Your weekly look at the world of smartphones and mobile technology, this is the Phone Buzz on Friday 2nd July 2021.

This Week’s Top Story

• I think that the reports of Apple’s iPhone 12 family passing 100 million sales is worth specifically highlighting. It suggests that Apple has seen a sales uptick due to the first inclusion of 5G in an iOS-powered smartphone. The last acknowledged super-cycle was the move to a larger screened format with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus (Counterpoint Research).

Apple Headlines

• Apple has confirmed that it will hold its Q3 earnings call on July 27th. Given the records set by the Q2 numbers, expectations are high on some more big numbers from Tim Cook and his team (Apple Newsroom).
• Presumably put together as dummy physical samples for third-party case and peripheral manufacturers, images of two iPhone 13 boilerplate models have appeared online this week. They confirm the lack of major design changes, at least on the outside, although the new camera lens arrangement, smaller notch, and the reworked location for the FaceID sensor (Tom’s Hardware).
• Although the iPhone 13 family will be the first iPhones to ship with iOS, the software update announced at WWDC is available as a public beta (as are Apple’s other operating systems). If you want to know Apple’s direction for the next 12-18 months, the OS is a smart place to look. Federico Viticci has been running OS 15 and iPadOS 15 for a few weeks, and notes that the two closely related operating systems feel like careful and measured refreshes, rather than wholesale updates to the system (MacStories).
• MacOS Monterey has also picked up a public beta, and again while there are no major changes to the operating system, the Universal Control system to share a keyboard and mouse with an iPad draws Apple’s mobile and desktop platforms closer together (Forbes).
• Then there’s WatchOS 8, with the focus on wellness apps coming in to sharp focus now the public beta version is available (Gizmodo).
• Product wise, Apple isn’t looking at any more product releases into September and the iPhone launch event (Forbes). Given the number of products slated for the third quarter, there could be a rush of new hardware, including the updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops (Digitimes via 9to5Mac).
• With new designs and new features comes the need for new suppliers. That’s the case with Apples plans for the MacOS laptop, and measures have been taken to sign up a new supplier of new miniLED screens for the MacBooks (Wccftech).
• Apple’s Product (Red) partnership switched to supporting the Global Fund Covid-19 response during 2020. That decision is going to continue until the end of this year, offering support for healthcare in Africa (MacRumors).

Android Headlines

• A number of leaks this week saw the design and the core specs of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 3 come into public view. With the US version showing up on Geekbench, the later has Qualcomm’s SnapDragon 888 rather than the more advanced 888 Plus. As to the former, we have the three matte colors which will be available, as well as an under-display camera, a narrow camera island, and a side-mounted fingerprint reader (SamMobile and 91mobiles).
• Meanwhile, the latest  Galaxy S21 Fan Edition details come from one of Samsung’s marketing poster, with the five rumoured colours –  gray, light green, light violet and white – on show (GSM Arena)
• OnePlus’ growing portfolio looks set to grow again this month as last year’s OnePlus Nord looks set to have a successor. 2020’s Nord release kicked off a wave of Nord branded handsets at different price options and represented an expansion into the mid- and low- end markets for OnePlus. What is planned for this year? (CNet).
• Xiaomi, like many manufacturers, is working on a number of foldable phone designs. The foldable phone market continues to grow partly due to demand from some areas of the market and partly as a demonstration of prowess from a manufactures. Coming up next is the presumptively named Mi Mix Flip; and the affordable folders potential design was spotted in a patent this week (Let’s Go Digital).
• Google has added support for COVID-19 vaccination cards to Google Pay, allowing your status to be stored in the digital wallet. It’s not direct support from Google, but the hooks to allow third-party developers and organisations to use the Passes API for the medical information (Android Police).
• Quickly, how do you do messaging using a Google service? IT’s harder than you think, especially if you look back through history at the various options Google has offered the public, some of which are no longer available. This week’s announcement of Google Chat is not the first (The Verge).
• Reports on Google’s Pixel 5a smartphone release date continue.  While there’s no concrete day, everything points to a mid-August release, which matches up with the Pixel 4a launch dates last year (Bloomberg).
• Android gamers can look forward to three classics next month, as Square Enix brings the original Final Fantasy trilogy to the smartphone space… although many are noting these games are being reissued more times than Sgt Peppter (Square Unix’s E3 promotional video).
• Samsung has quietly extended the security update support for its Enterprise Edition support package for businesses. The South Korean company will now offer five years of software updates on compatible handsets. I’m curious to see if this will carry over to consumer products over the next year or so, although the Enterprise Edition package is only for a limited number of ’S’ and ’Note’ handsets (Android Police),
• Google’s switch away from APK to AAB (Android App Bundle) is creating a lot of discussion in the developer community around app distribution, the potential restrictions, side loading issues, and more. Zachary Wander takes a look at the issues (XDA Developers).

Mobile Tech Headlines

• Although not yet commercially available, Windows 11 is available to the public through the Windows Insider program, albeit with the caveat of it being pre-release and still under development. Tom Warren installs it so you don’t have to (The Verge).
• One of the requirements of Windows 11 is support for the second version of the Trusted Platform Module… something Apple’s new ARM-based Mac platform does not have. Nevertheless the team at Parallels have confirmed they will “do everything possible” to have Windows 11 available on your Mac (iMore).

And Finally…

• Windows 11 on a PC? Not a problem. Windows 11 on a Mac? The Parallels team are working on it. Windows 11 on a OnePlus 6T? That sounds like it would be fun (XDA Developers).

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.