When you receive a PDF document by email that you must sign, the process of printing out the file, signing on the dotted line with a pen, scanning the signed document and sending it back can be a rather tedious task. Fortunately, Apple has added the ability to electronically sign a PDF document using Preview, a program that comes preinstalled on every Mac running OS X Lion or later.
The steps involved to electronically sign a PDF using Preview on Mac are quite simple and will save you valuable time, especially if you have multiple documents, contracts, forms or other paperwork to sign. If you are worried that your virtual signature will look bad, rest assured that you can create your signature by using the trackpad or holding up your signature on paper to a Mac's built-in iSight camera.
Today is the official launch date of the new Nike+ Apple Watch Series 4 models, which were available for pre-order on September 14 alongside other Apple Watch Series 4 models, but had a later release timeline.
We got our hands on one of the new Nike+ Apple Watches this morning to show off the custom watch faces and the new reflective bands that Apple has designed.
Design wise, the Nike+ Apple Watches are identical to Apple's standard aluminum Apple Watch Series 4 models, with aluminum casings and Ion-X glass covering the display.
Nike+ Apple Watches are also priced the same and come in 40 and 44mm size options, but colors are limited to silver and space gray aluminum.
There are two perforated Sport Bands and two new Sport Loops made with a reflective fabric, which is a new option this year. The Nike+ model in our video is the 44mm Space Gray version with a Black Nike Sport Loop.
According to Apple, the new Nike Sport Loops are woven with a reflective thread that's meant to shimmer when the light strikes it for more peace of mind when running at night, but in our testing, it was pretty muted.
These reflective bands are exclusive to the Nike+ Apple Watch right now and can't be purchased separately.
In addition to the unique bands, Apple Watch Nike+ models also feature exclusive Nike+ watch faces that are not available on other Apple Watch models. There's a digital watch face and an analog watch face, both of which can be customized with different colors.
The new Nike+ Apple Watch models can be purchased from Apple at prices starting at $399 for the 40mm GPS version and $429 for the 44mm GPS version. LTE models cost $100 more.
Orders placed today from the Apple online store in the U.S. will not ship out until early November, but some retail locations do have stock for immediate pickup.
Nike+ Apple Watches are available in Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Macau, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, the U.K., and the U.S.
AnandTech, known for in-depth reviews of new Apple products, today published a lengthy review of the iPhone XS and XS Max, Apple's newest flagship iPhones.
AnandTech's review takes a deep dive into the A12 chip in the two smartphones, which is the first commercially available 7nm silicon.
Image of A12 SoC via TechInsights with labeling by AnandTech
According to AnandTech, the A12 chip features a major revamp of the neural accelerator, a redesigned system cache that features the "biggest change since its introduction in the A7," significant changes to the CPU core, and memory compression for the GPU, all of which has led to impressive performance improvements.
Based on SPECint2006 benchmarking, the A12 performed an average of 24 percent better than the A11 in the previous-generation devices. When it comes to power efficiency, the A12 improved by 12 percent, but with memory heavy workloads, power consumption was up, for an average power usage of ~3.36W on the A11 to 3.64W on the A12.
SPECfp benchmarking saw average performance gains of 28 percent, and again, workloads with major improvements also resulted in increased power consumption.
AnandTech's benchmarking tests suggest that the A12's Vortex cores and architectural improvements offer a "much higher performance advantage than Apple's marketing materials promote." Apple's A12 beat the best Android SoCs both in performance and power efficiency.
The contrast to the best Android SoCs have to offer is extremely stark - both in terms of performance as well as in power efficiency. Apple's SoCs have better energy efficiency than all recent Android SoCs while having a nearly 2x performance advantage. I wouldn't be surprised that if we were to normalise for energy used, Apple would have a 3x performance efficiency lead.
AnandTech says that it's "quite astonishing" how close the A12 and the previous-generation A11 are to desktop CPUs, with "very small margins until Apple’s mobile SoCs outperform the fastest desktop CPUs in terms of ST performance."
As part of the review, AnandTech also offered a look at how Apple has improved performance in older devices by tweaking scaling performance. The A9 in the iPhone 6s, for example, took 435ms for the CPU to reach maximum frequency, but that time was cut to 80ms in iOS 12 for a "great boost to performance in shorter interactive workloads."
