MacRumors

Apple's production plans for the so-called "iPhone SE 2" or "‌iPhone‌ 9" next month could face disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak that has caused more than 100 deaths in China, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

The vast majority of Apple's iPhones are made in China, by Foxconn in Zhengzhou and by Pegatron at an assembly plant near Shanghai. Both of the locations are more than 500 kilometers away from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, but Gurman suggests the distance "doesn't immunize them from its effects," and analysts he spoke to agreed.

"I can't imagine a scenario where the supply chain isn't disrupted," said veteran industry analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy. "If there's one major hiccup in the raw materials, fabrication, assembly, test, and shipping, it will be a disruption."

Apple typically launches its flagship smartphones around September, so the coronavirus shouldn't affect those plans, but Apple is also reportedly prepping a new low-cost iPhone that's set to be released during the first half of 2020 – possibly as early as March – which puts those mass production plans "more at risk," says Gurman.

Apple has booked orders for up to 65 million of its older iPhones and up to 15 million units of the "‌iPhone‌ 9," according to the Nikkei Asian Review. Mass production of the new low-cost ‌iPhone‌ is reportedly due to start in the third week of February.

Confirmed cases of the coronavirus are rising in Henan province, where the Zhengzhou facility is located, and that could lead Foxconn or the government to close factories to prevent further contamination, according to Bloomberg's Matthew Kanterman.

Foxconn said it is monitoring the situation in China and following all recommended health practices. It declined to comment on production in specific locations but said, "We can confirm that we have measures in place to ensure that we can continue to meet all global manufacturing obligations."

Gurman notes that Apple dual-sources many of its components to mitigate the impact of extreme scenarios like the coronavirus. As such, a major immediate impact to its production plans is unlikely for now, according to a person familiar with its operations.

Over the weekend, Apple chief Tim Cook said in a tweet that the company intends to donate money in support of groups in China fighting the outbreak of the Coronavirus. A coronavirus is a family of viruses that include the common cold, but this particular virus causes severe acute respiratory infection and has never been detected before.

The United States Federal Communications Commission today cleared the way for OnGo [PDF], a wireless product spearheaded by the Citizens Broadcast Radio Service Alliance (CBRS) that aims to use the 3.5GHz band for a range of applications, including improving data speeds and connectivity across the United States on both 4G and 5G networks.

The CBRS Alliance announced that the FCC has allowed the Full Commercial Deployment of the OnGo service, which has been in the works since 2013 when the FCC first began pursuing a shared spectrum model for the 3.5GHz band.

Many major companies and government agencies came together as part of the CBRS Alliance to launch OnGo, including AT&T, Ericsson, Intel, Nokia, Samsung, Qualcomm, the FCC, the NTIA, the Department of Defense, and more, with the alliance boasting more than 159 members in total.

The 3.5GHz CBRS band will allow for new 4G and 5G operations, which the National Telecommunications and Information Administration says will create "tremendous value" for the United States by opening up capacity and coverage for 4G networks and facilitating the rollout of 5G.

Prior to the opening up of the 3.5GHz spectrum for commercial uses, it was used by the Department of Defense for shipborne radar systems. Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) networks built along the coast will reserve spectrum for ship radar systems, dynamically reassigning standard users to other parts of the band.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said that the 3.5GHz band will benefit both consumers and businesses through agreements with CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google, and Sony who are now fully approved to operate commercial services in the band.

The FCC has made it a priority to free up mid-band spectrum for advanced wireless services like 5G. And today, I'm pleased to announce the latest step to achieve that priority: the approval of four systems that will enable the 3.5 GHz band to be put to use for the benefit of American consumers and businesses. As with all of our efforts to execute on the 5G FAST plan, we're pushing to get next-generation wireless services deployed in the 3.5 GHz band as quickly and efficiently as possible.

OnGo is the name that the CBRS Alliance is using for the 3.5GHz spectrum. The CBRS Alliance says that OnGo empowers new business opportunities in workplaces, in public spaces where consumers will be able to use the spectrum, and for machine-to-machine communications or sensors for enabling a smarter infrastructure.

In simpler terms, OnGo facilitates private LTE networks, offers better performance than Wi-Fi, provides spectrum without cost that can be used for a multitude of purposes, allows wireless carriers to add coverage and capacity and improve data, and it boosts IoT connectivity in the longer-range level currently limited to Low-Power Wide Area Networks.

Apple's newest iPhones, including the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, already support OnGo, or CBRS Band 48, and ‌iPhone‌ users could be seeing OnGo benefits in the near future. Verizon, for example, is a customer of Federated Wireless, one of the companies authorized to use the spectrum. Federated Wireless has already said that it plans to initiate CBRS services for more than 20 of its major customers in both urban and rural markets.

