MacRumors

A parliamentary committee in Germany on Wednesday passed an amendment to an anti-money laundering law that would force Apple to open up the NFC chip in iPhones to competing mobile payment providers, according to Reuters. The report claims the law is set to come into effect early next year.

In a statement to Reuters, Apple said it was "surprised" about the sudden decision and expressed security concerns.

"We are surprised at how suddenly this legislation was introduced," an Apple spokesperson said. "We fear that the draft law could be harmful to user friendliness, data protection and the security of financial information."

As noted by German financial website Finanz-Szene, however, there appears to be a provision in the law that could allow Apple to keep the NFC chip locked down. Specifically, it appears that Apple might be able to argue that opening up the NFC chip would put the security of its customers at risk.

A rough translation of the passage:

Exceptionally, the system undertaking is not required to comply with paragraph 1 if there are reasonable grounds for refusal to make the provision available. These exist, in particular, if the system undertaking can demonstrate that the safety and integrity of the technical infrastructure services is specifically jeopardized by the provision of such facilities. The rejection must be reasonably justified.

Earlier this month, the European Union's competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager acknowledged that her department has received "many concerns" over Apple Pay and potential anticompetitive issues. Australia's big banks have also sought open access to the NFC chip on the iPhone in recent years.

Apple today activated its in-store reserve and pickup system for the new 16-inch MacBook Pro in the United States.

This system enables customers to purchase the 16-inch MacBook Pro on Apple.com in advance and select a 30-minute window to pick it up at an Apple Store. The tool can also be used to monitor inventory of the 16-inch MacBook Pro at Apple Stores based on city or ZIP code, with stock available at many locations today.

To check if Apple Stores in your area have stock, head to the 16-inch MacBook Pro page on Apple's website, choose your desired configuration, select "check availability," and enter your city or ZIP code. Note that many custom configurations with upgraded RAM, storage, or graphics are not immediately available for pickup.

If the 16-inch MacBook Pro model that you want is available at your Apple Store today, proceed with ordering and choose the "I'll pick it up" option during the checkout process. You can also choose to have someone else pick up the order.

When you get to the Apple Store, let an employee know you have an order to pick up. Make sure to have a valid government-issued photo ID and your order number on hand. Apple also sometimes provides a QR code that can be added to the Wallet app for convenience and quicker check-in, but this is optional.

Apple may also have 16-inch MacBook Pro stock available for walk-in customers at select stores, but inventory will likely be limited.

For customers who ordered online, 16-inch MacBook Pro deliveries begin today.

In addition to a larger display, the 16-inch MacBook Pro features a new Magic Keyboard with a scissor mechanism and physical Esc key, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 8TB of SSD storage, AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options, upgraded speakers and microphones, and more. Pricing starts at $2,399.

Apple is removing all vaping-related apps from the App Store today, according to Axios, shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,172 lung injury cases linked to e-cigarette or vape products.

In a statement issued to Axios, Apple said it agrees with expert opinions that vaping is a "public health crisis" and a "youth epidemic":

We take great care to curate the App Store as a trusted place for customers, particularly youth, to download apps. We're constantly evaluating apps, and consulting the latest evidence, to determine risks to users' health and well-being.

Recently, experts ranging from the CDC to the American Heart Association have attributed a variety of lung injuries and fatalities to e-cigarette and vaping products, going so far as to call the spread of these devices a public health crisis and a youth epidemic.

We agree, and we've updated our App Store Review Guidelines to reflect that apps encouraging or facilitating the use of these products are not permitted. As of today, these apps are no longer available to download.

Apple had already took a step in this direction in June, when it updated its App Store Review Guidelines to indicate that apps encouraging consumption of vape products are not permitted on the App Store.

Vaping-related apps already installed on iOS devices will continue to function.

Note: This discussion thread is located in our Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Though Apple has not yet come out with a 5G iPhone, the company is expected to lead the 5G smartphone market in 2020, according to a new report today from analytics firm Strategy Analytics.

Apple is expected to capture a dominant share of the emerging 5G market in 2020, following the launch of 5G iPhones. Strategy Analytics believes that Apple simply needs to match its current upgrade rates to dominate the 5G market after September 2020.

"It may seem counterintuitive that Apple, which currently has no 5G phones in its portfolio will be able to pass current 5G market leaders Samsung and Huawei," comments Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics. "But with three new 5G models coming next year, Apple merely needs to match its current upgrade rates for newly introduced iPhone models to take the lead next year."

"Currently Samsung is the undisputed market leader in 5G smartphones," comments Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics. "But with the two largest 5G markets in 2020, China and the USA, dominated by Huawei and Apple respectively, these two vendors are set to lead in 5G next year."

All of the iPhones coming in 2020 are expected to include 5G technology, according to well-respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo originally believed that only the two higher-end iPhones coming in 2020 would support 5G, but later revised his prediction.

