Apple has confirmed that the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar is equipped with four full-speed Thunderbolt 3 ports.
2018 models ship with Intel's eighth-generation Core i5 or Core i7 processors, which both support up to 16 PCI Express lanes, providing enough bandwidth for maximum data transfer speeds up to 40Gb/s on all four Thunderbolt 3 ports.
2016 and 2017 models of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar could be configured with sixth- and seventh-generation Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors, which supported up to 12 PCI Express lanes, limiting full speeds to the two left-side Thunderbolt 3 ports, with reduced bandwidth on the right-side ports.
Now, users have the freedom to plug higher-performance peripherals into any Thunderbolt 3 port they desire without compromise.
All three generations of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar have always had four full-speed Thunderbolt 3 ports, while the 13-inch MacBook Pro with function keys has only two Thunderbolt 3 ports, both full speed.
Chinese mobile maker Huawei expects to ship 200 million smartphones globally by the end of the year, bringing it within range of Apple as the second-largest vendor worldwide behind Samsung (via The South China Morning Post).
The target was announced by mobile chief Richard Yu Chengdong as the Chinese company launched the latest additions to its mid-range smartphone line-up, the Nova 3 and Nova 3i. Yu said Huawei had shipped 100 million phones as of July 18, the fastest pace of shipments Huawei has seen in years.
Huawei's Nova 3i
"Previously Huawei reached the 100 million shipments mark on December 22, 2015, October 14, 2016 and September 12, 2017. As it's only taken just over six months to reach the target this year, we are now aiming for shipments of 200 million units by the end of 2018," Yu said during the product launch.
Huawei's success comes despite headwinds in the global mobile market affecting top brands like Apple and Samsung. In the 2017 fiscal year, Apple sold 216.76 million iPhones, but reported declines in shipments of 2.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018. Market-leader Samsung finished the year with 317.3 million shipments, but also reported declines in Q1 2018, amounting to a 2.4 percent fall in sales.
Huawei meanwhile shipped a total of 39.3 million phones during the first three months of 2018, gaining ground on Apple's 52.2 million units over the same period, according to an IDC research note released in May.
Huawei calculates its global mobile shipments by combining its Huawei phones and budget Honor-branded phones, which have taken off in the second quarter in Southeast Asian markets, especially India, according to Zaker Li, a senior industry analyst with IHS Markit who spoke to the Morning Post.
"Given that the second half is normally the peak season for smartphone sales as major brands will all release their flagship phones, it will not be difficult for Huawei to exceed 200 million units of phone shipments if it has already completed half of that now," Li said.
Since 2013, Huawei's long-term goal has been to become the largest smartphone vendor globally, ahead of Samsung and Apple. Hopes of making that target received a major boost late last year, when Huawei reportedly began discussions with carriers AT&T and Verizon about selling its flagship Android smartphones in the United States as early as 2018.
In January, however, AT&T reportedly dropped plans to carry Mate handsets from the Chinese company at the last minute, after U.S. lawmakers told the carrier it could put future government contracts under threat.
Currently, U.S. customers have to resort to retailers such as Best Buy or Walmart, or Huawei's direct sales website, to purchase one of their devices, reducing the brand's visibility in the country. Huawei is due to release its next-generation flagship Mate series in the third quarter this year.
Doppler received a significant update today, bringing some notable track and album features to the increasingly popular third-party music playing app for iPhone.
For those unfamiliar, Doppler offers mobile users an alternative way to experience their music library, sporting an adaptive minimalist interface with an emphasis on reliable offline playback, and built-in support for importing MP3, FLAC, AAC, and WAV file formats without ever having to connect your iPhone to a computer.
On first opening the app, any existing iTunes music library tracks and playlists are imported into Doppler. Thereafter, users have several additional import options at their disposal, including via iTunes, AirDrop, the Files app, and now Safari (see below).
The interface supports full library search by song, artist or album, provides quick access to the editable playing queue, and includes options to create and edit new playlists, as well as stream music to AirPlay and Bluetooth devices.
