MacRumors

While most of the recent focus has been whether or not the next iPhone will have a dramatic external redesign, one feature that seems to be universally agreed on is that the new iPhone will incorporate the much faster dual-core A5 processor, which also houses a much faster graphics processing unit (GPU).

The A5 was first introduced in the iPad 2 in March. At the time, Apple said the iPad 2 had up to nine times the graphics performance as the original A4-powered iPad.

A recent set of GLBenchmark tests by Anandtech (graph above) shows how much faster in this the A5's GPU is as compared to the A4, at least with respect to certain graphics performance. The results may not be exact, as Apple could underclock the new iPhone's CPU as compared to the iPad 2, but the results should be somewhat representative.

Apple is expected to announce the new iPhone on Tuesday, October 4th during a media event.

Gizmodo.com.br (via Gizmodo) claims to have images from Foxconn's Brazilian factory which shows the iPhone "N90A" model that will be introduced next week.

Now, as a reminder, the N90A is expected to be the low-end cheaper iPhone 4 model that is to be released alongside the iPhone 4S (N94) model. The current iPhone 4 carries a model number of N90, so changes are expected to be slight. So, these images don't actually show anything we don't already know, but do seem to represent a legitimate leak from a Foxconn factory producing Apple iPhones.

The [devices] are basically ready to be delivered, as shown in these photos obtained exclusively. The most interesting: they are a new model, it seems, will have less capacity and is cheaper.

Readers may recall that Foxconn has been working to expand iPad production into Brazil as well. Apparently, they have already been producing iPhones there.

This second image shows the model number ("N90A") in the top left and shows it didn't pass inspection:

This model is supposed to represent the cheaper iPhone 4 (8 GB?) model that will replace the iPhone 3GS in the low end. The higher end iPhone is believed to be called the iPhone 4S and will carry an A5 processor.

Apple has seemingly outed the "iPhone 4S" name in the latest iTunes beta released Friday, according to this screenshot (above) posted by 9to5Mac.

The screenshot shows specific mention of the "iPhone 4S" using the same image icon as the iPhone 4 CDMA. This suggests that the new iPhone will be called the iPhone 4S and will look identical to the Verizon CDMA iPhone 4 shown on the left:

It's possible that the image is only a placeholder, but all previous parts evidence has suggested that the new iPhone 4S will look nearly identical to the current iPhone.

Apple is holding its media event on Tuesday, October 4th where the company is expected to launch the new iPhone.

Update: Latest iTunes Beta has been pulled.

Update 2: It's now available again. There's some debate as to whether it was pulled at all, but the same version remains available now to download.

Update 3: So, the "iPhone 4S" reference first appeared in the iTunes Betas back in iTunes Beta 6.1 which was released on August 29th, 2011 -- a little over a month ago.

Today, Apple has posted a developer update to iWork bringing it to Beta 4. iWork for iOS is an early version providing support for Apple's upcoming iCloud services in iOS 5. Apple has been issuing updates over the past few days, presumably in preparation for next week's media even where iOS 5 is expected to be discussed.

Meanwhile, Apple has also issued a small iBooks 1.3.1 update that is available on the App Store. The update only lists "important stability and performance improvements" but may include additional support and compatibility with iOS 5 which is sure to launch soon.

Mashable offers an inside look at the relationship between Apple and Facebook, exploring how HP's effort to bring a dedicated Facebook application to the TouchPad resulted in a severe falling out of the already-strained relationship between Apple and Facebook.

While the relationship has apparently been mended and the two companies are planning a Tuesday launch of Facebook's iPad app, a revamped iPhone app, and new HTML5-based web services, Apple and Facebook have a long history of being at odds.

The report notes that issues date back to the release of iOS 4 last year, when Apple was planning to integrate Facebook across the operating system. But negotiations between Apple and Facebook over the APIs to be used for the integration apparently broke down and Apple pulled the feature from iOS 4. That incident led to growing mistrust between the two companies that further manifested itself in issues over Facebook apps for iOS and Facebook integration being pulled from Apple's Ping social networking service for iTunes.

