With the latest software upgrade now available to most users, Apple IOS 16 has been celebrated for its ability to customise how we use our smartphones.

Since its initial release in 2007, the features of the globally celebrated iPhone have certainly come a long way. Regarded as the first of its kind, improvements to the initial model will often include upgrades to screen sizes, waterproofing, and many more accessibility features.

Instead of being forced to shell out on a new model each time Apple releases one, the beauty of this brand is that consumers can often tap into the latest benefits via a simple upgrade to their operating system.

As a result, the iPhone Operating System – otherwise known as iOS – receives regular updates to ensure that Apple remains at the forefront of innovation and that the brand’s legion of loyal fans stay engaged with the products. The latest offering, Apple iOS 16, can arguably be dubbed one of the best.

Five Key Features To Try In Apple iOS 16

According to Apple themselves, iOS 16 enhances the iPhone with all-new personalisation features, deeper intelligence, and more seamless ways to communicate and share. It would seem that the brand’s developers and designers have come to realise the power of personalisation, and have aimed to include features that empower users to tweak their iPhone’s look and feel to a way that best fits in with their lifestyle and personal preferences.

Although it was released back in September, the silly season is a timely reminder that it’s in the best interest of everyone with an iPhone capable of running it to get the update. For those who haven’t done so, Apple iOS 16 offers some impressive new features that tick all the right boxes.

 

Introducing Passkeys – As a new feature, passkeys are end‑to‑end encrypted and sync across Apple devices through the iCloud Keychain password manager. Among the benefits, Apple’s solution to obliterate the password makes it hard for you to become a victim of phishing and keeps your credentials safe from website leaks and potential cyber security breaches.

 

Custom Lock Screens – As one of the most touted new additions to Apple iOS 16, users will be able to change the look of the date and time with expressive type styles and colour choices, and add new widgets such as upcoming calendar events, the weather, battery levels, alarms and time zones, with the ability to switch between designs as well.

 

More Focus Modes – Back in the day, the only real options to eliminate distractions from your iPhone was to either put it on silent, or do not disturb. With Apple iOS 16, upgrades have been given to Focus Mode to allow users to set up individual profiles with separate settings. This way, you can set up different modes for work, sleep or even downtime.

 

Share Your Photo Library – As another newer addition, the existing iCloud system has received a few extra tweaks to make sharing photos and videos easier. Now, users can share a separate iCloud photo library with up to five other people. If you want to keep some items to yourself, use setup tools to contribute specific photos based on start date or people.

 

New Text Features – Are you guilty of sending a text message to the wrong person? With Apple iOS 16, you can edit a message for up to fifteen minutes after sending it, and even unsend a message for up to two minutes after you’ve hit the send button. When you’re on the go, users can now also mark texts as unread if they’re busy and want to return to it later.

To install iOS 16, you’ll need an iPhone 8 or later, which essentially covers any iPhone released from 2017 and beyond. Unfortunately, all iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 models can’t upgrade to iOS 16, and nor can the original iPhone SE. With Christmas just around the corner, for those in need of an iPhone upgrade but don’t want to spend a small fortune on a new handset, the team at SOS Phone Repairs offers a solution.

 

Talk Tech Upgrades With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones.

Whether it’s to get a few more years out of your trusted iPhone, to fix one up to sell, or to repurpose an old one as a gift, repairing a smartphone might just be easier and cheaper than you think. However, if you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs also stocks a wide variety of refurbished handsets at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one.

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs.

 

 

 

 

If you’re the type who always has to have the latest games, devices and software, then the new tech coming in 2023 is rumoured to be worth the wait.  

Considering how much of us now rely on the internet to work, play, learn and even socialise, it’s easy to understand why many people get excited about the prospect of new tech. While we won’t be living in a VR friendly Meta wonderland anytime soon, there still are some pretty exciting products on the way to our shores next year. 

Five New Tech Additions Set To Drop Next Year 

In 2023, we can largely expect to see the continuation of innovations and developments in transformative technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), cloud computing, blockchain, and super-fast network protocols like 5G.

Although these might sound like big concepts, the reality is that many of them are already embedded in the devices we use while going about our day to day lives. Instead, we’ll showcase the new tech devices and products expected to hit the market in 2023.

