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Apple Loop: Apple Kills Its iPad, iOS 8.3 Is Missing Beats, Updated iPhone 5C

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Taking a look back at another week of news from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop looks at the potential for a four inch iPhone (possibly the iPhone 6C), wondering where the Beats streaming app for iOS is, Becoming Steve Jobs, the unsaid issues of the Apple Watch, Apple's Chinese trade-in program, did Apple kill the iPad sales, and the conceptual Apple Drone.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read our weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).

When Four Inches Is All That Matters

Lots of talk about a third iPhone design to be released in 2015. While the expectation is that the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus will be superseded by 6S and 6S Plus variants, the idea of a third handset is a touch more intriguing. What many people would like to see, including Forbes' own Gordon Kelly, is an iPhone 6 styled handset with a smaller four-inch screen:

Apple will finally release a 4-inch version of the iPhone 6 later this year. It will use the same A8 chipset as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and integrate NFC to enable support for Apple Pay. So far so good, but unfortunately there are two stupid flaws:

  1. It will launch alongside the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus in September putting it a generation behind
  2. It will ditch the aluminium unibody for a plastic chassis

Yes Apple would essentially be making an ‘iPhone 6C’ and apparently that is even the codename the company has assigned to it.

Kelly thinks this is a backwards step for Apple, and marks out smaller handsets as 'second-class' handsets. What do you think?

So Is It An Upgraded 5C Or A Downgraded 6S?

Personally I think that it's a pretty smart move for Apple to go with a 6C that is a generation behind. Apple is always looking to support an entry-level handset that networks can push as a 'free' handset thanks to the two-year subsidy, and the iPhone 5C was an incredibly successful smartphone, no matter what the critics thought. What do you replace the 5C with at the lowest tier of Apple's iPhone range?

While the iPhone 5S does have TouchID, it does not have the hardware to support Apple Pay, and Cupertino is putting a huge amount of focus on mobile payments. If I was Tim Cook I would want all of my handsets to be Apple Pay compatible., That would require some re-engineering on the 5S.

Couple that required re-engineering with the loss  of the colored polycarbonate styling of the iPhone 5C, add in the continued demand for the smaller four-inch screened smartphone, and the answer is a reworked iPhone 5S with Apple Pay support added into a polycarbonate-based four-inch handset.

This would be a 'new' handset, it could be marketed as such by carriers and retailers, and all it needs is a new name to help the message... such as 'iPhone 6C.'

So, which of us is right? Will we both be wrong and Apple doesn't release a new four-inch handset? Let us all know in the comments.

And The Beat Goes On And On And On...

Apple's next release of iOS, iOS 8.3, is still in testing with Beta 4 now available to developers and interested parties. It boasts of the usual bug fixes and stability improvements, but 8.3 has long been thought to be the update that will feature the Beats streaming audio service baked into the OS. Guess what, it's not there!

iOS 8.3 Beta 4 ships to developers continuing earlier iOS 8.3 beta support for a wireless version of CarPlay, Google 2-step verification, racially diverse emoji, filters for Messages (known/unknown senders), a UI tweak for the iOS keyboard and new compatibility for Apple Pay on the China UnionPay network.

In addition there are expanded voice commands for Siri, including the ability to initiate calls over speakerphone and the ability to skip password entry when downloading free apps.

Gordon Kelly wonders aloud if Beats is being pushed back to 8.4, but with the timing of Apple's WWDC Developer event, squeezing in another iOS release looks unlikely.

So what is the reality? It’s clear iOS 8.3 is now out for a streaming music service announcement. It could indeed appear in iOS 8.4 as some hope, though that would seem to a missed marketing opportunity with the hype of WWDC 2015 to follow shortly afterwards.

So, Beats, where are you?

Five Moments Becoming Steve Jobs Became Interesting

Lots of coverage on the book 'Becoming Steve Jobs' around the web, with the book being used to heap both bouquets and brickbats on the memory of Jobs and his time at Apple. Putting those diverse opinions aside, the book has many moments that talk to the nature of Jobs, and 9to5Mac's Jeremy Horwitz highlights five of them:

Former CEO Gil Amelio tried to buy the Newton from Apple.

In late 1998, Amelio — the butt of numerous jokes for his incompetence in running Apple — attempted to buy the assets of the Newton division Apple had shuttered, which Steve Jobs called a “cruel joke” and rebuffed. “I can be mean, but I could never be that mean,” Jobs said,

“No way I would let him further humiliate himself — or Apple.”

Read the other four here.

What Wasn't Said About The Apple Watch Was Important

As the launch of the Apple Watch gets ever closer, Eamon Kunze has taken a look at some of the known issues around the UI and the apps of Cupertino's latest wearable, in an article that also highlights the elegant presentation from Tim Cook that skated around these issues, including security, NFC support, and that all important battery life:

The truth with the battery life is slightly different than what Tim Cook quickly mentioned today. The batter life on the Apple Watch is highly dependent on a lot of factors like installed/open apps, brightness, open connections but apparently after many tests it anaverage of close to 8 hours is a more realistic figure. Charging time to full, 2 hours. Not very good but hey, who said that this is an Apple Watch problem?

If you're looking for more information on Cook's smartwatch, have a look at Paul Lamkin's exploration of some of the most anticipated apps for the Apple Watch)

 Apple's Trade-In Program Heads To China

Following on from the news that Apple' trade-in program for handsets will be extending to Android devices ahead of the launch of the Galaxy S6 (reported last week by Parmy Olsen here on Forbes), Apple Insider reports that Apple's invasion of the Chinese market will also run the trade-in program, although it will be just for Apple hardware to start with:

As part of the deal, Apple Store employees will evaluate the condition of incoming iPhones before selling the hardware directly to Foxconn, meaning Apple never takes ownership trade-in products. Following Apple's inspection, Foxconn will repair and resell devices through its websites eFeihu and FLNet, as well as Alibaba's Taobao store. The Taiwan-based company is currently in talks to sell refurbished Apple hardware in physical stores.

Given the volume of grey imports of Apple hardware there has been in China that's a lot of hardware that is a generation or two behind the latest releases, and the trade-in program provides a smoother and easier path to upgrade.

What Caused iPad Sales To Fall - Was It Apple?

Seth Weintraub has taken a look at the curious question of sales of the Apple iPad, and wonders if Apple has been cannibalizing its own sales through a mix of factors, including the iPhone 6 Plus phablet, the less than stellar update to the iPad Air 2, Chromebooks, and a curious external influence... Microsoft:

Microsoft and its ecosystem have been making inroads into the professional ranks. You have to admit some of the hardware the Windows folks are putting out isn’t bad, especially when a hybrid computer can go from a MacBook Air form factor into a tablet form factor with a swinging hinge. Yes, I know Apple’s philosophy is not to marry toasters and refrigerators, but tablets and laptops aren’t that different anymore.

Even if they aren’t right, many folks will choose a convertible laptop-tablet PC over an iPad or a MacBook for that matter.

Weintraub's full breakdown of this, and the self-inflicted issues, can be found on 9to5Mac.

And Finally...

Apple has no plans to release a drone, but graphics designer Eric Huismann has released a concept campaign around a mythical Apple Drone. CNet's Amanda Kooser picks up the story.

Huismann's version of a drone touched by Jony Ive includes four iSight cameras built into the legs. The cameras would capture 4K video and include video stabilization for stunning cinematic-quality footage from the air. He also included a panoramic mode using all cameras at once.

In Huismann's world, the Apple Drone streams real-time HD video to your Apple device. The handheld controller would also allow for direct mounting of an iPhone or iPad.

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 hereor this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.

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