MacRumors

Apple has announced its annual four-day shopping event, offering customers up to a $200 Apple Store gift card with the purchase of select products between Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States.

Apple has yet to reveal the full terms for its offer. Last year, most Macs came with a $200 gift card, while previous-generation iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models were eligible for a $50 gift card. HomePod and Beats were also eligible for a $50 gift card, while the Apple TV was bundled with a $25 gift card.

Last year, the offer excluded the latest iPhone, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch models, as well as refurbished products, products purchased with an educational discount, and iPhones purchased via the iPhone Upgrade Program. AirPods, special edition Beats, and then-new MacBook Air and Mac mini models also did not qualify.

Apple's four-day shopping event runs November 29 through December 2 on Apple.com, by phone at 1-800-APPLE, and at Apple Stores.

The offer will also be available in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and several other countries, with gift card amounts varying.

As usual, there are better Black Friday deals on Apple products than what Apple offers itself, so be sure to check out our Black Friday roundup this week for all of the best discounts leading up to the big day. We'll also be highlighting various one-off deals throughout the week.

Update: As noted by MacGeneration, Apple is offering iTunes gift cards instead of Apple Store gift cards in some countries, such as France, Germany, and Switzerland.

Apple on Wednesday unveiled new Smart Battery Cases designed for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, offering up extra battery life for its newest flagship smartphones.

The first Smart Battery Case orders are arriving to customers today and the cases are in stores, so we picked one up to give MacRumors readers a heads up on the features and the differences compared to last year's Smart Battery Cases.

This year's case has the same bump at the back, which houses the battery that charges the iPhone, and it's about the same thickness as last year's model.

There are volume up buttons at the side, a power button, and, on the right side, a brand new button that's designed to be a camera control. You can press the button to automatically launch the camera app, regardless of whether the iPhone is locked or unlocked.

Pressing the button the first time opens up the camera app, but when the app is opened, pressing again takes a photo. Pressing and holding captures a QuickTake video, and the single press also works with the selfie camera.

Apple is offering the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max Smart Battery Cases in black, white, and pink sand, while the iPhone 11 ‌Smart Battery Case‌ is limited to black and white. The black shade of the new cases has shifted. Last year, Apple used a black case with a charcoal logo, but this year, the entire case is the lighter charcoal color with a deeper black logo.

There are two 1,430mAh battery cells inside of the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ version of the ‌Smart Battery Case‌, up from the 1,369mAh battery cells used last year in the iPhone XS Max ‌Smart Battery Case‌. The two battery cells are wired together into one battery, allowing the cases to offer 10.9Wh of energy (vs. 10.1Wh in the prior XS Max model).

Apple says that all of the new battery cases will add up to 50 percent more battery life to the iPhones, which translates to 9 hours of additional video playback for the 11 Pro, 10 hours of additional video playback for the 11 PRo Max, and 8.5 hours of additional video playback for the iPhone 11.

With the ‌Smart Battery Case‌ attached to an iPhone, the iPhone will drain the case first before using the built-in battery, and this is automatic and can't be shut off. Battery life of the case can be viewed on the Lock screen when placed on a charger or in the Today view of the Notification Center.

Charging the case can be done using a Lightning cable or a Qi-based wireless charger. The iPhone will always charge before the case when charging the two together. For those with Lightning-based headphones and accessories, the Lightning port on the ‌Smart Battery Case‌ does have passthrough capabilities.

The Smart Battery Cases can be purchased from the Apple online store or from Apple retail stores, and all three new cases cost $129.

Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this week sat down for an interview with ABC News after his visit to Texas with President Donald Trump, and today, ABC News has shared additional details from that interview.

Cook said that his focus is on policy over politics, and that he's focused on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which both Cook and Apple have been advocating for.

"No matter who is in the White House, the things I'm focused on are going to be the same. I am focused on DACA. We have 450 folks in Apple, employed at Apple, who are employed on DACA. I want those folks protected. Not just the 450 but the broader DACA people in America."

Cook in October signed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold DACA and protect dreamers in the United States. Cook in the interview said that he's going to continue to fight against the Trump Administration's efforts to rescind DACA.

"I will fight until my toes point up on the subject because I think that it is so core to who we are as a people that we not turn our back on people that came into the country as kids, they were brought here well before they could make a decision on their own. These people are the core of what an American is."

Cook also spoke on privacy, and reiterated comments that he's made many times before. Apple, said Cook, does not want to know personal details about your life and is not trying to "vacuum up all your data."

