Apple Loop: iPhone 16 Design Details, Tricky iOS 17 Questions, Microsoft Fans Challenge MacBook Air

Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines from Apple, including the latest iPhone 16 leak, tricky iOS 17 question, new AirTag details, iPhone’s Indian plans, Apple chases 2nm silicon, and why Microsoft’s fans may not defeat the MacBook Air.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes.

iPhone 16 Colors Leak

While the geekerati will be watching the iPhone 16 leaks for the latest iterative upgrades in the camera, the increased AI potential of the Axx chipset, and the longer battery life, a larger group will need to know one detail: What color?

“Kuo outlined his expectations in a post on X (formerly Twitter) earlier today. He believes that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in black, white or silver, gray or “Natural Titanium,” and rose. This effectively means that the iPhone 15 Pro’s Blue Titanium option will be discontinued and replaced with a new rose color.”

(MacRumors).

iOS 17.5.1 Doesn’t Answer The Big Question

Apple’s latest iOS update, version17.5, is having a bit of an awkward roller coaster ride, with a worrying bug that resurfaces photos users have previously deleted from their phones. While the fix has been published in this week’s iOS 17.5.1, Apple has yet to answer the question of where these photos came from:

“This has been a controversial issue, even if it has been rare. It has meant that images which had been deleted, years ago in some cases, popped up again when iOS 17.5 was installed, to users’ surprise and dismay. Apple has still not revealed how it has happened, though most likely it is something as straightforward as how images are deleted on an iPhone or iPad. When you click delete, the data that makes up the image isn’t overwritten, merely disconnected.”

(Forbes).

New AirTag Questions

The quiet appreciation of the Air Tag will continue next year, with details of the next-generation geo-location tag revealed this week. It won’t be here till 2025, which leaves plenty of time to wonder what will be changed:

There’s not much more information forthcoming, perhaps unsurprisingly given it’s about a year off. The report does say that we should expect a better chip with improved location tracking. That’s good, but improved how, exactly? Will it pin down locations to a more precise place? Or transmit data faster to reconnect you with your missing AirTag more quickly?”

(Forbes).

iPhone India Production Details

Apple’s plans to diversify the iPhoen production line away from China continue, but the initial projections of half the production taking place in Indian by 2027 has been cut to a quarter of all iPhones by 2028:

“Previous reports have claimed that 25% of iPhones would come from India by 2025 and 50% by 2027. However, Apple is more likely to increase India’s share of iPhone production from around 14% to 25% by 2028. That’s a claim that’s somewhat backed up by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Union Minister of Electronics and IT. Chandrasekhar recently posted a screenshot of a local media report from this month that cited unnamed sources. The post highlighted the 25% by 2028 India iPhone production target.”

(9to5Mac).

Apple Chases 2nm Silicon Inventory

Apple’s latest A17 Pro and M4 chipsets are built on TSMC’s 3nm process, which offers more performance and better power consumption than larger sizes. The race is on for 2nm, and Apple will be working hard to negotiate as much inventory as possible from TSMC:

“The visit apparently involved a meeting between Williams and TSMC President Wei Zhejia to discuss custom AI chips and ensure that Apple will be able to access the chipmaker’s 2nm manufacturing process, which is set to begin production in 2025.”

(MacRumors).

And Finally…

Microsoft and Qualcomm announced a range of ARM-based Windows laptops this week, all promising to match the performance and benchmarks of Apple’s MacBook hardware. We’ll get real-world comparisons in the near future, but for now Jon Gruber points out one of the biggest differentiations… the Windows laptops are all using fans:

“If any of these are fanless, I’d expect that to be a touted feature. If I’m wrong and one or more of these are fanless, let me know and I’ll post an update. But if they’re not fanless, it’s hard to say they’re MacBook Air peers.”

(Daring Fireball).

Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.