MacRumors

Apple's iPhone X has been out for over a month, and this week a few companies based in China have unveiled new smartphones that are clearly taking design inspiration from Apple's tenth-anniversary device. The first was created by LEAGOO, which is based in Shenzhen, and in an email the company called it the "LEAGOO S9."

The company sent MacRumors images of the LEAGOO S9 today, showcasing the front of the smartphone and a piece of hardware that dips into the screen at the top, providing the same visual design of the iPhone X's "notch." The device also has very trim bezels, rounded edges, and a vertically orientated rear camera system that slightly protrudes from the back.

Key differences between the LEAGOO S9 and the iPhone X include the S9's physical buttons, which all appear to be located on the right of the device, and a rear-facing fingerprint sensor. The iPhone X was long rumored to potentially include such a sensor, but after the launch of the new smartphone Apple's hardware engineering chief Dan Riccio said the reports were never true. The bottom bezel on the front of the S9 appears to be larger, but it's unclear if this is software-related or not.

The internal specs and other aspects of the software -- besides the lock screen -- are not currently known. It appears that the LEAGOO S9 will also copy some of Apple's "ear" software bar layout, although the Shenzhen company has slightly reordered the Wi-Fi, cellular, and battery indicators.

The second iPhone X clone was made by Boway, based in Hangzhou, China, and marks the company's first foray into consumer electronics after building printers and cutting machines for over 20 years. Boway's smartphone series is actually called "The Notch," and like the LEAGOO S9 it looks very similar to the iPhone X, as seen in images surfacing on Chinese social network Weibo (via Forbes).

The Notch includes trim bezels on the left and right sides of the smartphone, although in some images it appears to pack in thicker bezels on the top and bottom than both the S9 and real iPhone X, which could again be software related. Otherwise, The Notch has a rear-facing fingerprint sensor, vertically orientated camera system, and also comes in other colors like red.

It's unclear which type of components are included in the cloned smartphones' notches, but since both of the devices clearly use a form of biometric security that recognizes fingerprints and are believed to lack facial recognition, their copying of the iPhone X's notch is most likely for aesthetic reasons. Apple's notch packs in an infrared camera, flood illuminator, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, speaker, microphone, front camera, and dot projector -- all of these components work to provide users with features like Face ID and Animoji.

Specific prices of the smartphones have not been confirmed, but these types of devices are traditionally sold at fairly low price ranges to compete with the many other low-cost smartphones on the Chinese market. Hardware imitators have long been around copying Apple's design styles, and sometimes even include laptops that are visually similar to MacBook, like Xiaomi's Mi Notebook Pro. Earlier in December, Apple won a trademark case based in Europe against Xiaomi, preventing the latter company from registering its "Mi Pad" tablet device as an EU trademark because the name was deemed too similar to Apple's iPad.

Apple could well be on the cusp of launching Apple Pay in Brazil, almost two years after rumors of rollout in the region first surfaced. Users of iOS devices in the country who attempt to add a Visa Platinum Personnalité card from Itaú Unibanco to their Apple Wallet are now seeing a terms of service agreement relating to digital wallet use.

The message was first spotted by local tech site MacMagazine and picked up by AppleInsider. Prior to Monday, users trying to register the cards would see a message informing them that the card was not yet supported by Apple Wallet.

Indeed, the same message still shows up when users try adding other cards to their digital wallet, but the fact that Itaú bank's card has been granted residence inside the native app suggests Apple Pay could well be about to launch.

Separately, local blog iHelp BR yesterday claimed that Apple Pay would roll out imminently, citing sources familiar with the matter, although no specific date was given.

Apple on Tuesday announced it is working to bring coding opportunities to almost half a million students in the city of Chicago, through an expansion of the company's Everyone Can Code program.

The Swift-centered coding initiative has been designed in collaboration with the Mayor's Office of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, local businesses and non-profit organizations.

