Adobe Scan, Adobe's document scanning app, was updated today with a new feature that lets users capture business cards and convert them into phone contacts.
AI enhancements courtesy of Adobe's Sensei machine learning platform enable the app to recognize a business card when placed in view of the phone's built-in camera. Once the card is recognized, the app presents a "Save Contact" button to the user.
Tapping the new option captures the information on the business card including the name, company, phone number, email address, and any image, and automatically imports it into the user's contacts.
Adobe's Sensei AI also gets to work on the original scan of the business card, automatically correcting for shadows, perspective distortion, and even cropping out any fingers holding the card in the captured image.
Along with the AI-focused update to Adobe Scan, Adobe also announced some new PDF creation tools today for Microsoft Office 365.
New shortcuts in the ribbon of Microsoft's Word, Excel, and PowerPoint web apps let users convert documents into PDFs (and vice versa) with optional password protection. Likewise, Adobe PDF archiving, conversion, and distribution tools are also now available from within OneDrive and SharePoint.
Adobe Scan can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Apple Pay today launched in Poland, according to reports from several MacRumors readers who are living in the country and Polish Apple site ThinkApple. iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in Poland are now able to add eligible cards to the Wallet app for use with Apple Pay.
Visa and Mastercards from the above listed banks will work with Apple Pay, and several MacRumors readers have been able to successfully add their cards to their iPhones.
Apple CEO Tim Cook first promised to expand Apple Pay to Poland during Apple's earnings call covering the second fiscal quarter of 2018. At the time, he also said Apple Pay would come to Ukraine and Norway, with the payments service yet to launch in the latter country.
Following the launch of Apple Pay in Poland, Apple Pay is available in more than 20 markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, Russia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, UAE, Brazil, and Ukraine.
Apple Pay in stores is available on the iPhone 6 and later and all Apple Watch models. Apple Pay on the web and in apps is available on the iPhone 6 and later along with the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4, all iPad Pro models, and Macs with Touch ID or an accompanying iPhone or Apple Watch.
The Australian government today fined Apple $9 million for misleading some customers into believing they could not have their iOS devices fixed by Apple if they had been previously repaired by a third-party repair shop, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
Today's ruling comes after the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) launched an investigation into Apple after the ACCC received complaints over "error 53," issues.
Error 53, widely publicized in 2016, caused some iPhone 6 users who had the Home buttons on their iPhones fixed by a non-Apple technician using non-original parts to see their iPhones bricked following a software update.
When the error code first surfaced, Apple said that error 53 was a protective security feature meant to prevent "malicious" third-party components from potentially compromising a user's iPhone, but after public outcry, Apple released a software update restoring functionality to bricked iPhones. Following the software update to unbrick iPhones, Apple claimed that the error 53 issue was meant to be a factory test and never should have impacted consumer devices.
Amid error 53 investigations led by the ACCC, Apple admitted that between February 2015 and February 2016, at least 275 Australian customers had been told in store or over the phone that they could not have their iPad or iPhone fixed if it had been repaired by a third party, such as in the error 53 situation.
Apple's refusal to provide repairs to Australian customers who had previous repairs done by third-party shops violates Australian Consumer Law, according to an Australian Federal Court.
When it learned of the ACCC's investigation, Apple launched an outreach program that has compensated approximately 5,000 consumers who were affected by error 53. Apple's Australian arm is also improving staff training to make sure its stores comply fully with Australian Consumer Law, and Apple will now provide new devices as replacements instead of refurbished devices if a customer requests one.
In the United States, Apple was hit with a lawsuit over error 53, but it was dismissed after the company restored full iPhone functionality through a software update and reimbursed customers who had paid for out-of-warranty device replacements.
A long-standing bug in macOS's Quick Look feature has the potential to expose sensitive user files like photo thumbnails and the text of documents, even on encrypted drives, according to security researchers.
Quick Look in macOS is a convenient Finder feature that's designed to present a zoomed-in view when you press the space bar on a photo or document that's selected.
To provide this preview functionality, Quick Look creates an unencrypted thumbnail database where thumbnails of files are kept, with the database storing file previews from a Mac's storage and any attached USB drives whenever a folder is opened. These thumbnails, which provide previews of content on an encrypted drive, can be accessed by someone with the technical know how and there's no automatic cache clearing that deletes them. As Regula explains:
It means that all photos that you have previewed using space (or Quicklook cached them independently) are stored in that directory as a miniature and its path. They stay there even if you delete these files or if you have previewed them in encrypted HDD or TrueCrypt/VeraCrypt container.
