The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station.


According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display. The device is said to prioritize thinness, with several major design decisions reportedly made to reduce the overall thickness of the chassis.

Chief among these is the use of a side-mounted Touch ID fingerprint sensor. The leaker claims Apple has chosen not to include 3D Face ID hardware or a 3D ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor, as both systems would add internal volume and complicate efforts to slim down the device.

The post further claims that the foldable's hinge has been engineered to a particularly high standard, describing the hinge design as "very strong." While no deeper technical details are provided, this aligns with long-standing industry expectations that Apple is placing heavy emphasis on hinge durability and crease reduction, areas where foldable devices have historically faced criticism.

The leaker states that the current engineering prototype features a 7.58-inch internal display equipped with an under-panel front-facing camera, often abbreviated as UPC. Under-panel camera technology allows the camera to sit beneath the display layer, eliminating visible cutouts when the camera is not in use.

For the external display, the leaker claims Apple is using a 5.25-inch panel with a punch-hole camera implemented via a HIAA (Hole-In-Active-Area) design, a technique that minimizes inactive screen space around the cutout. It is unclear what will happen to the Dynamic Island in both instances.

The post also claims the device will feature a dual 48-megapixel rear camera system described as having a "large base," which suggests a physically larger sensor size than pixel count alone indicates.

Digital Chat Station adds that the foldable smartphone segment will be "reinvigorated" next year, implying that there will be renewed momentum after a period of slower growth and incremental updates. The leaker reiterated an earlier claim that Samsung is also evaluating a new wide-format foldable device.

Digital Chat Station has a relatively good track record for Apple rumors. They accurately revealed the overall design of the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, the triple 48-megapixel rear camera system of the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌, the iPhone 17's slimmer bezels and a larger display with ProMotion, ‌iPhone‌ 15 and ‌iPhone‌ 15 Plus's slightly smaller 48-megapixel sensor, and display panel design of the ‌iPhone‌ 12.
This article, "Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Fitness+ today expanded to 28 new markets in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre.


The service today became available in Norway, Poland, the Philippines, Sweden, Vietnam, Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year. The expansion increases total availability to 49 countries, with a full list available at the bottom of Apple's press release.

Hundreds of sessions are initially available with digitally generated voice dubbing in Spanish and German, with Japanese set to be added when the service launches in Japan. New dubbed episodes will be released weekly across all supported regions.

The new dubbing system uses a generated voice modeled on each of the 28 Fitness+ trainers' real voices. Users will be able to switch audio tracks after starting a session or set a preferred language in the Fitness app, which will automatically default to the dubbed version when available. Apple has not previously offered dubbed workout content on Fitness+, instead relying on subtitles for non-English markets since the service launched in 2020.

Apple is also adding a new K-Pop music genre to the service, which will be available across workout types. The new category joins existing genres such as Upbeat Anthems, Latest Hits, Hip-Hop/R&B, and Latin Grooves.

Prior to today, Fitness+ was already available in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK, and the U.S.
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Apple's AirPods Max launched five years ago today, marking the company's first push into the high-end over-ear headphones market under its own brand name.


Rumors about Apple's work on a pair of high-end headphones, at the time believed to be called the "AirPods Studio," heated up throughout 2020. They were announced abruptly via a somewhat unexpected press release on December 8, 2020 and went on sale the same day. Orders started arriving to customers one week later on Tuesday, December 15.

The ‌AirPods Max‌ offer many popular AirPods features such as the H1 chip, easy pairing, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, automatic switching, and Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking, but in a premium over-ear design for the first time. They also offer a headband made of a flexible mesh canopy, replaceable magnetic earcups, a Digital Crown for physical volume controls, a button for switching between ANC and Transparency, and a Smart Case for storage and to put the headphones into a low power state.

Demand for the ‌AirPods Max‌ was high immediately after launch, with shipping estimates that stretched out several months. Initial reviews of AirPods Max were favorable, applauding the headphones for being "more than enough to compete with other high-end headphones" in terms of design and sound quality. While the recommended retail price remains at $549, the ‌AirPods Max‌ are often available with discounts of over $100.

The ‌AirPods Max‌ have also been subject to criticism since their launch, including for their price relative to rival sets of high-end over-ear headphones, the design of the Smart Case, condensation inside the earcups, poor battery life (something that was later fixed via a software update), ANC strength seemingly being reduced over time, the over-head canopy's poor durability, and the long period in which the device has been left without meaningful hardware update.

Last year, Apple refreshed the AirPods Max's selection of color options and swapped the Lightning port for USB-C, but there were no other changes. Since the changes were so minor, Apple does not seem to consider the "new" model a second-generation.
This article, "AirPods Max Launched Five Years Ago Today" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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