iOS 11 ‘golden master’ leaks: new software, iPhone features revealed

Over the weekend, reports emerged that the ‘golden master’ of iOS 11 leaked out. The software held a treasure trove of information related to Apple products, most prominently, the new range of iPhones set for launch tomorrow.

So what are some of the more notable features and leaks we’ve seen as a result? We pick a few prominent ones.

Hexacore A11 chip confirmed?

Developer Steve Troughton-Smith has been one of many leading the charge when it comes to this round of leaks, as spotted by MacRumors.

The developer helped uncover the layout of the A11 chip, being a hexacore design. More specifically, we’re apparently looking at two heavyweight ‘Monsoon’ cores and four lightweight ‘Mistral’ cores.

Troughton-Smith also revealed that the premium and Plus-sized iPhones would have 3GB of RAM, while the standard model would only have 2GB.

Wireless charging confirmed in iOS 11

ChargingViewService confirms wireless charging. It will even show some 3D animations when charging (not present in GM tho) pic.twitter.com/JLBd4HQLpS

— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) September 10, 2017

We’ve seen the previous reports of wireless charging, but it’s nice to know that Apple’s own software seems to make it official.

Spotted by Guilherme Rambo, iOS 11’s golden master leak indeed shows wireless charging references. Now, what kind of speed can we expect?

More facial recognition confirmation (and it works with Apple Pay)

And it appears that Face ID occurs automatically but you double click the side button to confirm payment pic.twitter.com/NcN0u9KKTt

— Jeffrey Grossman (@Jeffrey903) September 10, 2017

Apple Pay isn’t in our country yet, but it’s an option in many other countries, requiring a fingerprint for payment.

Rumours of nixed Touch ID functionality only pick up steam after the iOS 11 leak, which shows that facial recognition or a PIN can be used for Apple Pay.

4K/60fps and 1080p/240fps support

As previously reported in our final iPhone 8 piece, iOS 11 shows a few new video recording options, as 9to5Mac reports.

Slow-motion gets a resolution upgrade, bringing 240fps at 1080p (instead of 720p). 4K video also gets an upgrade, delivering 60fps instead of 30fps and below.

Expect 4K/60fps to chew up a lot of storage space, but if it uses the HEVC codec, file sizes should be relatively modest (compared to H.264).

How does facial recognition work?

Face ID enrollment process (with layout issues on first page) pic.twitter.com/KczOHEy9ir

— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) September 9, 2017

We’ve also seen a face ID settings menu, showing off the fact that it can unlock your phone, authenticate iTunes purchases and auto fill login details.

Rambo has also showed off footage of the enrollment process (seen above), which sees users tilting their head around in a circle so the camera can get a complete scan.

LTE Apple Watch confirmed?

We’ve seen Android Wear smartwatches pack LTE for a while now, enabling calls and independent data connections. Now, it’s seemingly Apple’s turn to do the same.

According to 9to5Mac, the iOS 11 leak yielded what they believe is a third-generation Apple Watch with LTE. The new watch also sports a red digital crown, with speculation that it could be the antenna location.

Apple TV features?

Apple TV will render natively at 2160p (1080p@2x) and supports a variety of color formats pic.twitter.com/tURvLe7bKz

— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) September 10, 2017

Stroughton-Smith also revealed some details about Apple’s oft-rumoured 4K Apple TV streaming box. So what should we expect?

For one, it seems like two HDR standards are supported on the box, in the form of Dolby Vision and HDR10. So chances are good that HDR-capable services should work well.