Next-gen iPhone parts reveal iPhone 4-like design

We are hearing from our connections with sources at Foxconn that the next-generation iPhone will include an iPhone 4-like design, and now we have some more information: parts.
Replace Base helped us get our hands on the dock connector and headphone jack flex. While these parts don’t look all to interesting to the normal eye, we had our friends at the iFixYouri iPhone repair shop take a look at these parts to basically confirm a few things.
First is that, indicative of these parts, the fifth-generation iPhone will have color options: black or white. This isn’t all too surprising – seeing we’re seeing a white iPhone 4 soon – but it’s still worth mentioning for fans of white devices.

Next is the iPhone home button. Some rumors from earlier this year pointed to future iPhones lacking physical home buttons. The dock connector for the iPhone 5 seems to refute all that as the home button connector is present on the piece.

Next is the headphone jack flex: It’s redesigned. Although the redesign of an internal part that the consumer will never see does not seem exciting, the engineering aspect of it certainly does. The connection piece to the iPhone’s motherboard usually sits at the top of the cable but on the next iPhone, it sits on the middle of the cable.

Apple moving the headphone jack flex motherboard connector elsewhere could mean that Apple might be making room for something new in the device. Our speculation ranges from a beefier processor, more storage, a bigger battery, a better camera, a 4G chip, a Gobi CDMA/GSM chip, to NFC. At this point there is no way to tell.
What we do know is..

that the fifth-generation iPhone’s size and shape will be similar – if not exactly same in size – to the iPhone 4 since the parts are the same size. That doesn’t mean Apple won’t pack in a bigger screen (external), an A5 processor, more RAM, and a metal back plate.

iOS 4.3 Untethered Jailbreak To Drop “Before The Next Weekend”

iPhone security expert and hacker Stefan Esser has now provided an ETA for his untethered jailbreak tool for iOS 4.3. According to the updated YouTube description of his video, he is going to release it as soon as next week.

Good morning.
This video demonstrates my iPad 1 running untethered jailbroken iOS 4.3
The jailbreak uses a *UNDISCLOSED* exploit in the iOS Kernel. Installation is similar to previous iOS versions which means you require a bootrom exploit (or something else) to install it in the root partition.
Because there is no public bootrom exploit for the iPad 2 at the moment it will not work for now.
However the jailbreak can be made compatible with all devices that are vulnerable to the limer4in exploit and that are supported by iOS 4.3
Because of several changes in iOS 4.3 in comparison to iOS 4.2.1 the jailbreak is NOT READY yet. That is what the *ALPHA* means. I need some time to check what kernel patches are actually required to work 100%ly.
However I recommend the dev-team or chronic-dev to first release a *tethered* iOS 4.3 so that everyone can test if their nice feature actually work. I guess most people require Mobile Substrate to work and AFAIK it does not work due to ASLR. It would be a waste if Apple kills an untethered jailbreak before Mobile Substrate works.
That said I will release the jailbreak when a) there is no other untether by the time I am finished b) if MobileSubstrate works.
Any report that I wait for iOS 4.3.1 is just a misinterpretation of my words.
I merely think that Apple should release a iOS 4.3.1 soon, because it is in their interest to not wait for several months when everyone knows that there is a remote exploit in MobileSafari that might have leaked during the #PWN2OWN contest.
Check back in the next days for more information about when and where you can get it.
DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET SCAMMED BY ALL THE OTHERS TRYING TO SELL YOU THIS EXPLOIT. IT WILL NOT LEAVE MY HOUSE BEFORE IT IS FINISHED.
Because so many people are asking for an ETA:
I am pretty sure that the untether will be released before the next weekend. I was using older kernel patches that caused lagging on the jailbroken device. I will change that and then port it to the other devices and release.

As always, we will keep you updated ! Stay tuned for more!

iPad 2 shipment time jumps to 3-4 weeks at Apple’s online store

The Apple online store opened yesterday with 3-4 day shipping times then it turned to 5-7 days and then to a whole 2-3 weeks. Now the Apple store is quoting 3 weeks to a month before you get your iPad 2. That’s only the time until the shipment happens, you can add a few days to a week before the magical tablet actually drops at your door step.

Apple is yet to report how many iPad 2s they sold on launch day but this 3-4 week shipment time also has to do with some apparent shortages. Yesterday, many customers reported shortages of certain iPad 2 models at Apple retail stores and third party resellers. Analysts are expecting Apple to cross the 600,000 sales mark for iPad 2s this launch weekend.

RUMOUR: DiGi to announce something on 8th March?

We got tipped by @jonrulezz with an image that shows an expectant person with 2 apples inside.

So what can it be? First thing on top of our minds is the iPad 2. Launching it on 8th March is impossible as Apple is only releasing it on 11th March 2011. If it is indeed the iPad 2, it might be an announcement that they are bringing in the iPad 2 for bundling in Malaysia which normally includes the typical Registration of Interest exercise.

Another possibility is that DiGi is doing another promo for the iPhone 4. Special price for 2 units of iPhone 4?

It might be considering DiGi had similar teaser for iPhone 4 launch last September. That time they used 4 apples to represent iPhone 4.

Could it be a hoax altogether? Your guess is as good as ours.

[ SOURCE ] [SoyaCincau]

iPad vs iPad2

Bought an iPad in the last 2 weeks? Apple will refund the price drop.

