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Apple Expected to Unveil Next Generation of iPhones as Company Tries to Reverse Recent Sales Slump

A general view of iPhone 14 models in an Apple store at a mall in Beijing, China, 07 September 2023. (EPA)
A general view of iPhone 14 models in an Apple store at a mall in Beijing, China, 07 September 2023. (EPA)
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Apple Expected to Unveil Next Generation of iPhones as Company Tries to Reverse Recent Sales Slump

A general view of iPhone 14 models in an Apple store at a mall in Beijing, China, 07 September 2023. (EPA)
A general view of iPhone 14 models in an Apple store at a mall in Beijing, China, 07 September 2023. (EPA)

Apple is expected to take the wraps off its next iPhone on Tuesday during what has become an annual late summer rite aimed at giving more people more reasons to buy the technology trendsetter’s marquee product.

The showcase at Apple's Cupertino California, headquarters comes as the company is mired in a mild slump that has seen its sales drop from last year in three consecutive quarters — with management signaling another downturn is likely during the current quarter that will be capped with the release of its iPhone 15 lineup. The malaise is a key reason Apple's stock price has dipped by nearly 10% since mid-July, dropping the company's market value below the $3 trillion threshold it reached for the first time earlier this summer.

As has been case with Apple and other smartphone makers, the next model isn't expected to make any major leaps in technology. The array of iPhone 15 choices, likely to range from lower-priced basic models to more expensive premium versions, are expected to consist of mostly incremental advances to the device's chips, battery and cameras.

The basic iPhone 15 models also may be redesigned to include a shape-shifting cutout on the display screen that Apple calls its “Dynamic Island” for app notifications — a look that was introduced with last year's Pro and Pro Max devices.

If the rumor mill pans out, this year's iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max may feature a periscope-style telephoto lens that will improve the quality of photos taken from far distances. The telephoto lens could boast a 6x optical zoom, which would still lag the 10x optical zoom on Samsung's premium Galaxy S22 Ultra, but would be a significant upgrade from the 3x optical zoom on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.

The improved camera is one of the reasons Apple is also expected to raise the prices of the Pro and Pro Max. The iPhone 14 Pro starts at $1,000 while the Pro Max starts at $1,100. Analysts think the iPhone 15 versions of those models may cost an additional $100 to $200, testing how much consumers are willing to pay for the devices at a time when post-pandemic inflation has been squeezing more household budgets.

One of the biggest anticipated changes that Apple is expected to announce is a new way to charge the iPhone 15 models and future generations. The company is expected to switch to the USB-C cable standard that is already widely used on many devices, including its Mac computers and many of its iPads.

Apple is being forced to start phasing out the Lightning port cables that it rolled out in 2012 with the release of the iPhone 5 because of a mandate that European regulators are imposing in 2024. It's unclear whether Apple will initially limit the switchover to USB-C ports to models made specifically for the European market or make the change worldwide.

If Apple decides it's time to move away from Lightning port cables throughout the world, the transition may not be too inconvenient for most consumers. That's because USB-C cables already are so widely used on a range of computers, smartphones and other devices that many people may already own them. The shift to USB-C cables may even be a popular move since that standard typically charges devices more quickly and also offers faster speeds for data transfers.

Besides its new iPhones, Apple also typically uses this annual showcase to unveil its next generation of smartwatches — a product that made its debut nearly a decade ago. The arrival of the new iPhones also sets the stage for the next version of the software that powers the device.

That operating system, iOS 17, will be available as a free download to previous generations later this month and will include new features such as the ability to read a transcription of a message being left on an unanswered call in real time with an option of deciding to talk to the person on the line before the voicemail is finished.

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Technology

New Process for Stable, Long-Lasting Batteries

The image shows a test cell used to fabricate and test the all-solid-state battery developed at PSI. (Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Mahir Dzambegovic) 
The image shows a test cell used to fabricate and test the all-solid-state battery developed at PSI. (Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Mahir Dzambegovic) 
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New Process for Stable, Long-Lasting Batteries

The image shows a test cell used to fabricate and test the all-solid-state battery developed at PSI. (Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Mahir Dzambegovic) 
The image shows a test cell used to fabricate and test the all-solid-state battery developed at PSI. (Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Mahir Dzambegovic) 

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have achieved a breakthrough on the path to practical application of lithium metal all-solid-state batteries.