Similar improvements were made to the A10 (going from a 400ms ramp up time to 210ms), but there was little change to the A11.
All in all, AnandTech said the iPhone XS and XS Max are a "big shift" for Apple's lineup with a "beast of an SoC" that's offering performance improvements of up to 40 percent.
Apple's marketing department was really underselling the improvements here by just quoting 15% - a lot of workloads will be seeing performance improvements I estimate to be around 40%, with even greater improvements in some corner-cases. Apple's CPU have gotten so performant now, that we're just margins off the best desktop CPUs; it will be interesting to see how the coming years evolve, and what this means for Apple's non-mobile products.
The full iPhone XS and XS Max review from AnandTech is well worth checking out for those who would like to get a deeper technical look at the components inside the two new devices. It goes into much greater detail on the CPU and GPU in the iPhone XS and XS Max, while also taking a look at the camera, battery, display, and other components.
Apple's recently retired general counsel Bruce Sewell told Reuters he called the FBI's then-general counsel James Baker last year after being told by Bloomberg of an open investigation into Supermicro, and was told that nobody at the federal law enforcement agency knew what the story was about.
"I got on the phone with him personally and said, 'Do you know anything about this?," Sewell said of his conversation with Baker, reports Reuters. "He said, 'I've never heard of this, but give me 24 hours to make sure.' He called me back 24 hours later and said 'Nobody here knows what this story is about.'"
Sewell's comments are consistent with a statement Apple shared with Bloomberg Businessweek and on its Newsroom on Thursday:
On this we can be very clear: Apple has never found malicious chips, "hardware manipulations" or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server. Apple never had any contact with the FBI or any other agency about such an incident. We are not aware of any investigation by the FBI, nor are our contacts in law enforcement.
Also from Apple's Newsroom:
No one from Apple ever reached out to the FBI about anything like this, and we have never heard from the FBI about an investigation of this kind — much less tried to restrict it.
Apple later clarified that it is not under any kind of gag order or other confidentiality obligations after speculation mounted.
Amazon and Supermicro have also refuted the Bloomberg Businessweek report, with the latter company claiming it has "never been contacted by any government agencies either domestic or foreign regarding the alleged claims."
The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has also backed Apple's and Amazon's denials of the Bloomberg Businessweek report, which claimed Chinese spies planted tiny chips the size of a pencil tip on server motherboards manufactured by Supermicro, which were used in Apple data centers and elsewhere.
"We are aware of the media reports but at this stage have no reason to doubt the detailed assessments made by AWS and Apple," the agency, a unit of the GCHQ, said in a statement provided to Reuters today.
"The NCSC engages confidentially with security researchers and urges anybody with credible intelligence about these reports to contact us."
Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday reported that Apple discovered the suspicious microchips around May 2015, after detecting odd network activity and firmware problems. Two senior Apple insiders were cited as saying the company reported the incident to the FBI, but kept details tightly held.
The insiders cited in the report said in the summer of 2015, a few weeks after Apple identified the malicious chips, the company started removing all Supermicro servers from its data centers. Every one of the 7,000 or so Supermicro servers was replaced in a matter of weeks, according to one of the insiders.
One government official cited in the Bloomberg Businessweek report said China's goal was "long-term access to high-value corporate secrets and sensitive government networks." No consumer data is known to have been stolen, the report added, but the extent of the alleged attack appears to be unclear.
At this point, there is a clear divide between what Bloomberg is reporting and the denials from Apple, Amazon, and Supermicro. In the coming days, additional information will hopefully provide some clarity about the matter.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, 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.
Southern Straps offers a range of high-quality leather and colored nylon Apple Watch bands on its website. The black leather band is crafted from a single piece of supple, full grain Italian leather, which the company says has not been sanded, buffed, or snuffed, leaving it with an attractive, unblemished finish.
To ensure a deep, long lasting black, the strap has been dyed with vegetable dye and it features hand stitching with waxed cord. All of Southern Straps' leather bands feature a two-year warranty against manufacturing damage.
The black leather band fits all Apple Watch models, including the new Apple Watch Series 4 models. Southern Straps offers its leather bands with lugs to match all Apple Watch finishes, including black, silver, and gold.
