MacRumors

Apple designed a Smart Keyboard Folio for the 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, but while it's super slim, it's also expensive and with flat keys that some iPad users might not like.

Luckily, third-party companies like Zagg and Logitech have come out with some alternate ‌iPad Pro‌ keyboards, and in today's video, we're comparing the ‌Smart Keyboard‌ Folio from Apple to two popular alternatives - the Slim Folio Pro from Logitech and the Slim Book Go from Zagg.

We tested keyboards for the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, but both Logitech and Zagg make variants for both ‌iPad Pro‌ models. Zagg's Slim Book Go is priced at $99 for the 11-inch model and $130 for the 12.9-inch model, while the Slim Folio Pro from Logitech is priced at $120 for the 11-inch model and $130 for the 12.9-inch model.

Both third-party keyboard options are cheaper than the ‌Smart Keyboard‌ Folio from Apple, which costs $179 for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $199 for the 12.9-inch model, so you can save a decent amount of cash with a third-party option.

Apple's ‌Smart Keyboard‌ Folio is super slim and adds a minimal amount of bulk to the ‌iPad Pro‌, and that thin profile is a feature that Logitech and Zagg haven't been able to match. The Slim Folio Pro and the Slim Book Go both add a considerable amount of bulk to the ‌iPad Pro‌, doubling the weight of the device and making it a good deal thicker.

Of the two, the Slim Book Go from Zagg is the heftier model, but both are pretty bulky. If you're someone who prefers a device without a thick case on it, these keyboards may not be for you. There are, however, some benefits to these cases beyond price, such as the feel of the keyboard.

The ‌Smart Keyboard‌ Folio from Apple has flat, fabric covered keys that have little travel and don't feel much like a standard keyboard. Zagg and Logitech's solutions, though, are thicker and thus accommodate keys with more travel, a more satisfying press, and just a better overall feel.

The Slim Book Go from Zagg is designed to protect the entire ‌iPad Pro‌, providing solid drop protection. The case itself is made from a hard plastic, while the keyboard has a cloth feel on the front and felt material surrounding the keys.

You can detach the keyboard cover from the case if you want, leaving just the case itself on the ‌iPad‌. Zagg left a lot of space at the bottom of the keyboard on the Slim Book Go, so it's comfortable to rest your wrists, but when using it on your lap, it's wobbly.

That's not a problem in a situation where you're using it on a desk, and with the adjustable stand there are multiple viewing angles, something you don't get with Logitech's version. The keyboard is pleasant to type on, but there's no backlighting for the keys. It's not clear why, but there's no sleep/wake function in the cover, so shutting it won't turn off your ‌iPad‌. Multi-device support is included, something not available in the Slim Folio Pro.

Logitech's Slim Folio Pro, unlike the Slim Book Go, is all one piece without a detachable keyboard option. It has a thick rubber frame that protects the ‌iPad‌, and a single viewing angle for using while typing.

The Slim Folio Pro and the Slim Book Go both offer a better typing experience than the ‌Smart Keyboard‌ Folio for those who like more traditional keys, but we preferred the feel of the Slim Book Go a bit more because the keys have more travel and a more satisfying click. On the plus side, it's a bit less bulky and not as heavy, and it has backlit keys, a nice bonus feature.

Both the Slim Book Go and the Slim Folio Pro connect to the ‌iPad Pro‌ using Bluetooth, making the ‌Smart Keyboard‌ Folio the only keyboard accessory that uses the Smart Connector on the new ‌iPad Pro‌ models. Bluetooth isn't as convenient as the ‌Smart Connector‌, but these keyboards don't need to be charged often and when they do, you can use USB-C.

So which should you choose? If you hate bulk, get the ‌Smart Keyboard‌ Folio or plan to remove these keyboard cases when not in use, something that can be a hassle.

If you want the best typing experience that's closest to a laptop and don't mind the thickness, choose the Zagg, but if you want something a bit slimmer with backlighting and more stability for on-lap use, choose the Logitech (and make sure to check out our full review). You can, of course, choose none of the above and opt for a much cheaper standalone Bluetooth keyboard.

Which ‌iPad Pro‌ keyboard do you prefer? Apple's, Logitech's, Zagg's, or something else? Let us know in the comments.

Foxconn is set to begin production of the iPhone X in India this July, according to a report by The Economic Times. Production will take place at Foxconn's Chennai plant in eastern India.

According to an official with knowledge of the company's plans, Foxconn hopes to step up production capacity and "diversify to even higher models going forward." Today's report sees Foxconn's plans to move some of its production outside of China begin to take shape, following the manufacturer's trial production of the iPhone X earlier this month.

