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Top Stories: New Battery Percentage Icon in iOS 16, USB-C AirPods Rumor, and More

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This week brought some shocking news for iOS 16 beta testers, with Apple bringing back the iPhone battery percentage to the status bar after a number of years.

top-stories-13aug2022.jpg

Other news and rumors this week included word that Apple has started recording portions of its media event planned for next month to introduce the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8, claims about iPhone 14 Pro pricing and Apple's plans for switching AirPods over to USB-C charging, and more, so read on for all the details on these stories and more!

iOS 16 Beta 5 Adds Battery Percentage to iPhone Status Bar

Five years after Apple introduced the iPhone X with a notch, and relegated the battery percentage indicator to Control Center, Apple has finally added the battery percentage back to the iPhone's status bar in the fifth developer beta of iOS 16 released earlier this week.

iOS-16-battery-percentage.jpg

The new battery icon is available on most iPhone models with a notch. The battery percentage appears within the battery icon to save space, but not everyone is a fan of this design.

Check out our list of everything new in iOS 16 beta 5 for other new features and changes in the beta. Apple also released new betas for iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, watchOS 9, and tvOS 16.

Apple Reportedly Preparing Pre-Recorded iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8 Event

It appears that Apple's annual iPhone event won't be a fully in-person event again this year, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman this week claimed that Apple has started to produce a pre-recorded video for the event. It's possible that Apple will still invite media to the event for in-person hands-on demos with new products.

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Unsurprisingly, Apple will likely unveil its iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8 product lineups at the September event, and at least five other products are expected to be announced this year.

iPhone 14 Pro Models Rumored to Be More Expensive

Apple plans to increase the prices of iPhone 14 Pro models compared to iPhone 13 Pro models, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

iPhone-14-Pro-Lineup-Feature-Purple.jpg

While higher prices would be disappointing for customers, research firm TrendForce predicted that iPhone 14 Pro models could start with 256GB of storage, compared to 128GB for iPhone 13 Pro models. Pricing for iPhone 13 Pro models currently starts at $999 in the United States.

Two New Connectors Rumored for Next-Generation iPad Pro

The next-generation iPad Pro will feature the same design as the current model, but with two new four-pin connectors on the top and bottom, according to a report from Japanese website Mac Otakara.

iPad-Pro-Big-Ol-Logo-Orange.jpg

Apple is expected to release new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models with M2 chips and support for MagSafe wireless charging later this year — possibly alongside the delayed release of iPadOS 16 in October.

USB-C AirPods Expected to Launch in 2023

Apple plans to switch to USB-C charging cases for all AirPods models in 2023, but the second-generation AirPods Pro launching later this year may still have a Lightning charging case, according to a recent tweet from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

airpods-usb-c-ken-pillonel.jpg

Kuo also expects the iPhone 15 to switch to USB-C in 2023, along with several accessories, such as the MagSafe Battery Pack and the Magic Mouse.

'It's Time for Apple to Fix Texting' Says New Android Website

Google's Android team has launched a new "Get the Message" website that again calls on Apple to adopt Rich Communication Services (RCS) alongside iMessage in the Messages app on iPhone.

android-apple-fix-rcs.jpg

Google has been pushing Apple to switch from SMS to RCS for months now, with no response from Apple. RCS would allow for read receipts, audio messages, and more for conversations between iPhones and Android smartphones.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Article Link: Top Stories: New Battery Percentage Icon in iOS 16, USB-C AirPods Rumor, and More
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2022/08/13/top-stories-ios-16-battery-percentage/
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August 13 is to say there is a month left for Tuesday, September 13 and the iPhone 14.
 
alexe said:
You know much [of] the innovation around the iPhone has slowed down when it takes Apple 5 years to come out with a new battery status icon that can show the percentage on FaceID iPhones 😄
Click to expand...
Fixed that for you. ;) 🤣
 
I can’t say I’ve ever had a “bad experience” texting an Android user. Google could perhaps do with being a bit less hyperbolic about the whole thing. I always turn read receipts off anyway.

I have to wonder why Google is so insistent about it? Even though RCS has end to end encryption, it does mean all messages go via Google’s servers, so they still get useful intelligence about where messages are going from and to. Or maybe this is just about trying to take marketshare back from Facebook and WhatsApp?
 
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alexe said:
You know much the innovation around the iPhone has slowed down when a new battery status icon is one of the most discussed topics 😄
Click to expand...
I’m not the nerd I once was, but what can we truly do at this point, that’s groundbreaking?

It’s basically screen, battery and processor improvements, with a few tweaks of the software to add some new features.

I think we are past the days of huge leaps and bound, which is why i wait several years between upgrades.

