Alongside new iOS 11.3, macOS 10.13.4, and tvOS 11.3 betas, Apple today released a major update for Swift Playgrounds, the iPad app that's designed to teach students how to code.
Swift Playgrounds 2.0 introduces a new feature that lets users subscribe to playgrounds from third-party creators, browse and download their content, and get alerts when new playgrounds are made available from content creators.
The update also includes support for new robots like IBM's TJBot and the Mekamon, accessible via the Add Subscriptions button, and a new gallery view will show all playgrounds including third-party subscriptions in one easy-to-see single view.
A new Locations button is designed to let users open playgrounds from the Files app on the iPad, and documentation for iOS features and commands is now available from the Help button and the tools menu.
The latest version of Swift Playgrounds includes new features to make it easier to discover even more content. Now you can subscribe to playgrounds from your favorite third-party creators, then browse and download their content directly within Swift Playgrounds. You'll automatically see new and updated playgrounds in your subscriptions, a content gallery that shows all playgrounds in a single view, new robots, and much more.
Along with the first beta of iOS 11.3, Apple today also seeded the first beta of a new Xcode 9.3 update to developers. Xcode 9.3 introduces a new Energy organizer that's designed to help developers detect when an app or app extension is using up too much battery life on a user's device.
The Energy organizer will display logs that are generated when an app exceeds a "reasonable CPU threshold" when running in either the foreground or the background, making it easier for developers to pinpoint and fix bugs.
Xcode 9.3's release notes also mention a new 64-bit testing mode in macOS 10.13.4 that will allow developers to test software for 64-bit compatibility as Apple prepares to begin phasing out 32-bit Mac apps. In macOS 10.13.4, end users will see a notification when launching a 32-bit app, which warns them that 32-bit apps will not "run without compromise" in future versions of macOS.
Additionally, 32-bit is not offered as an option in Xcode's build settings UI, and the build system will emit a warning when building for macOS for the 32-bit architecture.
Xcode has also been designed to run more Swift build tasks in parallel with other commands, improving build times for Swift projects. It may, however, also result in increased memory usage during the build.
Xcode 9.3 requires a Mac running macOS 10.13.2 or later, which means the software will no longer run on Macs that continue to use older operating systems like Sierra.
Starting with macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, Apple is commencing with its plan to begin phasing out 32-bit apps on Macs. Apple has promised that macOS High Sierra will be the "last macOS release to support 32-bit apps without compromises."
After installing macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, which is now available in a beta testing capacity, when you open up an app that's a 32-bit app, you'll get a warning about its future incompatibility with the macOS operating system.
This is the first of many warnings Apple plans to provide as it works to put an end to 32-bit Mac apps, and this initial warning will only be shown one time for each app.
Apple's efforts to phase out 32-bit apps on Macs mirror the path it took when ending 32-bit app support on iOS devices. In iOS 10, Apple provided increasingly more insistent warnings to let users know that their apps wouldn't work with future versions of iOS before phasing out 32-bit support entirely in iOS 11.
As of January 2018, all new apps submitted to the Mac App Store must be 64-bit, and all apps and app updates submitted must be 64-bit by June of 2018. The next version of macOS after High Sierra will include "aggressive" warnings about 32-bit apps before they are phased out entirely.
Once 32-bit apps are phased out on Macs, they won't be able to be used at all, so users will need to find replacements for older 32-bit apps that aren't likely to be updated to 64-bit.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced almost two years ago in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 48 includes bug fixes and feature improvements for Storage Access API, SVG, Service Workers, CSS, Web API, Rendering, Web Inspector, Web Driver, WebRTC, JavaScript, and WebAssembly. Today's update also disables the automatic AutoFill of user names and passwords and page load to prevent sharing information without user consent.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Apple in iOS 11 promised a new Messages in iCloud feature that will allow customers to save their iMessages in iCloud and sync them across devices. Messages in iCloud was pulled from iOS 11 during the beta testing period, with Apple promising to reintroduce it at a later date.
It was not clear if and when the feature was actually going to be implemented, though, as Apple stripped all mentions of it from the iOS 11 website.
As of iOS 11.3, Messages in iCloud is back and is available for "testing and evaluation purposes," marking the official return of the feature. According to Apple's release notes, once iOS 11.3 beta 1 is installed, Messages will prompt users to turn on Messages in the Cloud when it is first launched.
Messages in the Cloud is automatically enabled for users who have two-factor authentication and iCloud Backup enabled, says Apple.
