Jeff Gamet

If you break your iPhone XR screen get ready to shell out US$199 to get it replaced. If you do any other damage to your new iPhone it’ll cost $399 to get fixed. That’s assuming you don’t have AppleCare+. Screen repairs with Apple’s extended warranty plan cost $29, and other repairs are $99. The moral of the story: Put a case on your iPhone XR, and if you think there’s any chance you may drop and break it, shell out the $199 for AppleCare+.

Complaints about the front-facing camera on the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR smoothing away skin details in selfies apparently has a fix coming. Apple told the Verge it’ll be part of iOS 12.1, an update that’s currently in beta testing. From the Verge’s iPhone XR review:

Apple told me that the forthcoming iOS 12.1 update, currently in public beta, will address the issue of the front camera appearing to smooth out skin by picking a sharper base frame for Smart HDR, but I wasn’t able to test it yet.

That sounds like a reasonable fix for what some see as a problem with photos on the new iPhone models. Also, the Verge review says the iPhone XR is a really nice phone. Pre-order deliveries and in-store sales start this Friday, October 26th.

The big names in the web browser community, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla, are all dropping support for Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 and 1.1 in March 2020. The protocol allowed for secure and encrypted connections to web servers for online forms and data transmission, but proved to have several security flaws. It has been superseded by TLS 1.2. Ars Technica noted the pending depreciation saying,

The impact of removing the old protocols shouldn’t be too substantial. All four companies cite usage figures for the old versions; Firefox sees the most TLS 1.0 and 1.1 usage (1.4 percent of all secure connections) while the other three vendors claim a figure below 1.0 percent. The current recommendation is that sites switch to TLS 1.2 (which happens to be the minimum required for HTTP 2.0) and offer only a limited, modern set of encryption algorithms and authentication schemes. TLS 1.3 was recently finalized, but it currently has little widespread adoption.

Odds are most people won’t notice the lack of TLS 1.0 and 1.1 support since the vast majority of sites have already moved on to version 1.2.

Your Apple Watch may be key in recovering from knee and hip replacement surgery. Apple and Zimmer Biomet, a joint replacement manufacturer, are teaming up for a medical study that uses the smartwatch to help with the recovery process. CNBC says,

Apple and Zimmer Biomet have created a mobile app called mymobility, which aims to help guide patients through their surgery to improve their experience, as well as their health outcomes. It includes educational resources, exercise videos and a way for patients to contact their surgeon and care team with questions and concerns.

Considering the number joint replacement surgeries is on the rise, this results of this study could be very beneficial to patients. It’s also another example of Apple’s serious commitment to being a real player in the health care market.