MacRumors

LG today announced that its first 2019 OLED TVs with AI ThinQ will be debuting in April. These models, like other TVs in the 2019 lineup, will support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit later this year.

The 65-inch E9 and C9 models will be the first to launch, with additional models and screen sizes coming in May or June. Other LG OLED models will be announced later in the year.

LG's 2019 lineup, first revealed at CES, will be available in screen sizes ranging from 55 inches to 77 inches.

Along with TVs from Samsung, Sony, and Vizio, LG's newest TVs will include ‌AirPlay‌ 2 support. With ‌AirPlay‌ 2 support, LG TV users will be able to beam photos, videos, and music from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the LG TV, similar to how the Apple TV works today.

‌HomeKit‌ support will let users control their television sets using Siri voice commands or the Home app on the ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, or Mac. ‌Siri‌ will be able to be used to do things like play a specific TV show or movie to be AirPlayed to your smart TV.

All of the LG OLED, NanoCell SM9X, NanoCell SM8X, and UHD UM7X television sets from 2019 will work with Apple's services according to Apple's HomeKit website.

Neither TV manufacturers nor Apple have provided a specific timeline for when ‌AirPlay‌ 2 and ‌HomeKit‌ will be made available on smart television sets, but LG recently said that it expects to enable the features through a mid-year upgrade.

The next iPhone XS Max and possibly ‌iPhone‌ XS will feature a triple-lens rear camera system within a square bump like the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, according to Japanese blog Mac Otakara, citing information from Chinese suppliers. The report includes a few renders of what the new design could look like.

The renders are largely consistent with earlier ones shared by OnLeaks, who also expects at least one 2019 ‌iPhone‌ to have a triple-lens rear camera. One difference is that the camera lenses are more symmetrically aligned in the renders above, whereas the lenses are asymmetrical in the OnLeaks render below.

The Wall Street Journal in January reported that the next iPhone XS Max will feature a triple-lens camera, with the next ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XR featuring dual-lens rear cameras. However, ‌Mac Otakara‌ says there is a high probability of a triple-lens camera on both the next ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max.

‌Mac Otakara‌'s sources claim Apple is readying official ‌iPhone‌ cases with "large holes" on the back, presumably for the square bump.

Many other sources have backed up the triple-lens camera rumor, including the well-connected Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman. Apple would be following in the footsteps of Android smartphone makers like Samsung and Huawei by adding a third lens, which should result in improved 3D sensing and other benefits.

Apple is expected to stick with 5.8-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.5-inch displays for its 2019 ‌iPhone‌ lineup, with other rumored features including frosted glass casing, larger batteries, and bilateral charging of other devices like AirPods.

Apple today responded to Spotify's recent complaint with the European Commission over its App Store practices in a press release, referring to it as "misleading rhetoric." Apple adds that Spotify "seeks to keep all of the benefits of the App Store ecosystem" but "without making any contributions to the marketplace."

The intro of Apple's press release:

We believe that technology achieves its true potential when we infuse it with human creativity and ingenuity. From our earliest days, we've built our devices, software and services to help artists, musicians, creators and visionaries do what they do best.

Sixteen years ago, we launched the iTunes Store with the idea that there should be a trusted place where users discover and purchase great music and every creator is treated fairly. The result revolutionized the music industry, and our love of music and the people who make it are deeply engrained in Apple.

Eleven years ago, the App Store brought that same passion for creativity to mobile apps. In the decade since, the App Store has helped create many millions of jobs, generated more than $120 billion for developers and created new industries through businesses started and grown entirely in the App Store ecosystem.

At its core, the App Store is a safe, secure platform where users can have faith in the apps they discover and the transactions they make. And developers, from first-time engineers to larger companies, can rest assured that everyone is playing by the same set of rules.

That's how it should be. We want more app businesses to thrive — including the ones that compete with some aspect of our business, because they drive us to be better.

What Spotify is demanding is something very different. After using the App Store for years to dramatically grow their business, Spotify seeks to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem — including the substantial revenue that they draw from the App Store's customers — without making any contributions to that marketplace. At the same time, they distribute the music you love while making ever-smaller contributions to the artists, musicians and songwriters who create it — even going so far as to take these creators to court.

Spotify has every right to determine their own business model, but we feel an obligation to respond when Spotify wraps its financial motivations in misleading rhetoric about who we are, what we've built and what we do to support independent developers, musicians, songwriters and creators of all stripes.

Apple goes on to rebut each of Spotify's accusations listed on its Time to Play Fair website on a point-by-point basis.

Apple says the only time it has rejected Spotify app updates is when Spotify has tried to sidestep the ‌App Store‌ rules. Apple also says it has reached out to Spotify about Siri and AirPlay 2 support on several occasions and approved the Spotify app on Apple Watch with the same process and speed as any other app.