Today's update, version 1.2, adds support for editing the album information and artwork for any music imported into Doppler (excluding iTunes library tracks). The app is now able to search for and download artwork, or you can opt to set artwork using images from your Photo Library or clipboard.
Doppler 1.2 also comes with an iOS Share Sheet extension for Safari, enabling you to easily import non-commercial music tracks discovered online (mixtapes available from music blogs, for example).
Next time you open a song hosted on the web, bring up the Share Sheet and tap "Add to Doppler", and the track is automatically imported into the app, allowing you to listen to it offline alongside the rest of your music library.
Lastly, this update brings Last.fm integration, so it's now possible to sign into your Last.fm account, and Doppler will automatically post (scrobble) what you're listening to. The integration also works offline, with playback history saved and sent to Last.fm when your data connection is restored.
Doppler costs $3.99 and is available to download for iPhone from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Tom Gruber, who served as head of Siri's Advanced Development group and was one of Siri's original cofounders, has left Apple, reports The Information. His departure from the company was confirmed by an Apple spokesperson, who told The Information that he was retiring to pursue "personal interests in photography and ocean conservation."
Gruber created Siri alongside Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, releasing the original Siri as an app on the iOS App Store in 2010. Apple acquired Siri two months later, and Cheyer, Kittlaus, and Gruber all joined the company at that time.
Kittlaus left Apple in 2011 and Cheyer left in 2012, and the duo teamed up again to create Viv, a new artificial intelligence project that was acquired by Samsung in 2016. Samsung used Viv to create Bixby, its current AI assistant platform.
Gruber stayed on at Apple for several years after the other two Siri co-founders departed, but with his retirement, none of the original Siri creators are left at Apple.
Apple's Siri team is going through a leadership change at the moment with the May hiring of John Giannandrea, former head of Google's search and artificial intelligence unit.
Apple just last week updated its leadership page to add Giannandrea, who is now serving as Apple's chief of machine learning and AI strategy. Giannandrea is leading Apple's AI and machine learning teams, and Apple has combined its Core ML and Siri teams under him.
Prior to Giannandrea's hiring, Siri development was overseen by software engineering chief Craig Federighi, who took over from Eddy Cue in 2017. Apple has been facing increasing criticism over Siri's capabilities compared to other AI-based personal assistants in recent years, with many suggesting Siri has serious shortcomings compared to options from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.
Apple in iOS 12 introduced major improvements to Siri through a new Siri Shortcuts feature that's coming in iOS 12, which is designed to let users create multi-step tasks using both first and third-party apps that can be activated through Siri.
Along with Gruber, Apple's head of search, Vipul Ved Prakash, has also left the company, according to The Information. Prakash joined Apple when his company, Topsy, was acquired in 2013. His search team was also within the Siri group.
Popular media player VLC for iOS was today updated to version 3.1, introducing long-awaited support for Chromecast. Chromecast functionality has been a highly requested feature from VLC users.
With the update, the VLC app for iOS can stream content to Chromecast-enabled devices.
Today's update also brings support for viewing 360-degree videos in VLC by moving the iPhone around, and it offers a number of bug fixes. Full release notes are below:
- We added a feature many of you waited for: Chromecast support - We fixed a bug where files on your phone were not displayed in VLC - 360 videos can be viewed by moving your phone now - Stability and performance improvements when decoding H.264/H.265 in hardware - Improved audio playback quality - Fixed a regression preventing the download of certain media files via http - Fixed a regression where downloaded files might disappear - Fixed a regression where users couldn't log into Google Drive
VLC for the iPhone and the iPad can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Alongside the new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models introduced last week, Apple also debuted a new eGPU enclosure designed in partnership with Blackmagic.
We picked up one of the new Blackmagic eGPUs to check out its design and the performance that it offers when paired with one of Apple's Macs.
The Blackmagic eGPU is equipped with a Radeon Pro 580 GPU, which was first introduced by AMD in June 2017. It features 8GB VRAM, and it is the same graphics card used in the high-end 2017 iMac.