Southern Straps' leather bands are reasonably priced at $79, but we have 15 to give away to MacRumors readers. To enter to win our giveaway, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
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a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (October 5) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 12. The winners will be chosen randomly on October 12 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
When the first iPhones launched with wireless charging capabilities, many of the first wireless charging accessories designed for the new devices were the plain, flat wireless charging pads.
Now that companies have had time to innovate and come up with more efficient charging solutions, we're seeing more and more upright wireless charging stands, like iOttie's new iON Wireless Charging Stand.
Upright wireless charging stands offer several benefits over the flat wireless charging options, and are by far my favorite charging solutions for the iPhone X and new iPhone XS models. With a wireless charging stand, it's impossible to place the iPhone at the wrong position for charging to start automatically, which is not the case with flat charging solutions.
When I'm using a flat pad, I have on multiple occasions put the iPhone a little bit left or right of the center of the built-in charging coil, which means it won't charge. Then I have to adjust multiple times and double check to make sure everything is lined up.
With the little shelf that's available on upright stands, there's basically no room for error when positioning the iPhone, so it's better for peace of mind, especially when charging an iPhone on a wireless charger at night. And, in addition to the no-hassle charging, upright stands offer the benefit of being able to look over and see the iPhone's screen at a glance.
iOttie's iON Wireless Stand, like its flat charger, is one of the more unique wireless charging accessories I've run into. It's actually almost identical in design to the iON Fast Charging Pad Plus and the iON Fast Charging Pad Mini, but it's a stand instead of a pad.
EU Code Week runs from October 6-21, and during the event Apple will offer more than 2,000 free coding sessions, with at least one free session every day in every Apple store in Europe. Like previous Today at Apple events, these sessions are open to all customers, and Apple says they are designed to help people of all ages and skill levels learn to code.
Sessions include "How To: Get Started with Coding," "Teacher Tuesdays: App Design & Coding Basics," and "Kids Hour: Sphero Maze Challenge."
“Coding is a critical skill that gives people of all ages the chance to create and share their ideas with the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple has long believed coding is the language of the future, and we’ve created a range of tools to make it fun and accessible for everyone. We’re thrilled to offer thousands of sessions in Apple stores for EU Code Week, and can’t wait to share our love for coding with young people and educators across Europe.”
Additionally, schools and coding organizations across Europe will be able to offer their own Swift workshops through Apple's Everyone Can Code curriculum and the new coding challenges created for EU Code Week. One Swift Playgrounds app challenge is the "Incredible Code Machine," and is designed for entry-level coders.
In the press release announcing its participation in EU Code Week, Apple touted a few milestones in the Swift coding language and Today at Apple coding sessions. According to the company, over 75,000 attendees have taken part in more than 14,000 coding sessions at Apple stores in Europe over the past year. Apple also says that there are now 1.5 million jobs across Europe attributable to the company's iOS app economy.
Interested users in Europe can find local coding sessions on the Code Week website and on Apple.com.
Saudi Arabia would become at least the 30th region where Apple Pay is officially available. Apple Pay is also set to launch in Germany later this year, as Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed on the company's earnings call in late July.
Apple Pay first launched in the United States in October 2014, and has since expanded to many other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China, Singapore, Switzerland, France, Japan, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland, Ireland, and Ukraine.
The United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre has backed Apple's and Amazon's denials of a Bloomberg Businessweek report that claimed Chinese spies planted tiny chips the size of a pencil tip on motherboards manufactured by Supermicro, which both Apple and Amazon used at one time in data center servers.
"We are aware of the media reports but at this stage have no reason to doubt the detailed assessments made by AWS and Apple," the agency, a unit of the GCHQ, said in a statement provided to Reuters today.
"The NCSC engages confidentially with security researchers and urges anybody with credible intelligence about these reports to contact us," it added.
Apple was a Supermicro customer for several years, using its servers to power the likes of iCloud, Siri, and the App Store, although it severed ties with the company in 2016 due to a previously-reported and allegedly unrelated incident in which Apple discovered an infected driver on a single server in one of its labs.
Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday reported that Apple discovered the suspicious microchips around May 2015, after detecting odd network activity and firmware problems. Two senior Apple insiders were cited as saying the company reported the incident to the FBI, but kept details tightly held.