Cook went on to say that he's "very worried" that in a world where "nothing is private," then freedom of expression, a classic part of what it means to be American, "just evaporates."

On the topic of breaking up tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, Cook said that he thinks there's too much focus on "fines and breakups" and not about how tech companies are collecting and using data that customers did not make an informed decision to give access to.

Cook's full interview can be read on ABC News, and his commentary from the other part of the interview can be read in our first article.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News 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.

Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis and his associates recently traveled to Asia to meet with manufacturers within Apple's supply chain, and today they shared their expectations for 2020 iPhones based on information they gathered.

In a research note viewed by MacRumors, the Barclays analysts said the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will likely have 6GB of RAM, up from 4GB in the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. They also expect both models to feature rear-facing 3D sensing and mmWave support for higher-performance 5G.

The base model iPhone 12 is expected to have 4GB of RAM, equal to the iPhone 11. While the iPhone 12 is also expected to be 5G enabled, the analysts did not indicate whether the device will support mmWave, sub-6GHz, or both.

Last, the analysts indicated that the so-called "iPhone SE 2" is still in the pipeline, with production apparently set to begin in February. The lower-cost device is expected to resemble the iPhone 8, including a 4.7-inch display and Touch ID home button, but with a faster A13 chip and 3GB of RAM.

iPhone 12 models will likely be introduced in September as usual, while the new lower-cost iPhone is expected around March.

Barclays has proven to be a largely reliable source of information.

Shipments of Apple's popular AirPods lineup are projected to double to 60 million in 2019, according to Bloomberg. The strong growth is due in part to "much higher" early demand for AirPods Pro than Apple had expected.

The $249 AirPods Pro -- which offer noise cancellation and water resistance -- have surpassed expectations and demand for them is pushing Apple’s assembly partners against capacity and technical constraints, a person familiar with the matter said. Multiple suppliers are competing for the business of manufacturing the Pro earphones, though some are still building up the technical proficiency.

After a ramp-up in popularity of the original AirPods, which debuted in late 2016, Apple has released two updates to the lineup this year, with second-generation AirPods in March and the new AirPods Pro just a few weeks ago.

Apple Watch and AirPods are the two cornerstones of Apple's push into wearables so far, and both have seen strong growth over the past few years. AirPods are the market leader in true wireless earphones, which are proving popular with consumers. While there are some competitors like Sony and Google already in the market, the launch of Microsoft's Surface Earbuds has been pushed back until at least March.

Google this week began rolling out its new cloud gaming service, known as Stadia, which is designed to let you play games wherever WiFi is available on smartphones, laptops, tablets, TVs, and more.

Google Stadia doesn't work on the iPhone at this time (though you can use the app to manage your account), but you can play games on the Mac so we thought we'd give it a try in our latest YouTube video.

There are a few cloud-based gaming services on the market such as PlayStation Now and GeForce NOW, so Google Stadia isn't a new concept, but Google promises a simple hassle-free experience that works cross platform.

Basically, to use Google Stadia, you sign up for an account ($9.99 per month for 4K streaming and a selection of free games) and then you can access games on a Mac, Windows PC, Chromebook, or a TV using a Chromecast Ultra, with Stadia also available on Pixel 2, 3, and 4 smartphones running Android 10.

The $9.99 per month fee is to access the Stadia platform. You still need to purchase games separately, and major titles are going to cost anywhere from $30 to $60. There aren't a ton of games available right now, but you can play Red Dead Redemption 2, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat 11, and a handful of other popular games.

We tested Stadia on a new 16-inch MacBook Pro, and found it to be simple and straightforward to use. All of our games were available right away after logging in to Google Stadia via a web browser, with no downloading or installing required to play.

Because these are cloud-based games, you can pick up where you left off on any compatible device, so a game started on the Mac can later be picked up on the TV.

Setup was simple, but the gameplay experience was, well, average. In testing, there was quite a bit of lag and several drops in resolution. Gameplay would be stable for a bit, but we also ran into some stretches where the gameplay was terrible.

Game quality also depended on the game. With Destiny, for example, we saw some hiccups but it was mostly stable, but with NBA 2K20, the game refused to recognize certain button presses and it just didn't work well, suggesting not all games are quite as optimized as they should be. Google definitely has some bugs to work out.

The Stadia service works with any Bluetooth controller, but Google has designed its own Google Stadia controller that shipped with its Founders Edition bundle. We used the Stadia controller, which is pretty similar to an Xbox controller.

Using Google Stadia requires a solid internet connection, so it's not for people who have slow connection speeds. You need at least 35Mb/s for 4K gaming, but even with a connection 10 times that, we had the aforementioned lag issues.