You can connect the Blackmagic eGPU to any Mac that includes support for Thunderbolt 3, which includes the 2016 and later MacBook Pro models and iMac models produced in 2017.
Design wise, the Blackmagic eGPU features a futuristic looking aluminum enclosure that fits well on a desktop. A thermal grille allows for efficient heat dissipation, letting the included fan run lower, so it's as quiet as 18db.
It includes two Thunderbolt 3 ports, 4 USB 3.1 ports for connecting accessories, an HDMI port, and 85W of power delivery, so it can also power a MacBook Pro when connected. It is the first eGPU that offers support for the LG UltraFine 5K display.
Unfortunately, the Blackmagic eGPU is not upgradeable, so you're not going to be able to swap out the included graphics card for an upgraded version in the future, which is one of the major downsides to the accessory.
Compared to the graphics cards available in the 2016 and later MacBook Pro models, the Blackmagic eGPU offers much faster performance for tasks like gaming, VR experiences, and graphics-intensive creative work like video editing, 3D graphics work, and more.
In Apple's testing, the Blackmagic eGPU was twice as fast at many tasks as the GPU in the 15-inch 2018 MacBook Pro, and 6 to 7 times faster than the built-in GPU in the 13-inch 2018 MacBook Pro. In our own testing with a 15-inch MacBook Pro from 2016, the Blackmagic eGPU offered impressive speeds in OpenCL and Metal tests.
The Blackmagic eGPU is available exclusively from Apple for $699. There appears to be a bit of a backlog, and orders placed today won't deliver until August 9 at the earliest.
What do you think of the Blackmagic eGPU? Do you plan on buying one? Let us know in the comments.
Corning this morning unveiled its next-generation Gorilla Glass product, Gorilla Glass 6, which it says offers "unprecedented protection against multiple drops" and better protection against drops from higher heights.
According to Corning, Gorilla Glass 6 is its most durable cover glass to date, made of a new material that's been engineered to stand up to more than one drop. The average person drops their smartphone seven times a year, making multi-drop durability a key feature Corning wanted to improve.
Devices using Gorilla Glass 6 were able to withstand 15 drops from one meter onto rough surfaces, which is up to two times better than Gorilla Glass 5, which Corning has been offering to its partners since 2016. Competitive glass compositions like soda lime and aluminosilicate, did not survive the first drop, says Corning.
"Gorilla Glass 6 is an entirely new glass composition that can be chemically strengthened to give it significantly higher levels of compression than is possible with Gorilla Glass 5. This enables Gorilla Glass 6 to be more resistant to damage," said Dr. Jaymin Amin, vice president of technology and product development, Corning Gorilla Glass and Corning Specialty Materials. "Moreover, with breaks during drops being a probabilistic event, the added compression helps increase, on average, the likelihood of survival through multiple drop events."
The higher durability of Corning's new Gorilla Glass product was engineered with all-glass smartphone designs in mind, like the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus, offering optical clarity, touch sensitivity, scratch resistance, efficient wireless charging, and enhanced durability.
Gorilla Glass 6 is likely to make its way into future iPhones, and could even perhaps be included in the 2018 iPhone lineup, depending on when Corning provided details on the new product to Apple.
Corning has been a longtime Apple supplier, with Gorilla Glass used in devices across Apple's product lineup. In May of 2017, Corning even became the first benefactor of Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund, receiving $200 million for research and development and new glass processing equipment.
Corning says its Gorilla Glass 6 is being evaluated "by multiple customers" and the first smartphones and devices using Gorilla Glass 6 are expected to reach the market in the next several months.
Apple today seeded the third public beta of iOS 12 to public beta testers, giving non-developers a chance to test the software ahead of its upcoming fall release. The third iOS 12 public beta, which comes two weeks after the second public beta, corresponds to the fourth developer beta released yesterday.
Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 12 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.
Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. Before installing a beta, make sure to create a full encrypted iTunes backup or an iCloud backup and be sure to install iOS 12 on a secondary device because beta software is not always stable and can include bugs.
