Apple sold fewer than a million iPhones in India in the first half of 2018, according to Bloomberg. The company has suffered slowing sales in the world's second largest smartphone market, which has reportedly seen three high-ranking sales executives leave Apple as the company restructures its operations there.
Among the executives who've departed are its national sales and distribution chief, the head of its commercial channels and mid-market business, and the head of telecom carrier sales, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. Apple's Indian sales team is now undergoing a restructuring, one of the people said.
Apple has a 2 percent market share in India, according to Counterpoint Research. It sold 3.2 million iPhones in the country in 2017, but high tariffs on imported electronic devices continue to push consumers toward cheaper alternatives from Xiaomi, Samsung, and other phone makers. In February, India announced the latest tax increase on imported mobile phones from 15 percent to 20 percent, and that came under two months after the previous increase.
Last year, Apple started manufacturing the iPhone SE and iPhone 6S in India in an effort to exempt the phones from import duties and reduce their price, but the company's facilities have yet to start running at full capacity. Apple doesn't manufacture its latest iPhone models domestically, so they still incur import levies.
"iPhone India sales were weak in the first half of 2018 and, even if they show a big jump in the traditionally strong second half, Apple will still fall short of last year," said Neil Shah, a research director with Counterpoint who spoke to Bloomberg.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has made upbeat comments about the company's performance in the Indian market, despite Apple's sluggish growth and single-digit market share.
Cook believes that young, aspiring Indians will look to upgrade their devices as they move up the socio-economic ladder, but sales have yet to reflect that prediction. Apple has also faced criticism for the poor performance of core services like Apple Maps and Siri in India, suggesting the Apple ecosystem has yet to align well to the usage and value of Indian users.
Last month, Apple initiated a Keyboard Service Program for MacBook and MacBook Pro, after determining that a "small percentage" of the keyboards in 2015-2017 MacBook and 2016-2017 MacBook Pro models may experience keys that feel "sticky," repeat, or do not respond in a consistent manner.
Apple did not identify a cause for the issues, which they call "behaviors," but they're believed to be caused by dust and other particulates becoming stuck in the butterfly switch mechanism underneath keycaps.
Apple has been servicing affected keyboards free of charge, with the process involving the replacement of one or more keys, or the whole keyboard. For the MacBook Pro, the replacements are second-generation keyboards -- often the 2017 variant with slightly different markings on the Control and Option keys.
Then, last week, Apple surprised us with new 2018 MacBook Pro models that feature an "improved third-generation keyboard for quieter typing." These models are not eligible, at least not now, for Apple's service program.
Apple hasn't directly acknowledged whether the quieter, third-generation keyboards dually address the keyboard issues, but iFixit discovered the 2018 MacBook Pro has a thin, silicone barrier underneath each key, which they believe are intended to prevent the dust and crumbs from getting stuck.
iFixit discovered a thin, silicone layer underneath keys on the 2018 MacBook Pro
For this reason, some customers have been hoping that Apple will start swapping out second-generation keyboards with third-generation keyboards, as part of its service program, but MacRumors has learned that isn't the plan.
When asked if Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers will be permitted to replace second-generation keyboards on 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models with the new third-generation keyboards, if necessary, Apple said, no, the third-generation keyboards are exclusive to the 2018 MacBook Pro.
Hopefully, in that case, it means that Apple has quietly tweaked the second-generation keyboard to be more reliable. It wouldn't really make sense for Apple to replace keyboards with ones that are just as prone to break again, especially if the third-generation keyboards offer a fix.
One possibility is that the third-generation keyboards aren't backwards compatible with 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models to begin with. The keyboard is actually one part of a larger component called the "top case," which also has a glued-in battery, and the internal design could be tweaked in 2018 models.
To initiate a repair, head to the Contact Apple Support portal, select Mac → Mac notebooks → Hardware Issues → Keyboard not working as expected → Bring in for Repair and book an appointment with an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. Remember to back up your Mac before any servicing.
2018 MacBook Pro models feature the biggest yearly CPU performance gains since 2011, according to Geekbench founder John Poole.
Geekbench 4 scores indicate the latest 15-inch models have a 12 to 15 percent increase in single-core performance, while multi-core performance is up 39 to 46 percent, compared to the equivalent 2017 models.