The new Messages in iCloud feature will be a welcome change for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users who prefer not to delete their messages. Over the course of several years, Messages can take up a lot of space. That space can now be freed up with the bulk of older messages stored directly in iCloud rather than on-device.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.3 update to developers for testing purposes, just a day after releasing the tvOS 11.2.5 update.
Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.3 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode.
According to Apple's release notes, tvOS 11.3 includes bug fixes, new features, and security improvements, with a list available below:
- Enhancements to Match Content support. - Automatic frame rate switching on Apple TV 4th Generation. - Automatic mode switching for AirPlay video sessions.
tvOS 11.2.5, the previous tvOS update, featured no major outward-facing changes that were noticed by Apple TV users, appearing to instead include minor under-the-hood updates.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 update to developers, one day after releasing the macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 update focusing on security improvements.
The new macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.
It's not yet clear what improvements the fourth official update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it's likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.3. It may also include some of the features that are coming in iOS 11.3, such as support for Business Chat and unlimited ad-free access to music videos in Apple Music, which Apple says will be the new "home" for music videos.
According to Apple's release notes, macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 will begin sending warning notes when you open up a 32-bit app in preparation for phasing out 32-bit apps on the Mac. At this time, you'll see one warning letting you know that a Mac app is 32-bit, and it will popup when you open the app after installing the macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 update.
macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 also introduces the new smoke cloud wallpaper that was previously exclusively available on the iMac Pro.
The previous macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 update included security fixes and performance improvements, with no obvious outward-facing changes introduced.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 11.3 update to developers, one week after releasing iOS 11.2.5, an update that focused primarily on bug fixes and security improvements.
Registered developers can download the iOS 11.3 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.
Apple this morning shared a preview of iOS 11.3, outlining all of the new features we can expect to see in the update.
iOS 11.3 will bring four new Animoji characters to the iPhone X, like a lion, bear, dragon, and skull, giving iPhone X users new characters to play with, and it reintroduces iCloud Messages, a feature that was removed from the initial iOS 11 release.
The software update includes improved ARKit tools for developers. ARKit 1.5 can recognize and place virtual objects on vertical surfaces and it can more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces like circular tables. ARKit is able to recognize the position of 2D images like signs, posters, and artwork, integrating them into AR experiences. Museums, for example, can be filled with interactive exhibits or a movie poster can be brought to life. The real-world view through the camera when using AR also offers 50 percent greater resolution (1080p) in ARKit 1.5 and supports auto-focus.
Business Chat, a feature that first debuted in iOS 11, is officially launching in beta capacity this spring with support from businesses like Discover, Hilton, Lowe's, and Wells Fargo. You'll be able to have customer support chats with these companies right within the Messages app.
In the Health app, Apple is adding a new Health Records feature to make it easier for customers with a participating medical institution to access their records right on their iPhone, even when those medical records are spread across multiple providers.
Supported providers include Johns Hopkins Medicine, Cedars-Sinai, Penn Medicine, Geisinger Health System, UC San Diego Health - San Diego, California, UNC Health Care , Rush University Medical Center, Dignity Health, Ochsner Health System, MedStar Health, Ohio Health, and Cerner Healthe Clinic.
A later beta of iOS 11.3 will feature new, more detailed information about the health of a device's battery. The change comes following controversy over power management features implemented in older devices to prevent unexpected shutdowns. Those power management features throttle iPhones with degraded batteries at times of peak power usage to maintain stable performance.
The update should provide a lot more data about battery health, and there will also be an option to let customers turn off the power management feature entirely, though Apple does not recommend disabling it. The new features can be found in Settings --> Battery and are available for iPhone 6 and later.
Other new features included in iOS 11.3 include support for streaming unlimited music videos in Apple Music without ads, a new "For You" video of the day in Apple News along with improved Top Stories, HomeKit software authentication to make it easier for accessory makers to add HomeKit support into existing devices, support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) to automatically send a user's current location when making a call to emergency services in supported countries, a new name for "iBooks," which is now just "Books," and an update to the App Store updates page, which now shows the version number and download size of all updates.
Today's beta is limited to developers, but Apple says a public beta will be released for public beta testers soon.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson shared an open letter today on the topic of Net Neutrality, pledging that the company is "committed to an open internet" following the Federal Communications Commission's vote last month to repeal Net Neutrality.
In the letter, Stephenson said that AT&T does not block websites, censor online content, or throttle, discriminate, and degrade network performance based on a website's contents.
According to Stephenson, AT&T has committed to the support of an open internet "for over 10 years," and will continue to do so. Furthermore, he urged Congress to pen new laws to govern the internet and protect customers, putting an end to the ongoing change in rules and regulations placed on the internet. Stephenson called this the "Internet Bill of Rights."
But the commitment of one company is not enough. Congressional action is needed to establish an “Internet Bill of Rights” that applies to all internet companies and guarantees neutrality, transparency, openness, non-discrimination and privacy protection for all internet users.
Legislation would not only ensure consumers’ rights are protected, but it would provide consistent rules of the road for all internet companies across all websites, content, devices and applications. In the very near future, technological advances like self-driving cars, remote surgery and augmented reality will demand even greater performance from the internet. Without predictable rules for how the internet works, it will be difficult to meet the demands of these new technology advances.
Under the repeal of Net Neutrality, internet service providers are reclassified from "common carriers" under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, to "information service" providers, which they had been previously between 1996 and 2015. This caused worry among Net Neutrality supporters, because companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and more will be legally allowed to block or slow down access to certain websites, or even charge access to sites.
While the FCC is still in the stages of finalizing the repeal of Net Neutrality, lawsuits have emerged aiming to stop the rollback of these rules and ensure that Net Neutrality remains. In the months ahead of the vote, Apple urged the FCC not to repeal Net Neutrality, which includes regulations that prevent "paid fast lanes" on the internet.
As pointed out by Recode, online fast lanes and "paid prioritization" are a few topics missing from Stephenson's letter. This aspect of Net Neutrality prevents an ISP -- like AT&T -- from charging websites more so that users can gain access to that site at a faster rate, while sites that can't afford the increased cost would see slow load times for users, leading to "fast lanes" and "slow lanes." When asked about the topic, AT&T pointed towards previous public posts where it discussed support of banning forms of paid prioritization over the years.
In the new letter, Stephenson ended by stating AT&T will work with Congress, other internet providers, and consumer groups this year in an attempt to move forward with its "Internet Bill of Rights" in hopes of "permanently" protecting the open internet.
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.
At the very bottom of its press release, Apple also briefly mentioned a potentially life saving feature coming in iOS 11.3: support for Advanced Mobile Location [PDF] in countries where it is supported.
Additional iOS 11.3 Features: Support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) to automatically send a user's current location when making a call to emergency services in countries where AML is supported.
Advanced Mobile Location will recognize when an emergency call is made and, if not already activated, activate 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 is allegedly up to 4,000 times more accurate than current emergency systems, which rely on cell tower location with a radius of up to several miles, or assisted GPS, which can fail indoors.
Advanced Mobile Location must be supported by carriers. EENA, short for the European Emergency Number Association, said the service is fully operational in several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Estonia, Lithuania, Austria, and Iceland, as well as New Zealand, on all mobile networks.
EENA said AML has saved many lives by more accurately pinpointing a person's position. Accordingly, several minutes of time can be saved, according to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute:
Ambulance Service measurements show that, on average, 30 seconds per call can be saved if a precise location is automatically provided, and several minutes can be saved where callers are unable to verbally describe their location due to stress, injury, language or simple unfamiliarity with an area.
A few years ago, Google implemented a similar AML-based solution called Emergency Location Service into Google Play services that automatically works on Android devices running its Gingerbread operating system or newer.
iPhone X demand concerns and decline in supplier stock prices came after the latest analyst report by JP Morgan yesterday, predicting "slashed" iPhone X orders in the first part of 2018. In a research note reported by CNBC, analyst Narci Chang said "high-end smartphones are clearly hitting a plateau this year," singling out Apple by forecasting that iPhone X manufacturing "might be down 50 percent quarter-over-quarter."
Reports of "weakened" iPhone X demand heading into 2018 began emerging late last year, mainly stemming from analyst belief that the high price of the device would eventually lead to reduced sales after early adopters got their iPhone X. These reports have caused several Apple suppliers to be anxious over low order visibility for the full range of iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X models in Q1 2018. CLSA analyst Nicolas Baratte argued that the reported reduction of the iPhone X's Q1 2018 shipment forecast from 50 million units down to 30 million units "remains inflated."
Despite multiple stories about the iPhone X's plateaued demand in early 2018, the smartphone is believed to have sold well following its fall launch in 2017 and throughout the holiday season. Research data shared just yesterday by Canalys reported that Apple shipped 29 million iPhone X units in Q4 2017, making the device the "world's best-shipping smartphone model over the holidays."
Earlier in January, Kantar Worldpanel said that the iPhone X saw "stellar" performance in several countries during November of last year, though it was outsold by the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus in the United States. Combined, Apple's three new iPhones captured the top spots for best-selling smartphone models during the month. Kantar's global OS data pointed towards "staggering" demand for the iPhone X in China from users said to be switching sides from rival smartphone makers.
iOS 11.3 introduces new Animoji on the iPhone X, including a lion, bear, dragon, and skull. There will now be 16 characters to choose from in total, including existing ones like a pig, fox, chicken, pile of poo, and robot.
iOS 11.3 will feature ARKit 1.5. In addition to horizontal surfaces like tables and chairs, Apple's updated augmented reality platform will now be able to recognize and place virtual objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors, and more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces like circular tables.
ARKit 1.5 can find and recognize the position of 2D images such as signs, posters, and artwork, and integrate these real-world images into augmented reality experiences, such as bringing a movie poster to life. In addition, the view of the "real world" will now be in 1080p HD, up from 720p currently.
The software update will introduce Business Chat, a new way for users to communicate directly with businesses within the Messages app. This feature will launch in beta following the public release of iOS 11.3 this spring, with support from select businesses, including Discover, Hilton, Lowe's, and Wells Fargo.
With Business Chat, it's easy to have a conversation with a service representative, schedule an appointment or make purchases using Apple Pay in the Messages app. Business Chat doesn’t share the user’s contact information with businesses and gives users the ability to stop chatting at any time.
In the Health app on iOS 11.3, users will be able to view health records, including available medical data from multiple providers like Johns Hopkins and Cedars-Sinai. The data is encrypted and protected with a passcode.
iOS 11.3 will provide users with an iPhone 6 or newer with more information about the health of their device's battery, including a recommendation if it needs to be serviced. In the same menu, it will also be possible to see if Apple's power management feature is active and turn it off if desired.
Apple says the battery and power management features will be coming in a later iOS 11.3 beta release, so they won't be available today.
Other new iOS 11.3 features include more prominent placement of music videos in Apple Music, a new Video section in the "For You" tab of Apple News, and support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) to automatically send a user's current location when making a call to emergency services where supported.
The first beta of iOS 11.3 will be seeded to developers later today, followed by a public beta soon. The software update will be released to the public this spring for iPhone 5s and newer, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, the fifth-generation iPad, iPad mini 2 and newer, and the sixth-generation iPod touch.
Within its larger unveiling of iOS 11.3, Apple today announced two new updates coming to Messages when the operating system update debuts this spring. First, there are four new Animoji characters that will allow iPhone X owners to become a dragon, bear, skull, or lion.
This brings the total amount of Animoji available on iPhone X to 16. Just like the original characters, you can use the new Animoji to copy the movement of parts of your face with the iPhone X's TrueDepth camera, record a 10-second video clip, and send it to someone through Messages.
Second, Apple revealed a new customer support feature coming to Messages called "Business Chat." Apple said that this will be a way for you to text directly with a business within its messaging app, and will be supported by Lowe's, Discover, Hilton, and Wells Fargo, and select other companies at launch in the spring.
Besides support chat, you'll be able to schedule appointments and even make purchases using Apple Pay. Beta users will gain access to Business Chat ahead of the public launch of iOS 11.3.
With Business Chat, it's easy to have a conversation with a service representative, schedule an appointment or make purchases using Apple Pay in the Messages app. Business Chat doesn’t share the user’s contact information with businesses and gives users the ability to stop chatting at any time.
Apple today revealed an update coming to the Health app in the iOS 11.3 beta, which will bring a "Health Records" section to the app and allow users to see their medical records from various providers. The updated Health Records area will combine hospitals, clinics, and other information from Health "to make it easy for consumers to see their available medical data from multiple providers whenever they choose."
Some of the first provider partners include John Hopkins Medicine, Cedars-Sinai, Penn Medicine, and various other hospitals and clinics. Apple explained that the update is intended to serve as a consumer-friendly solution to easily access medical records, which were previously housed across multiple websites and online repositories. The company said it created Health Records based on Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), which provides the standard for transferring electronic medical records.