"At Apple we believe coding is an essential skill, so we've designed Everyone Can Code to give everyone the power to learn, write and teach coding," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We're thrilled to be working with our friends and partners in the great city of Chicago on this initiative. Together with Mayor Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges, we look forward to helping students learn Swift and build the skills they need to thrive in today's workplace."

Starting in the spring, Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago will expand their Everyone Can Code curriculum and materials, while City Colleges of Chicago will offer the the App Development with Swift curriculum for the first time, helping students build skills around coding and app development.

Chicago Public Schools will also offer new Swift Coding Clubs, according to Apple, bringing coding education to after-school programs. The clubs aim to guide students through key coding concepts, introduce them to Swift and walk them through an app design and prototyping project.

Several businesses operating in the area will also be making volunteer opportunities available for their Chicago-based employees to help support students. Companies include GE Transportation, IBM, Jellyvision, Lextech, McDonald's, Rush University Medical Center, Ulta Beauty, and United Airlines.

"Coding is not just a critical skill in today's economy, it is another outlet for students to expand their horizons and explore their creativity," said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "Everyone Can Code is an incredible opportunity for young people across Chicago to learn the language of the future, sharpen their minds and develop the skill sets needed to compete and win in the 21st century."

Over the last two years, Apple has promoted its Swift programming language as ideal for anyone who is keen to code but has no previous computing experience. In 2016, it released Swift Playgrounds, an app aimed at teaching both children and adults how to code through simple interactive coding exercises, which is meant to make learning to code "easy and fun" for everyone.

Apple is implementing a new feature that allows developers to offer pre-orders for unreleased apps, letting customers purchase popular apps ahead of their release date.

The pre-order feature is listed in a new iTunes Connect Resource and Help document, which was discovered this afternoon by MacStories. The document says that developers are able to "make new apps available for pre-order on all Apple platforms."

Customers can see your product page and order your app before it's released for download. Once your app is released, customers will be notified and your app will automatically download to their device. For paid apps, customers will be charged before download.

Apple outlines the specific steps developers will need to take to list an app for pre-order, which includes navigating to the Pricing and Availability section of iTunes Connect, choosing "make available for pre-order," and submitting an app for review.

To be made available for pre-order, an app must have a release date at least two days in the future, but no more than 90 days in the future. Pre-orders are available for both free and paid apps.

When an app is pre-ordered, on release date, it'll be automatically downloaded to a customers device. With paid apps, the purchase price will be charged when the app is released, not before.

As our sister site TouchArcade points out, there are already two apps available for purchase using the new pre-order feature. Both Gorogoa ($4.99) and Inside (Free) can be pre-ordered from the App Store ahead of a release coming later this week.

Apple today also announced the general availability of introductory pricing for subscriptions, allowing developers to charge less for the first few months of an auto-renewing subscription. This is a feature that was initially introduced in iOS 11.2.

GymKit, the watchOS 4.1 feature that allows the Apple Watch to interface with gym equipment like treadmills, has started rolling out in the United States in a very limited capacity.

According to CNET, GymKit is available at the Life Time Athletic location at Sky in New York City. This is the sole location where GymKit is available, but it is coming to Equinox locations and additional Life Time Athletic locations in 2018.

GymKit is also available at select locations in the United Kingdom and Australia.

CNET was able to test the GymKit functionality, and found it to work well. Setup was a one-tap affair, with a tap on the equipment and then a confirmation on the Apple Watch. Once paired, health data from both gym equipment and the Apple Watch syncs up for a more accurate reading.

GymKit is compatible with fitness machines from TechnoGym, Life Fitness, Matrix, Star Trac, Schwinnn, Cybex, and Stairmaster, with Apple eventually planning to cover 80 percent of the fitness equipment market. At the gym where CNET tested GymKit, the feature works with ellipticals, treadmills, stationary bikes, and stair-climbers.