A new 15-inch MacBook Pro with the best-available 2.9GHz six-core Intel Core i9 processor, with Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz, has a multi-core score of 22,439, for example, a 44.3 percent increase versus a 2017 model with a then-best 3.1GHz quad-core Core i7 and Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz.
Likewise, for the latest 13-inch models, Geekbench scores show a 3 to 11 percent increase in single-core performance, and an impressive 81 to 86 percent increase in multi-core performance versus equivalent 2017 models.
A new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the best-available 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, with Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz, has a multi-core score of 17,557, for example, an 83.8 percent increase versus a 2017 model with a then-best 3.5GHz dual-core Core i7 and Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz.
Poole attributes the increases in performance to additional cores, higher Turbo Boost frequencies, and the switch to DDR4 memory.
2018 MacBook Pro models feature eighth-generation Intel Core processors, with up to six cores on 15-inch models and up to four cores on 13-inch models, both firsts. The refresh marked the first increase in cores since 2011, when the first quad-core 15-inch MacBook Pro models were released.
Interestingly, as Poole notes, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models are now competitive with 15-inch models from 2017 in both single-core and multi-core performance, essentially making it a smaller replacement.
Poole also notes that these Geekbench scores are preliminary, and likely to rise over the coming weeks, as on brand new machines, macOS completes several setup tasks in the background that can temporarily degrade performance. He says these tasks vary and can take up to several days to be completed.
Apple advertises the new 15-inch MacBook Pro as up to 70 percent faster, and the new 13-inch model as up to two times faster, than the equivalent 2017 models, but Poole told MacRumors that other benchmarks may show different results than Geekbench. Performance in real-world usage will also vary.
Geekbench 4 is a popular cross-platform CPU and GPU benchmark from Primate Labs, with apps available for Mac and iPhone and iPad.
Apple retail stores in the United States have received supplies of the new 2018 MacBook Pro models, which means stock configurations are available for in-store pickup and walk-in purchase as of today.
Both 13 and 15-inch models are available in many Apple retail stores around the country, but not all stores appear to have full stock at this time.
When the MacBook Pro was announced on Thursday, Apple said the new machines would be in retail stores later this week. The first orders placed on Thursday have also started arriving to customers, with Apple shipping some out as early as Friday.
In addition to the United States, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is also available for in-store pickup in the UK, Germany, and France, but retail locations don't yet appear to be stocking the 15-inch model. In-store pickup is not yet available in Canada, Australia, or countries in Asia.
Pricing on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro begins at $1,799 for the entry-level 13-inch model with a 2.3GHz 8th-generation quad-core Core i5 chip, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
Pricing for the 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,399 for a 2.3GHz 6-core 8th-generation Core i7 chip, a Radeon Pro 555X graphics card, 16GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
Beyond the two stock 13 and 15-inch models, there are several customization options available for an additional price, with the top of the line 13-inch model priced at $3,699 for a 2.7GHz Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 2TB SSD.
The ultimate 15-inch MacBook Pro is priced at $6,699 for a 2.9GHz Core i9 processor, a Radeon Pro 560X, 32GB RAM, and a 4TB SSD.
Custom configurations are not generally in stock at most Apple retail stores and will need to be custom ordered from Apple's website. Custom orders placed today will arrive in approximately 10 days.
Apple has outlined repair options and parts availability for the new 2018 MacBook Pro in an internal document distributed to Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers on Friday and obtained by MacRumors.
If a defective 2018 MacBook Pro is taken to an Apple Store, the Genius Bar will be able to mail it to an off-site Apple Repair Center, which will be able to repair minor components beginning in late July, and major components beginning in late September, according to the document, which doesn't specify the minor-major distinction.
Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers will only be able to perform limited on-site repairs until service inventory of replacement parts becomes available, as is often the case with a new Apple product:
Apple says the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models have a "new" power adapter, with replacements available in late July. The adapter is still 61W, according to Apple's website, and its external design seems to remain the same, so any potential changes may be internal.
Keycap kits will be available in mid-August. Hopefully they will be needed less, as iFixit discovered the 2018 MacBook Pro has a thin, silicone barrier underneath each key, which they believe is to prevent dust and other particulates from causing keys to stick, repeat, or function inconsistently. Apple hasn't confirmed that theory, only saying the third-generation keyboards are quieter.
