MacRumors

Apple enabled an iPhone X availability tool on its website over the weekend, allowing customers to check stock at nearby stores, but those looking for more of a bird's-eye view may prefer to use iStockNow.com.

iStockNow has a live map of iPhone X availability at Apple's retail stores around the world, with filters that allow you to search for specific storage capacities, colors, and carrier-specific or SIM-free models.

Apple stores with the iPhone X in stock are marked with green pins, while locations that are out of stock have red pins. There is an option to hide stores that don't have any availability at the time of your search.

iStockNow is not much different than Apple's availability tool, but it may be useful to those looking for a visual look at iPhone X stock around the world, rather than only at nearby stores based on a ZIP or postal code.

On a related note, Apple has expanded its iPhone X availability tool to two more countries: Japan and Singapore.

Simply visit the iPhone X purchase page for your country from the list below, select a carrier if required, choose a color, and then click on "Pickup: Check Availability" below your desired storage capacity.

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• The Netherlands
• Singapore
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom
• United States

A window will pop open with iPhone X availability—if any—at nearby Apple stores based on your ZIP or postal code.

At stores where the iPhone X is available, customers can complete the checkout process and reserve the device for same day in-store pickup. We recommend bringing at least one valid government-issued photo ID with you.

Update: iPhone X availability can also be tracked on IsInStock.com.

As early adopters began to experience the iPhone X for the first time this past weekend, many users took to the MacRumors forums, Reddit, and Twitter to discuss the gap that exists below the keyboard within iOS 11 on iPhone X. As some users pointed out, this space was likely meant as a way to more easily swipe up to go Home, and potentially for ergonomics reasons since a lower keyboard could be more difficult to type on, but many iPhone X owners are still getting used to the way the keyboard looks across all apps on the device.

On the new keyboard, the Globe or Emoji icon and the Dictation icon both sit below the space bar at the very bottom of the screen. Between these two buttons is a wide, empty gray area that isn't sitting well with some iPhone X owners, and which some early reviews of the device pointed out last week.

BuzzFeed, for example, wondered why Apple didn't do more with this space, potentially including adding "common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything."

It’s when the keyboard, in any app, is on screen (which, for me, is most of the time): There’s all this dead space on the bottom, where Apple could have put common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything, but instead left it blank. Other full-screen apps on other phones put navigation or other design elements in that area, and it doesn’t look crowded or crammed. It looks fine. It’s puzzling why Apple didn’t put something more useful down at the bottom, or why it didn’t add a row of numbers or emojis up top and push down the keyboard to make it more thumb-accessible.

Alex Muench, a UI/UX designer for apps like Todoist and Twist, went a step further and created a mockup of how this could look on future versions of iOS on the iPhone X. Muench likened this space on iPhone X to be a potential area for recently used emojis, "like Touch bar on Mac."

Twitter user @Yespur asked third-party keyboard SwiftKey if the company will "fill the bottom part of the screen," to which SwiftKey responded: "We'll have to look into it. Nothing to comment on beyond that." It's unclear whether third parties will have any ability to design for this area of iOS on iPhone X. In the Human Interface Guidelines for the new smartphone, the only direct mention of the keyboard asks developers to not duplicate the Globe and Dictation keys.

Don't duplicate system-provided keyboard features. On iPhone X, the Emoji/Globe key and the Dictation key automatically appear beneath the keyboard—even when using custom keyboards. Your app can't affect these keys, so avoid causing confusion by repeating them in your keyboard

The iPhone X comes with a variety of new interface gestures, features, and interactions that take some time getting used to following years of the traditional iPhone experience. Without a Home Button, unlocking the iPhone X requires you to swipe up from the bottom edge of the device, and also rearranges some physical commands like taking a screenshot by pressing the Side Button and Volume Up Button. For more information on Apple's newest smartphone, check out our iPhone X Roundup.

While the iPhone X launched just three days ago, we're already starting to hear rumors about what to expect from next year's models.

Specifically, oft-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he believes iPhones released in 2018 will feature a "more complex" metal frame design and casing assembly for the purpose of improving data transmission quality.