Google security researcher Ian Beer, who works for the Project Zero team, last week highlighted an iOS 11.1.2 exploit called "tfp0," which he believes could be the basis for a future iOS 11.1.2 jailbreak.

Today, Beer released the exploit to the public. He says it should work on all iOS devices running iOS 11.1.2 or below, though he only personally tested iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, and a sixth-generation iPod touch.

What Beer released is not a full iOS 11 jailbreak as some had hoped, but what he's shared could potentially be used to create a jailbreak in the future.

iOS 11.1.2 is no longer the current version of iOS as Apple released iOS 11.2 on December 2, but Apple is still signing iOS 11.1.2 at this time. Apple will likely stop signing the older update in the near future, and its end could come sooner now that further information on the tfp0 exploit has been released.

Jailbreaking iOS devices has dwindled in popularity in recent years, which has led two major Cydia repositories to close. Both ModMy and ZodTTD/MacCiti, which provided apps, themes, tweaks, and more for jailbroken iOS devices, shut down in November. For the time being, iOS 11 continues to be the only major version of iOS that has not been jailbroken.

Google today announced the launch of two new experimental photography apps on iOS, which are designed to allow the company to test technologies like object recognition, person segmentation, stylization algorithms, efficient image encoding and decoding, and more.

Called "appsperiments," the two apps include "Selfissimo" and "Scrubbies." Selfissimo is an automated selfie app that captures a stylish black and white photo each time you change to a new pose, sort of like a photo booth. The app lets you tap to start a photoshoot, and then it encourages you to adopt different poses. Each time it detects a pause in movement, it snaps a photo.

Scrubbies lets you manipulate the speed and direction of video playback to create video loops of action scenes, funny faces, and replay moments. You can shoot a video directly in the app and then use swipe gestures to remix it.

Scrubbies and Selfissimo can both be downloaded from the App Store for free.

Google has also released experimental apps for Android devices, and, since the company say this is the "first installment" of a series, we can expect additional photography apps to be released in the future.

With holiday shopping in full swing, MacRumors has begun another exclusive partnership, this time with Pad & Quill and focusing on the accessory company's iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch product categories. If you're interested, browse from Pad & Quill's accessories in any of these areas, add items to your cart, and then enter the promo code MR15 during checkout to get 15 percent off your order. The code expires on Thursday, December 21 at midnight.

If multiple items are in your cart, the code will take 15 percent off the total cost of your order for all relevant products. The code excludes items from Pad & Quill's leather bags and wallet & accessories categories (note that this covers any bags and portfolios within the MacBook category).

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Pad & Quill. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Pad & Quill is focused on creating high-quality leather and wooden accessories, many of which MacRumors has reviewed over the years. These include the Classic Apple Watch Band, Lowry Cuff for Apple Watch, Timber Catchall and Timber Nightstand for Apple Watch, and Oxford Case for iPad Pro.

These products and more can now be purchased at a discount with our exclusive offer, so we've listed a few below to give you an idea of the savings you can get if you take advantage of the promo code.

• Woodline Case for iPhone X - $42.46, down from $49.95
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Make sure to visit Pad & Quill and browse these items -- and many more -- to place your order before December 21, when the exclusive promo code will expire. Pad & Quill offers free shipping that typically estimates a delivery window of between 2-4 business days after you place the order, but factors like color combinations for certain products can affect delivery dates.

Also of note is a separate offer from Pad & Quill -- which can not be stacked with our exclusive code -- aimed at anyone thinking about spending over $125 on the company's online store this holiday. If you spend $125 or more on an order at Pad & Quill, the company will email you a $25 special gift code for you to use -- or gift -- on your next order. Purchases over $250 get a $50 code and purchases over $400 get a $100 code. This offer lasts until December 17, and any code you receive has to be redeemed before January 31, 2018.

For other sales and exclusive promotions -- including our ongoing 15 percent discount on full-priced Nomad accessories -- head over to the full MacRumors Deals Roundup.