Other service parts will be available in late September.
MacRumors received this information from a reliable source, but repair options and service parts availability may vary based on store or repair shop, region, and so forth. These are only guidelines that are subject to change.
To initiate a repair, head to the Contact Apple Support portal, select Mac → Mac notebooks, select the category and type of issue, select Bring in for Repair, and book an appointment with an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. There are also phone, chat, and email options for troubleshooting.
The keys of the new 2018 MacBook Pro, which uses a third-generation butterfly keyboard, appear to be cocooned in a "thin, silicone barrier" according to a teardown that's underway over at iFixit.
According to iFixit, the quieter typing Apple has been advertising in the 2018 MacBook Pro models is a side effect of the new membrane, which the site believes is actually an "ingress-proofing measure" to prevent the butterfly keys from seizing up when exposed to dust and other small particulates.
To back up its claim, iFixit points towards a patent for the technology Apple may be using in the third-generation butterfly keyboard, which describes a "guard structure" that keeps direct contaminants away from the movement mechanism.
iFixit does warn, however, that while the silicone barrier is clearly in place, there's no way to definitively prove that it's a reliability fix rather than just a sound damping measure, citing statements from Apple to The Verge that have said the new keyboard design wasn't introduced to "solve [dust] issues." Apple also told The Verge and other sites that the issue in question has only impacted a small number of customers.
iFixit speculates that Apple is avoiding sharing the complete reasoning behind the keyboard redesign because of the class action lawsuits that it's currently facing over faulty 2016/2017 MacBook Pro keyboards.
Apple is in the middle of several class-action lawsuits for the failure of their keyboards, so of course they can’t just come out and say, "Hey, we fixed it!” That says there was a problem to begin with. But you’ve heard that clever analysis from John Gruber already. I’m just here to posit: the advertised boost in quietude is a side-effect of this rubbery membrane. The quiet angle is, quite literally, a cover up.
Since Apple unveiled the 2018 MacBook Pro with its third-generation butterfly keyboard, there have been questions about whether specific changes were made to address keyboard failure issues present in 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models.
Apple has been vague when answering questions about the way the quieter keys were implemented and if those changes also impact durability and reliability, but iFixit's teardown offers hope for customers who have been waiting for Apple to fix the keyboard problems affecting older MacBook Pro models.
Some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro owners have experienced issues with sticky, unresponsive, or repeating keys, leading to significant public outcry that eventually pushed Apple to launch a free repair program for those machines. As a result of the attention given to the issue, some customers have been wary about purchasing a new MacBook Pro because of possible future problems.
Future failure rates and anecdotal reports may be the only way to determine the true purpose behind the silicone barrier added to the keys, as Apple's marketing materials insist the change has been introduced to allow for a quieter typing experience, addressing an issue that few people seemed to have had with the 2016/2017 keyboard.
Earlier today, TechCrunchshared a video demonstrating the typing sound of the new 2018 MacBook Pro compared to an earlier MacBook Pro model, confirming that it is indeed quieter as Apple says. Multiple hands-on reports have also said there's a noticeable difference between the sound of the new MacBook Pro and older models.
iFixit plans to continue on with its teardown next week and may have more information to share, but given the interest in the third-generation butterfly keyboard, the site didn't want to wait to highlight potential good news.
iOS 12 introduces several significant new features like Memoji, Siri Shortcuts, Screen Time for keeping track of the time you're spending on your iOS devices, Group FaceTime with up to 32 people, new parental controls, ARKit 2.0, and more.
Along with all of the major additions, there are dozens of smaller, more hidden features. In our latest YouTube video, we've pulled out several of the most useful, less well-known features that are included in the iOS 12 update.
Accidental Screenshot Prevention - In iOS 12, accidental iPhone X screenshots are less likely to happen through a new feature that prevents a screenshot from being taken while the iPhone X's display is turned off. With the change, the screenshot feature is deactivated until the iPhone X's display is activated. iOS 12 also prevents screenshots from being captured and the camera from working when an iPhone or iPad has been restarted or powered back on after being shut down.