News about Foxconn's plans to produce high-end iPhones in India emerged late last year. According to a Reuters report, Foxconn invested $356 million to expand an existing plant and take on the new ‌iPhone‌ production, creating as many as 25,000 jobs in the process.

Foxconn has been considering expanding its production plants in India as a way to diversify its supply chain away from China, where most of the Taiwan-based firm's facilities currently reside. Apple manufactures most of its iPhones through Foxconn, but the latter's growing India base provides security in the face of Apple's vulnerability to rising U.S.-China tensions over trade and technology.

Previously, Apple partnered with Wistron to produce iPhones in India, including the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s. When building iPhones in India, Apple is able to avoid import duties placed on imported smartphones and their components. More production in the country also helps Apple meet India's 30 percent local sourcing requirement that would allow Apple to open its own local retail stores.

Production of the ‌iPhone‌ X family in India appears to be part of Apple's revamped India strategy, which also includes better and longer-lasting retail deals with higher sales targets, the opening of official Apple retail stores in India, "overhauling" the company's relationship with independent retailers, and improving apps and services "aimed more closely at Indians." Due to the high price of iPhones in India, and other reasons, Apple has continually struggled in the country, leading to the new strategy.

Disney today shared a first look at its upcoming Disney+ streaming service, providing new details on how it will work and what features will be included.

The dedicated Disney+ app, which will house Disney+ content, looks rather similar to other streaming television apps, such as Apple's own TV app and Netflix.

The screenshot shared by Disney CEO Bob Iger features a dark interface with individual categories for different Disney franchises, including standard Disney fare, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and National Geographic, complete with a "Continue Watching" feature and recommendations.

Disney+ content will be available through the Disney+ app on web browsers, smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, and game consoles, essentially everywhere you can watch most streaming services. Deals have already been secured with Roku and Sony for a PS4 version of the app.

Individual profiles for each user in the household will be supported, and Disney plans to allow content to be downloaded for offline viewing. Disney will provide TV shows and movies in 4K HDR.

When Apple launches its TV+ service with its original content this fall and Disney launches Disney+, the two companies are set to become serious competitors, as both services will offer up exclusive content unavailable on other platforms.

Disney+ will house existing Disney content, but Disney is also developing new content for the streaming service. Some of the announced TV shows include "Falcon and Winter Soldier" based on the two Avengers characters, "WandaVision" with Wanda Maximoff and The Vision, a TV show based on "Monsters, Inc.," a TV show based on "High School Musical," a Frozen 2 documentary, a Star Wars series, a live-action version of "Lady and the Tramp," two projects featuring Marvel characters Loki and Hawkeye, and much more. All Pixar content will be on Disney+ the first year of launch, as will all Pixar theatrical shorts and all Star Wars films.

Disney may also be planning to offer bundled content, perhaps providing a discount for subscribers who purchase Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, but little detail was provided on Disney's bundling plans.

Disney plans to launch Disney+ on November 12, 2019, and it will be priced at $6.99 per month, which is much lower than other streaming services on the market. Disney is also offering a yearly subscription price of $69.99, which is even cheaper. Disney is planning to roll the service out to many other countries over the course of the next two years.

With its fall launch, Disney+ will be coming out right around the same time that Apple TV+ launches. Apple hasn't provided a specific launch date, but has said that the new streaming service will come out in the fall.

Update: In an interview with Bloomberg, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the Disney+ app will "in all likelihood be available through traditional app distributors, with Apple being one of them." There was no official announcement Disney about platforms beyond Roku and Sony because Disney hasn't "made deals with all of them yet."

Apple has introduced an extra confirmation step when App Store users purchase an app available on a subscription basis or tap to subscribe to a premium service in an app, making sure no accidental subscription purchases occur.

The new subscription feature was highlighted on Twitter by developer David Barnard this afternoon and appears to have been implemented recently.

With this new confirmation step, when you download an app with a subscription or tap on a subscription option in an app where the subscription feature is optional, you'll see a second subscription popup warning after initially confirming a purchase with Face ID or Touch ID on your iPhone or iPad.

The popup warns that the subscription will continue unless canceled in the Settings app at least one day before a subscription period ends, requiring users to confirm the notice with an OK button or tap cancel to cancel the initiation of the subscription.

Adding a second confirmation screen to subscription purchases will thwart app developers who have been using nefarious tactics to trick users into purchasing subscriptions or making subscription costs and terms unclear.

