We’re heading into the weekend with iPhone 7s and Apple Watches (Series 2) pre-ordered, so what else is happening? Give us 4 minutes and we’ll give you some news:
- Regardless of what brainless pundits are saying about the “lack of an audio port”, the iPhone 7 appears to be an instant success
- First the FAA recommends not taking Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on airplanes. Today, the US CPSC issued an even stronger warning to the public at large — “turn them off”
- Tim Cook allegedly emails a concerned Mac fan to reassure him that upgrades are coming
- Would you believe that an iPhone 7 Plus is actually faster than a 12-inch MacBook? It’s true!
The text version of the podcast can be viewed below. To listen to the podcast here, click the play button on the player below.
Text Version
Hi, this is Steve Sande for Apple World Today, and this is the AWT News Update for September 9, 2016.
If the slow response that greeted a lot of folks making pre-orders for the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 early this morning is any indication, it looks like the new devices are a success. Apple will not be releasing first weekend sales figures as they have in the past, but my guess is that some enterprising Wall Street analyst will manage to estimate some numbers.
Apple did shut down in-store iPhone 7 reservations earlier today in the US, saying that they’ll reopen those reservations at 8AM on September 17. Apple World Today should publish its first review of the newest iPhone next weekend provided that Apple’s delivery estimate is on target.
Apple’s arch-rival Samsung has had a rush of bad luck in recent weeks with the new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. First, word came from the US Federal Aviation Administration earlier this week that they are advising passengers “not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage.” Today the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a statement and urged all Note 7 owners to turn off their devices while Samsung works out the details of a recall. As I mentioned in a personal tweet earlier today, no Apple fan should be gloating about Samsung’s misfortune, as it could just as easily happen to an Apple product.
Mac users have been feeling left out of Apple’s upgrades plans lately, but it appears that one concerned Mac user got an emailed response from Tim Cook, telling the user to “stay tuned” for a forthcoming Mac refresh. The user emailed Cook asking if Apple was “pulling away” from the Mac line, so Cook (or someone working for him at Apple) replied “I love the Mac and we are very committed to it. Stay tuned.” The last major refresh happened when the 4K 21.5-inch iMac was revealed to the public on October 13, 2015. With macOS Sierra going live on September 20, it would be a perfect time for Apple to announce refreshes to the Mac line that add Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 generation 2, and more.
Finally, remember yesterday’s podcast story on the iPhone 7 Geekbench scores? Those results showed the A10 processor in the iPhone 7 Plus to be a real speedster, with a 3233 single-core score and a 5363 multi-core score. Comparing those numbers to the results for the 2016 Apple 12-inch MacBook 1.1 GHz model, the iPhone 7 Plus roundly trashes the thin laptop which only managed a 2400 single-core score and a 4761 multi-core score. The fastest 12-inch MacBook did manage to pass the multi-core score of the iPhone with a 5705 total, but the new iPhone still beat out the MacBook’s single-core score of 2741. Like I mentioned to Dennis Sellers on today’s Team AWT Patron Podcast, it’s easy to imagine a future where a really fast iPhone is also the brains for your future desktop or laptop computer.
That’s all for today and for this week; We’ll be back Monday afternoon with another edition of the AWT News Update.