The team expects the next generation of batteries to store more energy, are safer to operate, and charge faster than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

The team has reported these results in the journal Advanced Science.

All-solid-state batteries are considered a promising solution for electromobility, mobile electronics, and stationary energy storage – in part because they do not require flammable liquid electrolytes and therefore are inherently safer than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Two key problems, however, stand in the way of market readiness: On the one hand, the formation of lithium dendrites at the anode remains a critical point.

On the other hand, an electrochemical instability – at the interface between the lithium metal anode and the solid electrolyte – can impair the battery’s long-term performance and reliability.

To overcome these two obstacles, the team led by Mario El Kazzi, head of the Battery Materials and Diagnostics group at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, developed a new production process:

“We combined two approaches that, together, both densify the electrolyte and stabilize the interface with the lithium,” the scientist explained.

Central to the PSI study is the argyrodite type LPSCl, a sulphide-based solid electrolyte made of lithium, phosphorus, and sulphur. The mineral exhibits high lithium-ion conductivity, enabling rapid ion transport within the battery – a crucial prerequisite for high performance and efficient charging processes.

To densify argyrodite into a homogeneous electrolyte, El Kazzi and his team did incorporate the temperature factor, but in a more careful way: Instead of the classic sintering process, they chose a gentler approach in which the mineral was compressed under moderate pressure and at a moderate temperature of only about 80 degrees Celsius.

The result is a compact, dense microstructure resistant to the penetration of lithium dendrites. Already, in this form, the solid electrolyte is ideally suited for rapid lithium-ion transport.

To ensure reliable operation even at high current densities, such as those encountered during rapid charging and discharging, the all-solid-state cell required further modification.

For this purpose, a coating of lithium fluoride (LiF), only 65 nanometres thick, was evaporated under vacuum and applied uniformly to the lithium surface – serving as a ultra-thin passivation layer at the interface between the anode and the solid electrolyte.

In laboratory tests with button cells, the battery demonstrated extraordinary performance under demanding conditions.

“Its cycle stability at high voltage was remarkable,” said doctoral candidate Jinsong Zhang, lead author of the study.

After 1,500 charge and discharge cycles, the cell still retained approximately 75% of its original capacity.

This means that three-quarters of the lithium ions were still migrating from the cathode to the anode. “An outstanding result. These values are among the best reported to date.”

Zhang therefore sees a good chance that all-solid-state batteries could soon surpass conventional lithium-ion batteries with liquid electrolyte in terms of energy density and durability.

Thus El Kazzi and his team have demonstrated for the first time that the combination of solid electrolyte mild sintering and a thin passivation layer on lithium anode effectively suppresses both dendrite formation and interfacial instability.

This combined solution marks an important advance for all-solid-state battery research – not least because it offers ecological and economic advantages: Due to the low temperatures, the process saves energy and therefore costs.

“Our approach is a practical solution for the industrial production of argyrodite-based all-solid-state batteries,” said El Kazzi. “A few more adjustments – and we could get started.”

Technology

Meta Urges Australia to Change Teen Social Media Ban

Meta has called for Australia's social media for under-16s to target app stores. Saeed KHAN / AFP
Meta has called for Australia's social media for under-16s to target app stores. Saeed KHAN / AFP
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Meta Urges Australia to Change Teen Social Media Ban

Meta has called for Australia's social media for under-16s to target app stores. Saeed KHAN / AFP
Meta has called for Australia's social media for under-16s to target app stores. Saeed KHAN / AFP

Tech giant Meta urged Australia on Monday to rethink its world-first social media ban for under-16s, while reporting that it has blocked more than 544,000 accounts under the new law.

Australia has required big platforms including Meta, TikTok and YouTube to stop underage users from holding accounts since the legislation came into force on December 10 last year.

Companies face fines of Aus $49.5 million (US$33 million) if they fail to take "reasonable steps" to comply.

Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's Meta said it had removed 331,000 underage accounts from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook, and 40,000 from Threads in the week to December 11.