Accidental subscription purchases have been an ongoing problem with ‌Touch ID‌ iPhones where a purchase could be made unintentionally when putting a finger on the Home button (such as when pressing to exit out of the ‌App Store‌), but the new confirmation screen makes it clearer that you're initiating a recurring subscription on both ‌Face ID‌ and ‌Touch ID‌ iPhones.

Apple today shared additional videos in its ongoing Apple Watch tutorial series, highlighting health-related Apple Watch features that include fall detection and heart health notifications.

The two short videos are tutorials that are designed to walk Apple Watch Series 4 owners through enabling these features. Each one has quick step-by-step instructions detailing how to turn on settings in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone.

Fall detection is a feature that is enabled by default for those who are over 65, but younger Apple Watch Series 4 users must enable it manually. Fall detection uses the gyroscope and the accelerometer to detect a fall, and then it contacts emergency services.

Heart health notifications let you know when your heart rate is too low, too high, or if an irregular rhythm that looks like atrial fibrillation is detected.

Apple has shared several videos in its Apple Watch tutorial series so far, with the aim of introducing people to all of the features available in the Series 4 models.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, or ACM for short, today announced that it will investigate whether Apple abuses its position in the App Store by, for example, giving preferential treatment to its own apps.

ACM says the investigation will initially focus on Apple because the majority of anticompetitive allegations it has received from other companies and developers have been about the ‌App Store‌. More specifically, the investigation will revolve around Dutch apps for "news media" available in the ‌App Store‌.

ACM board member Henk Don:

To a large degree, app providers depend on Apple and Google for offering apps to users. In the market study, ACM has received indications from app providers, which seem to indicate that Apple abuses its position in the App Store. That is why ACM sees sufficient reason for launching a follow-up investigation, on the basis of competition law.

However, the antitrust watchdog stresses that Apple is innocent unless proven guilty, and also encourages developers to come forward if they experience similar problems with Google's Play Store.

ACM launched the investigation upon completion of its market study that explores the influence of app stores. For numerous apps, the watchdog found that no realistic alternatives to the ‌App Store‌ and Play Store exist, potentially giving Apple and Google the opportunity to set unfair conditions.

On the one hand, Apple and Google have an interest in offering many different apps from app providers in their app stores. On the other hand, however, Apple and Google are app providers in their own right, too. So their apps compete with those of other market participants. These competing interests may pose antitrust problems.

ACM cites unnamed developers who say they do not always have a fair chance against Apple's and Google's preinstalled apps on mobile devices, must use Apple's and Google's in-app purchase mechanisms for digital goods and services, have difficulties communicating with Apple and Google, and more.

Many of these issues are at the core of Spotify's recent complaint with the European Commission over Apple's App Store practices. Last month, the streaming music company accused Apple of "acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers" that it competes with.

The investigation's initial focus on Dutch news apps is a rather narrow one, especially considering that Apple News is not yet available in the Netherlands. But, the premise seems to be that ‌Apple News‌ is a preinstalled app while other news providers must go through the ‌App Store‌ and pay Apple's "tax."

As the ACM notes, apps have become an increasingly important part of daily life, so it will be interesting to see how these investigations play out and how they impact the future of the ‌App Store‌ and Play Store.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg, which first reported the news.

Update: In a statement issued to CNN, Apple said it is "confident" the probe "will confirm all developers have an equal opportunity to succeed in the ‌App Store‌."

Apple today announced it has nearly doubled the number of suppliers that have committed to run their Apple-specific production on 100 percent renewable energy, bringing the total number to 44.

The list of newly committed suppliers includes, among others, Gorilla Glass maker Corning, Face ID module provider Finisar, A-series chipmaker TSMC, Apple Watch manufacturer Quanta Computer, AirPods assembler Luxshare, and iPhone assemblers Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron.

Apple now expects to add five gigawatts of renewable energy to its supply chain by 2020, exceeding its goal of four gigawatts in that timeframe.

Apple says that manufacturing makes up 74 percent of its carbon footprint. To address this, Apple and its suppliers have invested in or procured a mix of clean energy technology, including wind and solar. Apple has also further expanded its supplier education and support initiatives.

Apple also announced that it has allocated all of its $2.5 billion in green bonds, the largest amount of any U.S. corporation. Through this, the company says it has contributed to 40 environmental initiatives around the world, including projects Apple has created to cover its entire electricity load.

Apple's Green Bonds also support environmental research and innovation. Projects include solar rooftops in Japan, an aquifer to conserve water in Oregon, and the creation of a custom alloy made of 100 percent recycled aluminum that is now found in the latest MacBook Air and Mac mini.

A year ago, Apple announced that its global facilities, including retail stores, offices, and data centers, are now powered with 100 percent renewable energy.

