Apple Prepping To Unveil New Device That Can Update Unopened iPhones In Stores

It looks like Apple has come up with a system that will enable the American tech giant to load up the latest software onto unopened iPhones.

According to a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, this newfangled system will allow store employees to update new iPhones from Apple retail stores to the latest software before they are shipped to the customers.

As a result, buyers will get a new iPhone running the latest software out-of-the-box. They would normally have to update the iPhone manually after opening it.

Apple readies a new system: What will it do?

In his latest Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, Gurman divulged some details about a proprietary "pad-like" device. Apparently, this device will come in handy for updating unopened units of iPhone to the latest software.

Apple retail store employees will have to place the boxes of iPhone units on the aforesaid device to update the handsets. Gurman went on to explain that the device will wirelessly turn on the iPhones, update their software and then switch them off.

However, the most notable part of the process is that all of this would be done without even opening the iPhone units' packaging. Gurman further noted that retail stores will start getting the device before the end of the year,

There are no prizes for guessing that the device will turn out to be quite useful once it is available since it will ensure iPhones are shipped with the latest software. Currently, when a customer buys an iPhone from an Apple retail store, the phone may come with outdated software.

Fixes for bugs in the outdated software may be available in the latest software update. With the new device, Apple wants to ensure that all iPhone units sold have the latest software update. It is currently unclear whether Apple will expand this technology to other Apple devices in the future.

To recap, Apple launched the iPhone 15 series at the recently concluded Wonderlust event. A considerable number of iPhone 15 units were shipped with iOS 17 out-of-the-box, but a new software update, iOS 17.0.1 had already been rolled out by the time these units became available for sale. This is what Apple aims to change with the help of the new device.

Meanwhile, some iPhone models, including the latest iPhone 15 Pro have been turning themselves off lately. Apple is reportedly gearing up to fix this issue by rolling out a new software update, Also, the company could use the device to update the software of unopened iPhone 15 Pro units to ensure they do not come with the same issue.

iPhone 15 sales in China

While data shared by Counterpoint Research hints at declining iPhone 15 sales in China, this device will still be very useful. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently noted that the company plans to unveil a new iPhone every year.

Reportedly, the Cupertino-based tech giant is facing stiff local competition from Huawei, which recently unveiled the Mate 60 Pro. According to the Counterpoint data, sales of the iPhone 15 are down 4.5 per cent compared to last year's iPhone 14 in the 17 days since launch.

The research attributed the decline in demand for the iPhone 15 to China's economy, which is still struggling to recover from the pandemic. Furthermore, the market tracker claims the iPhone 15 probably saw a double-digit percentage increase in the first 9 days of sales in the US.

Counterpoint research director Jeff Fieldhack told Bloomberg: "The US is hot right now with back-to-back stellar weekends for the new iPhone... It's a positive sign from the biggest iPhone market in the world. So definitely takes some of the sting off the China numbers."

Meanwhile, Jefferies analyst Edison Lee suggests there will be a double-digit percentage drop in iPhone 15 sales compared to the iPhone 14. It will be interesting to see whether these estimates will turn out to be true.