Apple's iPhone XR was the best selling iPhone in the U.S. during the holiday quarter despite the fact that it was not released until the end of October, according to data shared today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
The iPhone XR accounted for 39 percent of sales during Apple's first fiscal quarter 2019, which equates to the fourth calendar quarter of 2018. The iPhone XS and XS Max, meanwhile, accounted for 26 percent of iPhone sales.
Combined, the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max accounted for 65 percent of all holiday quarter iPhone sales, compared to 61 percent for the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X in the year-ago quarter.
The iPhone XR almost matched combined sales of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus at the same time least year, and it represented the largest quarterly share for a single model since the iPhone 7 in CIRP's historical data.
More iPhone buyers in holiday quarter of 2018 also chose iPhones with upgraded storage than in the year-ago quarter.
"For many years each additional storage level carried a $100 premium. Now iPhone prices increase from $50 to $200 for incremental storage, depending on the phone model and the size of the boost in storage. The percentage of iPhone buyers who paid up for increased storage grew to 38% this quarter from 33% in the year ago quarter. Based on the elevated pricing associated with larger storage, as well as the model mix sold in the quarter, we estimate Apple increased its ASP to well over $800."
While multiple reports have suggested the iPhone XR sold well, it did not sell as well as Apple had expected, at least in some areas around the world. Apple recently lowered its earnings guidance for the first fiscal quarter of 2019 due to weak iPhone sales and has reportedly cut iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max production for the January to March quarter.
CIRP gathered its data from a survey of 500 U.S. Apple customers that purchased an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch during the October to December 2018 period.
Apple today released the first beta of iOS 12.2 for developers, and while it doesn't bring as many new changes as we might have hoped for in a 12.x update, there are still quite a few minor tweaks to be aware of.
Below, we've listed all of the new features and changes that we've discovered in iOS 12.2 so far, and we'll update this post should any additional features be found.
- Apple News for Canada - iOS 12.2 expands the availability of Apple News to Canada for the first time, with news sources available in either English or French.
- HomeKit TV Support - Apple recently announced that HomeKit support is coming to a number of third-party TVs, and iOS 12.2 introduces the infrastructure to allow users to add their TVs to HomeKit.
- Home Controls for TVs - Open up the Home app, tap the house-shaped icon in the upper left, choose "Home Settings" and you'll see an updated section for "Allow Speaker & TV Access," which was previously just "Allow Speaker Access." This setting lets you choose who can access and send content to your speakers and TVs.
- Redesigned TV Remote - The TV Remote feature in Control Center has been redesigned with a more streamlined look that takes advantage of the entire display and does away with the large Home button. The TV Remote also has a new dark interface, which was added in beta 3.
- New Screen Mirroring Icon - There's a redesigned Screen Mirroring icon in the Control Center that features two displays rather than a single display and an arrow.
Old design on left, new design on right
- Wallet - The Wallet interface has been slightly tweaked when viewing a single card within the Wallet app. The info button has been relocated to the top, and there's now a "Done" button instead of an option to tap other cards at the bottom of the app. Transaction information is now listed more clearly, with a longer history available. The main wallet interface is largely unchanged, but the "+" button to add a new card is now black instead of blue. These changes may have been implemented ahead of a credit card partnership Apple is rumored to be entering with Goldman Sachs, which could be unveiled soon.
New design on left, old design on right
- Apple Pay Cash - There's an "Add Money" option in Wallet when you select the Apple Pay Cash card. Before, you needed to go into the more detailed Apple Pay Cash view to add money to the card.
New design on left, old design on right
- New AirPlay icon - Some users are seeing a new AirPlay icon when AirPlaying to certain devices.
- Safari search arrows - When entering a search term or website in the main bar in Safari, under the "Google Search" autofill section, there are now little blue arrows. Tapping an arrow adds the text to the search field, so you can get more targeted search results with just a few taps. In prior versions of Safari, tapping on a Google Search result simply conducted the search.