Nearly a year later, those hard feelings still framed discussions between the two companies, and a personal visit by Steve Jobs to Facebook's headquarters led to an additional blowup when Jobs learned that HP was planning a native webOS Facebook application for its TouchPad tablet.

Roughly three months ago, Steve Jobs — then the Apple CEO — paid a visit to Facebook to discuss a Facebook for iPad application with CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg promised Jobs that the social network would release its first ever tablet application for iPad. Jobs, however, learned during his visit that HP was about to release a native webOS Facebook application for the TouchPad.

[...]

When Jobs learned of the webOS Facebook app during his summer visit to Facebook, he was livid. Zuckerberg vowed to get the app pulled. But Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm and then the GM of HP’s webOS division, refused to halt the release of the app.

Sources indicate that Facebook was fully aware of the positions and plans of both Apple and HP, but was attempting to play both sides for maximum benefit and only turned its back on HP when it became clear that its relationship with Apple was in danger of disintegrating completely.

With HP and TouchPad now out of the picture, Apple and Facebook have reportedly patched up their differences in the face of a common threat from Google, and sources indicate that "this is the closest Apple and Facebook have been to creating something meaningful together". The two companies are said to be "scrambling" to pull together their announcement for Tuesday's iPhone media event.

CNet reports that Apple is actively trying to lock down worldwide cloud-music rights for a possible October 4th launch.

Sources familiar with the discussions between Apple, record companies, and music publishers, say Apple is seeking international music licenses for its iCloud service. The licenses would be similar to those the company has already obtained for U.S. operations, the sources said.

CNet believes if the negotiations wrap up in time, they could be part of Apple's October 4th media event where the company is expected to launch the next generation iPhone. Deals are reportedly close but "nothing is signed".

Apple's iCloud service offers a number of different backup and syncing services over the air. In particular, they allow users to re-download previously purchased music. And with the addition of iTunes Match, allow users to match and store all their music in the cloud. Amongst the countries that could see iCloud agreements are Germany, France and the UK.

Previous estimates had pegged UK support to be delayed until 2012.

Apple has started seeding a new Lion 10.7.2 (11C71) build to developers, though it is not yet appearing to all developers. The new build lists no new issues and includes a Lion Recovery Update which includes improvements to Lion Recovery and addresses an issue with Find My Mac when using a firmware password.

Apple has also sent out some premature iCloud welcome emails. AppleInsider publishes a welcome email that was sent to one of its readers:

The link to the instructions found in the email is not yet active. Apple must be making final preparations to launch iCloud. iCloud is expected to launch alongside iOS 5. We should hear more about the service at next week's media event which takes place on October 4th.

Apple has been rumored to be working on advanced speech recognition technology for some time.

After Apple's acquisition of Siri, TechCrunch reported in May that negotiations were ongoing with Nuance to integrate their speech recognition technology into iOS. Earlier this week, 9to5mac detailed much of what is expected to be the major new feature in the next generation iPhone to be release on October 4th. The story was met with some skepticism in our forums, but we were especially confident in the report as we had privately heard the exact same story from our sources.

The Siri/Nuance-based voice recognition Assistant will be the major new feature in the next generation iPhone and will be an iPhone 4S/5 exclusive feature. As detailed, the Assistant will allow users to speak to their iPhones in order to schedule appointments, send text messages, retrieve information and much more. Voice recognition happens on the fly and reportedly with great accuracy.

We've created this artist rendition (above) of what the Assistant interface looks like based on sources with knowledge of the feature. After a long press on the home button, the screen fades and slides up, just like with the multitasking interface. Revealed is a silver icon with an animated orbiting purple flare which indicates a ready state. From what we've been told, this image is a close representation of the actual Assistant interface.

From there, the user may be taken to a conversation view that somewhat mimics Siri's original interface, but in Apple's own styling.

