Your weekly look at the world of smartphones and mobile technology, this is the Phone Buzz on Friday 23rd April 2021.

This Week’s Top Story

• Let’s face it, when Apple launches a slew of products, it has the opportunity to tilt the market in a way that no other company can. So of course its ’Spring Loaded’ event is the top story this week. First up, the official press releases for the new iMac,  iPad Pro, Apple TV 4K, Air Tags, Apple Card Family, Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, and the all-important release of a purple iPhone.

Apple Headlines

• Starting with the purple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini. It’s a curious beast, not least because there’s nothing new in here compared to the phones announced in the back half of last year, and the price remains the same. With the iPhone 13 family due in a little over five months, this might not be the best time for an upgrade (Forbes).
• John Gruber points out that at this point in the iPhone cycle, Apple would typically release a Product (Red) variant. That’s not possible, as the Product (Red) iPhone 12 was available at launch. Purple it is then (Daring Fireball).
• Apple continued to roll out its ARM-based Apple Silicon across the mac range this week. The launch of the iMac brings the M1 chip to the desktop in a redesigned iMac that brings with it a tweaked design, a 1080p webcam, and a range of pastel colours (The Verge).
• The big news in the iPad Pro is the processor being used. It’s not one of the Axx series of chips used in previous tablets. Instead it’s the M1 processor, the Apple Silicon chip driving the new MacOS laptops. Will the iPad Pro kill the laptop by using the laptops own hardware? (TechRadar).
• As the M1 marches upwards (to the iMac) and downwards, the breadth of Apple’s processor ambitions becomes clearer. This isn’t a multitude of chips to cover a range, it’s one chip to rule them all… an approach that Intel and AMD will struggle to match (Extreme Tech).
• We finally saw AirTags revealed by Apple. Long rumored, the gelation tags make up part of Apple’s wider ‘Find My’ ecosystem. It’s fair to say that Tile, one of the widely recognised leaders in this field, is not happy, as it prepares to testify to the US Congress on Apple’s alleged anti-competitive behaviour (The Washington Post).
• Cellbrite is a known name in the security world for their proclaimed ability to extract data from locked smartphones. Thanks to “I saw a small package fall off a truck ahead of me”, Signal’s Moxie0 has taken a closer look at the methods and tools used by Cellbrite to open up an iPhone. This is definitely one to keep reading until the end (Signal Blog).
• And to finish off, Apple has detailed how its customers can participate not just in Earth Day, but learn about environmental issues as it continues with it’s ‘Challenge For Change’ learning series. More at the Apple Newsroom.

Android Headlines

• Is Samsung preparing a ’tri-fold’ Galaxy Z device? The latest patent suggests that work on inward- and outward- folding models continues. Not only that, but the design incorporates the S-Pen, held magnetically in place between the folding screens (Let’s Go Digital).
• Samsung has expanded its ‘Galaxy Upcycling program, allowing older Galaxy devices to be repurposed into smart devices running on the South Korean company’s SmartThings platform (Samsung Newsroom).
• As OnePlus celebrates the launch of the OnePlusOne seven years ago, I’ve taken a look at the software that helped the handset stand out; Oxygen OS (Forbes).
• The mid-range Mi 11 Lite from Xiaomi drops 5G from the package and sneaks the processor dow to a Snapdragon 732G compared to the Mi 11 Lite 5G model. The team at GSM Arena have reviewed the device and its competitors in the price range (GSM Arena).
• Following a lot of discussion online, Asus has confirmed that  it will be launching a Zenfone 8, there will be a ‘mini’ version, and the launch date is confirmed as May 12th (Phone Arena).

And Finally…

• Snapchat is reporting a bit of a milestone. The app that launched on iOS before reaching Android can now say it has more Android users than iOS users. In total the company is reporting 280 million daily active users (The Verge).

Ewan Spence

Ewan is the editor at Phone Buzz News. For over 30 years he has been covering the worlds of media and technology, from the early days of the first smartphone through to their essential role in today's society.