Apple adds that "Spotify wants all the benefits of a free app without being free," noting that the "majority of customers use their free, ad-supported product, which makes no contribution to the ‌App Store‌."

Spotify wouldn't be the business they are today without the App Store ecosystem, but now they're leveraging their scale to avoid contributing to maintaining that ecosystem for the next generation of app entrepreneurs. We think that's wrong.

Apple says the only requirement for developers is that any digital goods and services be purchased inside the app using Apple's in-app purchase system. Apple takes a 30 percent cut of revenue for the first year of an annual subscription, but says Spotify left out that it drops to 15 percent in the years after.

Apple concludes by saying it shares Spotify's goal of sharing music but has a different view of how to achieve that goal. Apple takes aim at Spotify "suing music creators" after a decision by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board requiring increased royalty payments, calling it "just wrong," although Spotify already disputed that allegation.

Qualcomm owes Apple close to $1 billion in rebate payments a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of California said in a preliminary ruling today, siding with Apple in the ongoing Apple vs. Qualcomm legal battle.

Qualcomm, ruled the judge, is obligated to make the rebate payments to Apple as they were part of a business agreement between the two companies.

Today's ruling is unrelated to the patent trial that wrapped up this week and instead pertains to Apple's rebate lawsuit against Qualcomm. Two years ago, Apple sued Qualcomm and said that the chip company had been refusing to pay patent royalty rebates mandated by the agreement.

As explained by Reuters, Apple's suppliers would pay Qualcomm royalties to use Qualcomm's patented technology in iPhones, which Apple would reimburse. Qualcomm and Apple had an agreement that said Qualcomm would pay Apple a rebate on these iPhone patent payments if Apple did not attack it in court or with regulators.

Qualcomm said that it stopped making the required royalty payments to Apple because Apple broke the agreement by urging smartphone makers to complain to regulators and by making "false" statements to the Korean Fair Trade Commission, which was, at the time, investigating Qualcomm for antitrust allegations. Apple in turn said that it was providing lawful responses to Korean regulators as part of the ongoing investigation.

Apple was in the right according to the preliminary ruling, and Qualcomm should have continued to make the royalty payments. In a statement to Reuters, Qualcomm commented on the judge's decision.

"Although the Court today did not view Apple's conduct as a breach of Apple's promises to Qualcomm in the 2013 Business Cooperation and Patent Agreement, the exposure of Apple's role in these events is a welcome development."

Today's ruling was preliminary, and it won't be finalized until the two companies meet in court for the rebate lawsuit, which is set to begin next month. Reuters says that it is unlikely Qualcomm will make a new payment to Apple as Apple's contract factories have already withheld nearly $1 billion in payments to Qualcomm as a way for Apple to recoup its money.

Apple and Qualcomm have been embroiled in an increasingly bitter legal battle for more than two years now, with the fighting spanning multiple countries and covering everything from royalty payments to patent infringement. Right now, Apple and Qualcomm are awaiting the U.S. trial for the rebate dispute and the results of the recent patent infringement trial.

Apple today shared a new privacy-focused iPhone ad on its YouTube channel. The ad will premiere tonight and air through March Madness in the United States before expanding to select other markets globally.

The 45-second video starts with the tagline "privacy matters" and then shows a variety of humorous if not slightly awkward situations where people would want their privacy protected in everyday life. In one scene, for example, two men briefly pause their conversation while a waitress is at their table.

"If privacy matters in your life, it should matter to the phone your life is on," the ad concludes. "Privacy. That's ‌iPhone‌."

The ad arrives around six weeks after a major FaceTime bug was uncovered that allowed one person to call another person over FaceTime and listen to that other person's audio without the call being answered. Apple fixed the bug in iOS 12.1.4 and apologized, but it certainly wasn't good for its reputation.

Apple similarly promoted its privacy stance with a billboard near CES 2019 in Las Vegas that read "what happens on your ‌iPhone‌, stays on your ‌iPhone‌."

Bugs aside, Apple really does place an emphasis on privacy, especially compared to some other tech giants like Facebook. Apple has long said it believes privacy is a "fundamental human right," and as part of that, it aims to minimize its collection of customer data and disassociate it from an individual user when it does.

Apple is warning customers who receive unsolicited phone calls claiming to be from the Apple Store at The Americana at Brand shopping complex in Glendale, California, as fraudsters appear to be posing as representatives of the store as part of a phishing scheme aimed at stealing customer information.

The following automated message plays when calling Apple The Americana:

Apple is aware that some customers are receiving unsolicited calls claiming to be from this Apple Store. If you receive an unsolicited call, you should not provide any information to the callers. For more information on cybercrime and ways to protect your computer, visit www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber. Also, if you feel you have been a victim of fraud, please contact your local police. If you would like help changing your Apple ID password, please visit support.apple.com.

Apple did not immediately respond to our question asking if any customer information has been compromised, but it did point us to a previous instance of this warning at its River Park Square store in Spokane, Washington in October 2017.