This is an issue that's existed for at least eight years and concerns have been raised about it in the past, but Apple has made no changes in macOS to address it. "The fact that behavior is still present in the latest version of macOS, and (though potentially having serious privacy implications), is not widely known by Mac users, warrants additional discussion," writes Wardle.
As Wardle points out, this information is valuable in law enforcement investigations, but most users are not going to be happy to learn that their Mac records file paths and thumbnails of documents from every storage device that's been attached to it.
For a forensics investigation or surveillance implant, this information could prove invaluable. Imagine having a historic record of the USB devices, files on the devices, and even thumbnails of the files...all stored persistently in an unencrypted database, long after the USB devices have been removed (and perhaps destroyed). For users, the question is: "Do you really want your Mac recording the file paths and 'previews' thumbnails of the files on any/all USB sticks that you've ever inserted into your Mac?" Me thinks not...
It's worth noting that if the main drive on the Mac is encrypted, the Quick Look cache that's created is too. Wardle says that data "may be safe" on a machine that's powered off, but on a Mac that's running, even if encrypted containers are unmounted, the caching feature can reveal their contents.
"In other words, the increased security encrypted containers were thought to provide, may be completely undermined by QuickLook," writes Wardle.
Wardle recommends that users concerned about unencrypted data storage clear the Quick Look cache manually whenever a container is unmounted, with instructions for this available on Wardle's website. It's also worth checking out Wardle's site for full details on the Quick Look bug.
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 update to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the second 10.13.6 beta.
The new macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 beta can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.
We don't yet know what improvements the sixth update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it likely focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that were not able to be addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.5.
No feature changes were discovered in the first two macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 betas, but we'll update this post if new features or notable bug fixes are discovered in the third.
Work on macOS High Sierra is wrapping up, with Apple now shifting focus to the next-generation version of macOS, macOS 10.14, which was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4.
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.4.1 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the second tvOS 11.4.1 beta and three weeks after releasing tvOS 11.4, an update that introduced support for AirPlay 2.
Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 11.4.1 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode.
No new features or changes were discovered in the first two tvOS 11.4.1 betas, suggesting the update focus on fixes for bugs that have been discovered since the release of tvOS 11.4.
Apple's tvOS updates have historically been minor in scale, and Apple does not often provide us with detailed notes outlining what's new. We'll update this post should anything be found in the third beta.
Apple's work on tvOS 11 is winding down as the company is now focusing on tvOS 12, which was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in early June.
Update: Apple has also made the third beta of tvOS 11.4.1 available to its public beta testing group.
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming iOS 11.4.1 update to developers, one week after seeding the second beta and three weeks after releasing iOS 11.4, an update that introduced AirPlay 2 and Messages in iCloud.
Registered developers can download the new iOS 11.4.1 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.
No new features were discovered in the first two iOS 11.4.1 betas, suggesting it focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements to address issues discovered since the release of iOS 11.4.
We'll update this post should we discover any new features in the third iOS 11.4.1 beta, but we're not expecting major changes now that Apple has shifted its focus to iOS 12, which is also available to developers for beta testing purposes.
Update: The third beta of iOS 11.4.1 is also available for public beta testers.
On Saturday, Beyoncé and Jay-Z launched a new collaborative album called "Everything is Love" exclusively to Tidal subscribers, the streaming service that Jay-Z owns. Just under two days later, Everything is Love has now launched on Apple Music, Spotify Premium, and Amazon Music Unlimited, making this a very short timed exclusive for Tidal (via Variety). In two weeks, the album will be available on Spotify's free tier.
In relation to Apple Music, The Carters have had a somewhat rocky relationship with Apple's streaming music service. Beyoncé's "Lemonade" album never launched on Apple Music and remains available for Apple customers only as a $17.99 paid download in iTunes. Although Jay-Z quietly removed many of his albums from Apple Music in April 2017, most eventually came back, and his own album "4:44" had one week of Tidal exclusivity before appearing on Apple Music last summer.
Tidal has had a rough couple of months as well, beginning with a report last December that claimed the company was facing money problems due to "stalled" user growth, and could run out of working capital in six months. Nearly six months later, Norwegian news site Dagens Næringsliv reported that Tidal was months behind on its royalty payments to record labels.
