Dennis Sellers

<p>KKR & Co. — an American multinational private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts — is trying to persuade Apple to switch sides and join the private equity firm in a bid for Toshiba Corp.’s flash memory chip business. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-25/kkr-said-to-be-wooing-apple-to-switch-sides-in-toshiba-bid" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Bloomberg</em></a>, Toshiba told creditors that the Bain-backed winning consortium wasn’t finalized yet, because Apple hadn’t agreed to all the terms.</p>

<p>Apple’s new iPhone X, which goes on sale in October, will sport cutting-edge facial recognition technology dubbed “Face ID” KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that, if it’s a hit, we’ll see it replacing Touch ID on future iPhones and iPads. If it’s not a big hit, expect to see iOS devices sporting Face ID and Touch ID.</p>

<p>As macOS High Sierra <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/9/25/macos-1013-high-sierra-now-available" rel="noopener noreferrer">became available yesterday</a>, some folks (like me) were disappointed that the new Apple File System (APFS) wouldn’t be implemented on traditional hard drives or Fusion Drives (which is what my iMac has). But there’s good news.</p>

<p>Apple’s iPhone 8 Plus, equipped with 64GB of NAND flash memory, carries a bill of materials (BOM) cost that comes out to $288.08 higher than any previous versions of the company’s smartphones, according to a preliminary estimate from <a target="_blank" href="http://ihsmarkit.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">IHS Markit</a>, which specializes in “critical information, analytics and solutions.”</p>

<p>Apple has sold 33 million Apple Watches since the launch of the line over two years ago — and 15 million in the past year, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.asymco.com/2017/09/25/a-small-screen-ipod/" rel="noopener noreferrer">estimates</a> from Asymco’s Horace Dediu. The analyst says the unit sales in the past year add up to $4.9 billion in revenue.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.jamaudio.com/speakers/jam-symphony-wireless-wifi-speaker" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Jam Symphony</a> is a Wi-Fi only (at least when it comes to wireless) speaker. There’s nothing wrong with that — except for one flaw: you’ll have to make sure that your iPhone is connected to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, not 5GHz, to use the Jam WiFi app. </p>

<p>Buying a new Apple Watch Series 3 and plan to sell your older Apple smartwatch? Here’s how to prepare it for selling.</p>

<p>On a regular basis, <em>Apple World Today</em> posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are today's picks.</p>

<p>iMovie for macOS has ben updated, adding support for importing video in the HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) format made possible by macOS High Sierra. </p>

<p>Apple has has updated its iBooks Author app to version 2.6. It’s available for free at the <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks-author/id490152466?mt=12" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mac App Store</a> for macOS 10.11 or higher.</p>

<p>Interbrand has named Apple, Google, and Microsoft as the three most valuable brands in its 2017 Best Global Brands ranking, with technology as the dominant sector.</p>

<p>Apple is switching the default provider of its web searches from Siri, iOS Search and macOS Spotlight from Bing to Google, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/25/apple-switches-from-bing-to-google-for-siri-web-search-results-on-ios-and-spotlight-on-mac/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>TechCrunch</em></a>.</p>

<p>In a note to clients as noted by <em>AppleInsider </em>— KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes pre-orders for the iPhone X could pass <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/09/25/iphone-x-preorders-could-top-50-million-but-truedepth-camera-is-bottleneck-for-apple" rel="noopener noreferrer">50 million units</a>, noting that the high end smartphone is the first complete form factor revamp since 2016 and could prompt a “super cycle” of upgrades.</p>

<p><em>The Korea Herald</em> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/25/apples-2018-iphone-lcd/" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports</a> that Apple’s 2018 lineup of iPhones could (and “could’ is probably the operative word here), include a larger LCD model measuring over sixinches with the panel coming from Japan Display.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.quickertek.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">QuickerTek</a> has announced their $399 USB-C MacBook External Battery. Created with Lithium-ion power cells, it sports the USB 3.1 adapter cable necessary to power and charge the 2015-2017 12-inch MacBook and 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro.</p>