Amazon has thousands of employees around the world that listen to voice recordings captured in the homes of Amazon Echo owners, reports Bloomberg.

Voice recordings are captured when the Alexa wake word is spoken and then a subset of those recordings are listened to, transcribed, annotated, and added back into the software as part of Amazon's effort to help Alexa better respond to voice commands. Amazon has facilities for Alexa improvement in places that range from Boston to Costa Rica, India, and Romania.

Seven people familiar with Amazon's review process spoke to Bloomberg and revealed some insider details on the program that may be concerning to Echo users.

While much of the work has been described as "mundane," employees have sometimes come across more private recordings, such as a woman singing off key in the shower or a child screaming for help. Amazon employees have internal chat rooms where they share files when help is needed parsing a word or, more concerning, when an "amusing recording" is found.

Two workers told Bloomberg that they've heard recordings that are upsetting or potentially criminal, and while Amazon claims to have procedures in place for such occurrences, some employees have been told it's not the company's job to interfere.

Sometimes they hear recordings they find upsetting, or possibly criminal. Two of the workers said they picked up what they believe was a sexual assault. When something like that happens, they may share the experience in the internal chat room as a way of relieving stress. Amazon says it has procedures in place for workers to follow when they hear something distressing, but two Romania-based employees said that, after requesting guidance for such cases, they were told it wasn't Amazon's job to interfere.

Alexa users have the option to disable the use of their voice recordings for improvements to the service, but some may not know that these options exist. Amazon also does not make it clear that actual people are listening to the recordings.

According to Bloomberg, recordings sent to employees who work on Alexa don't include a user's full name or address, but an account number, first name, and the device's serial number are associated with the recording.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Amazon said that an "extremely small" number of Alexa voice recordings are annotated and that there are measures in place to protect user identity.

We take the security and privacy of our customers' personal information seriously. We only annotate an extremely small sample of Alexa voice recordings in order [to] improve the customer experience. For example, this information helps us train our speech recognition and natural language understanding systems, so Alexa can better understand your requests, and ensure the service works well for everyone.

We have strict technical and operational safeguards, and have a zero tolerance policy for the abuse of our system. Employees do not have direct access to information that can identify the person or account as part of this workflow. All information is treated with high confidentiality and we use multi-factor authentication to restrict access, service encryption and audits of our control environment to protect it.

It is standard practice to use some recordings for product improvement. Apple has employees who listen to Siri queries to make sure the interpretation of a request lines up with what the person said. Recordings are stripped of identifiable information, however, and stored for six months with a random identifier.

Google too has employees who are able to access audio snippets from Google Assistant for the purpose of improving the product, but Google, like Apple, removes personally identifiable information and also distorts audio.

Amazon does not appear to be removing all personally identifiable information, and while the Echo is meant to collect audio only when a wake word is spoken, the employees who spoke to Bloomberg said they often hear audio files that appear to have started recording with no wake word at all.

Alexa users concerned with the data that's being collected and used by Amazon should make sure to enable all privacy features and uncheck the option for letting Amazon save Echo recordings. Additional details on how Amazon uses the voice recordings it collects can be found in the original Bloomberg article.

Update: Amazon has provided the following statement to MacRumors as clarification: "By default, Echo devices are designed to detect only your chosen wake word (Alexa, Amazon, Computer or Echo). The device detects the wake word by identifying acoustic patterns that match the wake word. No audio is stored or sent to the cloud unless the device detects the wake word (or Alexa is activated by pressing a button)."

Apps designed for the Mac often don't receive as much attention as apps made for iOS devices, so we have a series here at MacRumors that's designed to highlight useful and interesting Mac apps that are worth checking out and potentially investing in.

This month's picks include apps for sharing files, organizing web apps, monitoring internet traffic, fixing repeating keys on a broken MacBook keyboard, and quickly pairing your AirPods to your Mac. Many of the apps we're highlighting this month were chosen by our MacRumors forum members.