An excerpt of Kuo's research note with KGI Securities, obtained by MacRumors:

Orders for 2H18F iPhones are market focus; both Catcher and Casetek have won new orders. We believe the metal frame of 2H18F iPhone models will be composed of more parts (iPhone X has four parts) for improving data transmission quality. We believe Apple will need more metal frame and casing assembly capacity and new suppliers because of more complex metal frame design and casing assembly, while models equipped with AMOLED and stainless steel metal frame will increase to two (vs. only one — iPhone X — in 2H17). We expect Catcher will obtain stainless steel metal frame and casing assembly orders. If Casetek can pass certification in late 4Q17 or early 1Q18, it also may win aluminum metal frame and casing assembly orders.

Kuo said Taiwanese suppliers Catcher Technology and Casetek have won orders from Apple for the new metal frames, including two models with stainless steel frames, which likely includes the iPhone X and so-called iPhone X Plus.

Kuo has previously said that Apple will likely expand Face ID to all iPhone models in 2018, with a complete abandonment of Touch ID. He also said 2018 iPhones are unlikely to gain a rear-facing TrueDepth camera system.

Apple says the iPhone X has the most durable glass ever used in a smartphone, with a strengthening layer that is 50 percent deeper, but a series of drop tests show that glass and concrete still don't play well together.

SquareTrade, a company that provides extended warranties for electronic devices, conducted several breakability tests on the iPhone X, and found that its glass back and lack of a home button make it "the most breakable iPhone ever."

Not only did the iPhone X's glass shatter when dropped on its front and back from a height of six feet, but the display also malfunctioned. Keep in mind that pocket height for most people is about three feet.

SquareTrade is naturally using the opportunity to push its two-year smartphone protection plan, which was recently reduced to $129 plus a $99 deductible for most claims, in the United States.

The plan covers cracked screens, liquid damage, battery failure, Lightning connector failure, and speaker failure. It doesn't cover loss or theft.

SquareTrade customers now have an in-home repair option with a lower $25 deductible to fix cracked screens. The service is currently available in more than 700 cities across the United States, with new cities added monthly.

A few YouTube channels also tested the iPhone X in extreme conditions to determine how durable and water resistant the device is.

EverythingApplePro placed the iPhone X in a 20-foot tube of water for 35 minutes without any signs of liquid damage occurring. He also put the iPhone X into a running washing machine, and the device still remained functional.

JerryRigEverything scratched the iPhone X with a utility knife, including the cameras, stainless steel frame, and rear Apple logo. He also tried to bend the device, without much success, and burn the display with a lighter.

While breakability tests are generally unscientific, the videos reveal that even the most durable glass in a smartphone isn't shatterproof.

Apple recently confirmed it will charge out-of-warranty rates of $279 for iPhone X screen repairs, and $549 for any other damage to the device, unless it is a manufacturing defect covered by Apple's standard one-year limited warranty.

There's also AppleCare+, an optional, premium warranty plan that extends an iPhone's warranty coverage to two years from the original purchase date of the device, and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage.

With AppleCare+ for iPhone X, the price of a repair would be the $199 upfront cost of the plan plus a $29 or $99 incidental fee.

If you shatter your iPhone X's screen once, for example, you would pay $279 out of warranty. With the upfront cost of AppleCare+ coupled with the screen repair incidental fee, you would pay $228.

If you shatter your iPhone X's back glass, having AppleCare+ is even more worthwhile. Apple's flat rate is $549 for this type of damage, while the upfront cost of AppleCare+ coupled with a $99 incidental fee totals $298.

All prices above are listed in U.S. dollars. AppleCare+ and Apple's out-of-warranty repair fees vary in other countries.

SquareTrade conducted breakability tests for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus a few months ago with similar results. Both of the glass-bodied models shattered on all sides in every single drop test, including front and back drops at a distance of six feet, a 22-foot shot drop test, and a tumble test.

Samsung today posted a new video on its YouTube channel called "Samsung Galaxy: Growing Up," which follows the life of a young man as he purchases Apple devices over the course of ten years, and then decides to switch sides to Samsung on the eve of the iPhone X launch. The 1-minute commercial features the song "I'm Moving On" by Chyvonne Scott.

The video begins at the iPhone launch in 2007, and subsequent years show the main character facing storage issues when taking a photo and waiting in long lines under poor weather conditions for the latest iPhone. At one point, he drops his iPhone in water and has to place it in a bowl of rice, while his girlfriend's Samsung device continues to function.

