MacRumors

Apple's totally wireless Powerbeats Pro earphones became available to pre-order May 3 in the United States and Canada, with the first deliveries to customers beginning last Friday. The earphones are initially available in black only, with ivory, moss, and navy colors set to become available this summer.

While the black ‌Powerbeats Pro‌ remain listed as "coming soon" on Apple's online store elsewhere, recently updated fine print on the Beats website indicates that the earphones will begin their worldwide rollout later in May and June.

‌Powerbeats Pro‌ will be available to pre-order in black later in May in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, followed by Australia, Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Austria, Italy, Spain, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico, and Brazil in June, according to the fine print.

As in the United States and Canada, the additional colors will then become available later this summer in most of the other countries listed above, although Apple cautions that color availability is subject to change.

‌Powerbeats Pro‌ shipments are already considerably backlogged, with orders placed today estimated for delivery between June 5 and June 12 in the United States. Only the earliest of customers who pre-ordered have already received their earphones, with many more deliveries set to continue this week.

‌Powerbeats Pro‌ are Apple's first totally wireless Beats earphones, equipped with the same H1 chip as the second-generation AirPods for hands-free "Hey Siri" and faster connection speeds between the iPhone, Apple Watch, and other devices.

Like the Powerbeats3, the ‌Powerbeats Pro‌ feature adjustable, secure-fit ear hooks and earbud tips with four size options. They're essentially sportier AirPods, complete with a durable design and sweat resistance. They'll last up to nine hours per charge, with more battery life via an included charging case.

‌Powerbeats Pro‌ are priced at $249.95 in the United States, $329.95 in Canada, £219.95 in the United Kingdom, and $349.95 in Australia.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 against Apple in an anticompetitive case involving the App Store, allowing iPhone users to move forward with their class action lawsuit against the company, as first reported by CNBC.

From the Supreme Court's ruling:

In this case, however, several consumers contend that Apple charges too much for apps. The consumers argue, in particular, that Apple has monopolized the retail market for the sale of apps and has unlawfully used its monopolistic power to charge consumers higher-than competitive prices.

A claim that a monopolistic retailer (here, Apple) has used its monopoly to overcharge consumers is a classic antitrust claim. But Apple asserts that the consumer plaintiffs in this case may not sue Apple because they supposedly were not "direct purchasers" from Apple under our decision in Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U. S. 720.

We disagree. The plaintiffs purchased apps directly from Apple and therefore are direct purchasers under Illinois Brick. At this early pleadings stage of the litigation, we do not assess the merits of the plaintiffs' antitrust claims against Apple, nor do we consider any other defenses Apple might have. We merely hold that the Illinois Brick direct-purchaser rule does not bar these plaintiffs from suing Apple under the antitrust laws. We affirm the judgment of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The lawsuit was filed in 2011 by a group of ‌iPhone‌ users who believe Apple violates federal antitrust laws by requiring apps to be sold through its ‌App Store‌, where it collects a 30 percent commission from all purchases, leading to inflated prices as developers pass on the cost of the commission to customers.

In other words, the ‌iPhone‌ users believe that apps would be priced lower outside of the ‌App Store‌, as Apple's 30 percent cut would not be baked in to prices.

The lawsuit was initially dismissed in 2013 by a California district court due to errors in the complaint, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit revived the case in 2017. Apple then appealed with the Supreme Court.

From the start, Apple has argued that it doesn't set prices for paid apps, and that charging a 30 percent commission on the distribution of paid apps and in-app purchases does not violate antitrust laws in the United States. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief in support of Apple.

Update: Apple has issued a statement (via John Packzowski) regarding the decision:

Today's decision means plaintiffs can proceed with their case in District court. We're confident we will prevail when the facts are presented and that the App Store is not a monopoly by any metric.

We're proud to have created the safest, most secure and trusted platform for customers and a great business opportunity for all developers around the world. Developers set the price they want to charge for their app and Apple has no role in that. That vast majority of apps on the App Store are free and Apple gets nothing from them. The only instance where Apple shares in revenue is if the developer chooses to sell digital services through the App Store.

Developers have a number of platforms to choose from to deliver their software — from other apps stores, to Smart TVs to gaming consoles — and we work hard every day to make our store is the best, safest and most competitive in the world.

The Supreme Court's full ruling is embedded ahead.

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Just four months ahead of September, when Apple typically unveils new iPhones, leaks and rumors are starting to surface fast and frequently.

The latest comes courtesy of Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who tweeted a photo of alleged case molds for a trio of upcoming iPhones over the weekend. If accurate, the molds suggest that all three 2019 models will feature a large square camera bump, as seen in many leaks to date.

‌iPhone‌ molds like these are typically created based on design specifications and dimensions that leak out of the factories of Apple manufacturing partners such as Foxconn, allowing third-party accessory makers to prepare properly-fitting cases ahead of time, but they are not always accurate.

The rumored design of the camera bump has proven quite controversial since it was first leaked by OnLeaks in January, with many criticizing the look of both the bump itself and the positioning of the camera lenses within the bump.

It is unclear why Apple would use the square bump for the next ‌iPhone‌ XR if rumors about it having a dual-lens rear camera are accurate, as the existing pill-shaped bump used on the ‌iPhone‌ X, ‌iPhone‌ XS, and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max would seem sufficient, but perhaps it is merely for consistency.

It's worth noting that the camera design might end up being not quite as polarizing as seen in renders, as rumors suggest that Apple plans to apply a special black coating on some of the lenses that could help them blend into the bezel.

Last week, Gurman said the third camera on the next ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max will be an ultra-wide-angle lens that enables a broader range of zoom. The second lens on the next ‌iPhone‌ XR is expected to enable increased zoom as well. The new cameras are also expected to power new augmented reality capabilities.

Apple has shared a new ad titled "Up Late" on its YouTube channel that promotes the iPhone XR having the "longest battery life in an ‌iPhone‌ ever."

The 30-second spot shows various people falling asleep while using an ‌iPhone‌, including a parking attendant streaming an Inter Milan game, a woman laying on a couch and playing a game, and a man sitting on the end of a bed and watching a baby monitor, setting up the tagline "you'll lose power before it will."

"‌iPhone‌ XR has the longest battery life in an ‌iPhone‌ ever," the video description reads. "So whether you're streaming video, watching live sports or playing a game, you'll lose power before your ‌iPhone‌ XR will."

The ad is set to the soundtrack "Stay Awake" by Julie Andrews from the classic musical fantasy film "Mary Poppins."

Despite being cheaper than the ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max, the iPhone XR does in fact have the longest battery life of any iPhone ever thanks to its large 6.1-inch size and more power efficient LCD versus the OLED displays in the latter two devices.

Mobile leaker Ben Geskin shared images on Twitter of the consumer packaging of the new Apple credit card coming from Apple. Geskin reports some Apple employees are already starting to get the card which was announced in March.

In the images, the actual Apple employee's name was replaced by Geskin's to protect their identify. The packaging shows a similar pairing process as the AirPods, with instructions to "Wake iPhone and hold here."

The Apple Card resides both digitally in your ‌iPhone‌ for Apple Pay payments but also comes in a physical form made entirely of titanium. The card is laser etched with your name and does not have the card number or expiration date printed on it. Instead, those numbers will be available on your ‌iPhone‌'s Wallet App. There's still a traditional magstripe on the back, along with a built-in chip for chip and pin purchases. The ‌Apple Card‌ is expected to launch this summer.

Apple's colorful iPhone XR lineup comes in a total of six colors, offering plenty of options for users to choose one that best suits their preferences. This year's successor to the ‌iPhone‌ XR will similarly be available in six colors, but Mac Otakara says Apple will be tweaking a couple of the options.