Electric Pig and other sources have confirmed to us that Apple is giving back the $100 price difference between prices last week and today on recently purchased iPads.  In the US, Apple dropped prices at least $100 so it is a healthy chunk of change.   The window is 14 days or February 16th (or thereabouts).
Also, as of yesterday, Apple has new significantly lower prices on refurbished iPads, below: 

• Refurbished Apple iPad 16GB Wi-Fi for $349
• refurbished Apple iPad 32GB Wi-Fi for $429
• refurbished Apple iPad 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G for $479
• refurbished Apple iPad 64GB Wi-Fi for $529
• refurbished Apple iPad 32GB Wi-Fi + 3G for $559
• refurbished Apple iPad 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G for $659

Preview of iOS 5 at March 2 Event

Apple will reportedly reveal iOS 5 alongside a new A5 iPad 2 with 512MB of RAM at its March 2nd event, according to Engadget sources.

The iPad 2 won't get that SD card slot and Retina Display as previously rumored due to "engineering issues", say sources that have been "dead right" in the past.

That SD card slot and higher resolution display won't make it into the new model (the latter we'd been hearing rumblings about for a little while). What's the cause of the switch? Well our sources weren't crystal clear on the exact reasons, but the gist of what was explained to us centered around vague "engineering issues" which may have forced some changes at the eleventh hour.

Engadget reports that the iPad 2 will be thinner, feature the more powerful A5 CPU, 512MB of RAM, and a camera or two.

It's also almost guaranteed that we'll see the next version of iOS (number 5 in all likelihood, along with its SDK for devs), and an expansion of Apple's cloud services (that part is a little... foggy right now).

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Brand New Apple Macbook Pro. Cheaper, More Powerful!

While not all the rumors leading up to the launch were true, many of the last minute leaks were accurate, and Apple still managed to sneak in a few surprises.

Apple launched the new MacBook Pros this morning after much anticipation. For the first time ever, Apple has included Quad Core CPUs into their notebooks. The 15″ and 17″ models offer Quad Core CPUs using the Intel 2.2GHz Quad Core 2720QM and 2.0GHz Quad Core 2630QM. While many applications may not take advantage of all 4 cores, these new Sandy Bridge processors include Intel’s Turbo Boost 2.0, which should increase the speed of the remaining cores when the others are underutilized.

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 automatically allows processor cores to run faster than the base operating frequency if it’s operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits.
The maximum Turbo clock speeds for the 2720QM and 2630QM are 3.2GHz and 2.9GHz respectively.

Apple has also introduced a hybrid Thunderbolt/mini Display port on the new MacBook Pros. This represents Intel’s Light Peak technology which is said to offer high speed connections and is expected to replace the need for USB 3.0. We expect to hear more about it this afternoon at Intel’s press conference. From Apple’s PR:

Thunderbolt is a revolutionary new I/O technology that delivers an amazing 10 gigabits per second and can support every important I/O standard which is ideal for the new MacBook Pro.

Apple has posted a page dedicated to Thunderbolt.

The new models are at the Apple Store:

-17″ 1920×1200 Display. 2.2Ghz Quad i7. 4GB RAM. 750GB HD. AMD 6750M 1GB. RM 7699
-15″ 1440×900 (1680 option) Display. 2.2GHz Quad i7. 750GB HD. AMD 6750M 1GB. RM 6799
-15″ 1440×900 (1680 option) Display. 2.0GHz Quad i7. 4GB RAM. 500GB HD. AMD 6490M 256MB. RM 5499
-13″ 1280×800 Display. 2.7GHz Dual i7. 4GB RAM. 500GB HD. Intel HD Graphics. RM 4599
-13″ 1280×800 Display. 2.3GHz Dual i5. 4GB RAM. 320GB HD. Intel HD Graphics. RM 3699

13-Inch MacBook Pro Specs, Photos, Light Peak Known As Thunderbolt? [Confirmed]

Fscklog posts a photo of what is believed to be from the box of the new 13" MacBook Pro that Apple is planning to release on Thursday. Amongst the features, the name of Apple's Light Peak implementation: Thunderbolt.

Translation of the specs by devilcm3:

Core i5 two cores at 2.3 GHz 3 MB cache
4 GB of DDR3 1333 MHz
Hard Drive 320 GB 5400 rpm
Screen 13.33 "glossy 1280x800
Intel Graphics GPU HD 3000 with 384MB of RAM shared with main memory
Camera HD FaceTime
Superdrive 8x
Thunderbolt yet compatible with the I / O devices and high speed MiniDisplayport
SDXC Card slot, Firewire 800 and two USB 2.0
Digital Audio Output
Integrated Ethernet
Backlit keyboard
Size and weight 32.5 x22, 7x2, 41 cm, 2.04 kg

Mac4Ever posts these photos that appear to be marketing materials for the new MacBook Pros, with a partial image of the notebook itself:


Finally, this image claiming to show a Thunderbolt port, which looks a lot like a DisplayPort. We're not sure of the original source of this image:


Update: We've confirmed that these images are legitimate. This is of the low-end 13" MacBook Pro, so it's possible that the higher-end model will have different features.

In English:

New MacBook Pros – Thursday, February 24th

Following the reports from this morning claiming that Apple will be launching an update to the MacBook Pro line late next week, MacRumors has independently confirmed that this update will occur on Thursday, February 24th. Get your plastic cards ready!

Rumor roundup:

-New MacBook Pros will feature faster, Intel Sandy Bridge processors

-New MacBook Pros will look and feel like Apple’s latest MacBook Air line

-New MacBook Pros will feature moderate design changes

-New MacBook Pros will be built with liquid metal, include longer lasting batteries

-New MacBook Pros will be lighter, thinner, cheaper, faster, have bigger batteries

Of course there is also the notion that Apple will bring the design and style from their latest MacBook Airs to the new MacBook Pros. Apple is calling the latest MacBook Air line the “next generation of MacBooks,” so it makes sense that the new Pros will follow the trend.

Apple’s “next generation of notebooks” have fast solid-state storage drives (flash storage) placed right on the motherboard, higher-resolution displays, bigger batteries, thinner and lighter designs, faster graphics, more connectivity options, and speedy processors.