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Podcast #95: Apple Secrets and Steve is Back at Work

Mac|Life Staff — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:25:07 -0500

It's our first intern edition of the podcast. The exciting world of Apple secrecy and Steve is spotted at the Apple campus.

Got a question, but you're afraid to leave a voice message because of Witness Relocation Dept. rules? Drop us a question via Twitter twitter.com/maclife.

This weeks Battlestar Applactica picks:

:Shift: - $.99

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The iPhone 3G S, Now With a Dog Whistle

Arvind Srinivasan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:26:03 -0500

If you are a young-ish iPhone 3G S owner, and you haven't irreversibly damaged your ears with awesome headphones, you may have noticed your iPhone emitting an incredibly high-pitched sound after system sounds like unlocking the phone or text messaging. You aren't alone, as several others have reported the same issue. If you haven't, imagine the sound you hear when you walk through a security scanner with headphones on, or pretend you are a dog, and blow a dog whistle. If you haven't tried THAT yet, we suggest you don't. Or do, in solidarity with troubled iPhone users, but we didn't suggest it.

Apple has yet to address the issue, and it is a fairly big one. Hopefully it is just a few faulty units that can be replaced, or something that can be rectified via software update, because if this is a widespread issue, we would assume it is big enough to warrant a recall.

iPhone 3G S Not as Speedy as it Could Be

Arvind Srinivasan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:59:32 -0500

By now, we all know the S in 3G S stands for speed, but perhaps it should really be 3G S*, where S* stands for “Speedy, but could be faster.”

After the guys at RapidRepair tore down the new iPhone hardware, revealing a couple of discrepancies with the hardware and the actual performance. Most notably, the CPU in the iPhone, the Samsung S5PC100, is capable of much more than Apple is letting it do. A quick look at the spec sheet shows that even though Apple is running the processor at 600 MHz, it runs natively at 667 MHz, and can be clocked up to 833 MHz.

More interestingly, though, it is capable of processing 720p video smoothly. Before you run towards Cupertino with a pitchfork, though, they probably had good reason for making it run slower. A slower CPU means better battery life, and 720p video would both take up extra space and probably require an even higher quality camera. That said, this does elucidate Apple’s plans for future iPhone spec bumps, because even if they keep the same processor, there is space to improve.

iPhone 3G S Activation Fix - Hopefully

Roberto Baldwin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:02:23 -0500

Last year, and the year before, the iPhone launch meant that AT&T activations overloaded the network. New iPhone owners were stuck staring at No Service instead of the AT&T carrier name and "more bars, in more places."

This year is no different, all over the land, iPhones are being shunned by the AT&T network. An iPhone activation is an elusive thing of splendor. AT&T told Will Smith at MaximumPC that they were experiencing massive activations and the bandwidth reserved for this type of traffic was overloaded nationwide.

The Mac|Life and MaximumPC staff aren't immune to the activation woes. But, we think we may have a solution. Since the iPhone 3G S ships with 3G enabled, well you might already see where we are going with this.

We tried this on two iPhone 3G Ss and both activated afterwards. Hopefully, it'll work for everyone else.

Turn off 3G:

Navigate to Settings > General > Network. There you'll see "Enable 3G" Slide it to OFF.

Hard reset your iPhone:

Hold down both until you see the Apple logo

Hold down the Home button and Top button until the iPhone begins to restart. You'll know it's restarting when you see the Apple logo.

BOOM! Activation!

Both iPhones we tried this on worked. Like we said, your milage may vary, but we hope this helps.

Good luck!

Drop your experience in the comments below.

iPhone 3G S Launch

Roberto Baldwin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:47:54 -0500

It's launch day and Apple Stores all over the Universe are opening their doors to the iPhone loving masses.

We're at the downtown San Francisco Apple Store hanging with the folks waiting in line and picking up our own iPhone 3G S.

We'll be updating the photo gallery below as the morning progresses.

iPhones are being sold.

The guy in all the pictures, that's Adam. He was the first in line here at the downtown San Francisco Apple Store.

Update: We just posted pics from the Palo Alto Apple Store as well. Check out the scene in Silicon Valley, and play Where's Woz? (Note: We didn't actually see Woz, but you never know, maybe he's just out of frame, doing the worm...)

Inside the iPhone 3G S -- Autopsy Pics

Roberto Baldwin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:18:27 -0500

The folks at RapidRepair have already taken the iPhone 3G S down to the tiny little screws that hold it together.

How did they achieve this feat? Well the lucky guys bought their iPhone at an Orange Boutique in Paris, France at midnight. Yeah, we're jealous too. Le jealous?

Anywho, check out the rest of their handy work and hope you never have to see the inside of your new iPhone 3G S in such detail.

Apple Confirms They Delayed Early iPhone Deliveries

Roberto Baldwin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:22:53 -0500

Earlier we reported that UPS Twittered that they were being asked by Apple to hold iPhone deliveries until Friday. Apple just sent an email that confirms that Tweet.

Apple sent an email out to Apple customers that purchased the iPhone 3G S and explained that we won't be getting their devices until Friday.

Here is what Apple sent to its iPhone hungry customers:

To Our Valued Apple Customer:

Thank you for your recent order with Apple.

Our records indicate that your iPhone 3G S pre-order has shipped.

Our carrier's website may have displayed an incorrect delivery
date for your order. However, we expect your iPhone order to be
delivered on time on June 19, 2009.

You can view the most up-to-date status of your order at <http://apple.com/orderstatus>.

We're not sure why getting an iPhone one or two days early is a horrible thing. Maybe it has something to do with the AT&T network, or maybe Apple doesn't like it when you call your friend to brag that you have your new iPhone and they have to wait until Friday to pick up theirs.

Yeah, it's probably the second one.

Drop your ideas on why Apple stopped early delivery in the comments below.

AT&T Loosens iPhone 3G S Eligibility -- Yippeee!

Roberto Baldwin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:41:18 -0500

AT&T posted an open letter and a video to address most of the issues folks have been having with the carrier concerning the launch of iPhone 3G S.

The best news is that AT&T customers that are eligible for an iPhone 3G S upgrade without a $200 tax in July, August or September, are now eligible for update on an June 19. AT&T states in their open letter:

We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18.

Huzzah!

Be sure to check your status before wandering down to the AT&T store on Friday, just in case.

AT&T also addresses MMS and tethering features and reiterates its position that MMS will be here "late summer" and tethering is coming for the iPhone.

Check out the video below or read their open letter for more information.

WTG Tilty Head Guy!