According to the report, the 2019 ‌iPhone‌ XR will be available in new Green and Lavender colors, which will replace the current Coral and Blue colors. The other current colors of White, Black, Yellow, and (PRODUCT)RED will continue to be offered on the next-generation models.

‌Mac Otakara‌ also claims to have some information on cases for the next-generation ‌iPhone‌ XS and XS Max models, indicating that silicone cases for the new models will likely come in White, Black, (PRODUCT)RED, and shades similar to the current Spearmint and Mellow Yellow cases, as well as one that's close to the current Lilac leather case.

Apple today shared a humorous new privacy-focused video on its YouTube channel, which is designed to highlight the end-to-end encryption feature in the Messages app.

In the minute-long video, a woman is at a nail salon getting a pedicure, and she's receiving iMessages and cracking up at them over and over again. The viewer is never given a look at what she's seeing that's so funny, which emphasizes the fact that messages are private.

The end of the video features the tagline "iMessage encrypts your conversations because not everyone needs to be in on the joke."

Apple has shared several other privacy-focused videos in recent months, including a "Privacy Matters" spot and a video that highlights limited ad tracking in Safari.

Back in January, there was a major FaceTime bug that allowed a person to force a FaceTime connection with another person, providing access to the user's audio and sometimes video even when the ‌FaceTime‌ call was not accepted.

The bug led to a lawsuit from Houston lawyer Larry Williams II, who claimed that the vulnerability allowed an unknown person to listen in on sworn testimony during a client deposition.

Williams filed his lawsuit in January, just a day after the bug was publicized, and yesterday, a court ruled in Apple's favor and dismissed the case. The court did not find Williams' argument that the ‌FaceTime‌ vulnerability was "unreasonably dangerous" to be valid, nor did the court believe that he provided sufficient evidence to prove that Apple knew of the defect.

Williams's petition does not allege facts about any available alternative design. He fails to allege facts about the iOS 12.1 software as to whether the defect that allegedly allowed a third party to "eavesdrop" on his group FaceTime call was "unreasonable" for the product's ordinary use. Williams's generalized allegation that the iOS 12.1 software was "unreasonably dangerous" and caused him injury falls short of the Rule 8 threshold.

Williams's petition recites the pleading elements, but it does not allege facts that could show Apple's knowledge of the defect or that Apple could reasonably have foreseen that an unknown third party would listen to Williams's group FaceTime call without his permission.

Williams's claim also fails because he did not state facts that could show that Apple's alleged negligent design or manufacture of the iOS 12.1 software proximately caused his injury.

In the lawsuit, Williams had requested unspecified punitive damages for negligence, product liability, misrepresentation, and warranty breach.

The ‌FaceTime‌ eavesdropping bug was perhaps one of the most serious issues that have affected Apple products in recent history.

There was no way to avoid the malicious ‌FaceTime‌ calls, which exploited a Group ‌FaceTime‌ vulnerability. Apple disabled Group FaceTime server side and kept it unavailable until an update could be released to fix the issue.

The vulnerability was officially addressed in iOS 12.1.4, released in February, and Group ‌FaceTime‌ remains unavailable on all versions of iOS 12 released prior to 12.1.4. Full document on Scribd.

Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited an Apple Store in Orlando, Florida to meet with 16-year-old Liam Rosenfeld, one of 350 scholarship winners who will be attending Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference next month.

Echoing comments he shared with the Orlando Sentinel, Cook told TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino that it is "pretty impressive" what Rosenfeld is accomplishing with code at such a young age, serving as a perfect example of why he believes coding education should begin in the early grades of school.

"I don't think a four year degree is necessary to be proficient at coding" says Cook. "I think that's an old, traditional view. What we found out is that if we can get coding in in the early grades and have a progression of difficulty over the tenure of somebody's high school years, by the time you graduate kids like Liam, as an example of this, they're already writing apps that could be put on the App Store."

