhone....

Alongside the iOS 14, Apple released the iPadOS 14 at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference on 22nd June. Although there was no live audience to cheer this news, yet the feature list has plenty to cheer in itself. Although most of the features are based on the iPhone’s latest OS, there are some iPad exclusive ones as well. Add to it a few macOS visual updates as well, and the update looks far more polished than ever before....

The Washington Post is reporting that TMobile will carry the iPhone in Germany on November 1st. This is big news for a couple of reasons. It means that Apple is probably going with the “National Carriers” AT&T in the US (used to be a monopoly), Tmobile is Deutsche Telekom – the former government telecom. So from this we can likely assume that Vodafone (or more likely O2) in the UK and Orange in France will also be exclusive iPhone carriers...

Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will feature welcomed battery improvements over the iPhone 5s. The battery sizes will differ between the two models… The iPhone 6 will feature up to 50 hours of audio playback, 11 hours of video playback and Wi-Fi browsing, 10 hours of LTE browsing and 3G browsing, 14 hours or 3G talk time, and 10 days of standby time. The iPhone 6 Plus features a massive 80 hours of audio playback, 14 hours of video playback, 12 hours of Wi-Fi, LTE, and 3G browsing, 24 hours of 3G talk time, and 16 days of standby time....

The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are Apple’s newest handsets introduced during its first event at the new Steve Jobs Theater at its also new Apple Park campus last week. But you can’t possibly consider the new phones without noting that Apple this year is breaking from tradition and launching a third flagship model that is radically different than the 8 and 8 Plus. It’s called iPhone X, as in the 10th anniversary edition of the device....

There has been a mix of good and bad news for Apple in China of late. Canalys relegated Apple to the ‘Others’ category after strong sales by local brands, but Apple’s own numbers show the market to be as big as Europe. Apple’s reputation took a hit as customers questioned the company’s transparency, but Counterpoint today has better news: iPhones are leading online smartphone sales in the country … The best-selling phone bought online last month was the iPhone 8 Plus, with the iPhone X in 3rd place and the iPhone 8 in 4th....

We’re a week away from Apple previewing iPadOS 15 at WWDC, and we’re all hoping for a substantial software upgrade for the iPad. Not just the low-hanging fruit from iOS 14 that didn’t come to the iPad, but a significant leap forward for pro users on the iPad Pro. I’ve spent the first week using the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2021) with my MacBook Air shutdown and set aside, and the versatility of using a portable screen as a tablet, laptop, and desktop has been really great....

The folks at DXOMark have published their full review of the iPhone 12 Pro camera system. All in all, Apple’s new triple-lens camera array with LiDAR Scanner has earned a score of 128, placing it in the top five of DXOMark’s list of best smartphone cameras. DXOMark explains that the score includes a “Photo score of 135” and a “Video score of 112,” both of which help the iPhone 12 Pro’s case....

We’ve seen a variety of iPhone 8 leaks over recent months and now a new set of renders has emerged, this time courtesy of Onleaks. These renders are based on leaked CAD images and may offer the most accurate look yet at what the iPhone 8 could look like… The renders show the iPhone 8 with a nearly edge-to-edge OLED display, as well as stainless steel edges similar to that of the iPhone 4....

The two-day Irish tax appeal is underway, with both Apple and Ireland appealing against a ruling that the Cupertino company must pay €13B ($14.3B) in underpaid tax over more than two decades. Apple isn’t pulling any punches, its lawyer arguing that the ruling ‘defies reality and common sense’ … Background We recently provided a quick summary of events to date. Apple CFO Luca Maestri is heading a team of six execs who will be giving evidence in the case....

Apple’s appeal against the €13 billion ($14.3 billion) Irish tax ruling is due to begin tomorrow, and chief financial officer Luca Maestri is reported to be heading the team. Apple is reportedly taking five other execs to help the company make its case in a court case scheduled to last just two days… Background We recently outlined the background to the case. Irish tax ruling appeal We learned a month ago that the appeals from both Apple and the Irish government will be combined into a single hearing, and that the case would last only two days....

A report from IHS, via Re/code, has costed out the various components of the iPad Air 2. Naturally, these prices are estimates — the exact nature of the deals Apple negotiates with its suppliers are not common knowledge. The report says that the iPad Air 2 costs Apple $275 in materials, with the screen making up the largest share with costs around $77. This culminates to a very similar bill-of-materials to the last iPad Air, which IHS estimated was worth $264 in components....

When Apple launched its iPhone 5 battery replacement program last year, the company said that it would accept devices for replacement up to two years after purchase. Because the devices with the faulty batteries were sold between September 2012 and January 2013, two years from that date range would have given buyers until January 2015 (or March 1st, 2015, according to the page) to get their devices swapped. However, as spotted by iPhone in Canada, Apple today updated the copy on the page to state that replacements would be accepted for an additional year....