Quitting Apps on iPhone X - In iOS 11, you need to open up multitasking and hold down on an app to bring up a red "X" to close it. In iOS 12, things are simplified. With the multitasking interface open, just swipe up on an app to close it, just like you do on every other device.
Multiple Faces for Face ID - On the iPhone X, you can register two faces that will work with Face ID. Prior to iOS 12, you could only register a single face. Registering multiple faces is useful if you dramatically change your appearance on the regular, like putting on ski goggles, a scarf, and a hat.
Lyric Search - In the Music app in iOS 12, you can search for songs by their lyrics.
Do Not Disturb - Get to Do Not Disturb Controls in iOS 12 quickly through the Control Center. Just 3D Touch or long press to get Do Not Disturb options like activate for one hour, activate until this evening, or activate until I leave this location.
Bedtime Mode - iOS 12 has a new Bedtime Mode linked to Do Not Disturb, and if you enable it, all of your notifications will bypass the Lock screen and go straight to Notification Center so if you glance at your phone for the time during the night, you won't see a list of pending distractions. When you wake up, you'll see a nice "Good morning!" lock screen with a list of everything that happened overnight.
AirDrop Passwords - If you need to share a password between devices or with a friend in iOS 12, you can AirDrop it. With the iOS Password Manager open, choose a login, press on the password field, and select the AirDrop option that pops up.
Quickly Scan QR Codes - There's a Control Center option in iOS 12 that opens right up to the built-in camera to scan a QR code. It's the icon that looks like a QR code, and it can be enabled through Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls. Alternatively, 3D Touch on the Camera icon on the Home screen to get to a Quick Action for scanning a QR code.
To see all of these features in action, make sure to check out the video. What are your favorite hidden tips and tricks in iOS 12? Let us know in the comments.
Texture, the digital magazine service that Apple acquired earlier this year, recently dropped its $14.99 Premium price point for existing subscribers.
Texture Premium, which allows for access to both weekly and monthly magazines, is now priced at $9.99 for all customers, new and existing.
The price change was shared in an email from Harry McCracken yesterday, and confirmed today by Texture. Texture is streamlining its pricing plans and opting to sell a single $9.99 plan instead of multiple plans.
The price of Texture Premium for new customers was dropped to $9.99 some time ago, while existing customers had still been paying $14.99 per month. With the new pricing update this week, all Texture customers are now paying the lower cost for full access to all Texture content.
Prior to the pricing change for Texture Premium, Texture charged $9.99 per month for access to monthly magazines, and $14.99 per month for access to both weekly and monthly magazines, but now there's just one plan.
For customers who may have been paying less than $9.99 due to previous promotions, pricing has not changed, and they will still get access to Texture at the lower price point.
Texture provides unlimited access to more than 200 digital magazines, including titles like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, People, Wired, and more.
Rumors have suggested that in the future, Texture will be bundled into an Apple subscription news service that will offer digital magazine content.
Apple's new 2018 MacBook Pro models feature a third-generation butterfly keyboard, which Apple says has been improved for a "quieter typing experience."
The difference in sound between the quieter 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard and the older butterfly keyboard in an earlier version of the MacBook Pro has been demoed in video by TechCrunch, with the difference in sound clearly audible.
The sound coming from the 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard is noticeably muffled compared to the sound coming from the previous-generation MacBook Pro, which, as TechCrunch points out, sounds much more like a typewriter.
Multiple hands-on experiences with the 2018 MacBook Pro shared by various media sites yesterday have also confirmed that the new third-generation butterfly keyboard is a good deal quieter than previous keyboards.
When it comes to feel, though, reviews have said that the keyboard doesn't feel any different, as it's using the same butterfly switches with the same amount of key travel.
According to Apple, the focus with the third-generation keyboard was dampening key sounds, and the company has not confirmed if specific changes were made to address keyboard failure issues present in 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models.
Some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro owners have experienced issues with sticky, unresponsive, or repeating keys, leading Apple to launch a repair program for those machines. Apple is offering free repairs for affected MacBook Pro models, but it continues to be unclear if design changes have been implemented to prevent the issue, both in earlier machines and the new 2018 machines.
More information will be available on the 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard when it's unveiled through the teardowns that should be coming soon.
