Apple is reportedly launching a device that looks like a toaster oven to update iPhones without opening them.
If there is any company obsessed with perfection, it’s Apple. So, of course, it makes perfect sense for the company to create a new device capable of wirelessly updating iPhones that are still in their boxes with the latest Apple software. The curious thing is that this new and innovative system reportedly looks like a toaster oven.
French tech news site Eché got a first look at this system, reportedly called “Presto.” The photo shared by iGeneration shows a sleek and silver device made up of several racks. According to a Google translation of the report, each rack can hold six iPhones at a time. It seems that the entire Presto system can accommodate multiple racks, meaning it will likely be possible to update more than just a handful of iPhones at once.
The Presto system reportedly installs the latest version of iOS in 15 to 30 minutes. Apple is aiming to eliminate the approximately 20 minutes it takes to update a new iPhone to the latest iOS after customers unbox it.
But wait, why don’t new iPhones come pre-installed with the latest software before being boxed up? The answer is simple: time. Sometimes devices sit in their boxes for months, during which Apple may have released several iOS updates. These updates are important not only for providing new features and fixing bugs, but also for including crucial security patches.
It’s still unclear how this supposed system works, but there’s a good guess. According to the report, Apple is likely using NFC chips in the phones during the process. While Ars Technica explains that it’s unlikely Apple would use NFC connection to deliver software updates, given its maximum data speed of 848 kbit/s, the connection is likely sufficient to connect the iPhone to Wi-Fi and deliver the update that way.
We’ve been hearing about the impending launch of the Presto system for a few months now. Last October, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported that Apple was planning to update iPhones without opening their boxes. According to Gurman, the system can wirelessly power on the iPhone, deliver the update, and then power it off.
In a recent tweet, Gurman claimed that Apple was planning a widespread rollout of the Presto system in its U.S. retail stores in April and that all of its stores will have these systems by summer. Gurman reports that Apple is using MagSafe and other wireless technologies to power on the iPhones.
While this new system is certainly innovative and saves the user a couple of minutes during setup, it seems like a first-world problem. Who asked for this? I’ve been using iPhones for years and it’s never something I added to my Apple Wishlist. Oh well, I guess it’s fine.