“Our goal is to help consumers live a better day. We’ve worked closely with the health community to create an experience everyone has wanted for years — to view medical records easily and securely right on your iPhone,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s COO. “By empowering customers to see their overall health, we hope to help consumers better understand their health and help them lead healthier lives.”
Health Records will provide an overall view of a user's allergies, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures, and vitals. The Health app will also now notify them when their Health Records data is updated, which is encrypted and protected by the iPhone passcode as well.
Apple said that more medical facilities will be connected to Health Records in the coming months, further expanding the amount of users who have access to the feature. The full list of medical institutions that are supported on the iOS 11.3 beta include:
- Johns Hopkins Medicine - Baltimore, Maryland - Cedars-Sinai - Los Angeles, California - Penn Medicine - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Geisinger Health System - Danville, Pennsylvania - UC San Diego Health - San Diego, California - UNC Health Care - Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Rush University Medical Center - Chicago, Illinois - Dignity Health - Arizona, California and Nevada - Ochsner Health System - Jefferson Parish, Louisiana - MedStar Health - Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia - OhioHealth - Columbus, Ohio - Cerner Healthe Clinic - Kansas City, Missouri
Apple today also previewed iOS 11.3, stating that iPhone users will be able to view battery health and disable Apple's power management when the update comes out this spring.
Apple today announced that iOS 11.3 will provide users with an iPhone 6 or newer with more information about the health of their device's battery, including a recommendation if it needs to be serviced. In the same menu, it will also be possible to see if Apple's power management feature is active and turn it off.
Apple is delivering on its promise to provide iPhone users with more visibility about battery health as part of an apology over its lack of transparency about power management changes it made starting in iOS 10.2.1. Apple is also delivering on its promise of allowing users to disable the feature, although it doesn't recommend it.
The power management changes fueled an argument that Apple intentionally slows down older iPhones at wholesale to encourage customers to upgrade to newer models. Apple denied it would ever do anything to "intentionally shorten the life" of any of its products, but some critics don't believe that to be true.
Apple also reduced the price of replacement batteries to $29 for iPhone 6 and newer through December 31, 2018, as another part of its apology, although supplies are running low for some iPhone models.
MacRumors put together a list of frequently asked questions about Apple's power management changes for those looking for more information.
The first beta of iOS 11.3 will be seeded to developers later today, followed by a public beta soon. The software update will be released to the public this spring for iPhone 5s and newer, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, the fifth-generation iPad, iPad mini 2 and newer, and the sixth-generation iPod touch.
Apple says the battery and power management features will be coming in a later iOS 11.3 beta release, so they won't be available today. The option to turn off the power management feature will be available on iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone SE.
Qualcomm has been hit with a 997 million euro ($1.2 billion) fine by EU antitrust regulators for paying Apple to use its LTE chips in iOS devices, Reuters reported on Wednesday. According to the European Commission's investigation, the payments to Apple occurred from 2011 to 2016, and were made with the sole aim of blocking Qualcomm's LTE chipset market rivals, such as Intel.
"Qualcomm paid billions of U.S. dollars to a key customer, Apple, so that it would not buy from rivals. These payments were not just reductions in price – they were made on the condition that Apple would exclusively use Qualcomm's baseband chipsets in all its iPhones and iPads," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
"This meant that no rival could effectively challenge Qualcomm in this market, no matter how good their products were," she said.
The EU fine – said to represent 4.9 percent of Qualcomm's 2017 turnover – is particularly bad news for the company, as it could put it at increased risk of a $103 billion hostile takeover bid by rival U.S. chipmaker Broadcom. Separately, Qualcomm is also in an ongoing legal battle with Apple over smartphone chips.
The troubles began for Qualcomm in January 2017 when the Federal Trade Commission complained that it had engaged in anticompetitive patent licensing practices. Soon after, Apple sued the chipmaker for $1 billion, accusing it of charging unfair royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with" and refusing to pay quarterly rebates. A Qualcomm countersuit followed in April, and the dispute escalated throughout the year with expanded lawsuits and claims lodged by both sides.
The last legal volley between the two came in November, when Apple countersued Qualcomm with a patent infringement claim, after the latter company sought iPhone and iPad import bans in the United States last summer.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is spending some time in Canada this week, and yesterday he attended a hockey game and visited the Eaton Centre Apple Store in Toronto.
Cook today stopped by the offices of Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify, where he spoke to the Financial Post about augmented reality apps and the HomePod.
