Apple iPhone 13 mini review: still the boss of small phones

Mini model trounces competition with great camera and performance, but isn’t the best iPhone for the year

The iPhone 13 mini takes what’s great about the full-size iPhone 13 and squeezes it into a body not much larger than the iPhone 5S without cutting back on features or power.

The smallest of Apple’s 2021 lineup costs £679 ($699/A$1,199), sitting above the £389 iPhone SE and below the £779 iPhone 13.

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Apple may cut iPhone 13 production by millions as US warns of Christmas shortages

Shares in Apple fall as global chip shortage and supply chain issues prompt White House to admit there could be empty shelves during festive season

Apple may slash the number of iPhone 13s it will make this year by up to 10m because of a shortage of computer chips amid a worldwide supply chain crunch that led the White House to warn that “there will be things that people can’t get” at Christmas.

Apple was expected to produce 90m units of the new iPhone models this year but has told its manufacturers that the number would be lower because chip suppliers including Broadcom and Texas Instruments were struggling to deliver components, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

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iOS 15 release: everything you need to know about Apple’s big update

Free software upgrades for iPhone, iPad and Watch improve notifications, Safari, FaceTime and more due for release

Apple plans to release software updates for its iPhone, iPad and smartwatch on Monday, which will add new features for compatible devices.

Announced at the firm’s developer conference in June, iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and WatchOS 8 bring new ways to deal with notifications, tools to keep work and home life separate, the ability to FaceTime video call with non-Apple users and more.

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Apple still reliant on one core product as it nudges $3tn hurdle

The iPhone maker may be set to break market records, but it’s starting to look more and more like a one-gadget pony

If Apple is to become the world’s first three-trillion-dollar company, the iPhone will play a key role in that feat. The tech firm unveils the latest iteration of its signature product on Tuesday, and the success of the iPhone 13 will determine how quickly Apple goes from its current market capitalisation of just under $2.5tn (£1.8tn) to $3tn.

“We believe Apple is on a trajectory to hit $3tn by early 2022 and the iPhone 13 will be a lynchpin of growth,” says Dan Ives of investment firm Wedbush Securities.

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Apple iOS 14.5 update includes ‘app tracking transparency’ feature

Setting means iPhone users can stop advertisers following their digital lives – to the ire of Facebook

Users of iPhones can now prevent advertisers tracking them across their apps, after the release of the latest software update from Apple introduced the controversial feature despite the protests of Facebook and the advertising industry.

The update, iOS 14.5, includes a setting called “app tracking transparency”, which for the first time requires applications to ask for users’ consent before they are able to track their activity across other apps and websites.

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Syringes and a flaming heart: iPhone reveals more than 200 new emojis

Options for couples with different skin tones and a bearded man or woman also part of iOS 14.5

More than 200 new emojis will arrive on iPhones with the release of the next operating system update, including a vaccine-ready syringe, a flaming heart and a vast array of options for couples with different skin tones.

The emojis will arrive as part of iOS 14.5, expected to hit iPhones within the next month. The changes, collated from beta versions by Jeremy Burge, the founder and “Chief Emoji Officer” of Emojipedia, are a mixture of all-new creations, modifications to existing emojis, and a few updates unique to Apple’s platform.

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Apple unveils new 5G iPhone 12 line in multiple sizes

New designs and cameras revealed alongside smaller HomePod smart speaker

Apple has unveiled its delayed iPhone 12 line of smartphones in a range of sizes with new designs and 5G connectivity.

Unveiled as part of a online-only event, which was pushed back by more than a month due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the new iPhones mark some of the biggest changes to Apple’s smartphones since the iPhone X in 2017.

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Apple update to allow iPhone users to choose default apps

Move in autumn will let users set Gmail as default email app and Firefox as main web browser

iPhone users will be able to set Gmail as their default email app, Firefox as their main web browser, and listen to Spotify on their HomePod speakers, after Apple announced concessions to competitors who argue the company is abusing its monopoly.

The new openness will arrive with a wave of software updates in the autumn, Apple said, alongside the other new features the company promised at its Worldwide Developers Conference, held remotely from Cupertino, California, on Monday.

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Microsoft president’s criticism of app stores puts pressure on Apple

Cut of up to 30% charged by app stores obstructs fair competition, claims Brad Smith

Microsoft has thrown its weight behind calls for an antitrust investigation into App Store monopolies, piling yet more pressure on Apple as the iPhone maker prepares for its annual developer conference on Monday.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, criticised the 30% cut that app stores take from developers this month, and argued that the policy is a far higher burden on fair competition than the issues that led to Microsoft’s antitrust case in the early 2000s.

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First iPhone jailbreak in four years released

Newly discovered vulnerability allows users to bypass limitations built in by Apple

A newly discovered vulnerability in iPhones allows users to bypass Apple’s built-in limitations – known as “jailbreaking” – for the first time in four years.

The release of a functional jailbreak for iOS 13.5, the latest version of the iPhone operating system, represents a breakthrough for the small community of users who rely on jailbreaks for everything from serious security research to simply running games and software that Apple does not allow on iPhones.