The insiders cited in the report said in the summer of 2015, a few weeks after Apple identified the malicious chips, the company started removing all Supermicro servers from its data centers. Every one of the 7,000 or so Supermicro servers was replaced in a matter of weeks, according to one of the insiders.
One government official cited in the Bloomberg Businessweek report said China's goal was "long-term access to high-value corporate secrets and sensitive government networks." No consumer data is known to have been stolen, the report added, but the extent of the alleged attack appears to be unclear.
Apple denied Bloomberg Businessweek's report in a strongly-worded statement:
Over the course of the past year, Bloomberg has contacted us multiple times with claims, sometimes vague and sometimes elaborate, of an alleged security incident at Apple. Each time, we have conducted rigorous internal investigations based on their inquiries and each time we have found absolutely no evidence to support any of them. We have repeatedly and consistently offered factual responses, on the record, refuting virtually every aspect of Bloomberg's story relating to Apple.
On this we can be very clear: Apple has never found malicious chips, "hardware manipulations" or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server. Apple never had any contact with the FBI or any other agency about such an incident. We are not aware of any investigation by the FBI, nor are our contacts in law enforcement.
In response to Bloomberg's latest version of the narrative, we present the following facts: Siri and Topsy never shared servers; Siri has never been deployed on servers sold to us by Super Micro; and Topsy data was limited to approximately 2,000 Super Micro servers, not 7,000. None of those servers has ever been found to hold malicious chips.
As a matter of practice, before servers are put into production at Apple they are inspected for security vulnerabilities and we update all firmware and software with the latest protections. We did not uncover any unusual vulnerabilities in the servers we purchased from Super Micro when we updated the firmware and software according to our standard procedures.
We are deeply disappointed that in their dealings with us, Bloomberg's reporters have not been open to the possibility that they or their sources might be wrong or misinformed. Our best guess is that they are confusing their story with a previously-reported 2016 incident in which we discovered an infected driver on a single Super Micro server in one of our labs. That one-time event was determined to be accidental and not a targeted attack against Apple.
While there has been no claim that customer data was involved, we take these allegations seriously and we want users to know that we do everything possible to safeguard the personal information they entrust to us. We also want them to know that what Bloomberg is reporting about Apple is inaccurate.
Apple has always believed in being transparent about the ways we handle and protect data. If there were ever such an event as Bloomberg News has claimed, we would be forthcoming about it and we would work closely with law enforcement. Apple engineers conduct regular and rigorous security screenings to ensure that our systems are safe. We know that security is an endless race and that's why we constantly fortify our systems against increasingly sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals who want to steal our data.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, 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.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has tweeted in memory of his former boss and mentor Steve Jobs, who passed away on October 5, 2011. Today marks the seventh anniversary of the Apple co-founder's death. He was 56 years old.
"Steve showed me—and all of us—what it means to serve humanity," tweeted Cook, alongside a photo of Steve.
Steve showed me—and all of us—what it means to serve humanity. We miss him, today and every day, and we’ll never forget the example he set for us. pic.twitter.com/fsdeOIl6LB
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 5, 2018
Here's what Cook said on the day of Steve's death:
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. […]
No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve's death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.
Steve Jobs narrated this unaired version of Apple's famous Think Different ad in 1997:
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech, where he addresses his mortality:
Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the eldest daughter of Steve, recently shed a less flattering light on her father. In her "Small Fry" memoir released last month, Brennan-Jobs described both "moments of joy" and "coldness" about her father, including his "frequent use of money to confuse or frighten her."
Amazon is currently rolling out an updated version of its companion app for Alexa-enabled devices that includes a significantly redesigned user interface.
The visual changes are immediately apparent on firing up the app, and center around a new Devices and Groups tab located in the lower right of the screen.
With the new menu selected, the devices are listed in a horizontal strip along the top of the interface, allowing users to control individual smart lights, audio devices, and power outlets all from the same screen.
Below that, Alexa devices are also grouped by room indicated by colored cards, which have on/off buttons and can also be tapped to control and edit included devices.
Elsewhere, users can add new devices by tapping a plus button in the upper right of the interface, while the original clunky sidebar menu remains available via a button in the upper right.
