iPad's 'Mute' Switch Replaced With Screen Rotation Lock
9 to 5 Mac notes that Apple appears to have made a minor last-minute hardware change to the iPad, replacing what was previously described as a mute switch just above the volume rocker on the side of the device with a "screen rotation lock".
iPad External Buttons and Controls: Original (Left) and New (Right)Like the iPhone, the iPad automatically senses its orientation and adjusts its display between portrait and landscape modes with no user input required beyond turning the device. One common complaint among iPhone users has been, however, that there is no system-wide mechanism to lock the screen in one orientation. The lack of screen rotation lock on the iPhone is particularly frustrating to those attempting to use their devices while lying down on their sides and finding their iPhone rotating the display to an "upright" position.
Apple appears to have decided that this issue is important enough on the iPad to dedicate one of the device's few hardware buttons to addressing it. Users wishing to quickly mute their iPads will apparently have to use other methods than a hardware button, such as onscreen controls or holding down the volume rocker switch to reach zero volume.
Popular Stories
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces.
The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014.
This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019.
Q.ai...
Memory prices have doubled, Macs and iPads have gone up, and iPhones are expected to follow. Ed Zitron – who writes the Where's Your Ed At newsletter, hosts the Better Offline podcast, and has been described by Politico as the AI boom's most "acerbic gadfly" – has spent years arguing the buildout driving those costs will never pay for itself.
We asked him what happens to Apple if he's...