Apple will offer 5G speeds for all of its smartphones in order to better compete with lower-cost Android smartphones that support 5G. We're expecting a total of three iPhones in 2020, including a 5.4-inch model, a 6.7-inch model, and a 6.1-inch model.

The 5.4 and 6.7-inch iPhones are expected to be higher-end devices similar to the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, while the 6.1-inch ‌iPhone‌ will feature a lower price tag much like the ‌iPhone‌ 11.

Though Apple is expected to do well in the 5G smartphone market in 2020, Strategy Analytics ultimately believes that Samsung will be the 5G leader longterm due to its "dominance of the overall smartphone market" and broader range of price points.

Huawei's success, meanwhile, is limited by the US trade ban, but it is still expected to be the dominant 5G smartphone provider in China.

For more on Apple's plans for a ‌5G iPhone‌, make sure to check out our guide.

Apple has been struggling to add new subscribers to its Apple News+ service that launched in March, according to a new report from CNBC that cites people familiar with ‌Apple News‌+.

When ‌Apple News‌+ debuted, Apple signed on approximately 200,000 subscribers within 48 hours, but has not had luck attracting many new customers. The subscriber count has not "increased materially from its first couple of days," based on information from CNBC's sources.

‌Apple News‌+, which offers up access to magazines and newspapers for $9.99 per month, was promoted at launch, but Apple has not been heavily marketing it since then. Despite this, Apple is said to be committed to improving ‌Apple News‌ for years to come.

Publishers who thought the service would bring in more revenue are "disappointed" with poor sales. Apple takes 50 percent of the revenue from every ‌Apple News‌+ subscriber, while the rest of the money is doled out to publishers based on the amount of time that subscribers spend reading their content.

One publisher has received between $20,000 and $30,000 per month from ‌Apple News‌+, which is lower than expected. Another publisher told CNBC that while ‌Apple News‌+ revenue growth is lower than anticipated, advertising from the free ‌Apple News‌ product has consistently climbed.

A Bloomberg report from earlier today suggested Apple is considering a bundle that would include Apple Music, Apple TV+, and ‌Apple News‌+ for one monthly price, which could potentially make ‌Apple News‌+ more appealing because other services would be available alongside it. Such a bundle could be released as early as 2020.

Apple today released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro, which were originally released on October 30.

Today's firmware update is labeled as 2B588, up from 2B584, which was the release version of the firmware that the ‌AirPods Pro‌ shipped with.

There's no word on what's included in the firmware update, but it may improve connectivity or resolve other small issues with the earbuds.

The firmware update will install automatically when connecting the ‌AirPods Pro‌ to your iPhone or iPad, and it could take some time for the update to become available for everyone. To check the firmware of your ‌AirPods Pro‌, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌, iPod touch, or ‌iPad‌.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap About.
4. Scroll down to ‌AirPods Pro‌ and tap it.
5. The firmware number is listed under "Firmware Version."

There's no reliable way to force a firmware update on the ‌AirPods Pro‌, so ‌AirPods Pro‌ owners will need to be patient and expect the ‌AirPods Pro‌ to be updated over the course of regular use.

A few months ago, YouTuber and photographer Andrew Levitt teamed up with his friends Jacob Phillips and Taylor Gray on a one-week road trip to try to recreate all of Apple's default wallpapers included in macOS.

Just a few weeks after the video, Apple publicly released macOS Catalina, giving Levitt and his friends one more wallpaper to recreate. The task was more challenging this time, however, as the default macOS Catalina wallpaper showcases the remote, northern tip of Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California.

To get there, Levitt and his friends took a ferry to Catalina Island and hiked over eight hours across the island, complete with camping gear and other supplies.

The trio of friends eventually reached the tip of the island and, despite windy conditions, managed to capture a nearly identical version of the default macOS Catalina wallpaper with a drone.

On the hike back to the ferry terminal, Levitt and his friends were stopped by a police officer and learned that hiking at night on Catalina Island is apparently forbidden. Fortunately, the police officer was kind and merely escorted them back to the other side of the island. All in all, a fascinating video.

Here's the original video:

Follow the creators on Instagram: Andrew Levitt, Jacob Phillips, and Taylor Gray.

Apple today announced it has released its Research app with three studies related to heart and movement, women's health, and hearing. The app is designed to make it easier for iPhone users to contribute to medical research.

iPhone users in the United States can download the free Research app from the App Store and enroll in the multi-year studies starting today. After enrolling in a study, participants using an iPhone or Apple Watch can contribute movement, heart rate, and noise level data captured during everyday activities.

Apple first previewed its Research app and the first three studies back in September:

- Apple Women's Health Study: In partnership with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Apple has created the first long-term study of this scale focused on menstrual cycles and gynecological conditions. This study will inform screening and risk assessment of conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), infertility, osteoporosis, pregnancy and menopausal transition.