The changes to the app come on the heels of Amazon's recent additions to its ecosystem of Alexa-powered devices, which include new Echo speakers, a subwoofer, amplifiers, a microwave, wall clock, and more.
The Amazon Alexa app is a free download on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]
The new Apple Watch Nike+ officially launches today and early pre-orders are being delivered to customers, with pick-ups available in stores in limited quantities.
The new Apple Watch Nike+ devices come with all the features new to the Series 4 models, including a larger screen, thinner body, a (currently U.S-only) ECG reader, fall detection, and more.
In addition, the Nike+ collection features redesigned Nike watch faces that match to the new band colors, including a Pure Platinum/Black Sport Band and a Summit White Sport Loop with reflective yarn.
Apple Watch Nike+ comes in four styles in both 40mm and 44mm sizes, with both cellular and Wi-Fi + GPS only models to choose from:
Apple Watch Nike+ models are priced between $399 and $499 in the United States. Additional Nike+ bands are $49 each.
Launch countries include Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Macau, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, the U.K., and the U.S.
Facebook-owned social network Instagram is testing a feature that would allow location data collected by Instagram to be shared with Facebook, reports TechCrunch.
A prototype Location History feature being tested within Instagram suggests that Location History data collected when Location Services is turned on in the Instagram app will be used to bolster Facebook's ad targeting. From the setting:
Allows Facebook Products, including Instagram and Messenger, to build and use a history of precise locations received through Location Services on your devices.
The feature was discovered by a TechCrunch reader who often digs into new functionality that Instagram is testing.
Instagram's Location History test option collects GPS coordinates even when the app is not in use and adds them to Facebook's Activity Log, which is explained in a "Learn More" button within the Instagram app:
"Location History is a setting that allows Facebook to build a history of precise locations received through Location Services on your device. When Location History is on, Facebook will periodically add your current precise location to your Location History even if you leave the app. You can turn off Location History at any time in your Location Settings on the app. When Location History is turned off, Facebook will stop adding new information to your Location History which you can view in your Location Settings. Facebook may still receive your most recent precise location so that you can, for example, post content that's tagged with your location. Location History helps you explore what's around you, get more relevant ads, and helps improve Facebook. Location History must be turned on for some location feature to work on Facebook, including Find Wi-Fi and Nearby Friends."
A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that Facebook often tests features that are not released and that Instagram does not collect and store Location History at the current time.
"To confirm, we haven't introduced updates to our location settings. As you know, we often work on ideas that may evolve over time or ultimately not be tested or released. Instagram does not currently store Location History; we'll keep people updated with any changes to our location settings in the future."
As TechCrunch points out, location data sourced from Instagram could allow Facebook to target users with local ads across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, surfacing ads for nearby restaurants or frequently visited locations.
It's not clear if and when Instagram plans to launch this feature, but many other prototype features discovered by TechCrunch's source have launched within a few months of being uncovered.
Update: An initial version of this article suggested Location History was on by default, but the original source who found the prototype feature says that it was actually turned off when she initially discovered it.
We went hands-on with the new iOS 12.1 update to preview the new characters that you can expect to see when iOS 12.1 is released, such as cold face, face with hearts, red hair, white hair, no hair, parrot, swan, llama, mango, cupcake, and more.
Over the course of the last few years, emoji usage has become increasingly prevalent across the world, and many iOS users now look forward to the iOS updates that include new emoji characters to include in text messages, social media ports, and more.
The 2018 emoji release includes new emoji in a range of categories, from faces and people to food, animals, and common household objects. Every new emoji coming in iOS 12.1 is depicted below, organized by category.
New faces: Face with hearts, hot face, cold face, partying face, woozy face, and pleading face.
New people: Man/woman with red hair, man/woman with white hair, man/woman with curly hair, man/woman with no hair, superhero (male and female), and supervillain (male and female).
Body parts: Leg, foot, tooth, and bone.
Clothing: Goggles, lab coat, hiking boot, and flat shoe,
Toys: Teddy bear, jigsaw, and chess pawn.
Sports: Skateboard, lacrosse, softball, and flying disc.
Household: Lotion bottle, soap, sponge, safety pin, broom, roll of paper, thread, and yarn.
Food: Mango, leafy green, bagel, salt, moon cake, and cupcake.