I still remember when iPhone didn’t have MMS… whew! Lol
 
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dkh587 said:
I’m not the nerd I once was, but what can we truly do at this point, that’s groundbreaking?

It’s basically screen, battery and processor improvements, with a few tweaks of the software to add some new features.

I think we are past the days of huge leaps and bound, which is why i wait several years between upgrades.

I still remember when iPhone didn’t have MMS… whew! Lol
Click to expand...
Why can’t there be any groundbreaking hardware features?
Here’s 10 I came up with in 30s:

- hologram calls and 3D screens
- foldable displays
- spatial audio calls
- Touch ID behind the glass
- 30x optical camera zoom
- built in projector
- batteries that last 10 days
- wireless charging from a distance
- health sensors
- satellite calls
 
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I hope the new AirPods Pro come soon. My Beats X battery only lasts about three hours now so it's time for an upgrade. And I can't upgrade to the three year old AirPod Pro if the new one is due soon.
 
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alexe said:
You know much the innovation around the iPhone has slowed down when a new battery status icon is one of the most discussed topics 😄
Click to expand...
Everything old is new again... bringing back a 20 year old MBP design, MagSafe, iPod commercials for AirPods, iPhone 4 in a bigger form factor, etc.

Apple has taken on Tim’s slow, methodical, risk-averse personality and it shows. It takes years for people’s perception of things to change, and I think people are finally starting realize that Apple is no longer the innovative force they were under Jobs, but rather, what’s known in the industry as a slow follower.
 
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dkh587 said:
I’m not the nerd I once was, but what can we truly do at this point, that’s groundbreaking?

It’s basically screen, battery and processor improvements, with a few tweaks of the software to add some new features.

I think we are past the days of huge leaps and bound, which is why i wait several years between upgrades.

I still remember when iPhone didn’t have MMS… whew! Lol
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't disagree. Maybe the smart phone has become a product category that is so mature by now that there just isn't so much crazy innovative stuff left to be done. The great innovation beyond better cameras maybe won't come from innovative iPhones, but from an entirely new product category altogether.

I'm personally also completely fine with that. It's just funny how big of a topic the battery status design is 😄
 
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Karma*Police said:
Everything old is new again... bringing back a 20 year old MBP design, MagSafe, iPod commercials for AirPods, iPhone 4 in a bigger form factor, etc.

Apple has taken on Tim’s slow, methodical, risk-averse personality and it shows. It takes years for people’s perception of things to change, and I think people are finally starting realize that Apple is no longer the innovative force they were under Jobs, but rather, what’s known in the industry as a slow follower.
Click to expand...
Eagerly awaiting the Apple IV and NewtonSE!
 
Karma*Police said:
Everything old is new again... bringing back a 20 year old MBP design, MagSafe, iPod commercials for AirPods, iPhone 4 in a bigger form factor, etc.

Apple has taken on Tim’s slow, methodical, risk-averse personality and it shows. It takes years for people’s perception of things to change, and I think people are finally starting realize that Apple is no longer the innovative force they were under Jobs, but rather, what’s known in the industry as a slow follower.
Click to expand...
I'm not saying you are wrong. Quite the opposite, but old MBP design, iPhone 4 design and MagSafe comeback is a good thing. Having back HDMI on MBP is good as well. Switching back to the old (actually working) keyboard is great as well. I mean, feels like Apple is getting back on the right track again. Jony Ive is away and it shows (positively).

I totally agree with Apple being slow follower and not an innovative force.
 
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MasterControlProgram said:
I can’t say I’ve ever had a “bad experience” texting an Android user. Google could perhaps do with being a bit less hyperbolic about the whole thing. I always turn read receipts off anyway.

I have to wonder why Google is so insistent about it? Even though RCS has end to end encryption, it does mean all messages go via Google’s servers, so they still get useful intelligence about where messages are going from and to. Or maybe this is just about trying to take marketshare back from Facebook and WhatsApp?
Click to expand...
The big issue is actually when group messaging and the group includes android users. Agreed that messaging a single android user is generally fine.

Also as a previous Android user, I can say it wasn’t always obvious to my friends on iOS when I was having a poor experience communicating with them.
 
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Akzel said:
The slow death of the lightning connector is too slow. USB-C all the things ASAP.
Click to expand...
Seriously. In an ideal world the iPhone should have dropped lightning for usb-c 5 years ago when the MacBooks started rolling it out, but I’ve come to terms with the iPhone. At least it has MagSafe now.

More annoying at this point are things like the airpods max and Apple TV remote. These are both premium products released/updated in the past 2 years that are more expensive than their competitors but have this major unnecessary flaw of being a pain to charge.
 
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