The new iOS 12 beta in particular introduces new issues with Screen Time, the App Store, and Siri Shortcuts, according to Apple's release notes for the developer beta. Apps in the App Store might fail to download properly the first time, Screen Time data might not sync between devices, and Siri Shortcuts might not work properly on CarPlay and HomePod, as well as if a device is locked. The cellular status bar on the iPhone X can also be inaccurate.
iOS 12 brings Group FaceTime, local multiplayer shared AR experiences, new Animoji, and a Memoji feature that's designed to let you create a personalized Animoji that looks just like you.
Animoji, stickers, text, and more can be used in FaceTime and the Messages app, and there's a new Screen Time feature to help customers understand and manage the amount of time they're spending on their iOS devices. There are options to limit app time and Screen Time also includes comprehensive parental control tools.
New Do Not Disturb features make it easier to manage notifications, as do interactive notification options and notification grouping.
Siri has been improved in iOS 12 with Siri Shortcuts for creating time-saving automations, and Siri is also smarter and able to provide info on motorsports, food, and celebrities. Later in the year, Apple will launch a Shortcuts app so you can create your own shortcuts.
Under-the-hood improvements to iOS 12 will make everyday tasks on the iPhone and iPad faster and more responsive, with the camera launching up to 70 percent faster and the keyboard showing up to 50 percent faster.
iOS 12 also includes a rebuilt Maps app with a new Apple-designed Maps engine that's available in the San Francisco Bay Area at the current time. While limited to the San Francisco area at this time, the features will roll out to Northern California in the fall before expanding to additional locations across the United States in late 2018 and 2019.
The revamped Maps app displays foliage, pools, buildings, pedestrian pathways, and other map elements more accurately, and it brings improvements to traffic, real-time road conditions, construction, and more.
iOS 12 will be available to developers and public beta testers as a beta for the next two months to allow Apple to work out bugs and other issues ahead of a fall launch alongside new iPhones.
Update: In the third public beta (and fourth developer beta) the new Apple Maps app is now available for all of Northern California.
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 12 update to its public beta testing group, giving non-developers a chance to try out the new software ahead of its fall public release. Today's third beta comes two weeks after Apple released the second tvOS 12 public beta, and it corresponds to the fourth developer beta released yesterday.
The tvOS 12 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.
tvOS 12 introduces long-awaited support for Dolby Atmos, and when tvOS 12 launches this fall, iTunes will be home to the largest collection of Dolby Atmos-supported movies. As with the launch of 4K HDR, previously purchased content will be upgraded to include Dolby Atmos on all supported titles at no cost.
tvOS 12 features a zero sign-on option that lets cable subscribers watch live channels and on-demand programs they're entitled to through their cable subscription simply by being logged into their home internet networks. This feature will be limited to Charter Spectrum users to begin with, but Apple plans to expand it to additional providers in the future.
Other tvOS 12 features include the ability to autofill passwords from the iPhone to sign into Apple TV apps more quickly, and support for Home Control systems like Crestron and Savant, which will be able to be used to control the Apple TV.
Apple has also made the Apple TV Remote a default option in Control Center on iOS devices with the iOS 12 beta, there are new aerial screensavers created with help from the International Space Station, and aerial screensavers now offer up location information, a feature that's activated in this beta.
tvOS 12 will see a public launch this fall, and until that time, will be limited to developers and public beta testers as Apple works out bugs and other issues.
Rumors suggest Apple will bundle a faster 18-watt USB-C power adapter with its 2018 iPhones, but it might not be sold separately for a while.
Japanese blog Mac Otakara reports that Apple's suppliers are likely only able to manufacture enough chargers for inclusion with 2018 iPhones, suggesting that Apple may hold off on selling them as a standalone accessory until some point after the smartphones launch, although exactly when remains to be seen.
Earlier this month, photos of an alleged prototype of the new power adapter surfaced, revealing its slightly bulkier, rounder shaped plastic casing compared to the current 5W power adapter. The design in the photos is mostly consistent with CAD drawings and renders of the adapter that surfaced earlier this year.