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Bug leaves iPhones vulnerable to hackers stealing email contents

Fault in built-in Mail app could allow attackers to read, modify or delete emails, say experts

A newly discovered bug in the built-in Mail app for iPhones could allow an attacker to read, modify and delete emails, researchers say.

Apple says it will patch the vulnerability in the next version of iOS, 13.4.5, and that users of the beta software are already protected. But until that update is made available to the general public, every other iPhone user is vulnerable to the attack, which can be used to steal the contents of emails.

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Apple launches smaller, cheaper iPhone

Second-generation iPhone SE resembles older models, with prices starting at £419

Apple has launched a cheaper version of its iPhone SE as it attempts to continue normal business despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The second-generation SE resembles Apple’s previous design used for its smartphones between 2014 and 2017, complete with the traditional touch ID home button instead of face recognition. It costs from £419 in the UK and $399 in the US.

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Apple warns of coronavirus causing iPhone shortages

Company hit by shutdown in China and says it will fail to meet quarterly revenue target

Apple has warned of global “iPhone supply shortages” resulting from its Chinese factories being shut because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Californian company told investors on Monday night it would fail to meet its quarterly revenue target of $63-67bn (£48-52bn) because of the “temporarily constrained” supply of iPhones and a dramatic drop in Chinese shoppers during the virus crisis. Apple did not provide a new forecast for its second-quarter revenue.

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iPhone 11: Apple’s most ambitious bid yet to conquer video and film

iPhone 11 Pro is being touted as ‘the most advanced and detailed iPhone yet’ with a three-lens ‘pro’ camera system

Apple made its most ambitious pitch yet for the iPhone as a device for professional photographers and videographers at a launch event in Cupertino on Tuesday, underscoring new camera and editing capabilities.

The newly announced iPhone 11 comes in six colors and boasts two cameras and longer battery life. At $699, it is also $50 cheaper than the starting price of the iPhone XR.

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Uighurs in China were target of two-year iOS malware attack – reports

Android and Windows devices also targeted in campaign believed to be state-backed

Chinese Uighurs were the target of an iOS malware attack lasting more than two years that was revealed last week, according to multiple reports.

Android and Windows devices were also targeted in the campaign, which took the form of “watering hole attacks”: taking over commonly visited websites or redirecting their visitors to clones in order to indiscriminately attack each member of a community.

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Google says hackers have put ‘monitoring implants’ in iPhones for years

Visiting hacked sites was enough for server to gather users’ images and contacts

An unprecedented iPhone hacking operation, which attacked “thousands of users a week” until it was disrupted in January, has been revealed by researchers at Google’s external security team.

The operation, which lasted two and a half years, used a small collection of hacked websites to deliver malware on to the iPhones of visitors. Users were compromised simply by visiting the sites: no interaction was necessary, and some of the methods used by the hackers affected even fully up-to-date phones.

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WWDC 2019: Apple unveils new iOS, iPad OS, macOS and Mac Pro

The iTunes app is dead, your iPhone will be faster and the $5,999 Mac Pro becomes firm’s most expensive computer

Apple has announced that the iPhone is going to get faster with iOS 13, the iTunes app is dead on the Mac with the new macOS 10.15 Catalina, and the iPad is getting its own operating system.

On stage at the firm’s annual developer conference in San Jose McEnery Convention Center, California, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook unveiled the next versions of iOS, iPad OS, watchOS, macOS and the long-awaited Mac Pro, which becomes Apple’s most expensive computer yet.

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Students accused of cheating Apple out of nearly $1m in fake iPhone scheme

Two Oregon college students allegedly submitted thousands of repair requests over the course of a year using counterfeit phones

Many of us have waited trepidatiously in the Apple Store, clasping our broken iPhone we’ve long since lost the receipt for, while the Genius Bar overlords decide whether to take pity on us and give us a new one or show us the gladiatorial thumbs down.

But two Oregon students had rather a lot more riding on Apple’s replacement policy. They allegedly frauded Apple of nearly $1m by sending the company counterfeit iPhones, claiming they were faulty, and receiving brand-new genuine models as replacements.

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‘Drinkable’ potato chips: the products keeping your phone grease-free

Pre-smashed One Hand Chips are far from the first to tailor the dining experience around our phone-centric lifestyles

Among the concerns facing today’s social media maven: how can one scroll through Instagram and enjoy a bag of potato chips without getting their phone all greasy?

Related: Say cheese: cooking in the age of Instagram

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Apple tells Congress it found no signs of hacking attack

The Apple Inc. store is seen on the day of the new iPhone 7 smartphone launch in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Apple Vice President for Information Security George Stathakopoulos wrote in a letter to the Senate and House commerce committees that the company had repeatedly investigated and found no evidence for the main points in a Bloomberg Businessweek article published on Thursday, including that chips inside servers sold to Apple by Super Micro Computer Inc about such concerns.