Daily Apple News: Details on dev-fused iPhones, new Apple Watch bands, manufacturing in India, and more

We’re back with a bang and a bucket full of Apple news. Toady’s Apple Daily News will cover major stories including Apple’s future plans of expansion, domestically manufactured iPhones in India and of course, the secret behind how Apple vulnerabilities and loopholes are uncovered.

Apple’s plans for the future not only include new technology but also generating employment. Last December, the company announced that it was setting up a new engineering facility in San Diego, promising its resident an astounding 1,000 jobs.

However, Apple has now decided to up that number to 1,200.

Supposedly, 200 out of the 1,200 will be recruited by the end of 2019.

San Diego also happens to be the hometown of Qualcomm, a very well-reputed chipmaker. Apple’s new tech hub is scheduled to have a number of engineering fields, comprising numerous positions for both hardware and software engineers.

The CEO of the company is ecstatic as he took to Twitter to share the amazing news.

The location where Apple will set up its mini campus is still unclear. Rumour has it that it might select a location in University City, in a building southwest of Qualcomm’s main campus. It’s quite evident that this decision has been made in an attempt to expand and plant itself in different locations across the U.S.

Speaking of business expansion and setting up a new facility, Apple will be setting up its production facilities in India. In simple terms this means, Indian prices of iPhones will not be as expensive as they were since the hefty import taxes would be eliminated.

India’s IT ministry has just approved of this idea and has signed off on plans for a new $1m Wistron factory in India.

The factory is expected to manufacture iPhone 8 smartphones. The last link in the chain for this to become official is the approval of the Indian union cabinet. Perhaps domestically manufactured iPhones in India would drive the masses towards purchasing iPhones.

In other news, Apple has released its 2019 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report and it’s looking pretty good.

This is basically an annual report which the company releases in order to disclose the working conditions which its supplier employees in factories are exposed to. This ensures transparency and reveals the several measures undertaken by Apple to better its employees.

The report is quite revealing and discloses how many employees have actually undergone advanced training at Apple’s facility.

In 2018, 3.6 million employees have received an education and training in App Development. Year after year, after countless effort, Apple has managed to improve the efficiency of its workers. Take a look at the chart below to see just how far Apple has come in the last few years.

If just a taste of the report isn’t enough to satiate your thirst, have a look at the full 2019 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report here.

Moving on, have you ever wondered how hackers and security researchers uncover vulnerabilities and unlock Apple secrets? Well, we may have the answers you’ve been looking for.

Thanks to Motherboard, a website which has done months of research on the issue, we can now confirm that the secret lies in “dev-fused” iPhones.

“dev-fused” iPhones are used by companies like Apple to check for vulnerabilities. They are manufactured by companies like FOXCONN. But, how do they make it out into the wild? Well, through thieves and smugglers.

These devices allow access to internal Apple software which provides root access to the device.

Image via Motherboard (GIPHY)

Motherboard even managed to hunt down an individual who allegedly sells these iPhones.

There’s no doubt that it will come at a price but the price can be as high as $1,800 for the iPhone X while the iPhone XR steals the show at $20,000. Apple is definitely aware of this and is trying everything in its capacity to bring it to an end.

Moving the news ticker ahead, what can Apple iPhones do? Apparently, the company feels it important enough to showcase some of the unique features of its iPhones.

Apple has added a new features page to its website where users and potential buyers can get a glimpse of the iPhone experience. Much of the page is in the form of tiles with each feature being accompanied by a brief explanation.

The highlighted features range from AirDrop, Group FaceTime and even all the way to its Apple Pay, water resistance capacity and of course, its iMessage photo effects.

Added to the list are its Face ID technology and even small little nitty-gritty details like holding the space bar to move the cursor to quickly fix a typo while typing.

To substantiate this, Apple has even uploaded several short video clips demonstrating what an iPhone can do. If you’re new to Apple iPhones or just want to take a glimpse of how Apple has featured the highlights of its iPhones, then take a look at its new features page.

https://youtu.be/8uW9kvFOfUs?list=TLGGs63AXdTALoIwNjAzMjAxOQ

https://youtu.be/FxrWL5nvtH8

https://youtu.be/7vSmuDTj9ss?list=TLGGs63AXdTALoIwNjAzMjAxOQ

https://youtu.be/Vfk1Jgbti8Y?list=TLGGs63AXdTALoIwNjAzMjAxOQ

https://youtu.be/2VA2H9XKyi4

Moving on, Apple Watch Bands have always received a yearly refresh and it appears that this trend is going to continue in 2019 as well.

The 2019 seasonal refreshed bands are expected to launch in vibrant summer colours on the 25th of March. However, before their launch, the 2018 watch bands have already gone out of stock.

A quick browse through of Apple’s online store reveals that its 2018 seasonal watch bands are no longer available for purchase. This could only mean one thing; the 2019 ones are just around the corner! If history is any indicator about the future, the watch bands will range from anything between $50 to $500+.

That’s all for today guys but stay tuned and check in again tomorrow for the next installment of Apple daily news!

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