The charger would connect to iPhones with a USB-C to Lightning cable, also expected to be included in the box. At 18W, it would be able to charge compatible iPhones at least twice as fast as the 5W adapter.
MacRumors tested the iPhone X with various third-party 18W wired chargers last year, for example, and found that the device reached a 79 percent charge after one hour. With a 5W charger, the iPhone X only reached a 39 percent charge in that time. We explained our methodology in detail in that article.
Apple sells its 5W power adapter, which has a USB-A port, for $19 as a standalone product in the United States.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced over two years ago in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 61 includes bug fixes and feature improvements for CSS, Dark Mode, Web API, Service Workers, Media, WebRTC, Web Assembly, Web Inspector, and Accessibility.
The new Safari Technology Preview update is available for both macOS High Sierra and macOS Mojave, the newest version of the Mac operating system that’s currently being beta tested by developers and public beta testers.
Safari Technology Preview 59, a prior update, introduced support for Intelligent Tracking Prevention 2.0, which prevents social widgets from tracking you without your permission and introduces other tracking prevention updates.
Apple’s aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Netflix today revealed a new design for its "TV experiences," or TV-based apps, that aims to make it easier to find TV shows and movies on the service.
In addition to the rows with various themes, Netflix subscribers watching on a TV will now see a sidebar on the left side of the app that expands when they scroll over to it. This UI has Search, Home, Series, Movies, My List, and New hubs, making it far simpler to jump directly to specific sections of Netflix you want to get to without having to scroll around looking for them.
Otherwise, browsing around Netflix on a TV app appears to be largely the same, with video previews that automatically play once you've stopped on a show or movie. Netflix's director of product innovation Stephen Garcia said that the new update came out of "extensive research" into how its users browse for content.
While this may feel like an obvious update to some, validating that this TV experience was better for our members took extensive research, testing and technology improvements. Along those lines, we will continuously learn from our members and evolve the TV experience so that it gets even more simple, fun and easy to find the stories that make Netflix great.
In our testing of this new interface, we saw that that this simpler design helped members find something great to watch.
The company didn't directly confirm which platforms this update will arrive on, but it typically uses "TV experiences" as an all-encompassing reference to apps on streaming boxes, game consoles, smart TVs, and anywhere else Netflix is viewed on a TV set. This should mean that fourth-generation and fifth-generation Apple TV users will see the update alongside other platforms, with a rollout that begins worldwide today.
With Prime Day over, Amazon's sale is no longer taking the deal spotlight this week, but Twelve South has branched out of the event with a post-Prime Day sale of its own. Called the "Past Your Prime Day" sale, on TwelveSouth.com you can buy all of the Twelve South products at the same discount that they were available yesterday (and Monday), with a few additional options thrown in.
To get in on the sale browse the landing page, add any of the products into your cart, and enter the promo code PastYourPrime during checkout to get 25 percent off. We've highlighted some of the items on sale in the list below, and be sure to place your order before tomorrow as Twelve South's sale is one day only and ends later tonight.
Additionally, PayPal's Digital Gifts eBay storefront is still offering $100 App Store and iTunes gift cards for $85. This sale opened up Monday morning, and ones like it typically stick around only for a few days, so if you're still looking to save on iTunes credit today could be your last chance until the next discount appears.
The iTunes credit will only be valid on purchases made on the United States App and iTunes stores, and you'll receive the code via email within a few hours after the purchase. These gift cards can be used to pay for 12-month Apple Music subscriptions at $99.00, iTunes movie purchases and rentals, iBooks, app subscriptions like Netflix, and more.
eBay also has a new 20 percent off coupon that launched today, but this one isn't sitewide and is focused on "Top Brands" including Apple, Dyson, Ninja, and more in categories like Cell Phones, Computers, and Electronics. Head over to eBay to browse items eligible for the sale, and enter the coupon code PRIMO to get 20 percent off orders of $50 or more (discount will be capped at a value of $50 as well).