The 2018 MacBook Pros just went on sale yesterday, but Apple was quick about shipping them out and some customers already have the new machines in hand.
Laptop Mag was able to get one of the new 13-inch 2018 MacBook Pro models and performed some benchmarks to give us an idea of how it measures up to competing PCs. According to Laptop Mag, it the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is the "fastest system in its class."
The site's tests were performed on the $2,499 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar equipped with a 2.7GHz quad-core 8th-generation Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, Intel Iris Plus 655, and a 512GB SSD.
A file copy test of the SSD in the new MacBook Pro, which Apple says supports sequential read speeds of up to 3.2GB/s and sequential write speeds up to 2.2GB/s, led Laptop Mag to declare the SSD in the MacBook Pro "the fastest ever" in a laptop. Higher capacity SSDs may see even faster speeds on disk speeds tests. A BlackMagic Disk Speed test was also conducted, resulting in an average write speed of 2,682 MB/s.
I had to do a double take when I saw how quickly the new 13-inch MacBook Pro duplicated 4.9GB worth of data. It took 2 seconds, which comes out to a rate of 2,519 megabytes per second. That's insane.
So we also ran the BlackMagic Disk Speed test for macOS, and the system returned an average write speed of 2,682 MBps.
To be fair, Apple’s relatively new APFS file system is designed to speed up file copies using a technology Apple calls Instant Cloning. But a win is a win.
On a Geekbench 4 CPU benchmark, the 13-inch MacBook Pro earned a score of 18,055 on the multi-core test, outperforming 13-inch machines from companies like Dell, HP, Asus, and Microsoft. That score beats out all 2017 MacBook Pro models and is faster than some iMac configurations. 15-inch MacBook Pro models with 6-core 8th-generation Intel chips will show even more impressive speeds.
The MacBook Pro took 16:57 minutes to transcode a 4K video clip to 1080p using Handbrake, faster than most competing machines and two and a half minutes faster than the 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro. It didn't win at an Excel VLOOKUP macro matching 65,000 names to corresponding addresses, but at 1 minute 16 seconds to complete the task, it was competitive with the Dell XPS 13 and Asus Zenbook, while beating out the Surface Book 2 and the Huawei MateBook X Pro.
One area where the MacBook Pro didn't quite measure up to other machines with similar specs was GPU performance. The 13-inch 2018 MacBook Pro uses Intel's Iris Plus Graphics 655 with 128MB of embedded DRAM and was unable to compete in a Dirt 3 graphics test, getting only 38.8 frames per second. All Windows-based machines tested offered much better performance.
Apple did team up with Blackmagic to offer a Blackmagic eGPU for gaming purposes and system intensive creative tasks, but the device is priced at $700. It does, however, offer super fast performance with a built-in Radeon Pro 580 GPU.
Additional benchmarks and details about the 2018 MacBook Pro models will surface over the course of the next few days as orders arrive and retail stores begin stocking the machines.
The new 2018 models can be purchased from the Apple online store, with prices on the 13-inch machine starting at $1,799 and prices on the 15-inch machine starting at $2,399.
Apple today announced a new collaboration between its Apple Developer Academies in Brazil and the Malala Fund to further advance education opportunities for girls.
Apple became the Malala Fund's first Laureate partner in January 2018. The Malala Fund, led by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, advocates for quality education and equal opportunity for girls around the world.
Apple CEO Tim Cook with Malala Yousafzai and students in Beirut, Lebanon
Through its expanded partnership with Apple, the Malala Fund will "harness the creativity and ingenuity" of Apple Developer Academy students and alumni in Brazil, providing them with the opportunity to work with the Malala Fund to design and develop apps aimed at furthering the Fund's goals.
Developers at the Apple Developer Academy in Rio met with Malala Yousafzai on Friday, where she said that with Apple's help, the Malala Fund will gain new tools to support its mission to empower girls, teachers, and policy makers through skill development, education advocacy, and school enrollment.
"My hope is that every girl, from Rio to Riyadh, can be free to choose her own future," said Malala Yousafzai. "Whether she wants to be a developer, a pilot, a dancer or a politician, education is the best path to a brighter future. By tapping into Apple's network of student developers, Malala Fund will gain access to new tools to support our mission of free, safe, quality education. The students in Apple's Developer Academy program share my passion for improving the world around us, and I am eager to see their innovative ideas to help girls in Brazil and across the globe."
