Apple Daily Report: iFixIt tears down the Apple Watch Series 4 (and more news)

Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.

iFixIt, which tears down tech items and examines their innards so you don’t have to, has offered a teardown of the Apple Watch Series 4. You can read all about it here.

Apple will advise the U.S. Senate that it supports federal regulations relating to privacy, a report ahead of the Sept. 26 hearing claims, with the iPhone producer expected to testify to lawmakers how its personal data policies differ from other tech giants. 

A report by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman and Ian King says that the biggest upsell for the iPhone XS and XS Max is the new 512GB storage option, which will help Apple make $134 more per iPhone than the 64GB option. 

Further tests have confirmed early suggestions that the new radio tech in the iPhone XS significantly boosts data speeds on both Wi-Fi and LTE when compared to last year’s iPhone X.

In a research note obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says iPhone XS Max demand is “better than expected,” with the 6.5-inch model outselling the iPhone XS by three to four times. He says the 256GB storage option is most popular, with the 512GB configuration subject to a “serious shortage” due to Samsung being the only reliable supplier.

Yikes! Apparently, Apple has to pay ViretX more than the $502.6 million ordered by a federal judge in late August, with an agreement between the two companies over costs incurred by VirnetX in the patent infringement lawsuit bringing the final total up to $595.9 million. 

According to a DisplayMate report, the iPhone XS Max has a number of notable improvements over the original iPhone X, including higher brightness and higher absolute color accuracy, “all the more impressive because its display is 22% larger in screen area, which is more challenging to manufacture.” Based on the site’s extensive lab tests and measurements, the iPhone XS Max has “an impressive smartphone display with close to text book perfect calibration and performance.”