This code lasts through Saturday, July 21 at 11:59 p.m. PT, and for more information on the latest sales, be sure to head over to our full Deals Roundup.
Popular Mac calendar app Fantastical 2 was today updated to version 2.5, introducing a number of important changes that Fantastical users have been asking for.
The updated app includes support for sending and receiving time proposals on Exchange, iCloud, Google, and other CalDAV accounts, which means users that are sent an invite and need to offer up an alternate time can click the new option to suggest an updated time for an event, with a response sent directly to the event creator.
Support for sending Exchange responses that do not require responses from invitees has also been added.
Meetup.com integration is now included, so users are able to add a Meetup account to Fantastical to keep track of and respond to upcoming meetup events.
There's a new option for showing timed events that span for more than one day in the all-day section of the Day or Week views in Fantastical for Mac, and in month view, start and end times for these events will be displayed.
Fantastical users can now put the mini window in Split View full screen mode right alongside other apps, there's a new option to show the current calendar week in the Dock or menu bar icon, multiple calendars can be enabled or disabled at once, and there's a URL handler for changing calendar sets.
Pressing the option key while editing the start time of an event will keep the end time the same, and there are new keyboard shortcuts for quickly adjusting event start times and end times. Control + option + up/down arrows will adjust the start time of an event, while control + shift + up/down arrow will adjust the end time of an event.
Other new features include improved labeling for Exchange events where a response is not required, better labeling of custom anniversary dates from Contacts, and improved performance when loading subscriptions with hundreds or thousands of events.
Today's update is free for existing users. Fantastical for Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $49.99. [Direct Link]
Following in the footsteps of the latest iPhone and iPad Pro models, the new MacBook Pro features True Tone technology.
True Tone automatically adjusts the white balance of the MacBook Pro display to match the color temperature of the light around you, which, as Apple says, provides a more natural viewing experience. The feature is similar to Night Shift, but more dynamic, continuously adapting to the surrounding environment.
If you are standing in a dimly lit room with incandescent light bulbs, for example, the display would appear warmer and yellower. If you are standing outside on a cloudy day, the display would appear cooler and bluer.
True Tone on iPad Pro
We've received many questions about how True Tone is enabled on the new MacBook Pro, and we've sought out some answers from Apple.
Apple says the new MacBook Pro has a multi-channel ambient light sensor, next to the FaceTime HD camera, that can assess brightness as well as color temperature, adding that the display should be open to enable that functionality. Apple added that True Tone does not use the FaceTime HD camera for its operation.
Apple says the ambient light sensor in previous-generation MacBook Pro models can only assess brightness, suggesting that True Tone is not a feature that can be enabled on older machines through a future software update.
True Tone can help reduce eye strain, so it's a feature worth considering if you purchase the new MacBook Pro. It can be enabled or disabled in System Preferences under Displays, alongside options for Night Shift and auto-brightness.
True Tone can also be enabled on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, 9.7-inch and 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and the 2017 model 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Update: As we suspected, True Tone does not work on external displays when the connected MacBook Pro is in clamshell mode.
The European Commission hit Google with a $5.1 billion fine today, stating that the tech company broke EU antitrust laws by striking deals with Android phone manufacturers to favor Google's services over rival services (via The New York Times).
Specifically, the European Commission pointed towards the Google search bar and Chrome web browser coming pre-installed on Android smartphones like those made by HTC, Huawei, and Samsung. With these options already in smartphones when users purchase them, other services are "unfairly boxed out."
“Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine,” said Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s antitrust chief. “These practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits. They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere. This is illegal under E.U. antitrust rules.”
Now, Google has 90 days to ends these practices or face penalties of up to 5 percent of the worldwide average daily revenues of parent company Alphabet. In response, Google's European Twitter account confirmed that the company will appeal the Commission's decision.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai commented on the decision in his own blog post today, pointing out that Android phones come preloaded "with as many as 40 apps from multiple developers," not just Google. Users can delete them if they want and install their own choices after they purchase the smartphone.