Apple CEO Tim Cook also said that the company is "thrilled" to further its partnership with Malala Fund.
"We share Malala's goal of getting more girls into quality education and are thrilled to be deepening our partnership with Malala Fund by mobilizing thousands of Apple Developer Academy students and alumni across Brazil," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Apple has been committed to education since day one, and we can't wait to see what our creative student developers come up with to help Malala Fund make a difference for girls around the world."
Since it launched in 2013, more than 3,000 students have participated in the Apple Developer Academy program in Brazil, with another 500 currently enrolled. Apple has 10 sites in Brazil in Brasilia, Campinas, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
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.
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Eve Systems to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win the company's entire HomeKit product line, which includes an Eve Motion, an Eve Energy, an Eve Door & Window sensor, an Eve Button, an Eve Light Switch, an Eve Degree, and an Eve Aqua.
Eve Systems, formerly known as Elgato, was one of the first companies to create HomeKit products for Apple's smart home platform, and today, there are a wide selection of Bluetooth-enabled HomeKit products available from Eve.
All Eve products work over Bluetooth so there's no need for a WiFi connection or a hub, and because we here at MacRumors have reviewed many of the Eve products, we can confirm that they work well with any HomeKit setup. Eve offers a lot of nice little HomeKit add-on features for automation and monitoring, so it's worth checking out the product lineup if you're looking to improve your HomeKit setup.
- Eve Motion ($50) - Eve Motion is a wireless motion sensor that can be used as a trigger device that works with other HomeKit products. Eve Motion can do things like turn the lights on when you enter a room or turn them off when you leave, let you know if motion is detected in a room in the home while you're away, or trigger a product like a light or a fan when movement is detected. It works in complex scene and automation setups.
- Eve Energy ($50) - Eve Energy is a smart plug solution that turns any appliance into a HomeKit-connected appliance. You can turn an appliance on or off using Eve Energy, even when away from home, and you can see just how much power it's using. Like all other Eve products, Eve Energy can be paired with other HomeKit devices, included in scenes and automations, and controlled via Siri.
- Eve Door & Window ($40) - Eve Door & Window is a two part sensor that goes on a door or a window to let you know whether it's open or closed for peace of mind. With a door, for example, one side of the sensor goes on the door while the other goes on the door frame, with Eve Door & Window able to send an alert when the door is opened or closed. Eve Door Window can be used as a trigger in HomeKit scenes, turning on the lights and adjusting the thermostat when the door is opened.
- Eve Button ($50) - Eve Button is a physical remote control device that lets you activate scenes with a single press, double press, or long press. You can assign up to three scenes to the Eve Button that can be activated by anyone in the home. So you could set up a "Good Night" scene, for example, that shuts off the lights, turns down the thermostat, and locks the doors, all of which could be activated with a single button press without the need to get out your iPhone or use a Siri command.
- Eve Light Switch ($50) - Designed to replace a traditional wall switch, Eve Light Switch lets you turn your lights on and off using Siri and it allows them to be paired up with other HomeKit-enabled products in scenes, while retaining the functionality of a standard light switch.
- Eve Degree ($60) - Eve Degree is Eve's mini weather station, designed to provide the temperature, humidity, and air pressure. It has an LCD display so you can see the temperature at a glance, and it lets you view the temperature in the home when away or ask Siri for temperature details. Eve Degree lets you see and monitor temperature trends over months, weeks, and days, and it lets you use temperature or humidity-based triggers for other HomeKit products.
- Eve Aqua ($100) - Eve Aqua is Eve's latest product, designed to automate sprinklers and irrigation systems, converting an outdoor water faucet into a smart faucet. With Eve Aqua, you can turn the sprinklers on via Siri voice command or your iPhone, and you can automate watering times. You can also keep an eye on how much water you're using, both day to day and over time.
We have three bundles with all of the above listed Eve products included. To enter to win the 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, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
The contest will run from today (July 13) at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time on July 20. The winners will be chosen randomly on July 20 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 using certain external monitors with the new 2018 MacBook Pro models, the built-in True Tone feature that matches the color of the MacBook Pro's screen to the ambient lighting in a room will also extend to the connected display.
