LG unveils a camera that removes the notch in phones, the rise in shipments of foldable screens and the increase in competition, And the appearance of the problem of fonts in the screens of the iPhone 14, the AirPower-like Tesla charger, the start of manufacturing 3nm processors, the reshaping of iPhone models due to poor sales of the Plus version, and other exciting news on the sidelines…

News on the sidelines Week Mar 5 - Mar 11


Apple is very concerned about sales of the iPhone 14 Plus and is looking at a new lineup for the next iPhone

There were reports that Apple is seriously concerned about the sales performance of the iPhone 14 Plus. As a result, it is considering rebranding the iPhone 15 lineup for 2023. The 14-inch iPhone 6.7 Plus replaces the 5.4-inch iPhone Mini, and features the same design, cameras, and performance as the iPhone 14, but with a larger screen and battery.

Given the lack of sales of this type of iPhone, it is likely that Apple will reconsider its accounts and carefully study its next lineup of phones, whether by increasing the distinction between the iPhone Pro and non-Pro, or reducing the price of the Plus model, and at least it starts from 799 instead of 899 dollars, and it must Apple should reduce the price further so that the price gap widens between the Pro and Plus versions, and there is a really low-price option that attracts buyers, instead of an almost close price gap, and then the customer will prefer to sacrifice the small price difference for the sake of a much more powerful device.

Apple has already changed and re-evaluated the iPhone lineup several times, such as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but it seems that the situation is very different now, so we find two standard models and others Pro, and you may not find significant differences between each of the two brands except for the battery, as in the case of the Pro. and Pro Max.


The assembly of the iPhone 15 Ultra will not be exclusive to Foxconn

In partnership with Luxshare and Foxconn, the iPhone 15 will be assembled next year. It is not clear what percentage Luxshare will get, but the move will help reduce the risk of relying on a single company, and the move comes in the wake of problems Foxconn has faced in the past few months, from frequent shutdowns and unrest.

Rumors indicate that there will be an increasing differentiation between the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and it may be possible to rename the Pro Max as the iPhone 15 Ultra, such as the Apple Watch Ultra.


Apple plans to launch the new iPad mini in late 2023 or early 2024

Apple is working on a new version of the iPad mini, and large shipments are expected to begin near the end of 2023 or in the first half of 2024, and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the new processor will be the main selling point for this new device.

The current iPad Mini was released in September 2021 and features an 8.3-inch display, A15 Bionic chip, USB-C port, Power button with Face ID, 5G support on cellular models, and more, starting at $499 in the US with 64GB of storage.


Collision detection still connects incorrectly

Despite the improvements made in the iOS 16 update last November, the car collision detection feature in the iPhone 14 continues to call the emergency number by mistake when a person is having fun on a roller coaster, for example, or skiing, or doing other physical activities. In which the iPhone misunderstands, and considers it a collision. Because of such false reports, Apple released iOS 16.1.2 and said it had made "improvements in the collision detection feature." Despite these improvements, the issue still persists, and users are hoping that this issue will be fixed soon.


The start of mass production of 3nm processors

TSMC, Apple's main processor supplier, will begin mass production of 3nm chips to manufacture M2 Pro processors for the upcoming MacBook Pro and Mac mini. Production is scheduled to start today, Thursday, December 29, according to several reports.

Apple is currently using 4-nanometer technology processors such as the A16 Bionic in the iPhone 14 Pro, and Apple will move to the new technology and adopt it in the third generation of Apple Silicon, the M3 chip, and the A17 Bionic processor for the iPhone 15.


Tesla releases a wireless charger like the AirPower

This charger is $300 and can charge up to three devices simultaneously. It is similar in concept to the Apple AirPower charger that was canceled due to technical errors, and three devices can be placed anywhere on the Tesla charging mat and charged directly without problems, with a power of 15 watts per device.

Inspired by the Tesla Cybertruck, the charger's design features an aluminum cover with an Alcantara surface and a detachable magnetic mount, and can be used to charge flat or at an angle.


The problem of the appearance of flashing horizontal lines when starting the iPhone 14

Some iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max users reported this problem, and they don't know what caused it, their devices didn't fall or some other reason, and they don't know how to fix it.

Dozens on social media reported seeing green and yellow lines flashing on the screen and disappearing after a few seconds when the device was turned on. Apple Support is aware of the issue and stated that it is not a hardware defect but rather a bug in the iOS 16 update, and it will be fixed in an upcoming sub-update.

We wrote a full article on this issue, which you can read here


Decreased demand for mini-LED screens to move to OLED in the coming years

A supplier of mini-LED screens says demand for them in consumer products is shrinking as Apple looks to adopt OLED screens in iPads and MacBooks. While the demand for mini-LED screens is increasing for use in other aspects, such as driving screens and others.


Apple asked Samsung to further develop iPhone 14 Pro screens

Rather, Apple requested this, to protect the area around the interactive island from possible damage and loss of image quality. To create the interactive island hole within the screen, Samsung must drill the hole directly into the OLED screen, and doing so means that the surrounding pixels can be damaged by exposure to moisture and oxygen, and thus greatly shorten the lifespan of the product. To prevent these potential problems, the report says that Samsung has placed an insulator separating the hole from the surrounding pixels.

Samsung was using a method of making organic thin films, usually carbon, that separate the holes from the rest of the screen. This technology is called inkjet and is widely used in OLED screens.

But Samsung recently managed to implement this process using a laser instead of the inkjet method, but it is said that Apple preferred the inkjet method instead of the laser.


Foldable smartphone shipments are on the rise in 2023 and the competition is getting fiercer

It is estimated that shipments of foldable phones in 2022 will be about 18.3 million phones, 75% of which will be Samsung. Total shipments are expected to rise to 27.8 million in 2023, with Samsung's share dropping to 66% due to competition. It is likely that Apple will enter the line of competition by launching the first iPhone-foldable, which may transfer this technology to a step very far from the current one, as it has done more than once.

Soon, we will find a large number of Chinese companies entering the production of this type of phones, which enhances the production capacity of foldable screens, especially in China, such as Huawei and Honor, which use OLED screens from the Chinese company BOE, and Xiaomi and Vivo use OLED screens from Samsung, and this will affect prices. Samsung is reducing it due to the entry of other companies into the competition.


Miscellaneous news

◉ Apple faces about $98 million in back taxes in Japan due to heavy sales of duty-free devices to foreign tourists. Japanese tourists staying less than six months can enjoy duty-free shopping, allowing them to purchase certain goods without paying the country's 10% consumption tax. This exemption does not apply to retail purchases.

◉ LG is preparing to unveil a new camera at CES, which will remove the notch from the phones screen.


This is not all the news that is on the sidelines, but we have brought you the most important of them, and it is not necessary for the non-specialist to occupy himself with all the incoming and outgoing. And help you with it, and if it robbed you of your life and got busy with it, there is no need for it.

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