According to Pichai, the EU fine "sends a troubling signal in favor of proprietary systems over open platforms." Pichai also notes that Android phones compete with iOS phones, a factor that isn't brought up in the ruling.
Today, the European Commission issued a competition decision against Android, and its business model. The decision ignores the fact that Android phones compete with iOS phones, something that 89 percent of respondents to the Commission’s own market survey confirmed.
It also misses just how much choice Android provides to thousands of phone makers and mobile network operators who build and sell Android devices; to millions of app developers around the world who have built their businesses with Android; and billions of consumers who can now afford and use cutting-edge Android smartphones.
The European Commission has targeted Google previously, fining the company $2.8 billion last year for unfairly favoring its own services in Google search results. For the new $5.1 billion fine, the EU is said to be taking advanced measures to "rein in the clout" of American tech companies, but Google is not expected to back down from its appeal decision and has begun to populate a hashtag on Twitter -- #AndroidWorks -- against the Commission's fine. According to The New York Times, the case is now "likely to drag on for years."
A few months ago, in an internal document obtained by MacRumors, Apple indicated the Mid 2012 model 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display would be classified as vintage or obsolete as of June 30, 2018, marking the notebook's end of hardware service eligibility at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers.
In a notice distributed to Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, however, Apple says it "incorrectly classified" the notebook as vintage or obsolete on June 30, and revised the date to December 31, 2018.
The full-length internal document, obtained from multiple sources:
In a Service News article published in May 2018, the MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012) was incorrectly classified as vintage in the state of California (U.S.) and country of Turkey and obsolete worldwide (except for California and Turkey) on June 30, 2018.
Please note that the MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012) will not become vintage in California (U.S.) and Turkey and obsolete in all other countries until the end of December 2018.
Apple apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Apple considers a product to be vintage or obsolete, depending on the region, when at least five years have passed since the product was last manufactured. When this happens, Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers stop offering hardware service, like repairs, except in California and Turkey by law.
All in all, if you're still using this particular MacBook Pro, it turns out you still have a little under six months of hardware support remaining from the Genius Bar and certified repair shops. So, if you've been looking to get that battery replaced, or otherwise, it would be best to do so sooner rather than later.
Beyond that date, you're on your own. Fortunately, the repair experts at iFixit offer many do-it-yourself guides and replacement parts.
Apple's Chinese iCloud operator has agreed a deal with state-owned China Telecom to transfer local customer data to the company's Tianyi cloud storage business, according to TechCrunch.
China Telecom reportedly announced the agreement in a WeChat post, saying that local Apple partner Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (GCBD) had migrated all Chinese iCloud customer data to Tianyi servers. Apple separately confirmed the change to TechCrunch.
Back in January, Apple controversially announced that its iCloud services in mainland China would be overseen by GCBD, which was already known to have ties to the Chinese government. GCBD was brought on board to manage Apple's new $1 billion data center, which opened in the region last year.
Customer data stored on iCloud includes emails, text messages, and the encryption keys that protect it. Customers who did not want to use iCloud operated by GCBD were given the option to terminate their account or select a country other than China for their iCloud account.
Apple made the transfer to comply with the latest laws enacted in China regarding regulations on cloud services, requiring foreign firms to store data within the country. The move means Chinese government can use its own legal system to ask Apple for its users' iCloud data, whereas before the government had to go through the U.S. legal system.
Today's development is unlikely to quell the concerns of human rights and privacy advocates, who criticized Apple's original decision to rely on GCBD and questioned whether it will be able to maintain and protect its customers' privacy under the new Chinese laws.
At the time, Apple said, "While we advocated against iCloud being subject to these laws, we were ultimately unsuccessful." Nevertheless, Apple assured customers that no backdoors had been created into any of its systems, and that it retained control of the encryption keys. Whether the new GCBD-Telecom arrangement impinges on Apple's original assurances remains to be seen.
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.
Popular media player VLC for iOS was today updated to version 3.1, introducing long-awaited support for Chromecast. Chromecast functionality has been a highly requested feature from VLC users.
Apple today 