As mentioned before, Stadia is priced at $9.99 per month, but Google is also working on a free tier next year that won't have a monthly fee and will be limited to 1080p quality.

The Founder bundle that we tested Stadia with is no longer available, but Google does have a similar "Premiere" bundle that includes the white Stadia controller (instead of the blue founder model), a Chromecast Ultra, and 3 months of "free" Stadia Pro service. After that, it will cost $9.99 per month.

Cloud gaming has been picking up in popularity over the course of the last few years, and now that Google has launched a cloud gaming service (Microsoft has one in the works too), it doesn't seem out fo the realm of possibility that Apple could launch something similar in the future as an expansion of Apple Arcade.

What do you think of Google's Stadia cloud gaming service? Let us know in the comments.

Apple appears to have eliminated reviews from its online Apple Store, removing the options that customers previously had for both leaving reviews and viewing reviews.

Apple made the change over the weekend, and as of now, no products on the online store have reviews, so there's no way to tell how customers liked a given product.

Items like the Apple Pencil and the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack had hundreds of reviews at the time they were removed, as noted by AppleInsider. For example, a Wayback Machine archive of the original ‌Apple Pencil‌ from November 16 had more than 300 reviews, many of which were negative.

At the current time, product listings have no Ratings & Reviews section and it's not clear if Apple plans to return them, but it's looking like the change was made deliberately since it expands to the online store in multiple countries.

A small number of Apple Stores in the United States and Canada are piloting a new program that allows customers to purchase AppleCare+ for devices beyond the usual limit of 60 days after the purchase date, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The pilot program began this week.

The pilot program allows customers to add AppleCare+ to a device between 61 days and one year after the device was purchased. To do so, a customer must book a Genius Bar appointment, during which a technician will run diagnostics on the device and perform a visual inspection to confirm eligibility.

We were initially told the extended eligibility was for up to two years, but another source said the period was shortened to one year.

The pilot program is rolling out to 50 or so Apple Stores in the United States, as well as all 29 locations in Canada, one of our sources said. It is unclear how long the program will remain available.

MacRumors contacted a participating Apple Store that confirmed existence of the pilot program. It applies to the iPhone for certain, and likely extends to the iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and other devices. We don't want anyone to be disappointed, so keep in mind that the pilot is subject to change.

AppleCare+ provides two or three years of extended hardware coverage and technical support depending on the type of device. This includes up to two incidents of accidental damage, each subject to a service fee.

Update: We've received additional info on the pilot program, which covers iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. It allows people to add AppleCare to their devices for up to two years after purchase, either as a two year contract or on a monthly basis. It's still not known how long the program will last, but as of January 2020, it's ongoing.

Apple and Intel on Wednesday jointly filed a lawsuit against SoftBank-owned investment firm Fortress Investment Group, accusing the company of violating U.S. federal antitrust laws by pursuing "endless, meritless" patent litigation.

The complaint alleges that non-practicing patent assertion entities like Fortress aggressively pursue patent litigation against large companies like Apple and Intel, knowing that even if they lose several cases, they could eventually win a case with a large monetary reward that exceeds their losses.

Apple and Intel argue that Fortress-backed entities have "sought billions of dollars" from the two companies over the years, forcing both tech giants to spend "millions of dollars" on outside resources like counsel and expert witnesses to defend against Fortress-backed demands and assertions.

Fortress-backed entities like Uniloc, DSS Technology Management, and Seven Networks are also named in the lawsuit, first reported by Reuters. The complaint was filed in Northern California federal court.

Apple is overhauling the way it develops and tests iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS in hopes that the new approach will improve the quality of each software platform over the long term, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

The report claims the new strategy is already being applied to development of iOS 14 ahead of its release next year. The shift comes after the buggy release of iOS 13, which has already received eight updates with bug fixes and delayed features in the last two months, which is more than usual over that time.

The new process will see Apple implement "flags," allowing the company's software engineers to selectively enable or disable unfinished or buggy features in an isolated way to ensure that overall stability is not jeopardized. Flags are already commonly used by other tech companies like Google and Microsoft.

Apple has also considered delaying some iOS 14 features until 2021, according to the report, as part of its efforts to ensure the update is more stable. Apple is believed to have taken a similar approach with iOS 12, delaying some features until iOS 13, which contributed to iOS 12 being a rather stable update.

The changes were reportedly announced at a recent meeting with employees led by Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi.

In the meantime, Apple continues to test iOS 13.3, with a third beta released this week.