MacRumors

Right to Repair advocates continue to lobby the U.S. government, arguing that large tech companies like Apple are monopolizing repairs of consumer electronics in order to preserve profits, reports Axios.

In testimony before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law last month, Nathan Proctor of the non-profit U.S. Public Interest Research Group claimed that "repair hurts sales," giving Apple "an incentive to restrict repair of their devices."

Similarly, in a letter submitted to the subcommittee last month, The Repair Association's executive director Gay Gordon-Byrne wrote that "manufacturers have no reasons for blocking repair other than money," referring to the "monopolization of repair" as a "huge profit opportunity."

In March, California became the 20th state to introduce Right to Repair legislation in the U.S., according to iFixit. Apple representatives have continually opposed these bills, which if passed would require companies to make repair parts, tools, and documentation available to the public.

In a statement, an Apple spokesperson told Axios that Apple's goal is to ensure its products are "repaired safely and correctly," while touting the company's growing network of Apple Authorized Service Providers:

We want to make sure our customers always have confidence their products will be repaired safely and correctly, and in a way that supports recycling. We are continually growing our network of certified technicians and most recently announced that any Best Buy store in the U.S. is now an authorized service provider.

Apple Authorized Service Providers have access to certified parts and service guidelines from Apple. There are over 1,800 of these authorized locations in the United States, which Apple said is "three times as many locations as three years ago." As of June, that includes every Best Buy store in the country.

Right to Repair legislation aims to make these parts and documentation available to independent shops and customers directly.

Apple today highlighted various app prototypes that educators came up with during five weeklong Teacher Coding Academies it held this summer. The workshops were part of Apple's Community Education Initiative, which introduces coding opportunities to underrepresented communities across the United States.

Educators from nearly 70 institutions attended the first of these academies in Houston, Austin, Boise, Nashville, and Columbus, according to Apple, presenting prototypes of their apps to various community organizations. Together, the educators and community organizations plan to continue working on the apps.

Examples:

In Boise, the teachers designed an app to help the police department better serve and communicate with the city's homeless population, connecting the community to open shelter beds and food banks.

In Austin, teachers focused on Ronald McDonald House, a charity that provides housing for families whose children are receiving critical medical care. In this case, they created an app prototype to help families communicate with the charity during their stay.

And in Columbus, the educators devised an app that helps firefighters log and monitor the amount of time they were exposed to dangerous carcinogens while on the job.

Learn more about the educators and their app prototypes on the Apple Newsroom.

The Apple Watch accounted for close to half of all smart watches shipped in the second quarter of 2019, according to a new report shared this afternoon by Strategy Analytics.

Apple shipped an estimated 5.7 million smart watches worldwide during the quarter, earning it 46 percent marketshare and its continued position as the number one smart watch company.

Apple shipped 5.7 million smartwatches worldwide in Q2 2019, rising an above-average 50 percent from 3.8 million in Q2 2018. Apple Watch remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack and its global smartwatch marketshare has grown to 46 percent this quarter, up from 44 percent a year ago. Apple Watch has fended off strong competition from hungry rivals like Fitbit. Apple remains the clear smartwatch market leader.

There were 12.3 million smart watches shipped in total in the second quarter of 2019. Apple's closest competitor Samsung shipped 2 million smart watches, while Fitbit, the number three smart watch vendor, shipped 1.2 million smart watches.

Apple Watch shipments were significantly up year over year in the second quarter of 2019, with Apple having shipped 3.8 million smart watches in the second quarter of 2018. Apple's growth mirrors the overall growth in the smart watch market, which was up from 8.6 million units in Q2 2018.

Apple does not break down Apple Watch sales, instead including Apple Watch revenue in a Wearables, Home, and Accessories category, so Strategy Analytics' numbers are estimates.

During Apple's recently earnings call for the third fiscal quarter of 2019 (second calendar quarter), Apple CEO Tim Cook said that wearables had an "absolute blowout" quarter with growth well over 50 percent. The Apple Watch set a new June quarter revenue record and reached millions of new users during the quarter.