According to a support document published this morning by Apple, True Tone can adjust the Apple Thunderbolt Display using an Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter, the LG UltraFine 5K Display, and the LG UltraFine 4K display.
When using these displays, you can activate or deactivate True Tone by clicking on the Apple logo in the menu bar, opening up System Preferences, choosing the Displays section, selecting the Display tab and then selecting or unselecting the True Tone checkbox.
With other third-party monitors, True Tone will not be an available option.
True Tone, first introduced on the iPad Pro and then the iPhone X, uses the sensors in the MacBook Pro to measure the white balance in the room, adjusting the tone of the display for a more natural viewing experience.
True Tone can cut down on eyestrain and it allows for a more paper-like look for websites, documents, and more.
The True Tone feature is available in the new 13 and 15-inch 2018 MacBook Pro models, which Apple unveiled yesterday. You can purchase the new machines from the Apple online store, with stock configurations set to arrive in just a few days after purchase.
Over the past few months, Apple has been preparing itself for product launches later in the year by registering several new iPads, iPhones, and Macs with the Eurasian Economic Commission. The filings are legally required for any products that include encryption features and are to be sold in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, making them good indicators of products coming down the line.
Earlier in July, Apple registered five tablet models, including A1876, A1934, A1979, A2013 and A2014, but today Consomac discovered recent authorization for two new tablets: A1895 and A1980. Most of these are expected to be models of Apple's 2018 refresh of the iPad Pro.
Later this year we're expected to see a major update to the iPad Pro with design elements from the iPhone X, like slimmer bezels, faster processor, and a TrueDepth front-facing camera with Face ID support. This means that the 2018 iPad Pro models are also expected to drop support for the home button for the first time on Apple's line of tablets.
The 2018 iPad Pro refresh is predicted to come in two sizes, measuring 11 inches and 12.9 inches, according to recent report by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. With two size tiers and a Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi + Cellular, and potentially a special Cellular model for China, there would be just one model number left over from the seven EEC filings.
While this could be an additional model of the iPad Pro we don't yet know about, it could also relate to a model of iPad not in the Pro family, including the iPad mini 5. A rumor from May 2017 suggested the mini lineup was being discontinued, but over a year later Apple has yet to officially make such a commitment to ending the line.
Consomac's other findings relate to model numbers previously reported, including 11 model numbers for smartphones and five model numbers for laptops, two of which we now know were the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar refresh launched yesterday. For MacBook, this leaves three other models with a potential launch in 2018, perhaps indicating cheaper, entry-level MacBooks without the Touch Bar.
Today's filings also include 11 existing iPhone models listed as running iOS 12, including the iPhone SE and iPhone X, two devices Apple has been rumored to possibly be discontinuing with the release of the new lineup. It's unclear, however, if their inclusion is confirmation that Apple will continue selling them.
Of course, it's difficult to obtain any information based solely on model numbers, so at this point those looking forward to new iPads and iPhones this year can at least know that the devices are a few months away.
Adobe will launch a "full version" of Photoshop for iPad in 2019, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Nico Grant. The report claims Adobe will preview the app at its annual MAX creative conference in October.
Adobe's chief of Creative Cloud software Scott Belsky confirmed that the company is working on a new cross-platform version of Photoshop and other apps, but declined to specify the timing of their launches.
"My aspiration is to get these on the market as soon as possible," Belsky said in an interview. "There's a lot required to take a product as sophisticated and powerful as Photoshop and make that work on a modern device like the iPad. We need to bring our products into this cloud-first collaborative era."
Adobe already offers a range of companion apps for Photoshop on iPhone and iPad, including Photoshop Fix for basic retouching, Photoshop Express for basic photo editing and creating collages, Photoshop Sketch for drawing and painting, and Photoshop Mix for creating multilayered images.
The full version is expected to offer a wider range of tools, enabling users to start a project on the desktop and continue editing on the iPad, or vice versa. The app is said to have a mobile-friendly interface, as part of an architecture overhaul that will extend to other Adobe apps, such as Illustrator.