Based on this knowledge, we contracted Jan-Michael Cart to put together a video representation of the Assistant workflow. Cart had been responsible for a number of iOS concept videos in the past, but we wanted to mock up what the actual Assistant interface looked like. Due to the short turnaround, we know that not all elements in the video represent actual look/feel of the Assistant interface, but should show off the general workflow.

After receiving spoken commands, the Assistant shows you back the recognized text and then takes the next step. This could involve sending a text message (with confirmation) or pulling data from Wolfram Alpha. The feature is said to be one of the major differentiators for the next generation iPhone.

Apple is hosting a media event on October 4th, where they will introduce the next iPhone and these new features.

Just days before Apple's iPhone media event where the company is also expected to make the final public introduction of its iCloud services, Apple has seeded developers with the ninth beta version of iTunes 10.5. The release comes three weeks after Apple seeded the previous beta.

The beta 9 release is a required update for all developers testers of the company's forthcoming iTunes Match service, although the company continues to note several known issues with the release, including the following:

- "Scan and match" feature is not yet complete. Some users' tracks may not be recognized by iTunes Match even if the tracks are available in the iTunes Store, and those tracks will be uploaded to the users' iCloud storage. Some tracks may also be mis-matched to a different version of the same song on the iTunes Store.

- Music can only be added to iCloud from one computer at a time.

- Updating an iOS device to iOS 5 beta 7 may result in music failing to play. Users should turn off iTunes Match in settings and then turn it back on to restore functionality.

Apple continues to warn developers that their iCloud music libraries will be deleted at the end of the beta, so developers should be sure to maintain local copies of their music libraries.

In late July, AT&T announced that as of October 1st it would begin throttling data speeds for customers on unlimited data plans who registered in the top 5% of heaviest data users. While AT&T no longer offers unlimited data plans, customers who had signed up for such plans prior to their discontinuation, including many iPhone users, have been grandfathered in and allowed to keep their unlimited plans.

Reddit user "TheReverendZ" yesterday reported (via 9to5Mac) that he had received a text message from AT&T warning him that he had fallen into that top 5% group and encouraging him to use Wi-Fi to help avoid throttling of his data speeds. TheReverendZ notes that he typically uses 10-12 GB of data per month, as he does not have home Internet service, while "skelatwork" reports that he received a similar notice when he had passed approximately 11 GB of data for the month.

AT&T has noted that it will provide multiple warnings and a grace period before beginning to throttle data speeds, and it now appears that the carrier has begun the warning process. Customers subject to throttling will retain access to unlimited data but will see their speeds reduced until the start of the next billing cycle.

Earlier this week, a report claimed that Apple is preparing to discontinue the iPod classic and iPod shuffle, leaving only the iPod touch and iPod nano in its iPod lineup. Supporting the idea that the iPod classic may soon be coming to an end after ten years on the market is a new report from AppleInsider noting that Apple has removed access to the iPod Click Wheel Games section of the iTunes Store.

No new click wheel games had appeared in the iTunes Store since February 2009 as Apple apparently ended support for development of such games, but existing titles continued to be available through the store until recently. It is unclear, however, exactly when the listings disappeared from the iTunes Store, as reports dating back nearly two weeks indicated that the click wheel games had indeed gone missing.

Despite the removal of access via iTunes, Apple still advertises the ability to purchase and play click wheel games on its iPod classic features page and its "iTunes A to Z" page.

iPod Click Wheel Games

You can watch a video preview of Click Wheel games on the iTunes Store before you buy. Once you purchase the games you want, simply sync them to your iPod classic, iPod nano (3rd, 4th, or 5th generation), or iPod (5th generation). Each game plays perfectly on your iPod using the intuitive Click Wheel as a controller.