• CloudApp (Free) - CloudApp is a handy app that lets you share files, screenshots, videos, screen recordings, and more, via the cloud. You can drag a file into CloudApp and it'll be uploaded to the cloud and copied to your clipboard so you can paste the file into Slack, email, Messages, or elsewhere. You can annotate screenshots and files, making it a great way to communicate when collaborative editing is needed. CloudApp is free, but premium tiers with additional features are available starting at $10/month or $8/month on an annual plan.
• Little Snitch ($45) - Little Snitch monitors all of the traffic on your Mac so you can see what apps are sending data, and where. It basically makes all of your Internet connections visible and gives you control over them, letting you approve or restrict what's being sent from your Mac. There's a world map so you can see where connections are being made, and there are modes for getting instant notifications or letting it run in the background.
• Stack (Free) - Stack is a Mac app that's sort of an internet launchpad for web apps, describing itself as an "internet OS." It houses all the websites you might want to keep tabs on like Facebook, Messenger, Gmail, Slack, and more, keeping them in one convenient place. You can organize your different apps into categories, and the app provides unified notifications so you don't miss anything.
• Unshaky (Free) - Unshaky is not an Apple-sanctioned app, and that's because it's meant to fix a major Apple problem - the faulty MacBook Pro keyboard. Unshaky is designed for people who have keys where the letters repeat, as it's able to detect the extra presses and eliminate them. We haven't tried this app ourselves because we don't have a keyboard with repeating letters, but it has positive reviews as a temporary fix from those who are having issues. If you have a repeating key you'll need to get a repair from Apple, but this can help while you wait.
• AirBuddy ($5) - AirBuddy is a Mac app for the AirPods. It lets you pair your AirPods to your Mac the same way you do on your iPhone - just by opening up the AirPods case next to your Mac and then clicking. It's super simple, but if you use your AirPods with your Mac often, it's invaluable. A Batteries Notification Center widget on Mac displays AirPods battery life, charging case battery life, and the battery life of your Mac. The AirBuddy app works with Macs that support Bluetooth LE, which is all modern machines.

If you have a favorite must-have Mac app that we haven't highlighted yet, let us know in the comments, and we might feature it in a future video. Many of this month's app picks came directly from recommendations from our forum members, and it's these recommendations that have helped make this series useful.

For more of our Mac app picks, make sure to check out our Mac app archives.

Amid a decline of 4.6 percent in worldwide PC sales, Apple's Mac sales were also down 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2019, according to new PC shipment estimates shared this afternoon by Gartner.

Apple shipped an estimated 3.98 million Macs during the quarter, down from 4.08 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple's market share grew year-over-year though, coming in at 6.8 percent, up from 6.6 percent in Q1 2018.

Apple continues to be ranked as the number four PC vendor worldwide, coming in after Lenovo, HP, and Dell, but ahead of Asus and Acer. Apple also held the number four spot in the year-ago quarter.

Lenovo, HP, and Dell all saw shipments grow or remain steady, while Asus and Acer, like Apple, experienced declines. Lenovo, the number one worldwide PC vendor during the quarter, shipped 13.2 million PCs for 22.5 percent market share, while HP, a close second, shipped 12.8 million PCs for 21.9 percent market share.

Dell came in third with close to 10 million PCs shipped and 17.6 percent market share, while Asus and Acer brought up the rear with 3.6 and 3.2 million PC shipments, respectively.

Overall, there were an estimated 58.5 million PCs shipped in Q1 2019, down from 61.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Apple's U.S. Mac shipments also declined, with Apple shipping an estimated 1.44 million Macs during the quarter, a 3.5 percent decline from the 1.5 million Macs it shipped in Q1 2018. Apple is ranked as the number four vendor in the United States, trailing behind HP, Dell, and Lenovo, but beating out Microsoft.

HP was the top U.S. PC vendor with 3.24 million PC shipments, followed by Dell with 3.16 million and Lenovo with 1.5 million. The overall PC market in the United States saw a 6.3 percent decline compared to Q1 2018, with a total of 11 million PCs shipped.

IDC also released its shipment estimates this afternoon, and is often the case, IDC's shipping estimates are different than Gartner's due to the variations in the way each firm makes shipment calculations.

IDC also suggests that overall worldwide PC shipments declined, but by just 3 percent with a total of 58.48 million PCs shipped during the quarter.

Apple is also the number four worldwide PC vendor in IDC's estimates, with IDC suggesting Apple shipped an estimated 4.058 million Macs during the quarter, a mere 0.5 percent drop from the 4.078 million Macs shipped in the year-ago quarter.

Data from Gartner and IDC is based on estimates, and while Apple used to provide specific breakdowns of Mac sales, the company is no longer doing so and there will be no way to confirm shipment estimates going forward.

These new numbers follow refreshes of both the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air lineups, both of which were overhauled in October 2018, but come prior to the launch of updated iMacs. Apple this year has several additional Mac updates on the horizon, including a new high-end high-throughput modular Mac Pro.

Apple's Mac sales could potentially be suffering due to the negative publicity surrounding the butterfly keyboard issues in the MacBook, ‌MacBook Air‌, and ‌MacBook Pro‌, a problem that has become increasingly visible due to its impact on even the newest Mac notebooks.