Cook made similar comments during an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting at the White House earlier this year.

While in Florida, Cook attended a conference that saw SAP and Apple announce an expanded partnership focused on new enterprise apps taking advantage of technologies like machine learning and augmented reality.

Despite all of the technological advancements in recent years, Cook told Panzarino that many businesses have not "changed a whole lot" and are "still using very old technology." With more solutions like those from SAP and Apple, and tech-savvy employees of the future like Rosenfeld, that could change.

"I think what it is is they haven't embraced mobility. They haven't embraced machine learning. They haven't embraced AR. All of this stuff is a bit foreign in some way. They're still fixing employees to a desk. That's not the modern workplace," Cook says. "People that graduate from high school and get a little experience under their belt can do quite well in this job."

The full interview can be read on TechCrunch with an Extra Crunch subscription or in the Apple News app with an ‌Apple News‌+ subscription.

WWDC 2019 begins June 3 in San Jose.

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming iOS 12.3 update to developers, a few days after releasing the fifth beta and over a month after the launch of iOS 12.2, an update that introduced Apple News+, new Animoji, and more.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.3 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3 introduce a new version of Apple's TV app, which has been updated with a new look and fresh functionality.

In the new TV app, "Watch Now" and "Up Next" are still front and center for keeping track of what you're watching, but there's a new machine learning-based recommendation engine that will suggest content based on your viewing preferences and history.

The app's interface has been streamlined with sections for movies, TV shows, sports, and kids content, and on iOS, there's a separate bottom bar for the library, search, and Watch Now options.

There's a new "Channels" feature in the TV app, which is one of the major new components of Apple's services push. Channels are subscription services that you can sign up for and watch within the TV app without having to open up another app.

So, for example, if you come across a show you want to watch on your iPhone or Apple TV that's on Showtime or Starz, you can tap to subscribe right in the TV app, and then you can watch that show without having to open another app.

Some of the new Channels that will be supported include CBS All Access, Starz, Showtime, HBO, Nickelodeon, Mubi, The History Channel Vault, and Comedy Central Now. During the beta, though, users can subscribe to Showtime, Starz, Smithsonian, EPIX, and Tastemade.

You'll still get recommendations for content from services that aren't a part of the Channels feature, but non-channel content will need to be watched in a third-party app. The TV app also houses iTunes TV shows and movies.

When Apple debuts its ‌Apple TV‌+ service this fall, all of the company's original TV shows and movies will also be accessible in the TV app.

Apple has said that it plans to release the updated TV app in May, so this is potentially the last beta we'll get before iOS 12.3 is launched to the public.

Apple is widely expected to unveil three new iPhone models in the fall, and ahead of time, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu have shared several expectations for the devices. While many of the details have already been rumored, this is still worthwhile corroboration from two reputable reporters.

• All three iPhones will look similar to the current versions beyond additional cameras, including triple-lens rear camera systems on both the next iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max and a dual-lens rear camera system on the next iPhone XR, each housed within a square camera bump.
  

• The next ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max will be "about half a millimeter thicker."
  

• The third camera on the next ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max will be an ultra-wide-angle lens that enables a broader range of zoom. The second rear camera on the next ‌iPhone‌ XR will enable increased zoom as well.
  

• All three iPhones will be powered by a faster A13 chip, designed by Apple and manufactured by TSMC. Early test production began in April and mass production could begin as early as this month.
  

• All three iPhones will have a feature that lets users charge the latest AirPods and other devices by placing them on the back of the devices.
  

• Apple is working on an "auto-correction feature" to "fit people back into a photo who may have been accidentally cut out."

Apple should announce the next ‌iPhone‌ XS, ‌iPhone‌ XS Max, and ‌iPhone‌ XR models in September, but their names are not known yet. They have been variously referred to as ‌iPhone‌ 11 or ‌iPhone‌ XI models.