First look: Apple's luxury iPhone both copies and innovates

TECH

First look: Apple's luxury iPhone both copies and innovates

2017-09-13 09:37 Last Updated At：09:37

As soon as you see the iPhone X up close, you'll realize that it's nothing like any of the previous models that Apple has released during the past decade.

But you might notice striking similarities with some of the sleek smartphones that Samsung, Google and others have been churning out during the past year or two.

Like its rivals, Apple has finally gotten around to making a phone with an edge-to-edge display, a nod to consumers' desire for more space to view their photos, watch movies and TV shows, read books and play games.

In that sense, Apple is playing a game of catch-up with the iPhone X — a name that refers to the Roman numeral for "10." But the device still manages to live up to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' mandate to "think different."

The iPhone X comes with what appears to be sophisticated facial recognition. On a basic level, that allows its owner to unlock the phone with a quick glance. But it also opens the door for a menagerie of emojis that can be controlled and manipulated with facial expressions and voice.

The phone also provides a spectacular canvas for photos, thanks to a superior camera and a souped-up screen Apple calls a "Super Retina" display.

It also costs almost $1,000, an unprecedented price for a mass market phone.

That price tag means that most Apple lovers will probably stick with the slightly less expensive iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which will be available Sept. 22 — six weeks before the iPhone X hits the market.

But the iPhone X will probably be a hot commodity among status seekers and affluent consumers. Such buyers won't flinch at paying an extra $300 to own a phone with attractive but still mostly marginal improvements, based on about 20 minutes The Associated Press spent with the phone in a controlled demo room Tuesday.

One of the best things about the iPhone X: It has a larger screen, but isn't more cumbersome to carry around. The iPhone X's edge-to-edge screen measures 5.8 inches diagonally compared to 5.5 inches for the iPhone 7 Plus and now the iPhone 8 Plus. But the iPhone X's overall dimensions are smaller than the Plus and just slightly larger than the regular models. That's bound to appeal to people who like large screens but don't like oversized phones.

On the down side, the iPhone X's screen isn't as wide as that of the iPhone 7 Plus or iPhone 8 Plus.

What really makes the iPhone X stand out is its new high-resolution display, coupled with its spiffy cameras. Photos viewed on the iPhone X look amazingly vivid and lifelike, right down to the visible blades of glass at a kid's soccer game or every crease of a blanket blowing in the wind.

Emojis have become such a popular way of communication in our smartphone-driven culture that the iPhone X's "animoji" feature could prove popular as well.

This animated feature draws upon the iPhone X's facial recognition technology and high-end, front-facing camera to enable people to control the expressions on a dozen different type of emojis.

For instance, you can pull up a fox or a rabbit and it will frown or smile in sync with your own expression. The emoji figure will move its mouth when you do; record it and it will speak in your voice. (You can send such videos to friends.)

Facial recognition is also the new convenient way to unlock the iPhone X. No more fingerprint scanner: the expansion of the display meant the loss of the home button, which housed that sensor. Apple says this change will allow iPhone X owners to unlock the device with a quick glance under just about any conditions. (The device also can be unlocked with a numeric passcode if facial recognition fails, as it did for one Apple executive during Tuesday's presentation.)

But security might still be an issue, particularly if the iPhone X's facial recognition can be tricked by intruders trying to break into a device designed for big spenders and luxury lovers. Apple says it turned to mask experts to test and improve the feature, though it acknowledges that twins might trick the phone.

Using the iPhone X will also require behavioral changes, such as swiping from the bottom to get the home screen, now that the home button has disappeared. The new phone does add a button on the side to invoke the Siri virtual assistant and Apple Pay.

Congo questions Apple over knowledge of conflict minerals in its supply chain

2024-04-25 22:57 Last Updated At：23:01

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Congo ’s government is questioning Apple about the tech company’s knowledge of “blood minerals” from a conflict zone in the African country that could be smuggled into its supply chains and is demanding answers within three weeks.

A group of international lawyers representing Congo said Thursday that they sent letters to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and its French subsidiary this week, raising concerns about human rights violations involving the minerals extracted from mines in the country’s troubled east that might end up being used in the company’s products.

They included a list of questions challenging Apple to show how it monitors its supply chains in a region where more than 100 armed rebel groups operate, some of whom have been accused of carrying out mass killings of civilians.

Writing to Cook, the lawyers said “it has become clear to us that year after year, Apple has sold technology made with minerals sourced from a region whose population is being devastated by grave violations of human rights.”

"The iPhones, Mac computers and accessories that Apple sells to its customers around the world rely on supply chains that are too opaque, and that are tainted by the blood of the Congolese people," the lawyers said.

Eastern Congo is one of the most mineral-rich regions in the world but is also the site of a huge humanitarian disaster, with the armed groups fighting for years for control of the mines and the valuable minerals in them, and millions of people displaced and affected by the worsening violence. The situation has deteriorated badly in the last few months.

Apple’s press representatives in Europe didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Apple, which has a market value of around $2.6 trillion, has denied using minerals from mines and regions where human rights violations take place and says it conducts business ethically. It said in a 2023 report that it “responsibly” sources minerals in Congo and its neighboring countries.

The minerals it buys don't finance war or armed groups, it says. The lawyers for the Congo government said “those claims do not appear to be based on concrete, verifiable evidence.”

The Congo government said it has suspicions that some of the tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold — known as the 3TG critical minerals — that Apple sources from suppliers is smuggled out of Congo to neighboring Rwanda and then infiltrated into the global supply chain. The 3TG minerals are key components in electronics.

“In Congo, people have been dying for 30 years as a result of illegal mining,” Congo government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said. “We want clarification on the sources of supply for major technology companies, in particular Apple, to verify whether they are acquiring minerals produced in completely illegal conditions.”

He said Rwanda “is presented” as the supplier for many of the minerals while having few reserves of its own.

Congo has accused Rwanda of financing and directing the notorious armed rebel group M23 in eastern Congo to help extract minerals illegally. The United Nations also says M23 is backed by Rwanda.

Rwanda denies that but tensions between the countries are increasingly high, while M23 and other groups are accused of regularly carrying out attacks that include the killing and raping of civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.

The lawyers for the Congo government quoted a 2022 report by the nongovernmental organization Global Witness that claimed Apple had previously applied “few meaningful mitigation measures” to avoid using smuggled minerals.

The Congo government was now seeking “effective redress” against “end-users of blood minerals” across the world, the lawyers said.

They asked Apple to respond to questions over its supply chain controls within three weeks and said they had compiled a report on “the laundering” of Congo's minerals by Rwanda and private entities that would be made public this month.

They also would seek instructions from the Congo government as to what legal measures it is considering against Apple, the letter said.

AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in London and AP writer Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa