MacRumors

Verizon Wireless was awarded the title of the fastest nationwide mobile network in PCMag's annual mobile network comparison, the results of which were released this morning.

For its test, PCMag analysts drove within and between 30 cities in the United States to test mobile network speeds using four Samsung Galaxy S9 phones. More than a dozen locations in each city were tested, with the site gathering more than 124,000 data points to reach its conclusion. Scores were calculated taking into account metrics like download speed, upload speed, latency, reliability, and consistency.

Verizon was named the overall fastest network after it won or tied in 19 of the 36 cities that were tested across the United States, marking Verizon's 5th annual victory.

Verizon won out in almost every region (Northeast, North Central, South Central, Northwest, and Southwest), with the exception of the Southeast, where T-Mobile was determined to be the fastest network. T-Mobile was also named the second fastest network overall, followed by AT&T and then Sprint.

PCMag says that compared to its 2017 results, it saw faster, more consistent LTE connections across all four major U.S. carriers in the 2018 test. In the future, we should see some interesting results as mobile networks are upgraded to 5G. AT&T and Verizon are both aiming for higher speeds in smaller areas, while T-Mobile is aiming for nationwide 5G coverage but at slower speeds.

In addition to determining the fastest mobile carrier in 2018, PCMag also took a look at Speedtest Intelligence results pulled from Ookla to determine the fastest download speeds on modern Samsung and Apple devices.

Samsung's flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S9, equipped with Gigabit LTE and 4x4 MIMO, beat out the iPhone X, which does not have 4x4 MIMO. Of Apple's iPhones, though, the iPhone X saw the fastest upload and download speeds thanks to its adoption of 256QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), which boosts signal to allow for more data to be transferred at one time.

The full results of PCMag's 2018 mobile carrier speed testing can be found over on the PCMag website.

Last month, a jury ruled that Samsung must pay Apple $539 million for violating Apple design patents as part of a legal battle that has spanned years, but the jury's ruling apparently won't be the end of the dispute between the two companies.

Samsung last week filed an appeal (via CNET) asking the U.S. District Court in San Jose to either reduce the judgment against it to $28 million or hold a new trial. Samsung filed the motion on the grounds that "no reasonable jury could have found that any of Apple's asserted design patents was applied to Samsung's entire accused smartphones."

The jury's ruling, says Samsung, is "excessive" and the evidence "supports a verdict of no more than $28.085 million," which was the amount Samsung advocated for during the trial.

The latest Samsung v. Apple trial was held to redetermine the amount of damages Apple had to pay after Samsung appealed to the Supreme Court and said that the original damages award, set at $399 million after several appeals, was a disproportionate sum for the design violation.

During the trial, the jury was tasked with deciding whether the damages should be based on the total value of the iPhone or if Samsung's penalty should be based on just the elements of the iPhone that it copied.

Apple argued for $1 billion in damages based on the total design of the iPhone, while Samsung argued that it should pay a far lesser amount, the aforementioned $28 million. The jury split the difference and awarded Apple $539 million, which happened to be a far larger penalty than the original $399 million damages ruling from 2015.

When the jury's ruling was announced in May, Samsung promised to appeal in a statement: "Today's decision flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages. We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity."

Samsung also filed a separate motion at the same time asking the court to order Apple to reimburse it for a $145 million payment that Samsung submitted for a now-invalidated multi-touch patent.

Apple has 10 days to respond to Samsung's new filing, with a hearing scheduled for July 26.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 11.4.1 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the first beta and a little over two 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 iOS 11.4.1 beta, 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 second 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.

Apple this morning seeded an updated beta of an upcoming watchOS 5 update, one week after releasing the first beta after the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote. watchOS 5 is the newest version of the software that runs on the Apple Watch.

To install the beta, you'll need the proper configuration profile, which can be obtained through the Apple Developer Center. Once the profile is in place, the watchOS 5 beta can be downloaded using the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update.

To update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone. It would be wise to install the beta on a secondary device instead of a primary device given that this is an early version of the watchOS 5 software that still has bugs to be worked out.

The first version of the initial watchOS 5 beta was pulled by Apple shortly after it was released due to reports that the beta had been bricking some Series 2 Apple Watches, rendering them unusable. This new beta fixes that issue and makes the watchOS 5 update available to developers once again.

watchOS 5 is a significant update to watchOS, introducing Activity Competitions so you can compete on workouts with friends, Walkie-Talkie with push-to-talk functionality for quickly communicating with the people you talk to most, and auto workout detection to make it easier than ever to start and stop workouts.

Other new features include an improved Siri watch face with support for third-party apps, a dedicated Apple Podcasts app, new Workout types that include Yoga and Hiking, new features for runners, WebKit support for viewing some web content on Apple Watch, and enhanced notifications, which will make notifications on the Apple Watch interactive.

watchOS 5 is only available to developers and will not be provided to public beta testers (because there's no way to downgrade Apple Watch software), so non-developers will need to wait until the software is officially released in the fall to try it out.

The watchOS 5 update runs on all Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 Apple Watch models. It is not available for the first-generation "Series 0" Apple Watch models, likely due to performance and battery issues.

Apple this morning shared a trailer for what appears to be the inaugural episode of the second season of "Carpool Karaoke: The Series," which kicks off on Friday, June 15 with an episode starring Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, and Jon Hamm singing songs like Bohemian Rhapsody.

Renner, Helms, and Hamm are all starring in the movie "TAG," which comes out on the same day the new Carpool Karaoke episode debuts.

"Carpool Karaoke: The Series" was renewed for a second season back in February after a successful first season that wrapped up last year. While this could be the first episode of a new season, the fact that it coincides with a movie release also means it might be a one-off episode.

For those unfamiliar with the show, "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" is based on the Carpool Karaoke segment that was made popular on "The Late Late Show With James Corden." The series pairs up different celebrities, musicians, and athletes, putting them in a car to sing popular songs.

The first season of "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" premiered in August of 2017 exclusively to Apple Music subscribers. A month ago, Apple made the first season of "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" available for free to everyone through its TV app. Apple says that this new episode of Carpool Karaoke will be available "only on the Apple TV app."

"Carpool Karaoke: The Series" season one featured celebrity pairings included Will Smith and James Corden; Miley, Noah, Billy Ray and the entire Cyrus family; Shakira and Trevor Noah; Game of Thrones stars Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams; Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith; John Legend, Alicia Keys and Taraji P. Henson; LeBron James and James Corden; and more.

Net neutrality regulations officially expired in the United States earlier this morning, making today the first day of a post-net neutrality internet (via The New York Times). The expiration of the laws comes six months after the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 in favor of repealing net neutrality, a vote that has since faced intense backlash including multi-state lawsuits and a recent move by Democrats to block the repeal.

Although supporters and opponents of net neutrality greatly disagree on how the internet will look following the repeal, without the rules internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T now have the legal ability to throttle any traffic on their networks, and block access to sites and services completely, as long as they inform their customers of their actions. In essence, many have theorized that this could lead to ISPs bundling "packages" of internet sites and selling them like cable companies, as well as putting high-paying customers in "fast lanes" and everyone else in "slow lanes."

Of course, all of these changes won't happen at once, and some states won't see any affect from the disappearance of net neutrality today due to local legislation. Washington state governor Jay Inslee signed a law in March that effectively reinstated the federal net neutrality rules for its residents, and other state governors in Montana and New York are said to have used executive orders "to force net neutrality." A total of 29 state legislatures had introduced bills to ensure net neutrality as of May, but many failed or are still pending today as the national repeal takes place.

Democrats took to the Senate last month and won a vote to restore net neutrality rules across the country, which is now facing a major hurdle in the House of Representatives. According to Bloomberg, Democrats are now "less than 50 votes" from advancing their resolution in the House that would reinstate net neutrality protections, with a petition to force a vote at 170 of 218 signatures needed. If the measure ultimately makes it to President Trump's desk, it's believed that it would likely still be struck down as the President wouldn't go against a regulation created by his own FCC chairman Ajit Pai.

The pro-net neutrality petition's sponsor, Representative Mike Doyle, noted that many see the measure gaining momentum as customers become aware of how things could change in the future.

“If certain services are blocked or throttled, they get it,” Doyle said. "People start to understand, these are protections for consumers that no longer exist.”

In contrast, USTelecom president Jonathan Spalter said the outcry is unfounded and pointed out that "it's business as usual on the internet today."

“It’s business as usual on the internet today -- movies are streaming, e-commerce is thriving, and advocates are using the internet to make their voices heard,” said Jonathan Spalter, president of broadband trade group USTelecom with members including AT&T and Verizon. “These positive and profound benefits of a free and open internet -- among many others -- are here to stay.”