Apple iPhone 15 – While Apple may have only just released the latest iPhone 14, brand fans are already speculating that we could expect the iPhone 15 to arrive in September 2023. A new report says that it could use a new Sony camera sensor to vastly improve exposure control, but could kill physical buttons for solid-state ones with haptic feedback.

The Expansion Of 5G – So far, one of the primary drawbacks of using 5G technology in Australia has been the lack of service and network coverage. However, with more towers going up in 2023, that will soon change – especially once Vodafone switches off 3G by the end of 2023, and Optus and Telstra committing to the same by mid 2024. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 – Current information on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S23 is based on rumours, which indicates that while the model won’t be a massive change visually, there’ll be some hardware improvements. Potentially, these may include a pixel-packed 200MP main camera, and a 40MP front-facing selfie cam.

Reality Pro VR Headset – Apple is likely to announce its first “Reality Pro” VR headset, which is likely to be the most capable standalone virtual reality headset in the world. While not yet confirmed, this could arrive as early as January 2023, and is said to be packed with features to compete against the likes of Meta Quest Pro.

Google Pixel Tablet – Just as Google Pixel phones have always utilised some of the best features of Android software, one of the most widely anticipated pieces of new tech coming in 2023 is the Google Pixel Tablet. Arguably designed as an attempt to take on the lucrative Apple iPad market, it’s also aiming to integrate with other devices made by the search engine giant. 

Although we live in an increasingly digital age, technology has also brought with it an extra set of distractions on top of whatever happens to pop up during our day to day lives. If you’re looking to improve your selfie game, want to learn more about your smart phone’s camera, or even need some help in choosing the right type of device based on your needs, it’s always worth speaking to the professionals. 

Talk Tech Upgrades With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

Whether its to get a few more years out of your trusted iPhone, to fix one up to sell, or to repurpose an old one as a gift, repairing a smartphone might just be easier and cheaper than you think. However, if you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs also stocks a wide variety of refurbished handsets at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. 

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs. 

If you’re guilty of leaving your silly season shopping to the last minute, the good news is that there’s plenty of tech gifts on offer this Christmas. 

If you get sucked into the Christmas consumerism trap every year, you might want to consider whether piles of presents even makes you, your family, your friends or the environment happy. Instead of waiting until the week before Christmas, one effective way to combat this is to actually have the time to put some thought into the types of presents you opt for. 

As such, the best tech gifts are unique and actually useful. While nobody is expecting you to fork out for the latest iPhone, buying electronics as a Christmas present is one to ensure that the recipient will actually use it – so what are your options?

Our Christmas Tech Gift Guide For 2022

Did you know that new research has indicated that two-thirds of Australians planned to complete their Christmas gift purchases by the end of October, amid fears of supply chain disruption? 

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales often incentivise Christmas shoppers to grab their presents online, the reality is that there are no guarantees that the gifts will make it in time via postal services. In turn, the alternative is to shop local and physically collect the items in person. 

Whatever your preference, people specifically hunting for tech gifts can always benefit from the advice of a professional. As such, we’ve made a quick shopping list of our favourite products on the market just in time for Christmas. 

Magsafe Charger – Most of us already have all the gadgets but what about the accessories? If you’re looking for tech gifts for an iPhone lover but don’t want to break the bank, you can’t go past Apple’s Magsafe wireless charger. The perfectly aligned magnets attach to your iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, and provide faster wireless charging up to 15W.

Notpods – Speaking of Apple fans, how many of us love the idea of AirPods but aren’t such big fans of the $300 price tag? As a worthy alternative for a fraction of the price, we’ve tried and tested Notpods and have happily issued our tick of approval. As far as wireless headphones go, quality can vary significantly between products – as does the price. Coming in at just $90, it’s a hefty saving when compared to the originals.

GoPro Hero Mini – For shoppers looking for something special for their significant other, family member or extremely good friend, the freshly launched GoPro Hero 11 is having its moment in the spotlight, but there is another alternative that most people aren’t even aware of. With the same video performance in a smaller, lighter, simpler design, the Hero Mini is significantly more affordable and portable than its bigger counterparts. 

Ember Mug – Designed for at home or the office, the Ember Mug and its companion app on your iPhone or Apple Watch allows you to set your precise drinking temperature for hot beverages, track caffeine consumption, save presets for your favourite drinks, customise the LED colour and more. Ember also maintains your chosen temperature for approximately 1.5 hours, so your hot beverage stays perfect from the first sip to the last drop.