Concern over the fate of the iPod classic arose when the model did not receive an update at last year's iPod media event, despite the fact that Steve Jobs touted that September's lineup as "all-new". Although the news wasn't revealed until months later, one customer did email Steve Jobs regarding the fate of the iPod classic after the September 2010 event, with Jobs responding that Apple had "no plans" to discontinue the model.

Additional hope of new life for the iPod classic came in February with Toshiba's launch of a 220 GB hard drive of the form factor used in the iPod classic, opening the door to a capacity increase over the existing 160 GB size. It now appears, however, that Apple may be winding down the high-capacity iPod model in favor of its popular iOS-based iPod touch and its new iCloud services that will allow users to store their music on Apple's servers and download it to their Internet-connected iOS devices as needed.

With Apple adding movie content to its iTunes Stores in a number of new European countries earlier this week, some have wondered whether Apple will be bringing its Apple TV set-top box to those countries to help users take advantage of the new content.

We have now received word that Apple has informed resellers in seven new European countries that the Apple TV will indeed be launching as of next Tuesday, October 4th, the day of Apple's iPhone media event. Countries set to receive the Apple TV on Tuesday include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

All-new Apple TV Now Available for Order in Seven New Countries

We are delighted to announce the all-new Apple TV, with an enhanced user interface and a breakthrough price point, is now available to order in Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

The Apple TV is planned to sell at a price of €119, including VAT, in Finland, in line with existing pricing in other eurozone countries. AppleCare will be available for an additional €29 charge. The device has already been added to at least one reseller site in Norway, with pricing there shown at kr 849.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung's lawyers have proposed a deal to Apple that would allow Samsung to launch its delayed Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia as soon as next week. Samsung has already delayed the launch of the device several times as Apple pursues a preliminary injunction to officially halt the device launch ahead of a full hearing on alleged intellectual property infringement. The terms of Samsung's proposed deal were not disclosed to the court audience.

It wasn't clear what benefit Apple would gain from any agreement, as details of the proposed deal were not discussed in full in front of the court. But Apple's attorney, Stephen Burley, conceded there was some potential benefit from an agreement on the matter. "(Samsung's) inconvenience would be diminished and we would be comforted" by such a deal, he said.

Justice Annabelle Bennett said that the proposed deal wouldn't give Samsung the satisfaction of a final answer to the dispute, but Mr. Catterns said it would at least allow the company to sell its new tablet computer ahead of the crucial Christmas sales period.

Apple and Samsung are locked in numerous legal battles in a number of countries, and Apple has had some success in preventing Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 device.

Just yesterday, we noted that Samsung had agreed to make some concessions to Apple such as the removal of a feature designed to recognize and ignore accidental touch input, but it is unclear what else Samsung might be offering in hopes of convincing Apple to allow it to launch the Galaxy Tab in Australia.

According to 9to5Mac source Mr. X, the upcoming "N94" next generation iPhone is being stocked by Apple in 3 different capacities. The iPhone 4 currently comes in only two capacities: 16GB and 32GB. They are interpreting this to mean that the next generation iPhone will come in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. However, they can't be certain. The three different sizes could conceivably be 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB, or some other combination altogether. All that is known is that the upcoming "N94" model will be available in three different capacities.

However, this isn't the first time we've heard of a 64GB iPhone. In March, a prototype 64GB iPhone model began making the rounds in China.

The owner of this engineered prototype told us that he got it from a source who has a small quantity of these prototypes. They are definitely leaked from Foxconn's factory in Shenzhen. What's more, according to the owner, he believes that the next iPhone will bring 64GB storage capacity to users.

The circulating model at the time was an iPhone 4 design with 64GB of internal storage, revealing that Apple had been working on such a model at some point.

Apple will be introducing the next iPhone on October 4th during a media event held on Apple's campus. So far, there has been evidence of a revised iPhone 4 model, rumored to be of 8GB capacity, and this N94 next generation iPhone which will be coming in 3 sizes. The N94 carries the same overall look as the iPhone 4, but is believed to incorporate a much faster processor (A5) and better camera (8 megapixel).