Along with the ‌iPhone‌, other major smartphones also work with CBRS Band 48, including Samsung's Galaxy S10 devices and Google's Pixel 4 smartphones.

Apple has all kinds of fanciful patents for imaginative devices that will likely never come to fruition, such as an iMac-like desktop computer made entirely of glass, which was shared last week in a patent published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple's patent describes an electronic device with an upper portion that serves as a display area, a lower portion that serves as an input area, and a transitional section that connects the two halves for a "continuous curved surface between the upper portion and the lower portion."

The lower section of the device rests on the desktop and is used for holding input devices, while the larger flat area serves as the display, with a stand at the back for propping it up and holding it in place. Given the thinness of the all-glass curved design of the Mac, the stand that holds it in place would be able to house necessary components and would also be able to be positioned differently to adjust the angle of the display.

The glass between the two sections of the device is described as flexible and able to change in angle between the display area and the input area. The input area is said to extend along a portion of the display area to form a "touchscreen-style display," and functionality such as wireless charging for other devices or data transfer capabilities could be included.

Apple separately describes multiple embodiments of the design, including one with a detachable, removable keyboard that fits over the lower portion of the glass design, which, when in place, allows the glass to detect the keystrokes.

An electronic device comprising: a slumped glass housing member defining: a continuous exterior surface of the electronic device; and an opening extending through the slumped glass housing member; a support structure coupled to the slumped glass housing member and configured to support the slumped glass housing member; a display coupled to an upper portion of the slumped glass housing member; and a keyboard having: a storage configuration in which the keyboard is positioned at least partially within the opening; and a use configuration in which the keyboard is extended from the opening.

This portion of the patent also highlights a camera that could be built into the glass of the enclosure, using an "optically transmissive material." Apple says that the design outlined in the patent could be made of glass, but the housing could also feature plastic or ceramic, as long as the material is light-transmissive.

The material for the design could have special features like scratch resistance, wireless charging support, or it could be able to allow touch and force to be detected through it. Apple also says biometric sensing capabilities could be included, detecting everything from fingerprints to heart rate, blood oxygenation levels, and temperature.

Because the patent describes both an "electronic device" and a "desktop computer," it suggests that this same design could be used for Macs or potentially an iOS device like an iPad. The patent goes into great detail about possible designs and functions, and further reading is available in the application on the US Patent and Trademark Office website.

Apple hasn't redesigned the iMac in some time, and although the patent appears to describe an iMac-like desktop computer, this probably isn't the implementation that we're going to see when Apple ultimately debuts a new ‌iMac‌ enclosure. Apple patents all manner of devices that never make it to production, but with curved glass and foldable devices becoming more popular, there is a possibility that we could see some of the functionality described in this patent at some point in the future.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) today announced the upcoming launch of its next-generation infotainment system, Uconnect 5. The new version of Uconnect has been rebuilt from the ground up on an Android platform with a number of new features including wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, a familiar-yet-revamped user interface, support for up to five user profiles for customization, Alexa support, improved voice control, and more.

We've been fans of the current Uconnect 4 infotainment system and the way it nearly seamlessly blends ‌CarPlay‌ into the native system, and making ‌CarPlay‌ wireless will no doubt make that experience even better. Many of the other improvements in Uconnect 5 such as enhanced customizability, faster hardware performance, and new features and services should also make for a better user experience.

The award-winning Uconnect system offers new conveniences, keeping customers engaged and informed all while keeping their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are currently available on more than 80 percent of FCA's North American applications. Uconnect 5 will bring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to 100 percent of FCA's North American offerings. The feature also adds wireless connectivity, allowing customers to wirelessly project phone apps quick and easy, while leaving phones securely stowed.

Wireless ‌CarPlay‌ has so far been largely limited to a handful of luxury brands like BMW, Audi, and Porsche, with some aftermarket systems also supporting it, but more mainstream manufacturers are on the verge of adding wireless Carplay as they launch major updates to their infotainment technology. Ford announced last October that its SYNC 4 system will support wireless ‌CarPlay‌ in select vehicles, and now FCA is following suit with its family of brands including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and more.

FCA has yet to announce exactly when and on which models Uconnect 5 will first launch, but it should start rolling out later this year.

U.S. App Store customers spent $3.6 billion on the top 100 subscription apps of 2019, up 16 percent from the $3.1 billion spent in 2018, according to the latest report from Sensor Tower. The total spent on subscription apps was 24 percent of the $15.3 billion that the store generated from user spending overall last year.

Owing to its ad-free premium service, YouTube was the top subscription app on the U.S. ‌App Store‌, followed by dating app Tinder. During 2019, YouTube crossed the $1 billion milestone through in-app user spending alone.