Random objects: Compass, brick, luggage, firecracker, red envelope, nazar amulet (evil eye), receipt, toolbox, fire extinguisher, basket, infinity symbol, and pirate flag.
In addition to all of the new emoji in iOS 12, there are some tweaks to existing emoji. Most notably, the iPhone emoji has had a design overhaul to make it look like the iPhone XS rather than the iPhone 8 with no Home button or bezels.
Emoji being added in iOS 12.1 are from Unicode 11, which was finalized and released in June of this year. It often takes Apple and other tech companies several months to implement new emoji because artwork needs to be created for each new character.
Unicode 12, which Apple will adopt in 2019, is already in the works. Emoji candidates for Unicode 12 include flamingo, white heart, snorkel, axe, orangutan, otter, sloth, butter, onion, ice cube, chair, kite, waffle, oyster, and more.
Apple says that it is working with the Unicode Consortium to add additional disability-themed emoji to Unicode 12.
It's still early in the iOS 12.1 beta testing process, so it's not quite clear when the update, new emoji included, will be released. It's likely to come at the end of October or the beginning of November. Late October is a strong possibility given that the iPhone XR releases on October 26.
What do you think of the new emoji coming in iOS 12.1? Let us know in the comments.
Apple has gone to unusual lengths to thoroughly and definitively refute a Bloomberg Businessweek article that today suggested Chinese spies had planted microchips in the Chinese-made Supermicro server motherboards that Apple uses in its facilities.
Following the publishing of the article, Apple released a strongly worded statement calling Businessweek's report inaccurate with no evidence to support the claims, and this afternoon, Apple went further and published an entire rebuttal on its website.
Apple's press release includes the same statement that was initially provided to Bloomberg Businessweek, along with additional information that the company says it shared with Bloomberg Businessweek ahead of when the server article was released.
While Bloomberg Businessweek's report claims that Apple reported the alleged microchip incident to the FBI in 2015, Apple told the news site in no uncertain terms that no one from Apple ever reached out to the FBI, nor had Apple ever heard from the FBI about an investigation.
Apple also told Bloomberg Businessweek that despite "numerous discussions" across teams and organizations, no one at Apple had heard anything about the supposed microchip investigation.
Apple's updated statement clarifies that Apple is not under any kind of gag order or held to a confidentiality obligation, and it says clearly that the report is "completely untrue" and that no malicious chips have been found in Apple servers. The full additional statement is below:
The published Businessweek story also claims that Apple "reported the incident to the FBI but kept details about what it had detected tightly held, even internally." In November 2017, after we had first been presented with this allegation, we provided the following information to Bloomberg as part of a lengthy and detailed, on-the-record response. It first addresses their reporters' unsubstantiated claims about a supposed internal investigation:
Despite numerous discussions across multiple teams and organizations, no one at Apple has ever heard of this investigation. Businessweek has refused to provide us with any information to track down the supposed proceedings or findings. Nor have they demonstrated any understanding of the standard procedures which were supposedly circumvented.
No one from Apple ever reached out to the FBI about anything like this, and we have never heard from the FBI about an investigation of this kind -- much less tried to restrict it.
In an appearance this morning on Bloomberg Television, reporter Jordan Robertson made further claims about the supposed discovery of malicious chips, saying, "In Apple's case, our understanding is it was a random spot check of some problematic servers that led to this detection."
As we have previously informed Bloomberg, this is completely untrue. Apple has never found malicious chips in our servers. Finally, in response to questions we have received from other news organizations since Businessweek published its story, we are not under any kind of gag order or other confidentiality obligations.
Apple's initial statement, available below, was shared this morning after Bloomberg Businessweekpublished its article claiming Apple discovered illicit microchips in its Supermicro server motherboards that were able to inject code or provide instruction to the CPU with the ultimate goal of providing the Chinese government with access to "high-value corporate secrets and sensitive government networks."
Bloomberg Businessweek claimed to have spoken to officials with knowledge of the investigation, which Apple says did not happen at all.
Over the course of the past year, Bloomberg has contacted us multiple times with claims, sometimes vague and sometimes elaborate, of an alleged security incident at Apple. Each time, we have conducted rigorous internal investigations based on their inquiries and each time we have found absolutely no evidence to support any of them. We have repeatedly and consistently offered factual responses, on the record, refuting virtually every aspect of Bloomberg's story relating to Apple.
