New iPhones worth the cost as they replace many other gadgets: Tim Cook

Defending the high cost consumers would have to pay to own the most expensive iPhone released this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the device is worth the cost as it replaces many other gadgets one might need, a media report said.

Apple's newest line of iPhones -- the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max -- cost as much as $1,449 for the most expensive model, CNBC reported late on Tuesday.

"The phone has replaced your digital camera. You don't have a separate one anymore. It's replaced your video camera. It's replaced your music player. It's replaced all of these different devices," Cook was quoted as saying to ABC's "Good Morning America".

"And so arguably the product is really important. And we've found that people want to have the most innovative product available and with that, it's not cheap to do."

How Apple Watch saved my life: Elderly recounts saga in letter to Tim Cook

TECHNOLOGY NEWS - While digital technology often receives brickbats from the health-conscious, a 76-year-old man in Hong Kong now wants anyone with a heart problem to wear an Apple Watch after it helped him get a new lease of life by sending an alert about his elevated heart rate.

Gaston D'Aquino, a semi-retired diamond trader, was sitting in a church in April when he spotted an alarm on his timepiece telling him that his heart rate was too high, tech website Phone Arena reported on Sunday.

Although D'Aquino was feeling fine, he skipped Easter lunch with his family to go to the hospital.

That decision proved to be life-saving as a battery of tests performed on him later revealed that two of his three main coronary arteries were completely blocked, and the other was 90 per cent blocked, according to the report originally published by the South China Morning Post on Friday.

The doctors at the hospital lauded the Apple Watch for its accurate readings.

On the advice of the doctors, D'Aquino later had an angioplasty, in which tiny balloons are temporarily inserted into clogged arteries and inflated to open them.

Touchless gesture control, curved screens for future iPhones on cards

Apple Inc is working on touchless gesture control and curved screens for future iPhones, projects that may help the company differentiate its most-important product in an increasingly crowded market, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The control feature would let iPhone users perform some tasks by moving their finger close to the screen without actually tapping it. The technology likely won’t be ready for consumers for at least two years, if Apple chooses to go forward with it, a person familiar with the work said.


Apple has long embraced new ways for humans to interact with computers. Co-Founder Steve Jobs popularized the mouse in the early 1980s. Apple’s latest iPhones have a feature called 3D Touch that responds differently depending on different finger pressures. The new gesture technology would take into account the proximity of a finger to the screen, the person said.

Apple reportedly planning to release cheaper MacBook Air this year

Apple is reportedly making plans to launch a more cheap variant of the 13-inch MacBook Air in the second area of 2018, the media stated.

Apple is likely to launch a new MacBook Air "with a decrease price tag" during the second one sector of 2018, that means we need to see it sooner rather than later, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities turned into quoted as pronouncing to 9to5mac on Saturday.

The analyst expects the greater inexpensive MacBook Air will assist push MacBook shipments up by 10-15 per cent this 12 months.

MacBook Air, released via then Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco in 2008, has no longer been up to date given that 2015 as Apple has shifted focus closer to the 12-inch MacBook and MacBook seasoned.

The 13-inch MacBook Air, a popular preference for university students, is presently bought starting at $999 for 128GB of PCIe-based storage, a 1.8GHz twin-center i5 processor, and 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM.

Apple leak reveals new expensive iPhone 8

LATEST BUSINESS NEWS - The 5.8-inch iPhone 8 with an OLED display — that may be called 'iPhone X' — is reportedly being launched along two other devices — updated iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus (with brand names as iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus), a media report said.

According to the financial newspaper Nikkei, Apple will shrink the top and bottom bezels to make iPhone 8 smaller than the iPhone 7 Plus.

The report also claimed that priced at $1,000, iPhone 8 will be the most expensive smartphone Apple has ever released.

In February, a report claimed that out of the a 5.8-inch display, only 5.15-inch would be usable. The rest of the space would feature a "function area".

Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 would also come with wireless charging.

The company was also planning to introduce a new connector type for accessories for the iPhone, iPad and other devices through its official Made-for-iPhone (MFi) licensing programme.(READ MORE)

Apple to start India manufacturing in coming months with iPhone SE: Report

Apple Inc will in the coming months start assembling its lower-priced iPhone SE models at a contract manufacturer's plant in the technology hub of Bengaluru, an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron Corp is setting up a plant in Bengaluru to focus solely on assembling iPhones, a separate source told Reuters earlier this month.

Apple's move comes as it seeks to boost its share in the world's fastest growing major mobile market, where handsets far cheaper than Apple's iPhones dominate. It also comes as smartphone sales growth is slowing in Asia's other massive market, China.


To lower prices, Apple has been seeking to set up local production and has been in talks with the Indian federal government regarding issues such as tax concessions.

The industry source told Reuters the initial manufacturing of the iPhone SE model was not contingent on those concessions.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Economic Times newspaper earlier on Friday reported Apple planned to initially assemble 300,000 to 400,000 iPhone SE handsets in India. The industry source told Reuters the numbers would be substantially lower to begin with.(Read More)

Apple inching closer to iPhone assembly in Bengaluru

The government of Karnataka said on Thursday it welcomed a proposal from Apple Inc to begin initial manufacturing operations in the state, in a sign the tech company is slowly moving forward with plans to assemble iPhones in the country.

"Apple's intentions to manufacture in Bengaluru will foster cutting edge technology eco system and supply chain development in the state, which are critical for India to compete globally," the government of the south Indian state said in a statement.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters, however, that no deal, or memorandum of understanding had so far been finalised with the Karnataka government.

The person, who asked not to be named, said if Apple did go ahead with plans to begin assembling the iPhone, it was likely to do so initially at a plant being set up by its Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron Corp at Peenya on the outskirts of the tech hub of Bengaluru, Karnataka.(Read More)

Apple has a list of demands before it can start making iPhones in India

For months, tech-giant Apple has been seeking ways to enter the Indian market while upholding 'business facets' - minimum risk and maximum profit. However, if Tim Cook thought he would have it easy with India, he's probably mistaken - Indians are admirably better at setting terms and conditions of a bargain than most others.

Last month, Apple announced plans to make iPhones for the Indian market in Bengaluru in association with Wistron, a Taiwanese OEM manufacturer for Apple and will start production by April 2017.

According to reports published in The Business Standard, Foxconn, the biggest contract manufacturer for Apple has also been roped in to set up a manufacturing unit in India.

Apple wants to replicate its China success in India - But it has conditions that the government needs to look into.

What Apple wants from the government

1. 15-year custom duty exemption
2. Concessions like relaxation in labelling rules

3. Used smartphones to assemble locally

What does the government have to say about this?

Read Here