On Google Play in the U.S. in 2019, users spent more than $1.1 billion in the top 100 grossing subscription apps on the platform, up 42 percent year-over-year from the $775 million spent in 2018. However, the ‌App Store‌ still leads in consumer spending, with $3.6 billion versus Google Play's $1.1 billion, according to the report.

Across both the Apple ‌App Store‌ and Google Play, U.S. subscription app revenue reach over $4.6 billion in 2019, up 21 percent from the $3.8 billion generated by the top 100 subscription apps last year. The subscription revenue accrued by these apps is said to have accounted for 19 percent of the total $24 billion in U.S. consumer spend in 2019.

According to Sensor Tower, the top 10 subscription apps on iOS and Android devices grew by 10 percent in 2019, but the No. 11 to No. 100 apps grew by 35 percent in the same period of time, indicating that the subscription model is also helping the less popular apps earn more recurring revenue.

Despite their growth, subscription-based apps tend to divide the user community. Apple began incentivizing developers to sell their apps for a recurring fee instead of a one-time cost when it made changes to its ‌App Store‌ subscription policies in 2016. Usually, Apple takes 30 percent of app revenue, but developers who are able to maintain a subscription with a customer longer than a year see Apple's cut drop down to 15 percent.

In late 2017, Apple began letting developers offer discounted introductory pricing and time-limited free trials on auto-renewable app subscriptions, based on the idea that subscriptions provide a higher likelihood of an engaged audience.

Apple is likely to announce iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and a new rumor claims the next major version of iOS will support the same iPhone models as iOS 13, while iPadOS 14 will trim its compatible devices list.

According to French site iPhoneSoft.fr, iOS 14 will continue to support the ‌iPhone‌ SE, the ‌iPhone‌ 6s and ‌iPhone‌ 6s Plus, and all newer devices that Apple has released since. That would include the following:

The site qualifies its claim by suggesting the list is not final, and that the ‌iPhone‌ SE and ‌iPhone‌ 6s could get bumped off it because of the introduction of Apple's next-generation ‌iPhone‌ 12 models, expected in September, and the so-called "‌iPhone‌ 9" or "‌iPhone‌ SE 2" that's rumored to be arriving as early as this March.

Over on the iPad front, the site's source claims that Apple will drop support for the iPad mini 4, originally released in September 2015, and the iPad Air 2, released in October 2014. That would leave the following devices supported by iPadOS:

This isn't the first time iPhoneSoft.fr has made predictions about the device compatibility list of future iOS versions. In May 2019, the French blog claimed iOS 13 would drop support for the ‌iPhone‌ SE, but that turned out to be incorrect. However, it did accurately predict that iOS 13 would not support the ‌iPhone‌ 5s, ‌iPhone‌ 6 and ‌iPhone‌ 6 Plus.

Apple is likely to prioritize access to services in iOS 14, with Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News and Apple Music becoming ever more important revenue streams for the company, so it would make sense for Apple's mobile software to continue supporting a wide range of devices.

Rumors suggest Apple will add a laser-powered time-of-flight 3D rear camera to the next iPad Pro models and the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, which will bring significant improvements in augmented reality experiences.

These new hardware capabilities are also likely to feature prominently in iOS 14. Whether that means it will still be practicable to maintain compatibility with the same devices as iOS 13 remains to be seen.

Apple has shared a new video in its ongoing "Shot on iPhone" series, showing off the photographic capabilities of the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro.

Shot in the British Columbia Interior, Canada, the video features past and present Winter X Games competitors snowboarding down slopes and valleys at Baldface Lodge.

Follow past and present Winter X Games snowboarding competitors Red Gerard, Danny Davis, Kimmy Fasani, and Ben Ferguson as they explore untouched powder in the backcountry of the British Columbia Interior at the legendary Baldface Lodge.

Apple has shared dozens of "Shot on ‌‌iPhone‌‌" photos and videos over the course of the last several years, updating the content with the launch of each new ‌‌iPhone‌‌ model.

Apple's ‌‌‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro‌‌, which is used for the newest ad, features a triple-lens camera with the best wide-angle sensor Apple has released so far along with a telephoto lens and a super wide-angle lens for better landscape shots.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Steve Jobs unveiling the iPad at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. It was one of the last major products that he unveiled before his death in 2011.

Jobs argued that there was room for a new device category between the smartphone and the laptop, but only if that device was superior at some tasks. He then introduced the iPad as exactly that, referring to it as a "magical and revolutionary device" for browsing the web, reading and sending email, viewing photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading ebooks, and more.

"iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price," said Jobs. "iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

The original iPad featured a 9.7-inch display, a single-core Apple A4 processor, up to 64GB of storage, 256MB of RAM, an advertised 10 hours of battery life, Bluetooth 2.1, a 30-pin dock connector, and a headphone jack. Wi-Fi-only models started at $499 in the United States, while models with both Wi-Fi and 3G cellular connectivity started at $629. Notably, the original iPad lacked cameras.