Furthermore, Tidal last month confirmed to its customers that it was investigating a "potential data breach" on the platform. The company said it had gone so far as to hire an "independent, third party cyber-security firm" to find out what happened. It's still unknown how widespread the potential breach was and what aspects of Tidal users' data might have been compromised. Tidal CEO Richard Sanders said that the company would share the results of the security firm's discoveries "once completed."
Amid the turmoil, Tidal exclusives have grown short or ended completely, as with Kanye West's latest album "ye," which launched on Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal on the same day. In 2016, West launched "The Life of Pablo" as a Tidal exclusive, but eventually allowed the full album to stream on Apple Music and other services.
Years later, West reportedly sought to end Tidal's exclusivity rights over his new music and break from the service. West claimed he was owed "more than $3 million" because his album "resulted in 1.5 million new subscribers to Tidal, for which he was supposed to get a bonus", but Tidal never paid. At the time of those claims, sources close to West said the artist successfully ended exclusivity rights with Tidal and cited "Tidal's failure to honor its financial obligations."
Tidal's subscriber base isn't known, but it is believed to be much smaller than Apple Music (50 million including those on free trials) and Spotify Premium (75 million). Major exclusives like The Carters' new album likely help increase the company's paid subscriber count for both its $9.99/month standard sound quality tier and $19.99/month Hi-Fi tier, despite the short exclusivity window. Still, with a 30-day free trial and no confirmation of subscriber numbers, it's unclear how many new users will stick around.
Tidal subscribers will have one advantage over other users, since the bonus track "Salud" remains a Tidal exclusive.
As it does every year, Apple today opened registration for its annual three-day "Apple Camp" event. At Apple Camp, kids between the ages of 8 and 12 can partake in hands-on projects at Apple retail locations by choosing one of three tracks and spending 90 minutes per day for three days "immersed in their chosen subject."
The three programs include "Coding with Sphero Robots", "Beat Making and Songwriting with GarageBand", and "Telling Stories with Clips." Apple broke down what each program is about on the registration page for Apple Camp:
Coding with Sphero Robots - In this three-day session for kids ages 8-12, we’ll introduce the fundamentals of coding using Sphero robots. Each day Campers will learn a new coding concept and practice problem-solving skills. They’ll partner up for fun activities to program their Sphero to change colors, create sounds, complete challenges, and more. Then they’ll apply their coding skills to design their own games.
Beat Making and Songwriting with GarageBand - In this three-day session, kids ages 8-12 will discover the magic of beat making and songwriting. They’ll start by exploring basic elements of song structure and how beats create the foundation of a song. Campers will get hands-on as they create music using Touch Instruments, add vocals, and fine-tune their creations with GarageBand on iPad. On day 3, they’ll share their songs with the group.
Telling Stories with Clips - Future filmmakers ages 8-12 will explore the creative process of telling stories using video, photos, and music. Campers will brainstorm and storyboard their ideas. They’ll get hands-on in groups to capture short videos, edit and enhance their shots with fun graphics and filters, and add opening and closing titles in the Clips app on iPad. On the final day, they’ll present their video stories.
The days of the week and time for each program varies by region, with some classes taking place on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule and others organized on a Tuesday-Thursday-Friday schedule. Classes typically begin at around 9:30 a.m. ET and stop around 5:30 p.m. ET.
The free Apple Camp sessions will kick off on July 9 and run through July 27, and parents interested can register their kids now on Apple.com in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, and more. In the United Kingdom and Germany, registration will open next Monday, June 25. Like previous years, parents or a legal guardian must accompany any child participating in the 90-minute sessions every day, and those kids who do participate will get a free Apple Camp t-shirt.
In 2011, a class action lawsuit filed against Apple accused the company of operating an illegal monopoly by not allowing iPhone users to download mobile apps outside of its own App Store, reducing consumer choice.
The antitrust case was eventually dismissed in 2013 by a U.S. district court in Northern California, due to errors in the complaint, leading to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit allowing it to proceed in 2017.
That decision led to Apple's petition for a writ of certiorari, which was granted today, meaning that the U.S. Supreme Court will now review the appeals court's decision to reinstate the case last year, according to Reuters.
From the start, Apple has argued that it doesn't set prices for paid apps, and that charging a 30 percent commission on the distribution of paid apps and in-app purchases does not violate antitrust laws in the United States.
Apple will now hope the Supreme Court agrees that the case should be dismissed again. No date has been disclosed for the hearing.
Two years after its release in the summer of 2016, Pokémon Go will officially add Pokémon trading between friends within the app later this week. The feature is coming via a new "Friends" area, allowing players to connect to real-life friends and trade Pokémon, keep track of their status in the game, and send them items and gifts.