On this we can be very clear: Apple has never found malicious chips, "hardware manipulations" or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server. Apple never had any contact with the FBI or any other agency about such an incident. We are not aware of any investigation by the FBI, nor are our contacts in law enforcement.
In response to Bloomberg's latest version of the narrative, we present the following facts: Siri and Topsy never shared servers; Siri has never been deployed on servers sold to us by Super Micro; and Topsy data was limited to approximately 2,000 Super Micro servers, not 7,000. None of those servers have ever been found to hold malicious chips.
As a matter of practice, before servers are put into production at Apple they are inspected for security vulnerabilities and we update all firmware and software with the latest protections. We did not uncover any unusual vulnerabilities in the servers we purchased from Super Micro when we updated the firmware and software according to our standard procedures.
We are deeply disappointed that in their dealings with us, Bloomberg's reporters have not been open to the possibility that they or their sources might be wrong or misinformed. Our best guess is that they are confusing their story with a previously-reported 2016 incident in which we discovered an infected driver on a single Super Micro server in one of our labs. That one-time event was determined to be accidental and not a targeted attack against Apple.
While there has been no claim that customer data was involved, we take these allegations seriously and we want users to know that we do everything possible to safeguard the personal information they entrust to us. We also want them to know that what Bloomberg is reporting about Apple is inaccurate.
Apple has always believed in being transparent about the ways we handle and protect data. If there were ever such an event as Bloomberg News has claimed, we would be forthcoming about it and we would work closely with law enforcement. Apple engineers conduct regular and rigorous security screenings to ensure that our systems are safe. We know that security is an endless race and that's why we constantly fortify our systems against increasingly sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals who want to steal our data.
Along with Apple, Bloomberg Businessweek claimed that other companies, such as Amazon, were also affected. Amazon has also issued a similarly worded denial. According to Amazon, the report is untrue and Amazon has never found any issues "relating to modified hardware or malicious chips in Supermicro motherboards" nor has Amazon participated in an investigation with the government.
Supermicro has also denied all reports and says it is not aware of any investigation regarding the topic.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, 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.
A little over two weeks after launch, iOS 12 is installed on 46 percent of iOS devices, according to data collected by analytics company Mixpanel.
iOS 12 adoption will soon overtake iOS 11 adoption, as iOS 11 is also installed on just over 46 percent of devices in Mixpanel's daily iOS 12 adoption calculation.
At the time this article was written, iOS 12 was installed on 46.25 percent of devices, while iOS 11 was installed on 46.57 percent of devices. 7.18 percent of devices continue to run an older version of iOS.
It's worth noting that Apple has not yet released official iOS 12 installation numbers. Mixpanel's data has historically overestimated iOS adoption rates compared to Apple's own numbers, but the data is not usually too far off. Even if there's a discrepancy between Mixpanel and actual installation rates calculated by Apple, Mixpanel's data still offers solid insight into adoption rates comparative to the adoption rates of earlier versions of iOS.
iOS 12 adoption rates have outpaced iOS 11 adoption rates at the same time last year. On October 3, 2017, which was two weeks after the launch of iOS 11, the operating system was installed on 38.5 percent of devices, according to Mixpanel data, almost 8 percent less than the 46 percent of devices running iOS 12 at the two week mark.
Customers are adopting iOS 12 at rates that are similar to the adoption rates of iOS 10 in 2016, which was installed on 48.16 percent of devices two weeks after it launched.
It's not surprising that customers are choosing to install iOS 12 at a more rapid pace given the significant speed improvements introduced with the update. On older devices, performance enhancements can make iPhones and iPads feel much faster.
On the iPhone 6 Plus, for example, apps launch up to 40 percent faster, while the keyboard can appear up to 50 percent faster. Opening the camera on the Lock screen to take a photo can be done 70 percent faster.
Apple has made animations smoother and more responsive across the operating system, so accessing Control Center, scrolling in apps, or swiping up when multitasking feels more fluid.
iOS 12 also includes optimizations for when the operating system is under load. Apps launch up to twice as fast under a heavy load, as does the Share Sheet.
