A variety of new details about what Apple is going to announce this week have become available as a result of some surprisingly sloppy work coming out of Cupertino.
Face ID is referenced in Apple’s firmware, and it appears to be the official name for the new way to unlock the iPhone 8 with just your face.
I feel like I’m just getting into the swing of using Touch ID and now they are going to switch it up on us (granted, it appears to only be for the higher end phone)
Apple is also reportedly introducing ‘Animoji’ which are animated versions of the popular emoji found in iOS 11. Animoji will supposedly use the hardware face scanning features of the iPhone 8 to create custom 3D versions based on your own facial expressions. Apple describes Animoji as custom animated messages that use your voice and reflect your facial expressions, and they’ll be featured in the messaging app.
Yawn.
The final leak from the new iOS 11 firmware also shows a new revision of Apple’s wireless AirPods. 9to5Mac reports that it’s not a major upgrade, and it appears that the charging indicator has been relocated to the outside of the case to make it easier to check on battery status without opening the case. An animation shows the refreshed AirPods, and the design looks almost identical to the existing version.
It took them forever to get the ‘original’ AirPods out to market and now they are turning around and changing them. Lends credence to the strategy of waiting for the second version of an Apple product/feature/software update before upgrading.
Apple used to be “Fort Knox” in terms of controlling rumors, leaks and the like leading up to their marketing events (and yes, they are marketing events) but over the past few years these leaks are becoming more prevalent…probably because the folks doing the research are becoming more and more sophisticated. I wonder how Steve Jobs would have handled this?
Source: Leaked iPhone 8 firmware reveals animated emoji, Face ID, and updated AirPods – The Verge