An upcoming change in iOS 13 that limits data collection practices using VoIP APIs will impact apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, forcing them to be redesigned, reports The Information.

Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp allow users to make calls over the internet, and to listen for those calls, the apps run in the background of an iPhone or iPad so calls can connect quickly. While running in the background, the apps are also able to collect data, something that Apple is putting a stop to in iOS 13.

Background access for apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp will be restricted solely to internet calls going forward, with no background data collection available.

Sources that spoke to The Information said that this change will force Facebook to redesign its messaging apps, and that it could have a "particularly heavy impact" on WhatsApp. WhatsApp apparently uses the internet calling feature for multiple other functions, including its end-to-end encryption.

Other messaging app developers that have used the internet calling feature to keep apps running in the background on iOS devices will also need to rebuild their apps. This will include apps like Snapchat, WeChat, and more.

Facebook told The Information that Facebook was not collecting data through its calling feature.

"The changes to the upcoming iOS releases are not insignificant, but we are in conversations with Apple on how best to address," the spokesperson said. "To be clear--we are using the PushKit VoIP API to deliver a world-class, private messaging experience, not for the purpose of collecting data."

Facebook says that it is having conversations with Apple on how to address the coming changes in iOS 13. Apple is making the change in iOS 13, but developers will have until April 2020 to comply with the new rules.

Apple says that the change will better protect user privacy and will result in performance improvements for iOS devices as background app usage for this purpose can drain system resources and shorten battery life.

With the Apple Card now available in a preview capacity to some customers, Apple has released everything from tutorial videos to support documents, giving us more insight into how the card works.

We've had countless questions from people who use software and apps like Mint and Quicken about whether or not the ‌Apple Card‌ will support financial services, and the answer is no, not at this time.

In a support document on how the ‌Apple Card‌ works, Apple says exporting data from ‌Apple Card‌ is not a feature offered at this time. From the document: "Exporting data from ‌Apple Card‌ to a financial app like Mint is not currently supported."

As financial apps like Mint and software like Quicken are popular with many people, it's possible that Apple will add support for exporting data in the future. Right now, ‌Apple Card‌ data and transactions can be viewed and managed only on the iPhone and the iPad, with no web support available.

The support document also includes details about viewing spending activity, viewing your monthly balance, seeing total spending each week or month, reviewing transactions, and reporting issues. Apple also has a support doc covering applying for Apple Card.

For more on ‌Apple Card‌, make sure to check out our Apple Card guide, which we're in the process of updating with the new information that we've learned today.

‌Apple Card‌ is available in a beta capacity for some users and will see a wider rollout later this month.

Apple Card, Apple's credit card that began rolling out to some beta testers and members of the media this week, uses Mastercard for processing payments.

Since it uses Mastercard's network, the ‌Apple Card‌ is able to take advantage of benefits offered to Mastercard card holders, as pointed out by TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino, one of the early testers.

Mastercard's website offers a list of benefits available to ‌Apple Card‌ users, including fraud protection, identity theft protection, and a free ShopRunner membership that offers free two-day shipping from some websites.

Other benefits include Mastercard's travel discounts and upgrades, Mastercard's exclusive "special events," Mastercard golf offerings, and home rental discounts via Onefinestay, all of which are available to all Mastercard users.

Purchase protection and extended warranties offered by some credit cards as benefits are not available with the ‌Apple Card‌. ‌Apple Card‌'s main benefit is its Daily Cash program, which offers between 1 and 3 percent cash back on purchases, with money sent out each day shortly after a purchase is made.

Also of interest to potential ‌Apple Card‌ customers is a new base annual percentage rate (APR). When ‌Apple Card‌ was announced, Apple said that it would offer an APR between 13.24 percent and 24.24 percent based on credit score. Following the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates last Wednesday, the APR for Apple card has changed.

As noted by The Verge's Nilay Patel, the base APR for purchases is now 12.99%, while the maximum APR is 23.99%.

For those who are applying to ‌Apple Card‌ and who may have frozen their credit, Goldman Sachs handles card approvals and uses TransUnion for credit checks. You'll need to unfreeze your TransUnion credit to be approved for ‌Apple Card‌.