Friends will now get "Trainer Codes" to share with one another, which can be entered to become friends in the app. Once you're friends with someone there are multiple actions you can perform to increase your Friendship Level, like sending them gifts or participating in raids and gym battles with them. As this level grows, bonuses can be unlocked when you play together, so "Great Friends" can gain in-battle advantages, like attack bonuses.
Friendship Levels can be increased once per day per friend, and the new friend-based mechanics lead into the game's trading system. If you are near your friend (within 100 meters) and have reached a Trainer Level of 10 or higher, the game will let you trade Pokémon that you've caught. Trades cost Stardust, and Niantic says that once your Friendship Level increases players will be able to complete trades "with much less Stardust."
Special Pokémon like a legendary, shiny, or any Pokémon not in your Pokédex will have their own "Special Trade" rules: they can only occur once per day with a Great Friend or Best Friend, and cost "a lot of Stardust." Every trade also earns players bonus candy for the Pokémon that has been traded away, and the amount of candy increases if the Pokémon being traded were captured in regions far apart from each other.
Pokémon trading was one of the missing features of Pokémon Go that players asked for after the game launched in July 2016. Months later in early 2017, Niantic CEO John Hanke said that trading would be coming "soon." Speaking with The Verge, Niantic software engineer Kirsten Koa explained that the nearby trading mechanic has been a focus of development since the game launched: "We wanted to make sure we got this right... It took two years for us to build that feature — that's how hard it was."
Apple today announced that, starting later this year with iOS 12, iPhones will automatically share precise location data with first responders during 911 calls in the United States, helping to reduce emergency response times.
The new functionality will be powered by RapidSOS's IP-based data pipeline, which will quickly and securely provide 911 call centers with Hybridized Emergency Location data, which is determined based on proximity to cell towers and Wi-Fi access points, and on-device data sources like assisted GPS.
Apple said the location data will only be used for emergency purposes, and only accessible to responding dispatch centers during 911 calls.
"Communities rely on 911 centers in an emergency, and we believe they should have the best available technology at their disposal," said Apple CEO Tim Cook, in a prepared statement. "When every moment counts, these tools will help first responders reach our customers when they most need assistance."
The current 911 system, developed by AT&T in the 1960s, was intended for landline phones, which have fixed addresses. Apple notes that approximately 80 percent of 911 calls today come from mobile devices, however, and most dispatching systems can only obtain their estimated location based on cell towers.
RapidSOS's system, which will be integrated with existing software at 911 centers, should help solve this problem. The modern technology is part of a broader initiative known as Next Generation 911.
"911 telecommunicators do extraordinary work managing millions of emergencies with little more than a voice connection," said RapidSOS CEO Michael Martin. "We are excited to work with Apple to provide first responders a new path for accurate, device-based caller location using transformative Next Generation 911 technology."
As many as 10,000 lives could be saved each year if 911 emergency dispatchers were able to get to callers just one minute faster, according to the FCC. Whether someone is experiencing cardiac arrest, or a house is on a fire, it is obviously critical for first responders to arrive as quickly as possible.
"This new functionality is an example of how companies and first responders can use technology to dramatically improve public safety," said former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. "Lives will be saved thanks to this effort by Apple and RapidSOS."
The feature is somewhat similar to Advanced Mobile Location, implemented in iOS 11.3 in a handful of European countries.
Advanced Mobile Location recognizes when an emergency call is made and, if not already activated, activates an iPhone's GPS or Wi-Fi to collect the caller's precise location information. The device then sends an automatic SMS to the emergency services with the caller's location, before turning the GPS off again.
Advanced Mobile Location must be supported by carriers. As of earlier this year, the service was fully operational in many European countries, including the United Kingdom, Estonia, Lithuania, Austria, and Iceland, as well as New Zealand.
Apple says the RapidSOS functionality will be limited to the iPhone for now, ruling out the Apple Watch and other devices at launch.
Apple's announcement coincides with the annual NENA Conference & Expo in Nashville this week, focused on the future of the 911 system.
"It can be hard in an emergency to know exactly where you are, and if you’re not on a landline, our first responders can't always help. This upgrade will save lives by giving our 911 dispatchers, police, firefighters and paramedics the thing they need the most: time," said Nashville Mayor David Briley.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been spending the weekend in Amsterdam, where he met historian Koen Kleijn and iPhone photographer Annet de Graaf.