Fitbit Sense 2 – If you’re after a device that offers basic smartwatch functionality but tracks activity accurately, offers excellent sleep tracking and has a range of health features like superb stress tracking, the Fitbit Sense 2 is fantastic and in a world of its own. As one of the few tech gifts designed to get you moving and live a healthier lifestyle, Sense 2 is considered to be one of the most advanced smart watches on the market today. 

The thing about tech gifts is that they need to be working at their best in order to make the most of them. What’s more is that the nature of the item can make them tricky to operate for those unfamiliar with their basic functionality. For advice on choosing the right product or even finding them in the first place, it’s always a good idea to pop into your nearest SOS Phone Repairs store. 

Talk Christmas Tech Gifts With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

Whether it’s to get a few more years out of your trusted iPhone, to fix one up to sell, or to repurpose an old one as a gift, repairing a smartphone or recycling your old one might just be easier and cheaper than you think. For those in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs also stocks a wide variety of refurbished handsets at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. 

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs.

Once your favourite communication device hits the blink, most of us don’t give it much after thought. In reality, phone recycling is a must for the environment. 

Did you know that there are roughly twenty-three million unused mobile phones hiding in draws, cupboards and office cabinets all over Australia? Of those, over five million are broken or no longer working, with most of their owners understandably believing that they can be of no further use. 

In reality, this isn’t actually the case. Mobile phones are made up of plastics and metals that aren’t biodegradable, but they can still be reused as a means to create something new, without the need for cultivating new materials. If you’re guilty of hanging onto an old device, getting familiar with why phone recycling matters might just motivate you to do something with it. 

Three Easy Options For Phone Recycling 

When mobile phones are thrown away in standard bins and sent to landfill, we miss an opportunity to reuse valuable materials. Recycling these materials prevents ‘virgin’ or new resources from being extracted from the ground, which in turn reduces greenhouse gas emissions. 

In fact, recycling 50,000 mobiles has been proven to save close to one hundred tonnes of mineral resources, and twenty tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering our atmosphere. If saving the planet isn’t motivation enough, examples of how these materials are redistributed include the following. 

Glass – Phone recycling breathes new life into the glass used for touch screens, as it is melted, crushed and used to produce other products that need similar amounts of glass. In some cases, it’s even used for jewellery or as a replacement material when repairing or constructing roads. 

Aluminium – As a highly durable metal, aluminium is 100% recyclable and can be recycled regularly without degrading its inherent value – that is, if it’s not thrown away. Phone recycling enables the aluminium to be melted down and remade into new phones and other items.

Precious Metals – A small amount of valuable metals like gold, silver, palladium, platinum and copper can be extracted from a mobile phone as they are usually found on its circuit board. In addition, lithium batteries are processed to recover valuable materials like steel and nickel. 

Plastic – Plastic sticks around in the environment for ages, threatening wildlife and spreading toxins. While it’s also one of the most unsustainable materials to produce, recycled plastic from phone recycling can be used to create new products without coal or fossil fuels. 

What’s more is that phone recycling is actually easier than you might think. Although it’s not an option that most people would even consider on their own, fixing an old phone up and selling it is the very epitome of recycling – you’re reusing something old, instead of sourcing a new alternative. 

If you can’t be bothered to sell or fix your phone to sell to a friend, family member or even a stranger, another alternative is to leave it to the professionals. Many phone repair stores, such as your nearest SOS Phone Repairs, are always on the lookout for devices that need a little bit of love as they already have a wide customer base looking to purchase second hand items from reputable outlets. 

In the event that the phone has reached the absolute end of it’s lifespan and there’s no way to resuscitate it, throwing your old phone in the bin is still not the answer. In fact, a growing number of telecommunications stores like Optus, Telstra and individually owned phone stores will often have bins for customers to place their old devices in, before the bin gets sent off for professional phone recycling. Either way, the phone will live to see another day.

Explore Phone Recycling Methods With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

Whether it’s to get a few more years out of your trusted iPhone, to fix one up to sell, or to repurpose an old one as a gift, repairing a smartphone or recycling your old one might just be easier and cheaper than you think. For those in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs also stocks a wide variety of refurbished handsets at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. 

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs. 

It’s not you, but it’s not me either. It’s Netflix.

Is the line we recommend passing on to your loved ones, as you tell them they may finally have to pay for their own Netflix accounts and stop mooching off of yours.