On the topic of the HomePod, Cook said that Apple's deep integration between hardware and software will help to differentiate the smart speaker from competing products like Amazon's Alexa and the Google Home.
"Competition makes all of us better and I welcome it," Cook said. "(But) if you are both trying to license something and compete with your licensees, this is a difficult model and it remains to be seen if it can be successful or not."
Cook also said a quality, "very immersive audio experience" was one thing missing from the smart speaker market, which Apple is aiming to fix. "Music deserves that kind of quality as opposed to some kind of squeaky sound," he said.
The HomePod, which, at $349 in the United States is more expensive than competing products, features a 7 tweeter array, an Apple-designed 4-inch upward-facing woofer, and spatial awareness, all of which is designed to provide the best possible sound.
During his interview with the Financial Post, Cook also spoke about augmented reality, a topic he's covered many times in the past. Cook said AR is "the most profound technology of the future" that's able to amplify human experience instead of substitute it.
Cook said developers across Canada are adopting AR at a "very fast rate" and that he "couldn't be happier" with developer interest in ARKit.
Cook's full interview, which includes additional comments on augmented reality and details on features coming to Shopify, can be read over at the Financial Post website.
Apple shipped 29 million iPhone X devices in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to new research data shared today by Canalys. At 29 million devices shipped, the iPhone X was the "world's best-shipping smartphone model over the holidays."
iPhone X shipments were not, however, the fastest ever for an iPhone due to Apple's decision to offer the device alongside the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus, and shipments were below industry expectations.
Canalys says that adoption was largely driven by upgrade demand in operator-centric markets like the United States where the installed base is high and customers can finance $999 cost of the device over many months. Apple was able to hit the 29 million number after a significant increase in production throughout November and December, with the company shipping out iPhone X orders earlier than expected and hitting supply/demand balance towards the end of the month.
"The iPhone X performance is impressive for a device priced at US$999, but it is slightly below industry expectations," said Ben Stanton, Analyst at Canalys. "Apple struggled with supply issues in early November, but achieved a massive uplift in production in late November and throughout December. This helped it meet and even exceed demand in some markets by the end of the quarter. One major benefit to Apple is that customers are increasingly realizing the residual value of their old smartphones, opting for trade-in programs to offset the high price of the iPhone X. But that big price tag, and Apple's split launch strategy, still had an impact, and shipments were not the fastest ever for an iPhone."
Of the 29 million iPhone X devices that were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2017, Canalys says seven million of those were shipped to China, a country where Apple has been aiming to increase growth.
Canalys says that along with the iPhone X, iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, and iPhone 8 models also continued to "ship well" in Q4 2017, with the older smartphones remaining popular due to their lower price tag.
"Apple is looking at its best performance to date, all thanks to the massive changes it made to its portfolio in Q3," said Canalys Analyst TuanAnh Nguyen. "This strategy has hedged Apple's risk as it upgrades the iPhone, in both design and user experience. While new technologies, such as Face ID and bezel-less displays, help to justify the US$999 price tag and maintain competitiveness with Samsung, Huawei and Google, having a larger portfolio allows Apple to meet its overall shipment targets, and protect its market leadership in the premium segment."
Canalys' data is in line with other estimates that have suggested the iPhone X sold well -- though not as well as hoped -- during its first few months of availability. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners recently said that 20 percent of all iPhones sold in Q4 2017 were iPhone X devices, while 24 percent were iPhone 8 devices and 17 percent were iPhone 8 Plus devices.
Kantar Worldpanel said that the iPhone X saw "stellar" performance in several countries during its first month of availability, though it was outsold by the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus. Combined, Apple's three new iPhones captured the top spots for best-selling smartphone models during the month.
Though Apple does not breakout iPhone sales on a model-by-model basis, we'll get a better idea of just how well the iPhone X sold when Apple announces its Q1 2018 earnings on Thursday, February 1.
Apple's guidance for the first fiscal quarter (fourth calendar quarter) of 2018 includes expected revenue of $84 to $87 billion and gross margin between 38 and 38.5 percent. It will be a record setting quarter even at the low end of the guidance range, as Apple reached just $78.4 billion in revenue in Q1 2017.
Along with the first beta of iOS 11.3, Apple today also seeded the first beta of a new Xcode 9.3 update to developers. Xcode 9.3 introduces a new Energy organizer that's designed to help developers detect when an app or app extension is using up too much battery life on a user's device.
Apple today 
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson 