‌Apple Card‌ customers should be aware that the ‌Apple Card‌ must be managed using an iPhone or iPad as there is no web component to the card.

A random selection of people who signed up to be notified about ‌Apple Card‌ are being invited to sign up for the ‌Apple Card‌ today, with a full rollout coming later this month. For more on how ‌Apple Card‌ works, make sure to check out our Apple Card guide.

Apple's widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro will be powered by Intel's 9th-generation Coffee Lake Refresh processors, in line with the 15-inch MacBook Pro released in May, according to IHS Markit analyst Jeff Lin.

If accurate, this means the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ will be configurable with up to an 8-core Core i9 processor with a 2.4GHz base clock speed and a max Turbo Boost frequency of 5.0GHz. The lineup also includes 6-core Core i7 processors. All of the chips are 45W with integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630.

Notably, this would mean that Apple isn't yet ready to use Intel's latest 10th-generation Ice Lake processors. These chips might not have been powerful enough for the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, as there are currently no 6-core or 8-core options, and they have low TDPs ranging between 9W and 15W.

Rumors suggest the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ will feature an all-new design with narrower bezels and a more reliable scissor mechanism keyboard. In a research note obtained by Forbes, Lin said the 16-inch display will have 227 pixels per inch, in line with a previously rumored 3,072×1,920 resolution.

Lin believes the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ will enter production in September, setting the stage for a fall release, but there is still some debate as to whether Apple will unveil the notebook in September or October. In the fall, Apple typically unveils new Macs in October, but it could always break with tradition.

There is some speculation that the 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ may be discontinued shortly after the 16-inch model launches, but TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said the 15-inch model will be refreshed in 2020.

Apple Card got its first group of public test users today. A limited number of customers who signed up on Apple's website to be notified about the release of ‌Apple Card‌ are now able to apply for the card in their Wallet app as well as order a physical ‌Apple Card‌ (via TechCrunch).

Sign-up invites for ‌Apple Card‌ Preview are going out to a random selection of people who signed up to be notified about ‌Apple Card‌. Apple hasn't disclosed exactly how many people are part of its preview rollout, but a full rollout of ‌Apple Card‌ is expected later this month.

The ‌Apple Card‌ signup process on iPhone asks for your address, birthday, income level, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. This information is sent to Goldman Sachs, which approves or declines the application in less than a minute. Once the card is approved it shows up immediately in the Wallet app.

TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino, who has been using ‌Apple Card‌ for a few days, called the card's app interface "multiples better to use than most card apps," thanks to spending categories and clear transaction names (including logos in some cases).

The card on the screen has a clever mechanism that gives you a sort of live heat map of your spending categories. The color of the card will shift and blend according to the kinds of things you buy. Spend a lot at restaurants and the card will take on an orange hue. Shop for entertainment related items and the card shifts into a mix of orange and pink. It's a clever take on the chart based spending category features many other credit cards have built into their websites.

The Verge's Nilay Patel also received a physical titanium card early and had this to say about it.

"I got to hold the card itself and it is very nice, although it is fairly thick and felt a little bit heavier than the typical metal credit card. You can use the card without your phone nearby like any other card, but it doesn’t support contactless payments — Apple obviously wants you to use your phone or watch for that."

Apple Card is limited to the United States at the current time, but may expand to additional countries in the near future. Apple is already in talks with European regulators, and has trademarked ‌Apple Card‌ in Europe, Hong Kong, and Canada.

‌Apple Card‌ is a no fee credit card. There are no annual fees, international fees, fees for making a late payment, or fees for exceeding your credit limit, which means there are no penalty rates for missing a payment.

As part of its ‌Apple Card‌ Preview, Apple has also shared a series of videos via its YouTube channel explaining how to set up and use ‌Apple Card‌ on ‌iPhone‌.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said last Tuesday that the ‌Apple Card‌ will launch in August, so the full rollout could be coming any day now. Goldman Sachs last week made its Customer Agreement available providing more detail on the ‌Apple Card‌. For questions about how everything will work, make sure to check out our Apple Card guide.