- Unsecure websites - Sites that do not use a secure HTTPS connection are now prominently listed as "Not Secure" in the Safari menu bar. There was a "Not Secure" feature in prior versions of iOS, but it only showed up on pages requesting a password or credit card. Now any unencrypted site shows the "Not Secure" heading.
- Air Quality in Maps - In the Maps app, there's a new option to display Air Quality alongside weather readings. It can be activated in the Maps section of the Settings app.
- Downtime in Screen Time - When using the Downtime feature in Screen Time, you can set Downtime options on a day by day basis. Prior to iOS 12.2, you weren't able to select specific days and times to activate Downtime.
- Safari Privacy - Apple is improving Safari's privacy in iOS 12.2 through a new Motion & Orientation toggle located under Settings --> Safari --> Privacy & Security, which is disabled by default. The setting needs to be enabled on to allow websites to display content that relies on motion data from the accelerometer and gyroscope in the iPhone and iPad.
- Lock screen charging fix - The second beta of iOS 12.2 had a pesky bug that caused the iPhone's charge to be displayed on the Lock screen instead of the time. In beta 3, that's been fixed.
- Apple News logo - In the Apple News app, instead of spelling out "Apple News," Apple uses the "" symbol along with the word "News," similar to Apple Pay.
-Apple News app icon - Along with a new logo, Apple News has a new app icon featuring a stylized red N on a field of white.
- About screen - The interface for viewing information about your iPhone has been updated and rearranged in a more logical way with info like model number and serial number at the top with carrier information at the bottom.
Siri Apple Store suggestions - There's a new section under Siri & Search > Apple Store that indicates Siri in iOS 12.2 will be able to suggest Today at Apple sessions for you based on your Safari and app usage.
- Control Center Remote icon - The Remote icon in Control Center now resembles a remote instead of using an Apple TV logo.
Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari - In iOS 12.2, Apple is adding updates to Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature to make it even harder for websites to track you. Apple is also nixing support for Do Not Track, an outdated opt-in feature that many websites ignored.
Audio Messages quality - Audio messages, which can be sent in the Messages app, sound a lot better in iOS 12.2 thanks to the adoption of a new 24000 Hz Opus codec that makes spoken audio sent to friends and family crisper, clearer, and louder. The higher quality audio messages can be sent and received from devices running the iOS 12.2 update.
The iOS 12.2 update is available to both developers and public beta testers at the current time. It's not yet known when Apple plans to release the update, but because it includes hints of the new Apple News service, which is expected to debut in late March, it could be released right around that time.
Pennsylvania-based entity Rembrandt Wireless Technologies has filed a lawsuit against Apple today in the U.S. district court for Eastern Texas, accusing the iPhone maker of infringing on two of its Bluetooth-related patents.
In its complaint, obtained by MacRumors, Rembrandt alleges that all Apple products that support Bluetooth 2.0 or newer with Enhanced Data Rate, including the iPhone 3GS and newer, all iPad and Apple Watch models, several Mac models, HomePod, and others, infringe on U.S. Patent Nos. 8,457,228 and 8,023,580.
Enhanced Data Rate, often shortened to EDR, is a technology that allows for faster Bluetooth data transmission speeds.
The asserted patents describe wireless communication techniques that appear to be related to Bluetooth with EDR, so the alleged infringement could extend to virtually any Bluetooth-enabled device. The same Eastern Texas court ordered Samsung to pay $11 million to Rembrandt last year over the same two patents.
Rembrandt is not the original assignee of the patents, which both expired on December 4, 2018, according to its complaint. The entity says it is still entitled to damages for infringement that occurred prior to the expiration of the patents.
Rembrandt is seeking an award of damages stemming from Apple's infringement in an amount to be proven at trial. In the Samsung case, a jury calculated damages based on a royalty rate of approximately five-and-a-half cents per infringing device. Rembrandt has requested a jury trial against Apple as well.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, who also presided over the Samsung trial.