The Apple chief tweeted on Sunday about his appreciation for the city's "rich history and creative energy" during the meeting, which took place an open-top boat as it cruised along the capital's famous canals.
Spending Sunday afternoon on the canals of Amsterdam with historian Koen Kleijn and iPhone photographer Annet de Graaf, “The Eye of Amsterdam” (IG: snapthecity). Love the rich history and creative energy of this city. Fijn om terug te zijn! 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/ieFFVguKWw
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 17, 2018
Kleijn has written or co-written several books on the history of Amsterdam and architecture in the Netherlands, while de Graaf has made a name for herself by capturing scenes of Amsterdam street life using her smartphone's camera. As de Graaf puts it on her website:
The iPhone way of photography is pure. I can capture moments before they pass; I 'own' the Amsterdam streets with my iPhone for nearly 9 years now. I never use any other camera. Amsterdam is hiding stories, like a miraculous book, I simply reveal the pages with my lens.
While we don't know what else is on Cook's agenda for the rest of the trip, a visit to the local Apple retail store is likely to be on the cards. We'll update this article when we know more.
Update: Cook tweeted again on Monday, sharing details about his travels to The Netherlands where he met with developers from Lucky Kat Studios.
Nearly five months after the HomePod launched in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, Apple today expanded availability of the Siri-enabled speaker to customers in Canada, France, and Germany.
HomePod is available in white and space gray for $449 in Canada and €349 in Germany and France via Apple's online store and the Apple Store app for iPhone and iPad. It's also available at Apple's retail stores in each country, and at select authorized resellers, including Best Buy in Canada.
Apple recently pushed a software update to the HomePod that enables Siri to speak in French, German, and Canadian English. Apple's website notes that support for Canadian French is coming later this year.
The software update, paired with iOS 11.4, also introduced support for stereo sound and multi-room audio via AirPlay 2. It also enables users to check calendar appointments on the HomePod by asking Siri.
HomePods could already be used abroad in countries outside of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, but Siri's language options were limited to American, Australian, and British dialects of English, and certain features like Siri's ability to read the news or play music charts were lacking.
While the HomePod has received rave reviews about its sound quality, critics believe the speaker has exposed Siri's shortcomings. Siri Shortcuts should help in that regard, enabling users to connect certain third-party apps to Siri to greatly streamline voice controls with app-specific actions.
Rogue Amoeba developer Quentin Carnicelli, who works on Mac software like Airfoil, Audio Hijack, Loopback, and Fission, this week penned a critique of Apple's Mac lineup and the company's recent lack of Mac updates, and that missive has been gaining some attention from Mac fans.
Using MacRumors' own Buyer's Guide, Carnicelli points out that it's been more than a year since any Mac, with the exception of the iMac Pro, has been updated.
It's been 375 days, for example, since the iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air machines were last updated, and it's been 437 days since the Mac Pro saw the price drop Apple implemented as it works on a Mac Pro replacement.
The Mac Pro has not seen a hardware update since December of 2013, more than 1600 days ago. Apple has promised its professional users that a high-end high-throughput modular Mac Pro system is in the works, but we thus far have no details on when it might see a release.
The Mac mini, Apple's most affordable desktop Mac, has gone 1338 days without an update, with the last refresh introduced in October of 2014. While Apple has made promises about a refreshed Mac Pro, no similar statement has been provided about a future Mac mini, aside from a comment from Apple CEO Tim Cook stating that the Mac mini continues to be important to Apple.
According to Carnicelli, the state of the Mac lineup is "deeply worrisome" to him as a person who works for a Mac-based software company. Customers are, he says, forced to choose between "purchasing new computers that are actually years old" or "holding out in the faint hope that hardware updates are still to come."
It's very difficult to recommend much from the current crop of Macs to customers, and that's deeply worrisome to us, as a Mac-based software company. For our own internal needs, we've wound up purchasing used hardware for testing, rather than opting to compromise heavily on a new machine. That isn't good for Apple, nor is it what we want.
As Carnicelli points out, Apple could reassure its Mac users with updates and speed bumps to its Mac lineup on a "much more frequent basis," calling the current lack of updates "baffling and frightening to anyone who depends on the platform for their livelihood."
Apple in 2017 refreshed much of its Mac lineup (iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook) at its Worldwide Developers Conference, but this year, Apple opted to focus instead on software, with no new Mac hardware announced. With no new hardware in June, based on past release history, we could be looking at an 18-month upgrade cycle this time around, as pointed out by iMore's Rene Ritchie, with new Macs making an appearance in September or October.