In that case, the local CBS affiliate KREM 2 reported that customers in Spokane received phone calls from a number that appeared to be the local Apple Store, advising they talk to a "support advisor" who informed customers about a false "breach in cloud security" in an attempt to steal their information.

Our understanding is that Apple temporarily adds this automated message to stores associated with an increase in fraudulent behavior in an effort to protect customers. Apple is far from the only company affected by phishing schemes and offers several tips on how to avoid being victimized.

Apple advises customers who receive an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Apple to hang up and contact Apple directly.

This is an opportune moment to remind everyone that phishing attacks can also be in the form of emails, so be very careful when you receive an email that claims to be from Apple, especially if prompted to provide your password or other information. Be sure to contact Apple if you are uncertain about any email.

Apple's online refurbished store is now offering discounted versions of the 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Radeon Pro Vega graphics, allowing the higher-end machines to be purchased at a discount.

Apple announced plans to add AMD's Radeon Pro Vega graphics to its ‌MacBook Pro‌ lineup in October when the new MacBook Air models were announced. ‌MacBook Pro‌ models with the new options were able to be purchased in November.

Only the higher-end 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ can be upgraded with the Radeon Pro Vega 16 (+$250) or Radeon Pro Vega 20 (+$350), so purchased new, machines with the new graphics options are priced starting at $3,049.

Apple has a wide selection of ‌MacBook Pro‌ models with Radeon Pro Vega 16 and 20 graphics available. One of the most affordable options, which is a Core i9 model with the Radeon Pro Vega 16, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD, is priced at $2,849, a $500 discount.

A base level Core i7 model with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and the Radeon Pro Vega 20 is even cheaper at $2,679, a $470 discount.

There are a number of ‌MacBook Pro‌ configurations available with different RAM, SSD, and processor upgrades, all of which are equipped with the new graphics cards. With the wide range of configurations available, people looking for a discounted ‌MacBook Pro‌ with the Radeon Pro Vega should be able to find what they're seeking with today's update.

Apple even has a maxed out ‌MacBook Pro‌ with Core i9 processor, 32GB RAM, Radeon Pro Vega 20, and 4TB SSD for $5,989, a discount of $1,060.

Apple's refurbished stock does fluctuate, however, so available stock of refurbished ‌MacBook Pro‌ models could sell out quickly. Apple refreshes the refurbished store on a regular basis, and it can be handy to keep an eye on a tool like Refurb Tracker to find specific configurations.

All of the available ‌MacBook Pro‌ models are listed on Apple's refurbished site.

Purchasing a refurbished ‌MacBook Pro‌ from Apple is a good way to get a like-new device at a lower price point. All of Apple's refurbished products are tested, certified, cleaned, and guaranteed with a one-year warranty that can be extended with AppleCare+.

Apple today announced that its 30th annual Worldwide Developers Conference will begin on Monday, June 3 and last through Friday, June 7, with the conference set to be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.

Developers are able to register to attend starting this morning. As Apple has done for many years, WWDC attendees will be selected using a lottery system because of the popularity of the conference.

Apple is pricing tickets at $1,599, and only developers who win the aforementioned ticket lottery will be able to purchase a ticket to attend.

To enter the lottery, developers must have been a member of the Apple Developer Program or the Apple Developer Enterprise Program as of March 14, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Registration will be open until March 20, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, and developers who win a ticket will be notified by March 21 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

"WWDC is Apple's biggest event of the year. It brings thousands of the most creative and dedicated developers from around the world together with over a thousand Apple engineers to learn about our latest platform innovations and to connect as a community," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Our developers are incredibly passionate about creating the next generation of mind-blowing experiences for the world through apps. We can't wait to get together with them and share what's next."

Developers who are chosen through the WWDC ticket lottery will be notified later in March. Apple is also making up to 350 WWDC Student Scholarships available to students and members of STEM organizations. Scholarships include a free WWDC ticket, free lodging, and a free one-year membership to the Apple Developer Program. Those who want to win a scholarship will need to create an interactive Swift Playground that can be experienced within three minutes. Apple is taking applications until Sunday, March 24, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. PDT, with scholarship winners to be notified by Monday, April 15.

Apple's WWDC keynote is used to introduce new software, to debut new hardware products, and to allow the company to network with developers from around the world. This year, we are expecting Apple to introduce iOS 13, macOS 10.15, tvOS 13, and watchOS 6.

The keynote event will be held on June 3, which is when we'll get our first look at the new operating systems. Right now, it's not known if new hardware will make a debut, but we are waiting on news about Apple's upcoming high-end modular Mac Pro. Additional details about what we can expect to see will undoubtedly surface as the June conference date approaches.

Apple has been holding its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose since 2017, and the event always takes place right around the same time in June.

Developers who are not chosen to attend the conference will be able to live stream it through the Apple Developer website or the dedicated WWDC app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.