Last fall I had the chance to take a look at ZENS' all-new Dual + Watch Wireless Charger, which offers spots to charge two Qi-enabled smartphones and one perch for the Apple Watch. I came away quite liking the accessory, which should be a great charging hub for anyone in a two-person household, and now the company has launched a companion accessory called the ZENS Dual Wireless Powerbank.
This device is a portable battery pack that itself includes two spots for wirelessly charging an iPhone 8 or later (or any Qi smartphone), similar to the design of the Dual + Watch stand. The Powerbank has a 9,000 mAh battery, two USB-A ports, and one USB-C charging port on the rear (USB-C to Lightning fast charging is not supported). The device itself also supports wireless charging, so you can place it on the Dual + Watch stand without needing to mess with wires to fuel up the Powerbank more easily.
Design
ZENS mirrored the design of the Dual + Watch Stand for its new Powerbank, and both accessories have a nice rubberized texture on the mat where you place your iPhone. Instead of aluminum on the sides like the stand, the Powerbank has a plastic enclosure that still has a nice heft to it.
Just like the stand, I really like the simple design of the Powerbank. Black isn't usually a color I opt to use in stands as big as the ZENS Dual + Watch, but I've been using it since I reviewed it last October, and the only downside I've come across in the past few months is that it is definitely a dust and fingerprint magnet.
iOS 12.2 and macOS Mojave 10.14.4, available in a beta capacity for developers as of this morning, expands the availability of Apple News app to Canada for the first time.
Canadian iPhone, iPad, and Mac owners can use Apple News in both English and French, with Apple's release notes indicating a bilingual experience is available when following a channel in a second language.
Apple says that publications available during the beta testing period do not reflect all of the content that will be available, and Top Stories and Digests are not updated as frequently as they will be when the feature officially launches.
Apple News first launched in iOS 9 in 2015, and initially, it was only available in the United States. It later launched in Australia and the UK, and those countries, along with Canada, are the only countries where the app can be accessed without adjusting the region location.
Canadians who are using Apple News for the first time (and U.S. readers) can access MacRumors content by following this link.
Apple News in Canada is limited to developers at the current time, but will be available to public beta testers as well when Apple releases public betas. iOS 12.2 and macOS Mojave 10.14.4 should see an official launch after several weeks of beta testing.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave 10.14.4 update to developers for testing purposes, a couple of days after releasing the prior update, macOS 10.14.3, which focused on bug fixes.
The new macOS Mojave 10.14.4 beta can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after the proper profile has been installed from Apple's Developer Center.
We don't yet know what improvements the next update to macOS Mojave will bring, but it is likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS 10.14.3 update.
What's new in macOS Mojave 10.14.4 - The macOS Mojave 10.14.4 update introduces Apple News in Canada. The update also includes support for automatic dark mode themes in Safari, so if you have Dark Mode enabled and then visit a website that also offers a dark mode, it will be activated automatically.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 12.2 update to developers, just a couple of days after the release of iOS 12.1.3, a minor update that introduced bug fixes for Messages, Photos, the iPad Pro, and the HomePod.
Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.2 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.
As a 12.x update, the new software may include more significant features than the prior 12.x.x updates that we've had recently. iOS 12.2 will mark the second major update to iOS 12 after iOS 12.1, an update that brought eSIM support and Group FaceTime.
We don't yet know what's new in iOS 12.2, but once we've installed the software, we'll update this post with any new features that are discovered.
What's new in iOS 12.2: Today's update expands the availability of Apple News to Canada for the first time. It also brings support for TVs in HomeKit and adds an updated AirPlay icon.
The TV Remote feature in Control Center has been redesigned with a more streamlined look that takes advantage of the entire display and does away with the large Home button.
According to Apple's release notes for the update, there are some known issues. Users may be unable to authenticate in Apple Pay within Wallet after selecting a card, and users may be unable to purchase prepaid data plans using cellular data. Siri does not work in iOS simulators.
High and low heart rate notifications and irregular heart rhythm notifications are available as read-only category samples in HealthKit.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 5.2 update to developers, two days after releasing watchOS 5.1.3, a minor update focused on bug fixes.
Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.