It’s been a good run at least.

Netflix have announced that as of early 2023, they will be tracking IP addresses, locations, device ID’s and account activity to determine accounts that are password sharing, and will start charging fees ‘per member’ based on location.

Although the fee for this hasn’t been confirmed by Netflix, there are suggestions it will be one quarter of the monthly fee per location. Which means if you’re anything like most families, and have 4 people sharing one account (a moment of appreciation to these self-sacrificing family members), then you could be paying almost double per month. If you’re the one that’s been footing the bill the last few years, it may be time to for them to hear the tough conversation that it’s time you part ways, and they get their own accounts.

Apparently Netflix will be assisting users in this transition to separate accounts by transferring their profiles (including recommendations, your list and previously watched) to a new account, but it seems like a lot of admin if you ask us.

It’s unclear exactly how this location based fee will work either, especially for our traveller family members out there that frequently flaunt around Australia and the world. Supposedly they’ll be monitoring log in locations to allocate a ‘home’ for the account, and if another household streams for more than 2 weeks they’ll be notifying the user and adding the fee. This doesn’t bode well for our van goers or frequent house changers, but we’ll see.

They’ve also mentioned bringing in exceptions for travelling, but rumour has it you can only visit a given place once a year so we’re uncertain how that will actually work either. Let’s be honest, downloading Netflix episodes for long travel journeys is half the reason to have a subscription.

It seems to us that we may still have a little time up our sleeves while they sort out the finer details.

Image source: boredpanda.com

In other Netflix news they will also be bringing out a new base subscription at $7USD per month, coming to Australia from November 3rd. It’s a budget that should allow for these new changes, but will have users watching 4-5 minutes of ads per hour, and won’t allow them to download anything to watch offline. We’re not sure we’re up for that subscription but it’s nice to know they’re creating base memberships.

It seems all good things really must come to an end.

For now, I guess it’s time to put the popcorn in the microwave and binge out on as much free Netflix as you can while you still have the time.

Talk Tech With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs stocks a wide variety of refurbished phones at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations.  

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs. 

As technology continues to advance it shouldn’t surprise us that robot food delivery is upon us.

According to The Verge, Uber has paired with Nuro’s self-driving vehicles for a 10 year partnership to bring us autonomous (which is really just a fancy way of saying robot) food delivery. By the end of this year, we could see these deliveries hitting the streets of Texas and California, cruising at a top speed of 70kms (45m) per hour with their grocery-filled driver-less cars.

Hello new-age technology.

A little about Uber:

Starting in 2009 when two friends found themselves stuck on a snowy evening in Paris unable to find a taxi, thinking ‘What if you could request a ride simply by tapping on your phone?’, this transportation company has quickly taken over the world.

Now operating in over 80 countries and 10,000 cities, its bookings generated over $23 billion in the third quarter of 2021.

Snow, Paris, and a multi-billion dollar idea? We wish we were the ones cold on that night in 2009!

A little on Nuro:

Founded in 2016 and now valued at $8.6 billion, this robotics company is designed for making peoples lives easier and save time, by delivering them items they need straight to their door (only without drivers). Nuro is one of only 3 companies to receive permits for automated cars in California, and is all about it’s green thumb. Reducing carbon footprints with its fully electric fleet, they also use ‘100% renewable electricity from wind farms in Texas‘ to power their fleet, and even have an environmentally conscious supply chain.

We are all about the sounds of this development, green thinking meets innovation. That’s what we love.

So what will this partnership mean?

Well, as we mentioned it’s a 10 year deal to bring automated driver food delivery that is starting in California and Texas, but we have no doubt it will be growing rapidly due to the individual successes of both companies. Uber will be using Nuro’s Gen2 fleet, which are half as wide as a compact sedan and shorter than usual cars. They can also carry up to 225kgs (approximately 24 grocery bags) and will be delivering from restaurants, supermarkets and other essential goods stores.

The real question is, how long until automated delivery will be hitting the suburbs of Australia?

According to the Daily Telegraph earlier this year, we were supposed to see these cars cruising around this year, but we’re yet to witness it ourselves or find any concrete evidence to back this up.

We imagine we can’t be far behind the 8-ball on this one though!

Talk Tech With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs stocks a wide variety of refurbished phones at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations.  

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs. 