Some of the blame for Apple's lack of updates can perhaps be placed on its reliance on Intel, and in the past, some Mac refreshes have been pushed back due to delays with Intel chips. This is likely one of the reasons why Apple is planning to transition from Intel chips to its own custom made Mac chips as early as 2020.
MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, and MacBook Air upgrades are not in the dire state that Mac Pro and Mac mini upgrades are in, but increased attention on issues with the MacBook and MacBook Pro keyboards has left Apple customers eager to see those machine updated, especially as Apple has not acknowledged these keyboard issues despite their prevalence in the media.
"Apple needs to publicly show their commitment to the full Macintosh hardware line and they need to do it now," writes Carnicelli.
Carnicelli's comments on the state of the Mac lineup came just before Apple released a new Mac advertising campaign. Called "Behind the Mac," the campaign highlights creators who use their Macs to "make something wonderful."
The first ad spots in the series focus on photographer and disability advocate Bruce Hall, who uses his Mac for editing photographs, musician Grimes, who uses the Mac "from start to finish" to write all of her music, edit music videos, and more, and app developer Peter Kariuki who used his Mac to code the SafeMotos app, which is designed to connect passengers with safe motorcycle drivers in Rwanda.
These ads, while inspiring, may be seen as too little too late by those who have grown frustrated with Apple's Mac lineup and have come to see the lack of updates as an indicator of a lack of commitment to the Mac.
AT&T has launched a new Father's Day deal for the next few days, offering new and existing customers who purchase an iPhone X as an upgrade or a new line a second iPhone X at no additional cost as long as it's for a new line.
Customers will need to finance both iPhone X devices via AT&T Next 30 or AT&T Next Every Year, but within three billing cycles they will begin receiving bill credits totaling up to $999.99 spread out over 30 months. Tax on the full cost of both phones is due at the time of purchase, and the deal runs through June 19.
AT&T's product pages aren't yet reflecting the full $999.99 promo for the iPhone X, but the deal is live and will be applied at the end of the checkout process.
As always, head over to our Deals Roundup for all of the latest sales and bargains.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with AT&T. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a payment which helps us keep the site running.
Apple has hired Jaime Waydo, an autonomous vehicle expert who previously worked as a senior engineer at Google's Waymo, reports The Information. An Apple spokesperson confirmed the hiring, but declined to provide details on what she would be working on.
Waydo, who served as head of systems engineering at Waymo, was "instrumental," according to former colleagues that spoke to The Information. She was in charge of verifying the safety of Waymo's prototypes and provided input on when it was safe enough to launch on-the-road tests in Phoenix in 2016.
Prior to working at Waymo, Waydo was a senior engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for more than a decade, where she helped develop a rover vehicle that has driven on Mars.
The Information speculates that Apple's hiring of Waydo could indicate that it is making progress towards launching a prototype vehicle, but the report also says that the car project continues to suffer from a "lack of communication among teams."
In May, Apple signed a deal with Volkswagen to use Volkswagen vans for its on-campus shuttle program called "PAIL," which is designed to transport employees around its various campuses and office buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Volkswagens will be autonomous, powered by Apple's self-driving software.
Apple's self-driving shuttle program has been described as behind schedule and "consuming nearly all of the car team's attention," with the company having no clear idea of what it will do with the autonomous driving project beyond the shuttle efforts.
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Choetech to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a Qi-enabled 7.5W Wireless Charging Pad for the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus.
Choetech's Wireless Charging Pad is affordably priced at $17.99, and is cheaper than other 7.5W solutions on the market. Choetech says the Charging Pad will charge the iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and future wireless iPhones at the faster 7.5W charging speeds.
For some Android devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy series, the Wireless Charging Pad can deliver up to 10W of power. For other devices, it will charge at 5W.
The Wireless Charging Pad is a slim, unassuming charger that fits into any decor with its simple design. It includes an anti-slip rubber design at the top to keep the iPhone in place when it's charging, and it's small enough to fit comfortably on any desktop or nightstand.
You'll need a micro-USB cable to power the Wireless Charging Pad, which is included in the box, and a power adapter, not included, is also required. A green light on the charger lets you know when the iPhone is situated correctly and receiving power.
We have 30 of these chargers to give away to MacRumors readers, and Choetech has also provided us with a 50% discount code so you can purchase it on the cheap at Amazon if you don't win. Just add the code MACHOE50 when checking out.
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 (June 15) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 22. The winners will be chosen randomly on June 22 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