It's not yet clear what features will be introduced in the watchOS 5.2 update, but as 5.x software, it may include more significant changes than prior minor updates.
Should we discover anything new in the watchOS 5.2 beta, we'll update this post.
Apple this morning seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.2 update to developers for testing purposes, two days after releasing the tvOS 12.1.2 update.
Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 12.2 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode.
tvOS updates have historically been minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes. Apple provides little to no information on what's included in tvOS updates, so we may not discover anything new after installing the new beta.
While we don't know what's new in tvOS updates most of the time, we share when new software is available so developers are able to download it upon release.
Should we discover notable changes in the tvOS 12.2 beta, we'll update this post with details.
Last June at WWDC, Apple revealed that Microsoft Office and its suite of apps would finally be launching on the Mac App Store, without giving a specific launch date. That launch now appears imminent as iOS App Stores in select countries have updated with a new feature referencing the availability of Microsoft Office on the Mac App Store.
We are proud to announce that Microsoft Office 365 is now on the Mac App Store. Your subscription to Office 365 gives you access to all functions on all platforms. To subscribe, sign up for any Office Suite app and update your subscription. Discover all the apps in the suite, and start creating and collaborating!
Microsoft Office apps have been available on Mac for years, but users have had to download them from the web or in physical retail boxes since Apple has never offered them directly in its Mac App Store. This should make the process of getting programs like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel much easier for Mac owners.
Like other versions of Office, you'll need a subscription to Office 365 to gain access to the full features of each app.
Although the launch appears to be very soon, we're still unsure on when exactly Microsoft Office will be ready to download in the Mac App Store. When it is, we'll update this post accordingly.
Update 2: Apple has published a press release about the launch of Microsoft Office on the Mac App Store. The company notes that Office 365 for Mac has been designed to support Mac-unique features, like Dark Mode, Continuity Camera, and Touch Bar on MacBook Pro.
“We are excited to welcome Microsoft Office 365 to the all new Mac App Store in macOS Mojave,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Apple and Microsoft have worked together to bring great Office productivity to Mac users from the very beginning. Now, with Office 365 on the Mac App Store, it's easier than ever to get the latest and best version of Office 365 for Mac, iPad and iPhone.”
You can also download a bundle of all the new Office 365 apps on the Mac App Store, including OneDrive and OneNote.
Apple is planning its own over-ear headphones for as early as the second half of 2019, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Beats Solo3
Gurman briefly mentioned the more specific timeframe in a report claiming that Sonos is also developing a high-end pair of wireless, over-the-ear headphones that could be launched by next year. He previously said the Apple headphones could debut as early as this year, so the "second half" distinction is new.
Gurman previously reported that the headphones will use Apple branding and be positioned as a higher-end alternative to the company's line of Beats headphones. He also said Apple originally intended to introduce the headphones by the end of 2018, but faced development challenges causing a delay.
Six months after MoviePass began placing numerous restrictions on its subscribers in an attempt to prevent the service from completely shutting down, the company today has relaunched with a new advertising campaign and the promise of a new unlimited plan.
As reported by Variety, the so-called "MoviePass 2.0" is rolling out with a few new plans this month, with prices that change depending on your region. Plans start at $9.95/month for three movies per month, but you're limited to only a selection of specific films available each day. This "Select" plan is cheaper for people in the middle of the country, because tickets are generally cheaper in smaller cities, and in big cities it'll be priced at $14.95/month.
There's a mid-tier "All Access" plan priced at $14.95 in small cities, allowing access to all 2D films with the usual three films per month limit. Lastly, the top-tier plan is called "Red Carpet," and it is priced at $19.95/month. On this plan, subscribers can see any three movies of their choosing per month, even in IMAX, 3D, and other premium formats. In big cities, Red Carpet will cost as much as $24.95/month.
All of these new plans still restrict every MoviePass subscriber to just three movies per month, but MoviePass executive vice president Khalid Itum said that the company is gearing up to reintroduce an unlimited subscription plan very soon. Next week, a form of the original MoviePass unlimited plan will be unveiled, but pricing and specific plan details were not covered today.