At only 0.5 inches thick and weighing just 1.5 pounds, Apple said the iPad was thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook at the time.

Apple released the iPad on April 3, 2010 and, one day later, the company announced that it had already sold over 300,000 iPads. When unveiling the iPad 2 in March 2011, Jobs gave an update on this figure, revealing that Apple sold nearly 15 million iPads during its first nine months of availability.

Over the last decade, a new generation of the iPad has been released every year, with several new features and design changes along the way. We've recapped some of the bigger milestones in the device's history below:

• March 2011 — iPad 2: 33% thinner, up to 15% lighter, dual-core Apple A5 processor, front and rear cameras, and new white color option
• March 2012 — Third-generation iPad: Retina display, 4G LTE, Apple A5X processor, and 1080p video recording
• October 2012 — Fourth-generation iPad: Lightning connector and Apple A6X processor
• October 2012 — iPad mini: 7.9-inch display
• October 2013 — iPad Air: 64-bit Apple A7 processor, 20% thinner and 28% lighter than the fourth-generation iPad, and slimmer bezels
• October 2014 — iPad Air 2: Touch ID, fully-laminated Retina display, and Apple A8X processor
• September 2015 — iPad Pro: 12.9-inch Retina display, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support, Apple A9X processor, and four speakers
• March 2017 — Fifth-generation iPad: $329 starting price with 9.7-inch Retina display and Apple A9 processor
• June 2017 — Second-generation iPad Pro: ProMotion refresh rate of up to 120Hz, Apple A10X Fusion chip, and slimmer bezels
• March 2018 — Sixth-generation iPad: $329 starting price with Apple Pencil support and Apple A10 processor
• October 2018 — Third-generation iPad Pro: Major redesign with slimmer bezels, Face ID, USB-C connector, Apple A12X Bionic processor, up to 1TB of storage, and second-generation Apple Pencil support
• September 2019 — Seventh-generation iPad: 10.2-inch Retina display and full-sized Smart Keyboard support

Looking ahead, rumors suggest that Apple will refresh its iPad Pro lineup as early as March. A key new feature is expected to be a triple-lens rear camera system with advanced 3D sensing for augmented reality.

Apple must pay $85 million in royalties to Canadian patent holding company WiLan for infringing patents related to wireless communications, a jury in San Diego has ruled (via Bloomberg).

The two patents relate to making phone calls while simultaneously downloading data. In August 2018, a different jury said Apple infringed the patents and awarded WiLan $145 million, but a retrial was ordered to reconsider the damages.

At the previous retrial in January 2019, the court agreed that Apple had infringed on the patents. However, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw accepted Apple's argument that the method WiLan had used to calculate the appropriate royalty rate was flawed.

Sabraw urged the Quarterhill company to accept reduced damages of $10 million or prepare for another trial to figure out how much Apple needed to pay. WiLan chose another trial.

WiLan came to the latest royalty figure of $85 million based on iPhone sales. Apple unsuccessfully argued in court papers that the Ottawa-based holding company hadn't provided enough evidence to help the jury determine it was entitled to anything.

WiLan describes itself as "one of the most successful patent licensing companies in the world." Apple's legal dispute with WiLan started back in 2010, when WiLan claimed Apple violated one of its Bluetooth related products.

Representatives for Apple and Microsoft will be participating in a meeting with the Carin Alliance that's focused on making it easier for patients to access and share their medical information, reports CNBC.

The meeting will focus on efforts to push a rule change proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services that would promote medical data interoperability.

Ricky Bloomfield, a member of Apple's health team who formerly served as Duke University's Director of Mobile Strategy, will participate in the meeting by phone, according to a list of attendees published today [PDF].

Those who are in support of the change want to modernize patient access to data, as it continues to be common for medical facilities to provide health records via CD or Fax, which makes it difficult for people to switch providers and healthcare systems. From a PDF describing talking points for the meeting:

It's imperative to note how important and time sensitive aggregated health information across multiple provider and health plan systems can be for patients going through catastrophic events. This information is essential for patients as they consider options such as treatment planning, consenting to surgical procedures, exploring and enrolling in clinical trials, and matters of continuity of care, examples including expediting an urgent second opinion, appealing insurance denials for standard of care treatments prescribed by patient's board-certified physicians, as well as having all pertinent information when it comes to advance care planning, palliative care, and matters of end of life. Data access is a matter of patient safety, better outcomes, improved costs, and often life or death.

Apple has been working to make health data more accessible for patients with its Health Records feature that is designed to allow iOS users to access their medical records from participating hospitals and medical providers. Apple has partnered with hundreds of providers in the United States, allowing iPhone users to sync their medical data to the iOS Health app.