- Apple Heart and Movement Study: Apple is partnering with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association on a comprehensive study of how heart rate and mobility signals — like walking pace and flights of stairs climbed — relate to hospitalizations, falls, heart health and quality of life in order to promote healthy movement and improved cardiovascular health.

- Apple Hearing Study: Alongside the University of Michigan, Apple is examining factors that impact hearing health. The Apple Hearing Health Study is the first of its kind to collect data over time in order to understand how everyday sound exposure can impact hearing. The study data will also be shared with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a contribution toward its Make Listening Safe initiative.

Apple COO Jeff Williams:

Today marks an important moment as we embark on research initiatives that may offer incredible learnings in areas long sought after by the medical community. Participants on the Research app have the opportunity to make a tremendous impact that could lead to new discoveries and help millions lead healthier lives.

Apple emphasizes that the Research app was designed to only share data with the chosen studies when the user approves. An enrollment screen explains how data will be used and allows a user to control the type of data shared with each study. Apple says the data collected will never be sold to third parties.

Apple is considering bundling its subscription services as early as 2020, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple News+, according to Bloomberg.

The report indicates that Apple has included a provision in its contract with Apple News+ publishers that permits Apple to bundle News+ with its other services if it desires. The monthly price of the bundle would presumably be lower than the cost of paying for each service separately in a bid to attract more subscribers.

Apple Music and Apple News+ each cost $9.99 per month in the United States, while Apple TV+ is $4.99 per month.

Apple is already experimenting with at least one services bundle. Last month, the company began offering free access to Apple TV+ to students who subscribe to Apple Music. The offer is available for a limited time only.

The report goes on to cite "some media executives" who said the amount of money they have received from Apple News+ so far has been less than expected. On the other hand, some executives are pleased with the service so far, including Los Angeles Times executive editor Norm Pearlstine.

Stanford Medicine today published results from the Apple Heart Study that kicked off in 2017, marking the third time data from the study has been shared (via Reuters and CNBC).

The aim of the study, conducted by Stanford and Apple, was to determine whether the Apple Watch is able to detect atrial fibrillation, which can be an indicator of serious heart health problems. Researchers wanted to determine how well the Apple Watch worked and whether it was safe to use.

A total of 419,297 people in the United States participated in the study, and 0.52 percent of participants (2,161 people) received an irregular heart rhythm notification over 117 days of monitoring. People who received a notification were sent ECG patches to further monitor for heart problems, but quite a few of those went unreturned.

Of the 450 people who returned the patches with data that could be analyzed, atrial fibrillation was present in 34 percent overall and 35 percent of participants age 65 or older. Of those who had an irregular reading and returned a patch, 84 percent of subsequent notifications were determined to be atrial fibrillation.

Among participants who were notified of an irregular pulse, the positive predictive value was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.76 to 0.92) for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular pulse notification and 0.71 (97.5% CI, 0.69 to 0.74) for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular tachogram. Of 1376 notified participants who returned a 90-day survey, 57% contacted health care providers outside the study. There were no reports of serious app-related adverse events.

According to researchers, the low number of warnings in the study indicates that the device does not cause an excess of false notifications in healthy people who wear the watch.

In some cases, atrial fibrillation detected by the Apple Watch was in the early stages of development, and it didn't happen frequently enough for the patch testing to detect it, something that was more prevalent in younger participants.

The study did ultimately determine that the Apple Watch can detect atrial fibrillation. Stanford cardiologist and co-author of the study Dr. Mintu Turakhia said that the trial was overall a success, especially when it came to determining how many people are going to get heart-related notifications from Apple Watch and what those types of notifications mean for patients, doctors, insurers, and more.

Dr. Daniel Cantillon, a Cleveland cardiologist who was not involved, told Reuters that the technology was promising, but more than half of participants were under 40, a group at low risk for atrial fibrillation, leading to concerns about scaring healthy people.

Separately, a New York cardiologist told CNBC that there's a risk of the Apple Watch finding young people who have early signs of atrial fibrillation that the medical community doesn't know how to treat. "We just don't understand atrial fibrillation well in the 35-year-old, otherwise healthy person," he said.

Wessler treats patients who have visited him based on data gathered from the Apple Watch, and he expects those kind of visits to pick up in the future. Should Apple's research continue, Wessler believes it's important to find the right population that's most at risk to use these tools rather than delivering them to a mainstream audience.

The study was overall beneficial, demonstrating the potential for large-scale studies that use a variety of technologies to monitor patients remotely without requiring on-site visits. Since this study kicked off in 2017, it did not use the new Apple Watch models that are able to take ECG readings, instead relying on the standard heart rate sensor.

The full Apple Heart Study published by Stanford Medicine can be read in The New England Journal of Medicine.