You may have been following our Green Friday’s segment on our socials, and noticed we’ve been looking into how big companies and new technologies are making advancements for a greener future. If you haven’t, check it out! There’s some really interesting and exciting concepts arising.

Let’s take a look at how these pioneers in the tech industry are committing to carbon-neutral products, circular economy, clean energy for communities, and energy efficiency.

We were actually impressed with what we researched, and are grateful big companies such as Apple and Samsung are supporting recycling and making an effort to preserve the earth.

CARBON-NEUTRAL PRODUCTS

If there’s anyone that should be able to achieve this, it’s these two – right?

Apple: their corporate operations have been carbon neutral since 2020, but their plan is for all products to be carbon neutral by 2030. Through Restore Fund, they’re aiming to remove at least 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

We like the sound of that.

Samsung: in 2022 Samsung committed to planting 2 million trees and reforesting 200 hectares of land in Madagascar to offset their carbon footprint. They then gifted some of these trees to 211,000 customers, who can track the graph and impact their trees are having on the local ecosystems.

Clever marketing that benefits the planet? Yep, nice one Samsung. Can we have one?

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

This is where all commerce should be heading, recycling the old to create the new. Let’s see what their plans are:

Apple: they plan to responsibly source and recover materials, so that all their products are made with renewable resources or recycled materials. How great is that? All iPad models in their current line-up, including the new iPad Air, use 100% recycled aluminium in their enclosures.

Their single use plastic in their packaging is also down 75% since 2015.

Samsung: Similar to Apple, they’re striving for that circular economy of recycled materials. For us, it’s in the figures they share: they’re reused over 276,000 tonnes of recycled plastic in their products since 2009, and are on track to double this by 2030.

Both companies are also dedicated to improving durability so their devices last longer, keeping them out of landfill that way, too.

CLEAN ENERGY FOR COMMUNITIES

Renewable energy is a vital key for a sustainable future. Drawing from the earths natural resources to power our homes and fuel our cars, rather than digging it from the ground. Let’s take a look at where they’re at with this topic:

Apple: have solar projects in 7, second and third world countries, to help provide cost-effetive energy to communities facing energy challenges. Recently, they also brought renewable energy to over 3,500 South African households that previously lacked access.

For the people. Nice one, Apple.

Samsung: the information we could find here was for their production line, which we’re about. Their goal was for all sites in USA and China to use 100% renewable energy by 2020, but they beat that by a year. In 2019, they eliminated fossil fuel generated energy and replaced it with renewable energy from solar and wind.

We’ll admit it, we’re impressed.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Apple: power adapters use the largest amounts of certain materials, including plastic, copper, tin and zinc. By removing them from iPhone 12 packaging, Apple estimate they avoided mining over 550,000 tonnes of copper, tin and zinc ore.

It also avoids more than 2 million tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent to removing 500,000 cars from the road a year.

We’re sorry we thought we were losing out with that one, Apple.

Samsung: to reduce energy demand of electronics, they’ve committed to making their products more durable and energy efficient. Samsung’s energy efficient products reduce the average household’s greenhouse gas emissions by 5,500 pounds and their energy costs by 30%.

In this way, they’ve also helped avoid over 301 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions since 2009. Woah.

 

We know we’ve just given you a lot of statistics, but we wanted to portray that it’s not all doom and gloom when it comes to technology and the draws on our planet.

We’re not saying there’s no need for further advancements, however, we are impressed. Hopefully big companies like Apple and Samsung continue making these commitments, and it has a ripple effect. Inspiring change throughout the industry.

Talk Tech With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs stocks a wide variety of refurbished phones at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations.  

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs. 

It’s that time of the year again tech-lovers. Today Apple have just released their iPhone 14 & 14 Max, and Apple Watch Series 8.

Let’s take a look at the latest specs, the new iPhone features especially have us super excited.

iPhone 14 & 14 Plus

Say goodbye to politely asking the bartender or the barista if they have a spare iPhone cord, or don’t mind popping your phone on charge for 30 minutes. This newest iPhone model has the longest lasting battery power yet, with up to 20 hours for iPhone 14’s and up to 26 hours for the iPhone Plus.

It’s also more durable, with a ceramic shield that’s tougher than any previous smartphone glass, and made with aerospace grade aluminium. The camera has also taken a level up with a faster and larger aperture, improving low light exposure by 49%. Say hello to nailing those perfect starry night sky shots.