MoviePass says that after losing subscribers steadily over the past few months, it has started to again increase its numbers and customer sentiment has improved.
Prior to launching the new plans, only 44% of customers had a positive feeling towards MoviePass, according to data collected by NetBase. Last week, that rose to 59% of respondents having a positive view.
“I feel like we’re turning a corner,” said Itum.
In total, Itum says that MoviePass will stop focusing on being a "disruptor" of the industry in attempt to remove the friction between itself and theater chains. This means it will no longer take large cuts of any concessions it helps to sell by getting people to theaters, but will instead charge a small service fee for items it sells. The company will also no longer ask theaters to give MoviePass a discount on tickets that it sells.
Itum is also working on a "red label" solution for exhibitors, which would help them to launch their own theater subscription programs using the MoviePass platform and existing technology. Overall, the vice president described MoviePass as adopting a "more humble" posture in 2019: "Our new business strategy is stabilize, optimize, and grow," he said.
Whether that works for the company remains to be seen. MoviePass originally made waves in August 2017 as the company dropped the price of its main subscription plan to just $9.95/month, allowing users to watch one standard 2D film every day of each month. That price point lasted for nearly one year, and eventually the company added on surge pricing, blockbuster movie restrictions, price hikes, and removed the unlimited monthly plan completely.
Verizon-owned network Visible today announced it has started selling iPhones with zero-percent-interest financing in partnership with Affirm.
The available models include the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone SE, with device payments ranging from $10 to $60 per month.
Visible also supports Android devices now, starting with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. The network previously operated on a bring-your-own-iPhone basis.
Last, the network has launched a new Visible Protect plan with access to AppleCare. Available in select markets, starting at $10 per month, the plan provides protection against accidental damage, loss, theft, and out-of-warranty hardware failure, with the option for same-day service for new iPhone devices.
The latest Apple Pay promotion offers 10 percent off Under Armour purchases.
The 10 percent offer will automatically be applied in the Under Armour app at checkout with the use of Apple Pay through January 31, 2019 in the United States, according to Apple. The offer is not valid at Under Armour retail stores.
TiVo's upcoming Apple TV app will limit streaming to 720p at 30 frames per second and won't support native MPEG-2 broadcasts or 5.1 surround sound, it has been revealed.
TiVo's app is coming to Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV later this year
During CES, TiVo announced it would release an app for Apple TV in the third quarter of this year that would allow TiVo users to stream live and recorded content to other televisions without incurring additional cost.
However, users hoping to enjoy TiVo content on their Apple TV at the same level of audio and visual quality are in for disappointment. The admission was made in a TechHive interview with Ted Malone, TiVo's vice president of consumer products and services.
Malone explained that the limitations, which will also apply across the company's forthcoming Amazon Fire TV and Roku apps, is a necessary compromise that has do with the TiVo's hardware resource allocation:
"I want 720p 60 [fps]," Malone told the publication. "I've done some internal demos proving that 720p 60 [fps] is actually noticeably better than 720p 30 [fps]. It's really a battle for resources and just getting it done."
[...]
Malone said the TiVo hardware can technically support higher-quality streams, but not without dialing back some other capabilities, such as streaming to TiVo Mini Vox boxes.
As it stands, TiVo users who want to view live programming and DVR content on additional televisions have to resort to a TiVo Mini. The first-party Mini costs $180 but includes support for high-quality streaming, which means it will remain the best solution for expanding the availability of TiVo content to multiple rooms.
Twitter is testing a new feature it hopes will make it easier for users to work out who started a thread.
The new tag, which has begun appearing for some users of the platform, identifies the "original tweeter" in a thread.
Twitter hopes the feature will make it easier to distinguish accounts that pretend to be the person who started a thread, which may also help prevent certain types of abuse on the platform.
Twitter confirmed the experiment to TechCrunch, and said that it had rolled out the feature to a "small percentage" of iOS and Android users.