FCC chairman Ajit Pai said in a press conference on Friday that today's repeal will lead to "better, faster, cheaper internet access for consumers, and more competition." Supporters of the repeal cite the return to an "open" and less regulated internet, seen prior to the 2015 induction of net neutrality. Multiple groups taking the FCC's side in the debate and in numerous legal battles include wireless communications trade association CTIA, which represents AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, and NCTA, an association representing cable carriers like Comcast and Charter.

As Democrats gather votes in the House, many of the big technology companies have voiced support of net neutrality, including Netflix, Google, Amazon, and Apple. Although the company and its executives have not discussed the topic in a few months, Apple's comment last year stated that the net neutrality repeal could "fundamentally alter the internet as we know it," and if it passed it would be put in place to the detriment of consumers, competition, and innovation.

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.

Apple's process of modernizing its chain of over 500 retail stores continues in several major cities around the world.

Over the weekend, Apple celebrated the grand opening of its relocated Beverly Center store in Los Angeles. Apple's original store in the shopping mall, opened November 2005, permanently closed at the end of Friday.

Apple's remodeled stores often gain additional square footage to accommodate an increased number of both products and customers. The extra space is also beneficial to Today at Apple sessions related to photography, coding, exercising with the Apple Watch, and other topics.

Apple's latest retail design, introduced in 2015, typically includes large glass doors, large video screens for product marketing and in-store events, and sequoia wood shelves on the walls for accessories.

Apple recently announced that its flagship Covent Garden store in London will be closed starting June 27 to allow for renovations to be completed. Of note, this location became Apple's largest store when it first opened in 2010, although it has since ceded the title to a newer store in the United Arab Emirates.

Likewise, 9to5Mac's Michael Steeber reported that Apple Wangfujing in Beijing will be closed for renovations starting June 24.

Elsewhere in the Greater China region, Apple has revealed that it will be opening a second store in Macau, along the Cotai Strip, an area with several hotels, casinos, and resorts, earning it the nickname of the Las Vegas of Asia. Apple has yet to specify an exact opening date, but it could be within the next month.

Apple's renovation efforts continue at its iconic Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, and at its Palo Alto store, often visited by Apple CEO Tim Cook on product launch days due to its close proximity to Apple's headquarters.

Other regional stores closed for renovations include locations in Charlotte, Nashville, and Westchester County north of New York City.

Update: As noted by a MacRumors reader, Apple Causeway Bay in Hong Kong is also undergoing renovations, although the store remains open.

Update 2: Apple has announced on its store page for the Cotai Central location in Macau that the grand opening will be June 29.

A future version of the Apple Watch will be updated with solid state buttons that don't physically click but instead use a Taptic Engine to provide haptic feedback to users, reports Fast Company.

Apple will continue to use a two button configuration with a Digital Crown and a Side button, but neither button will be a traditional physical button.

Apple will stick with the Watch's current button configuration, with a button and a digital crown situated on one side of the device, but neither will physically click as before. Rather than reacting to the user's touch by physically moving back and forth, the new buttons will vibrate slightly under the fingertip, using the haptic effect Apple calls the Taptic Engine. (The digital crown will still physically rotate to navigate through content.)

What Fast Company is describing is the same solid state button design that Apple first introduced with the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus Home button. These devices, and later iPhones with a Home button, use solid state buttons that provide haptic feedback from the built-in Taptic Engine to mimic a button press. Apple uses a similar method for its MacBook and MacBook Pro trackpads, which also lack physical buttons.

Solid state buttons will improve water resistance in the Apple Watch and also take up less space, leaving more room for a bigger battery or other components. Fast Company's source also alleges Apple is working on using the top of the buttons as sensors to gather health-related data like heart rhythms as some types of measurements require more than one point of contact with a user's skin.

According to Fast Company, the Apple Watch could adopt solid state buttons as early as 2018, but if the feature doesn't make it into the 2018 Apple Watch models, solid state buttons will be introduced in 2019. In the future, beyond 2019, Apple is also said to be working towards a watch that has no buttons at all, with the sides of the device designed to respond to touch and swipe-based gestures.

Previous 2018 Apple Watch rumors have made no mention of solid state buttons, but we have heard that the fourth-generation Apple Watch models could feature a display that's 15 percent larger, perhaps through a reduction in bezel size. New models are also said to feature a longer battery life and improved health monitoring capabilities.