But more excitingly than this (in our opinion anyway) is the SOS satellite emergency communication. This feature means your iPhone 14 can connect to satellite’s on clear nights to communicate with emergency services, even when you’re out of cell and wifi service. It can take as little as 15 seconds to send a message in clear view of the horizon and sky, or over a minute if you’re under foliage. It’s also set up that you can then respond with simple prompts to best answer your emergency situation. Pretty cool if you ask us.

The last spec we’ll touch properly on is the crash recognition, where your iPhone 14 is built to feel, hear and measure a crash by noticing sudden shifts in speeds, changes in cabin pressure (i.e. from airbags releasing), abrupt changes in direction, and loud sounds. If it thinks you’re in a crash situation, it will automatically call emergency services unless you opt for it not to. If you also have an Apple Watch, it will actually do this from your watch as it is likely to be closer to your body.

Way to go Apple, it looks like you’ve put a heavy emphasis on saving lives this latest upgrade and we are absolutely here for it.

They’ve also got a fun new Lock Screen where your favourite widgets are visible, and you can now even choose your font. Plus there’s that cool Dynamic Island where your front camera is, that is fully customisable and consolidates notifications, alerts and activities into one place.

While we’re on appearance too, if you’re looking for a reason to buy the iPhone 14 Plus – there is 21% more retina screen. We’ll just let that sink in.

Upgrades at a glace:

• Longer battery (up to 20 hours for iPhone 14’s and up to 26 hours for the iPhone plus)
• 21% bigger retina screen for iPhone 14 Plus
• More durable
• 49% better low-light photos with bigger and faster aperture
• Emergency SOS Satellite Communication that contacts emergency services even when you’re out of wifi or cellular reach
• Crash recognition that contacts emergency services without you reaching for it

Image source: Apple

Apple Watch Series 8

The new Apple Watch boasts the same two size options and design features as the previous models, with round edges and slim boarders, but with an option for an always on retina display. No more raising your wrist to check the time if you don’t want it!

Our favourite spec is one for our ladies, though. The series 8 introduces a temperature sensor that tracks your temperature even when you’re sleeping, so you can see changes over time. When combining this with heart rate and other cycle information you input into the watch, it makes it a lot easier and more accurate to track menstrual cycles and have a better understanding of potential ovulation for planning families. That’s pretty impressive.

The sleep tracker has taken a level up too, not simply tracking when you’re asleep, but how much time you’ve spent in REM, core and deep sleep, as well as when you might have woken up.

It can also measure your blood oxygen levels, take an ECG, and has the same built in crash recognition we mentioned with the iPhone 14.

Looks like we’ll all be living an extra few years, thanks Apple!

Wait, we’ve just realised we’re still writing this article and not lining up in store to get our hands on these two epic drops…. BRB

 

Talk Tech With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs stocks a wide variety of refurbished phones at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations.  

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs. 

 

How Best to Dry Out Your Wet Phone

We’ve all been there, especially our adventurous friends. Whether you’ve managed to spill a glass of water on it, dropped it in the boat or at the beach trying to nail that selfie, or simply got caught in the rain (hopefully with a Pina Colada…), we recommend doing these steps as soon as possible to prevent water damage in your phone.

1. Remove it from water ASAP

Seems like a simple first step but it does need to be said! Every second counts here, the sooner you can remove it from water and dry it, the higher chance it has of being repaired. The longer it’s left in water, the more chance that water has to seep into the phone.

 

2. Remove any cables that are plugged in

Water and electricity are not friends. If it’s on charge first switch it off at the power, then remove the cable ASAP, as the electricity can cause a short within the phone and create irrevocable damage.

 

3. Switch it off and dry the phone as best you can

We know switching off the phone seems counter productive, and it sparks all those ‘but it seems to be fine now, what if I can’t turn it back on?’ questions in your mind, but trust us on this one. If the phone is trying to operate while there is water inside, the heat created from your device can cause internal corrosion or damage in the mainboard.

When you dry it, the best thing to use is a lint-free cloth to absorb as much water as possible without any fragments of the cloth going into the phone, especially around any of the inlets (charging point and speakers). Please don’t try and dry it in the sun, use a hair dryer or (dare we even say it) pop it in the microwave (honestly, we’ve seen it all).