The app will presumably be named Photoshop CC for iPad, and will likely be a free download, but like the already-available Lightroom CC for iPad, a $9.99 per month Creative Cloud subscription will likely be required to access the full feature set and syncing with Photoshop on the desktop.
Photoshop CC would compete with other photo editing apps on iPad, including Affinity Photo, Pixelmator, and Snapseed by Google.
LG Display has signed a deal with Apple to supply both LCD and OLED panels for the company's 2018 range of iPhones, according to a new report by Korea-based Newspin (via DigiTimes).
The contract will see LG Display ship around 20 million LCD smartphone panels to Apple in 2018, according to the report, which also puts the number of OLED panels to be supplied by LG in the 3 to 4 million ballpark range, as per previous rumors.
In addition, the report claims LG is "likely" to secure the majority of 6.5-inch panel orders from Apple in 2019, which will see the firm ramp up its OLED shipments to 10 million units in the year. LG will reportedly produce the OLED panels for iPhone at its E6 6G plant in Paju, Korea.
Apple is expected to launch two OLED iPhones (5.8 and 6.5 inches) and one 6.1-inch LCD iPhone later this year, with the LCD device to be positioned as a low-cost option alongside the two more expensive OLED devices.
It's unclear at present what the reported LG-Apple deal means for LCD suppliers Sharp and Japan Display, the latter of which is trying to raise millions through third-party share allocations and asset sales in order to have the necessary funds to supply LCD screens for Apple's new iPhones.
Last year, Japan Display lost business because of Apple's shift to OLED, and with the firm again planning to invest in LCDs, it could be in trouble in the future, should Apple increasingly turn to Samsung and LG for both panel types.
DigiTimes has previously claimed Apple will seek 60 to 70 million LCD panels for its iPhones this year, but whether that number is destined solely for the new 6.1-inch model is unknown. Apple has already earmarked $2.67 billion to invest in LG's OLED panel production, with the Korean firm said to be building a production line dedicated to iPhone orders only, as part of its agreement with Apple.
Apple's desire for both LCD and OLED supplies also comes at a crucial time for LG. The company posted a net loss of 98.3 billion Korean won ($87 million) in the first quarter of 2018, with the prospect of almost doubling that figure in losses for the second quarter.
LG's financial constraints also underline the importance of avoiding a repeat of the firm's past OLED mistakes, such as befell its Flex and G Flex 2 phones, released in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Both smartphone displays were widely criticized at the time for exhibiting graininess and variations in brightness, issues which returned in LG's own V30 and the Google Pixel 2 XL in models launched last year.
Apple today released a series of new 15-second ads highlighting Apple Pay Cash under the tagline "Just text them the money."
One ad shows how roommates can use Apple Pay Cash in Messages to send rent money, while another includes a "lost shirt" scenario that demonstrates the ability to request a specific dollar amount.
A third ad highlights two friends discussing and paying for tickets to a game even though it conflicts with another friend's wedding, while the fourth ad covers a mother sending money to her child after receiving a photo of an empty fridge.
Apple Pay Cash launched in the United States with iOS 11.2 in early December through a partnership with Green Dot Bank and has yet to expand to any other countries.
Customers who ordered one of the new 2018 MacBook Pro models that Apple released this morning are starting to see shipment notifications with the first deliveries of stock configurations slated for tomorrow.
As noted by 9to5Mac, customers have had their cards charged, and orders started shifting to preparing for shipment earlier today before some new machines were sent out by Apple.
Apple's delivery estimates when placing an order suggest the new 2018 MacBook Pro models won't deliver until July 16 at the earliest, which is next Monday, but some customers will be getting deliveries early.
Custom configurations for both 13 and 15-inch machines will not be arriving until next week, however, with build-to-order machines listing delivery dates between July 19 and July 23 for the most part.
In-store pickup for stock machines is not yet available, but Apple says the new models will be available in retail stores "later this week."
The new MacBook Pro models feature 8th-generation Coffee Lake chips with quad-core chips in the 13-inch models and 6-core chips in the 15-inch models, up to 32GB of RAM for the 15-inch MacBook Pro, a T2 chip for enhanced security and "Hey Siri" support, a quieter third-generation butterfly keyboard, True Tone for both the display and the Touch Bar, and up to 4TB of SSD storage.