Other points made in the ad center around the iPhone's lack of stylus support, as well as its need for dongles after the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack in the iPhone 7. The ad ends with the character's decision to turn off his iPhone and purchase a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, and he eventually walks past a line of people waiting for the iPhone X -- including a guy with a notch-like haircut -- without joining them.

The latest Samsung smartphone is the Galaxy Note 8, which launched in September with dual rear cameras, a 6.3-inch AMOLED 'Infinity Display', and a new and enhanced S Pen with improved pressure sensitivity. Many publications favorably reviewed the Note 8 prior to its launch, agreeing that the lack of an explosive battery made Samsung's newest device a step up from the Note 7.

There's a strange bug with the Apple Watch today that's causing resprings whenever Siri is questioned about the weather. Asking Siri something like "What's the temperature?" or "What's the weather?" or "Is it raining?" causes the Apple Watch to crash.

The issue has been documented in several threads on the MacRumors forums and on reddit, and we've also been able to replicate it on our own devices.

Complaints about the problem appear to have started this morning, and the bug is confirmed to be affecting both LTE and GPS Apple Watch Series 3 models as well as older Apple Watch models running watchOS 4.1. Not all Apple Watch owners in all countries are affected, but it appears to be impacting users in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

It's not yet clear what's causing the issue, but the weather app itself is working fine, and restarting and resetting the watch don't appear to fix the problem. From MacRumors forum member SRLMJ23:

It is not rebooting, it is spring-boarding. The App (Siri or Weather?) is crashing but not the entire watchOS. Just time how long it takes for a reboot vs. spring-boarding. Spring-boarding takes way less time than an entire reboot.

However, this bug appeared today because yesterday everything was working fine when I asked Siri "What is the forecast for today" or "What is the temperature right now."

I am sure Apple will fix this pretty quick!

I have an Apple Watch Series 3 + LTE/GPS. Very odd bug, cannot wait to see what Apple has to say about this.

Curiously, asking Siri about the weather tomorrow or next week doesn't cause a problem -- it's only questions about the current weather conditions that are resulting in errors. It's possible that this is an issue related to the upcoming time change, as one reddit user has discovered. Daylight Saving Time is set to end on Sunday, November 5 in many regions in the United States and Canada.

Okay, I think I've figured it out. It's a bug related to the end of Daylight Saving Time. If I ask for the weather in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, it works. If I ask for the weather in Winnipeg, Manitoba, it crashes. Saskatchewan doesn't observe DST. I think if a time change is set to occur within 24 hours in the city you're asking about, it will crash.

Apple will likely have this fixed shortly (or it'll clear up after Sunday), but for now, it's best to avoid using the watch to ask questions about the weather in order to prevent sudden resprings.

(Thanks, Shawn!)

An animated cat, fox, pig, and rooster singing Bohemian Rhapsody is the epitome of a new social media phenomenon dubbed Animoji Karaoke.

Over the past week, both reviewers and customers lucky enough to have the iPhone X in their hands have shared fun, humorous videos of Animoji in action, ranging from goofy voiceovers to full-out music videos.

Animoji, for those unaware, are custom animated characters that use your voice and mirror your facial expressions captured by the iPhone X's new TrueDepth camera system. You can even record yourself as a Pile of Poo.

iPhone X users can create Animoji recordings up to 10 seconds long in the Messages app, but the internet discovered that iOS 11's new screen recording feature allows for much lengthier clips. Enter Animoji Karaoke.

The idea was conceived by technology reporter Harry McCracken, who decided it might be fun to lip-sync a song and have an Animoji character mimic his performance. From there, similar videos have spread on social media.

To create your own Animoji Karaoke, play a song loudly enough for it to be picked up by the iPhone X's microphone while lip-syncing. After messaging the Animoji, tap on it, and tap on the iOS share sheet to save it as a video.

A few people have gone a few steps further by stitching together multiple Animoji clips and editing in some other post-production effects.

Animoji might end up being a gimmicky feature that fades over the coming months, but for now, Apple is certainly benefitting from a wave of free viral marketing. If you see a singing fox in your timeline, now you know why.