iPhone Production Begins in India

Indian iPhone production has begun with Wistron looking to hire 10,000 staff, as Apple looks to reduce its reliance on Chinese manufacturing. 9to5 Mac has a nice roundup of the current situation.

India’s importance to Apple as a manufacturing center has grown considerably since the first Foxconn plant back in 2016. The goal at that stage was simply to make older and lower-end iPhone models for local sale. Apple’s primary production capabilities remained firmly centered in China. Things have changed rather dramatically since then. Apple’s increasingly uneasy relationship with China has highlighted the risks of being overly dependent on a single country for the vast majority of production. The substantial tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese-manufactured products made diversification of manufacturing a much more urgent matter. Apple reportedly responded by asking suppliers to price up the cost of moving 15-30% of production out of China. That seemed an ambitious goal at the time, with one reported failed attempt to manufacture the current flagship models in the country. However, the importance of having iPhone production much more widely dispersed around the globe was underlined when the coronavirus hit China, shutting down iPhone production in the country.

 

Mother And Son Found Guilty of iPhone Warranty Scam

A mother and her son were found guilty of a major iPhone scam exploiting the AppleCare+ warranty system, Securing Industry reported. The Chinese citizens committed  the crimes in Switzerland, where they were sentenced.

Apple claims it lost more than CHF 1m ($1.1m) as a result of the scam, which mirrors a notorious case in the US last year, which also resulted in a three-year jail term for the main perpetrator. The court heard that the main defendant earned just CHF 10,000 from the fraud, and was a small but important part of a network which prosecutors believe is based in Hong Kong. The mother and son sent the genuine handsets they received from Apple to Hong Kong, getting just CHF 10 as commission on each device. They claimed they were unaware that the iPhones they exchanged were fake.

Rumors Suggest iPhone 12 Pro May Support 4K Video at 240fps

The iPhone 12 Pro could support 4K video shooting at 240fps. That’s according to new leaks and rumors emerging from the EverythingApplePro YouTube channel and reported on by CultofMac.

[Filip] Koroy reportedly found evidence of the new high resolution, slow-mo format in the iOS 14 beta code. Whether this is accurate remains to be seen. If it is, it would be far above what is available in other smartphone models right now. It would also make it likely that Apple will sell a shedload of high storage handsets this year — or way more iCloud subscriptions. The report also mentions that the iPhone 12 Pro could boast a ProMotion 120Hz high-refresh display, citing information from Apple leaker Max Weinbach. Apple introduced the 120Hz ProMotion iPad Pro back in 2017. Like the iPad Pro, which first debuted ProMotion, the iPhone 12 Pro could dynamically switch between 60Hz and 120Hz to save on battery. The regular iPhone 12, meanwhile, may stick with a regular 60Hz display. ProMotion for the iPhone 12 was first rumored at the end of 2019.

Drawing, Backing Up, and Being a Screenshot Ninja – Mac Geek Gab 816

Did you know you could move your screenshot selection window around after you create it? How about rearranging columns in the Finder and having it remember? What about Profiles on your Mac, and how they can be used to hijack your browser?

If you listen to this week’s Mac Geek Gab with Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun, not only will you know how to do these three things, we guarantee you’ll learn at least two more (and probably a lot more than that!). Press play and enjoy learning all these things with your two favorite geeks.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun Caught Using iPhone

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun was caught using an iPhone after he posted a message on Weibo using the device.

In all fairness, Lei Jun is reported to have stated in the past that officials and staffs of Xiaomi are not banned from using competing brands. But some hold the opinion that it is distasteful and disrespectful to fans for the Xiaomi founder to use an iPhone. Guess we don’t have to wonder anymore why the MIUI interface looks so much like iOS.

Reminds me of the multiple occasions where an Android manufacturer posted a picture on social media to boast how great their camera was, only for people to find out it was shot on an iPhone. In 2018 Vladimir Putin’s goddaughter was caught on camera using an iPhone. She was a Samsung ambassador and was sued by the company for 108 million rubles.

Xcode for iOS Might Mean You Can Write Software on Your iPhone

Developers may soon be able to code on their iPhone or iPad with Xcode on iOS/iPadOS 14. I don’t imagine many people are going to settle down to a big coding session on their iPhone, but I can imagine them doing it on an iPad. If Xcode does come to iPadOS it would cement a move we already saw with the latest iPad Pro – Apple is blurring the lines between a laptop and a tablet. Cult of Mac took a look at the latest rumors.

This report comes from Jon Prosser, founder of YouTube channel Front Page Tech, who recently correctly predicted the launch date of the 2020 iPhone SE. On Monday, Prosser said via Twitter “XCode is present on iOS / iPad OS 14. The implications there are HUGE”… Whenever anyone suggests that iPads have become as powerful as MacBooks, someone always asks, “Does it do Xcode?” The implication is that iPads are just toys — only Macs are real computers. But if Prosser is correct, then devs will be able to use iPad or Mac, whichever they prefer.