It’s also a myth that putting it in rice will help the phone – while some professionals suggest it may absorb some liquid, it can also introduce unhelpful elements, such as dust and starch.

We know how tempting it is to switch your phone back on and see if it’s working, but please try and leave it switched off for 24-48 hours so it can properly dry out. Impatience here could cost you a new smartphone.

 

4. Bring it in to an SOS Phone Repairer

Book it in (not on your water damaged phone) to your local SOS Phone Repairer. We can actually professionally dry the phone out for you for free, which is very helpful if you don’t have time to wait 1-2 day period.

Once we’ve dried it for you we can assess the damage and go from there. The quicker you can action all of the above steps, the higher chance we have of saving your phone.

 

What if I just got water in my speakers?

Repeat the above steps, and perhaps stand your phone up with the speakers resting on a lint-free cloth to see if any water drips out.

 

What if it just got a little bit wet and seems to be working fine?

That’s great that it’s working, but there could be residual water in the phone you can’t see. It’s a good idea to get it professionally dried anyway.

Hey, maybe even buy a life proof case while you’re at it?

 

Talk Tech With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs stocks a wide variety of refurbished phones at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations.  

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs. 

SOS Phone Repairs Airlie Beach: the only phone repairers you’ll need to know

Look out sailors, phone repairs in Airlie Beach have never been so efficient and high quality.

In an internationally renowned sailing hub, we were surprised to learn that there wasn’t a phone repair shop in the main coastal town of Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays. SOS Phone Repairs Owner, Codi Hanson, moved to this sunshine drenched seaside town earlier this year and within two weeks had already repaired 3 water damaged phones, 1 smashed screen and handed out countless screen protectors.

We get it, the adventurous lifestyle this transient town brings means there’s also a lot water drenched and smashed phones. But hey, that’s where we come in.

With the store set to open by the end of August, we’re all hands on deck with the fit out, the storefront located right in the middle of Airlie Beach centre on the main street.

Founded in 2015, SOS Phone Repairs quickly built a reputation for high quality tech repairs with customer service to match. It is now the fastest growing repair company in Australia, with Airlie Beach just one of 21 locations Australia-wide. At SOS Phone Repairs we pride ourselves on our people focused approach to service, as we believe it’s what a lot of phone repair companies are lacking.

We love tech, love people, and pride ourselves on finding solutions to suit anyone’s budget and needs.

Our main core value is not to simply fix phones, it’s to make people happy. Fixing phones just an easy way to do it.

Keep your eye out on our socials @sosphonerepairs for the official launch date, but in the meantime here’s a little question and answers about the store:

Will you only repair phones?

Nope, we’ll repair most tech. From smart watches, to macs, pcs, tablets and phone repairs, there’s not a lot we can’t do. If you’ve got another tech issue you’re experiencing just give us a call and we’ll be happy to assess it for you and give you advice.

How long do phone repairs take?

If you call up to book in we can typically do most phone repairs in 30 minutes.

I’ve had my phone screen repaired before and experienced a lot of issues, do you offer warranty?

Great question, and unfortunately one we hear a lot of. All of our repairs are done by highly qualified and trusted technicians, and we also offer lifetime warranty on all iPhone screen repairs. That’s how confident we are in the service we’re providing.

I not only break my phone, but I often drop it in the ocean (like, a lot). Do you sell refurbished phones?

Another question we hear a lot! Yes, we absolutely sell refurbished phones. We actually love doing this as refurbished phones are a great way of recycling and keeping phones out of landfill. Repairing damaged phones and selling high quality refurbished phones is our way of giving back to the environment.

We are doing everything we can to minimise E-Waste, and in 2020 we were fortunate enough to service over 48,000 phones across our then 19 locations. That’s nearly 10 tonnes of phones kept out of landfill.

Will you repair water damaged phones?

We’ll do our absolute best. It’s not always possible, but if you bring it in we can have a look at it for you. We also professionally dry out phones for free.

Hopefully we have answered your main questions or concerns, but if not just jump on the phone and give us a call! In the meantime, have a look at what we repair and be sure to pop in and say hi next time you’re in the main street. We’ve heard there’s a lot of dog owners so be sure to bring your furry ones in store, too!

SOS Phone Repairs Airlie Beach will be located at: 267 Shute Harbour Rd, Airlie Beach QLD 4802

Talk Tech With The Professionals

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs stocks a wide variety of refurbished phones at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations.  

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs.