Here's When Apple iPhone 7 Pre-Orders Might Start
About a week before its launch.
We might know now when the iPhone 7 will be available for pre-order.
Evan Blass, whose Twitter account@evleaks has become a veritable repository for reliable leaks related to the mobile industry, says that he has “confirmed” Apple AAPL 1.03% will start offering preorders on its next iPhone, believed to be known as the iPhone 7, starting on September 9. Blass didn’t reveal who his sources were.
So as with any Apple rumor, until the notoriously secretive company reveals its plans, the claim should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.
Blass is the same leaker who reported on his Twitter TWTR 2.79% account earlier this week that Apple’s iPhone 7 would launch on September 16. Again, Apple didn’t confirm that report.
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Rumors have been swirling for monthsover what Apple has planned for its next iPhone. Most rumors suggest the devicewill come with a minor design updatethat could see Apple eliminate the headphone jack in favor of two speakers on the bottom of the device. The company might also move the antenna lines used to connect to cellular networks around the edges and deliver updated components. Other rumors say Apple might even launch an iPhone 7 Pro model featuring dual camera lenses.
If recent history is our guide, Apple likes to hold special press events after Labor Day in September to unveil its new iPhone. At that event, it showcases the device and most importantly, says when iPhone preorders will begin, and when the smartphone will go on sale. Apple usually announces a new iPhone towards the beginning of a week, starts preorders on a Friday, and launches the iPhone a week after preorders begin.
The Blass timeline seems to fit that mold.
However, Apple has also launched its latest iOS mobile operating system version about a week before its new iPhone launches. The company has already said that iOS 10, its upcoming iteration, will launch in the fall, which would suggest a late-September launch for both iOS 10 and the iPhone 7. Apple made similar promises last year with the iPhone 6s and ultimately launched that handset on September 25.
It’s possible, in other words, that if Apple is being literal in its launch timetable, the company will hold off until later in September to offer its iPhone.
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But like anything else Apple-related, this is all speculation. It’s unlikely Apple will provide any concrete details until early September, when it’s expected to hold its special press event unveiling its next smartphone.
How Apple Could Copy Samsung to Revive iPhone Sales
The iPhone 7 could benefit potentially from lessons of the Galaxy S7.
After years at the top of the smartphone heap, an uninspired new flagship phone disappointed fans. Sales and profits tumbled, along with the company’s stock price.
The story of Apple and its iPhone 6S? Sure. But it’s also the tale of the Samsung and the Galaxy S6 last year. Samsung has turned things around this year, and the Korean company’s revival offers some potential lessons for Apple.
Perhaps the biggest change from 2015 to 2016 at Samsung was paying more attention to which features actually drew customers to its phones. Last year, Samsung dropped some of its long-time signature features from the Galaxy line, including a removable memory card slot and waterproofing.
This year, it not only brought back both features, it also made a change that might be considered heresy at Apple: it made the Galaxy S7 thicker and heavier so it could fit a bigger battery. The S7, at a thickness of 7.9 millimeters and a weight of 152 grams, was 16% thicker and 10% heavier than the old S6. But the extra size and weight allowed for a 3000 mAh battery, an 18% increase in capacity.
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Apple’s changes from the 2014 iPhone 6 to the 6S last year weren’t as radical as Samsung’s, but new features in the iPhone 6S lacked widespread appeal. Android phone makers didn’t even deign to copy 3D touch or live photos. Super high-definition 4K video was a cool addition, but most videos are played back on the iPhone itself, where the higher resolution isn’t as spectacular. And a huge jump in processing power from the iPhone’s A9 chip just isn’t that important to customers who spend most of their time reading Facebook and listening to Spotify.
According to some rumors, Apple may already be heeding this advice. The new device, which outsiders have dubbed the iPhone 7, is expected to be waterproof and contain a dramatically improved camera for taking photos in low-light situations. Those are both straightforward features users can easily appreciate.
But Apple’s iPhones take years to develop, making rapid change at the last minute unlikely. Some rumors about the upcoming device seem less customer-oriented, including the unchanged physical design and removal of thetraditional headphone jack. A truly game-changing feature that will be attractive to every user, a crystal clear OLED screen,isn’t expected until 2017.
Another key to the success of Samsung’s S7 was the increased value to buyers over the prior model. Not only did Samsung reduce the price, but it also threw in all kinds of freebies for early buyers, ranging from its Gear virtual reality headset to tablets and even 48-inch TV sets. Carriers also offered two-for-one deals to customers adding lines.
Apple has not reduced the price of the iPhone since 2007, an increasingly tough stance as U.S. carriers have stopped subsidizing most phone sales. Furthermore, Apple doesn’t make the same kind of ancillary gear that the broader-focused Samsung can throw in to entice upgraders. But it does own the popular Beats headphone line, many iPhone cases and other accessories, and the Apple Watch.
Apple could raise the value proposition for iPhone buyers by “bundling with something cool,” says Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research. “Apple needs to bundle the watch, which anyways is seeing a decline in sales for the first time for any Apple product in its first year of launch.”
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Apple could also increase the storage memory included on the entry-level iPhone from 16 GB to 32 GB, a move that many critics says is long overdue. That would give someone upgrading from an older entry-level iPhone model double the storage right out of the box.
Finally, Samsung also got itself back on track by improving its line up below its most expensive, flagship phones. Improvements and new marketing for cheaper models like the J-series helped Samsung pick up sales in developing markets.
Apple, meanwhile, is getting killed by cheaper models in China. Its overall sales in China plunged 33% last quarter even as smartphone sales there were relatively flat. Now, Chinese manufacturers of cheaper phones like Oppo and vivo arehaving growing success in other markets.
Apple got off to a good start on addressing the middle of the market with its new 4-inch screen iPhone SE, which starts at just $400. But it may need to broaden its offerings, particularly as Asian consumers tend to favor larger screen sizes.
If it wants to avoid further sales declines and the accompanying falling stock price, following some of Samsung’s strategy may pay off.
A New Study Says Uber Has Had No Impact on Drunk Driving
Contradicting the company’s claims.
Ride-sharing giant Uber has claimed that its service doesn’t just offer convenience, but safety for communities by reducing drunk driving rates. But a new study starkly contradicts those claims.
Research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology compares drunk driving fatalities and traffic deaths on weekends and holidays in U.S. counties before and after the introduction of services like Uber, competitor Lyft, and others. The study centers on the 100 most populated American metropolitan regions and was conducted by scientists from the University of Southern California and Oxford University.
The results were striking. “We found that the deployment of Uber services in a given metropolitan county had no association with the number of subsequent traffic fatalities, whether measured in aggregate or specific to drunk-driving fatalities or fatalities during weekends and holidays,” wrote the researchers. Study co-author David Kirk told the Washington Post the report indicates “there’s still tons of room for improvement when it comes to reducing drunk driving fatalities,” of which there are 10,000 every year in the U.S.
There are several possible explanations for the findings. For one, customers who wanted to avoid drinking and driving may have simply switched over from using taxi services to using Uber and Lyft. It’s also possible that there still isn’t a robust enough supply of Uber drivers to counteract drunk driving, or that some people are simply willing to take the risk no matter what ride options are available to them.
In 2015 Uber commissioned a study in partnership with the advocacy groupMothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) finding that DUI arrests and accidents fell significantly in areas where ride-sharing is available.
“In California, Uber’s home state and largest market, drunk-driving crashes fell by 60 per month among drivers under 30 in the markets where Uber operates following the launch of uberX,” the study authors stated. “That’s an estimated total of 1,800 crashes prevented since July 2012.”
Fortune has reached out to Uber for comment on the new traffic fatality research and will update this post if it responds. The company told the Post that “80% of riders says that Uber has helped them personally avoid drinking and driving.”
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