"Twitter's purpose is to serve the public conversation. As part of this work, we're exploring adding more context to discussions by highlighting relevant replies – like those from the original Tweeter," Twitter's director of product management Sara Haider told TechCrunch in a statement.
The "original tweeter" tag appears to be the latest fruits of the company's new beta app, in which a select group of users gain get access to new features within a standalone app, where they can test and talk about them with others.
Twitter is using what it learns from the beta app to decide whether to make the tests part of full-blown product features for its wider user base.
The first beta is focusing on testing a new design for the way conversation threads work on Twitter. New interface elements currently under review include a different color scheme and visual cues to highlight important replies.
Today marks the 35th anniversary of Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs unveiling the original Macintosh.
Jobs pulled the Macintosh out of a bag during Apple's annual shareholders meeting on January 24, 1984 at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, grinning from ear to ear as the crowd erupted in applause.
Macintosh's very first words:
Hello, I'm Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag.
Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I'd like to share with you a maxim I thought of the first time I met an IBM mainframe: NEVER TRUST A COMPUTER YOU CAN'T LIFT!
Obviously, I can talk, but right now I'd like to sit back and listen. So, it is with considerable pride that I introduce a man who's been like a father to me… STEVE JOBS.
Two days earlier, Apple teased the Macintosh's introduction with its iconic "1984" ad during Super Bowl XVIII on CBS:
And here's a lesser-known video of Jobs introducing the Macintosh to the Boston Computer Society on January 30, 1984:
The original Macintosh was priced at $2,495 in the United States, equivalent to just over $6,000 today, and was a big deal because of its graphical user interface rather than command-line interface. Tech specs included an 8 MHz Motorola 68000 processor, 128 KB of RAM, and a 400 KB floppy disk drive.
Update: Apple CEO Tim Cook has tweeted in celebration of the Macintosh turning 35.
35 years ago, Macintosh said hello. It changed the way we think about computers and went on to change the world. We love the Mac, and today we’re proud that more people than ever are using it to follow their passions and create the future. pic.twitter.com/oUQDJN3jRU
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 24, 2019
Apple this week removed more than 200 employees from its autonomous car team, known internally as "Project Titan," reports CNBC.
An Apple spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to CNBC, but said that Apple continues to believe there is a "huge opportunity" with autonomous systems. According to the statement provided, some of the former Project Titan employees have been moved to other parts of the company.
"We have an incredibly talented team working on autonomous systems and associated technologies at Apple. As the team focuses their work on several key areas for 2019, some groups are being moved to projects in other parts of the company, where they will support machine learning and other initiatives, across all of Apple," the spokesperson said.
"We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever," they added.
In August, Apple hired former Tesla lead engineer Doug Field to lead Project Titan alongside Bob Mansfield, and the employee dismissals this week were reportedly not a surprise, but rather expected restructuring under the new leadership.
Apple began work on Project Titan in 2014, and at the time, rumors suggested the company was working to develop an electric vehicle at a secret location near its Cupertino headquarters.
Leadership issues, internal strife, and other problems impacted the development of the car, and in 2016, new information suggested Apple had shelved its plans for a car to instead focus on an autonomous driving system.
The hiring of Field, who was once Apple's VP of Mac hardware before he went to Tesla, has, however, been seen as a sign that Apple is again developing a full autonomous vehicle.
Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who often accurately predicts the company's product plans, also believes that an Apple Car is in development with a targeted launch date between 2023 and 2025. With the new restructuring of the project, though, Apple's ultimate autonomous driving plans are unclear, and this could be a sign that a full Apple Car is once again off the table.
Apple has been testing autonomous driving software out on the roads of Cupertino since early 2017, and it has developed a self-driving shuttle service to transport Apple employees between various office locations in Silicon Valley.
In June 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed Apple's work on autonomous driving software, an unusual step as Apple does not often share details on products that are still under development.
"We're focusing on autonomous systems," said Cook. "It's a core technology that we view as very important. We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects."
Twitter is testing a new feature it hopes will make it easier for users to work out who started a thread.