MacRumors readers in particular were heavy early adopters, and in a Twitter poll conducted shortly after the launch of the operating system, 85 percent of those surveyed had already installed the update.
Did you install iOS 12 yet?
— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) September 19, 2018
iOS 12 has a few bugs, such as a problem that can cause some devices running the operating system not to charge over Lightning if plugged in while the display is off, but for the most part, it's a stable update that offers up some serious improvements on older devices that felt slow on iOS 11.
Popular photography app Darkroom was today updated with support for iOS 12, introducing several useful new features.
The app has been optimized for the larger displays of the iPhone XS Max and the upcoming iPhone XR, with additional space for controls available on the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max.
A new Portrait HD option allows Darkroom to detect and automatically load a "Portrait Matte Effect," which is a high-definition depth map that Apple added in iOS 12 when a Portrait Mode photo is captured.
Using this depth map, the Portrait HD feature will pull in higher quality face and hair details, while a separate Standard Depth option in Darkroom offers richer scene detail.
Support has also been added for iPhone XS and XS Max Portrait Lightning effects and the new Depth Control feature introduced in the new devices. To introduce support for Depth Control, the blur slider in Darkroom has been deprecated on iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.
Darkroom now uses custom-made hashtag sets that can be copied with one tap from anywhere, which is ideal for adding hashtags to your social media posts. With Siri Shortcuts support, you can create a custom Siri phrase to copy a hashtag set without the need to open up the Darkroom app.
Hashtags are also available through a Today screen widget, when 3D Touching on the app icon, and within the Darkroom app itself when exporting a photo.
Multiple other enhancements and performance improvements have been added to the Darkroom app, with a full list of changes available on the Darkroom website.
Darkroom can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
I've never been a fan of magnetized iPhone mounts in cars because they require special iPhone cases that stick to the base of the mount to keep the smartphone in place. Since I enjoy using Apple's own leather and silicone cases, I haven't had the urge to ditch a case for one that would be compatible with a car mount.
Although Scosche's Magic Mount Pro Charge still requires a few unruly magnetic accessories to use, it's come close to convincing me that I need to make a few concessions so that I can get the advantages of hands-free iPhone use in my car. The Magic Mount also doubles as a Qi-enabled charging platform, so it will work with any compatible smartphone or case.
The Magic Mount comes with two options for installation: a suction cup with an extended reach (for the upper dash board or lower windshield) and a shorter arm with a sticky pad (for the infotainment center area). The initial unboxing and setup for the Magic Mount is a bit overwhelming, with nearly a dozen different parts and accessories making up the process: a metal case mount, metal smartphone mount, wire clip cable organizers, suction mount, sticky mount, charging pad, 12V car power adapter, micro-USB to USB charging cable, and even cleaning wipe to prepare the intended area for the mount.
The charging pad itself attaches easily to the two mount attachments with a ball and screw "tension collar" system. You then can attach the micro-USB cable into the charging pad, and feed the cord into the car adapter to enable wireless charging when you place your phone on the pad. As a note, Scosche also provided me with a separate fast car charger, which features both a USB-C and USB-A port to charge two devices simultaneously. I found both this car charger and the charger included with the Magic Mount (which has just a single USB-A connection) to be reliable throughout my testing period.
Attaching the mounts to an iPhone or case (left, middle), and the finished product (right)
For the metal mounts, you have to choose between placing them directly on your smartphone or on a case. For obvious reasons I didn't want to attach a large black metal pad to the back of my iPhone X (Scosche does promise this is completely safe), so I opted for the case option. This includes placing two smaller metal rectangles on the back of a case of your choosing, which will help magnetize the iPhone to the charging pad and enable Qi charging through compatible cases (which are pretty much any thin iPhone cases, including all of Apple's first party leather and silicone options).
The installation process for the metal strips was easy enough, since Scosche provides a helpful paper guide with arrows that point you where to place the strips depending on the size of your iPhone or Android phone. Once you have the alignment right, you remove a film on the back of the measurement tool, press hard to attach the metal pieces, and when it's removed your case will have two new pads permanently attached to the back. The process appears largely the same for attaching directly to an iPhone.
Facebook-owned social network Instagram is testing a feature that would allow location data collected by Instagram to be shared with Facebook, reports 