The company said it was committed to complying with the law.

"That said, we call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivizing all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans," it said in statement.

Meta renewed an earlier call for app stores to be required to verify people's ages and get parental approval before under-16s can download an app.

This was the only way to avoid a "whack-a-mole" race to stop teens migrating to new apps to avoid the ban, the company said.

The government said it was holding social media companies to account for the harm they cause young Australians.

"Platforms like Meta collect a huge amount of data on their users for commercial purposes. They can and must use that information to comply with Australian law and ensure people under 16 are not on their platforms," a government spokesperson said.

Meta said parents and experts were worried about the ban isolating young people from online communities, and driving some to less regulated apps and darker corners of the internet.

Initial impacts of the legislation "suggest it is not meeting its objectives of increasing the safety and well-being of young Australians", it said.

While raising concern over the lack of an industry standard for determining age online, Meta said its compliance with the Australian law would be a "multilayered process".

Since the ban, the California-based firm said it had helped found the OpenAge Initiative, a non-profit group that has launched age-verification tools called AgeKeys to be used with participating platforms.

Technology

China Is Closing in on US Technology Lead Despite Constraints, AI Researchers Say

Visitors look at robots on display at robotics company Unitree's first retail store in Beijing in January 9, 2026. (AFP)
Visitors look at robots on display at robotics company Unitree's first retail store in Beijing in January 9, 2026. (AFP)
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China Is Closing in on US Technology Lead Despite Constraints, AI Researchers Say

Visitors look at robots on display at robotics company Unitree's first retail store in Beijing in January 9, 2026. (AFP)
Visitors look at robots on display at robotics company Unitree's first retail store in Beijing in January 9, 2026. (AFP)

China can narrow its technological gap with the US driven by growing risk-taking and innovation, though the lack of advanced chipmaking tools is hobbling the sector, the country's leading artificial intelligence researchers said on Saturday.

China's so-called "AI tiger" startups MiniMax and Zhipu AI had strong debuts on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this week, reflecting growing confidence in the sector as Beijing fast-tracks AI and chip listings to bolster domestic alternatives to advanced US technology.

Yao Shunyu, a former senior researcher at ChatGPT maker OpenAI ‌who was named ‌technology giant Tencent's chief AI scientist in December, ‌said ⁠there was a ‌high likelihood of a Chinese firm becoming the world's leading AI company in the next three to five years but said the lack of advanced chipmaking machines was the main technical hurdle.

"Currently, we have a significant advantage in electricity and infrastructure. The main bottlenecks are production capacity, including lithography machines, and the software ecosystem," Yao said at an AI conference in Beijing.

China has completed a working prototype of an extreme-ultraviolet lithography ⁠machine potentially capable of producing cutting-edge semiconductor chips that rival the West's, Reuters reported last month. However, the ‌machine has not yet produced working chips and may ‍not do so until 2030, people with ‍knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

MIND THE INVESTMENT GAP

Yao and other ‍Chinese industry leaders at the Beijing conference on Saturday also acknowledged that the US maintains an advantage in computing power due to its hefty investments in infrastructure.

"The US computer infrastructure is likely one to two orders of magnitude larger than ours. But I see that whether it's OpenAI or other platforms, they're investing heavily in next-generation research," said Lin Junyang, technical lead for Alibaba's flagship Qwen large language model.

"We, ⁠on the other hand, are relatively strapped for cash; delivery alone likely consumes the majority of our computer infrastructure," Lin said during a panel discussion at the AGI-Next Frontier Summit held by the Beijing Key Laboratory of Foundational Models at Tsinghua University.

Lin said China's limited resources have spurred its researchers to be innovative, particularly through algorithm-hardware co-design, which enables AI firms to run large models on smaller, inexpensive hardware.

Tang Jie, founder of Zhipu AI which raised HK$4.35 billion in its IPO, also highlighted the willingness of younger Chinese AI entrepreneurs to embrace high-risk ventures - a trait traditionally associated with Silicon Valley - as a positive development.

"I think if we can improve this environment, ‌allowing more time for these risk-taking, intelligent individuals to engage in innovative endeavors ... this is something our government and the country can help improve," said Tang.