In August 2016 the European Commission ruled that Apple must repay 13 billion euros ($15.46 billion) in back taxes dating between 2003 and 2014. According to the EU, the taxes were avoided with the help of sweetheart tax deals from Ireland, and today The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will now begin paying these back taxes "as soon as early next year."
Ireland's Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, reports that Apple and Ireland have agreed to terms of an escrow fund for the money, setting a pace for Apple to begin repaying the taxes in Q1 2018. Apple's payment will sit in the escrow fund while both sides continue to appeal the EU's decision in court.
In October 2017, the EU announced its intention to take Ireland to court for its failure to recover Apple's back tax sum, with Ireland citing the escrow account as the reason why negotiations and repayment were being held up. Now, Donohoe said the next steps will be to determine who operates the escrow account and who manages the fund once Apple begins the repayment process. The EU said that it will only close court proceedings against Ireland once Apple's back taxes are recovered in full.
Ireland will begin collecting €13 billion ($15.46 billion) in back taxes from Apple Inc. as soon as early next year after both sides agreed to the terms of an escrow fund for the money, Ireland’s finance chief said Monday.
In a statement, Apple said, “We have a dedicated team working diligently and expeditiously with Ireland on the process the European Commission has mandated. We remain confident the General Court of the EU will overturn the Commission’s decision once it has reviewed all the evidence.”
The center of the EU's argument is that Irish revenue commissioners gave Apple unfair advantages between 1991 and 2007 by allowing the company to move income from the European market through two "non-resident" head office subsidiaries based in Ireland.
Ireland's government has stated it "fundamentally disagrees" with the EU's analysis of the tax situation, leading to its appeal. For Apple, the company said that the EU made "fundamental errors" in the calculations related to the taxes it owes, arguing that the bulk of the profits during this period are due in the United States. Apple CEO Tim Cook put it more succinctly after the first ruling came out, calling the tax avoidance claims "total political crap."
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 released iOS 11.2 early in order to address a serious date bug that was affecting some users on December 2, and while the update introduced Apple Pay Cash, the feature was not yet activated by Apple.
Because it wasn't activated, Apple Pay Cash was not usable, despite being listed as a feature in the update's release notes. Apple today made Apple Pay Cash officially available in the United States, so it can be used by all iPhone and iPad owners who have iOS 11.2 installed. Apple Pay Cash is just now rolling out, so it may take a bit of time before it's fully functional and available for everyone.
Apple Pay Cash is Apple's new peer-to-peer payments service, designed to allow for quick person-to-person money transfers, much like Square Cash or Venmo. The service is currently limited to the United States.
Using Apple Pay Cash, you can send and receive money through iMessage conversations using the Messages app. Cash is sent from a linked debit or credit card, while received cash is stored in an Apple Pay Cash card in the Wallet app and can be used for purchases or transferred to a bank account. For more on Apple Pay Cash, make sure to check out our how to.
Apple Pay Cash will also be available on the Apple Watch once watchOS 4.2 has been installed, and we're expecting to see watchOS 4.2 later this week.
Mid 2011 models have officially been classified as vintage or obsolete as of November 30, 2017, according to an internal memo distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers and later obtained by MacRumors.
The distinction means that Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers will no longer repair or service the 2011 Mac mini, given over five years have passed since it was last manufactured, except where required by law.
The only regions exempted include California and Turkey, where customers may still obtain service for up to two additional years.
Apple repairs and services products for up to five years after they are no longer manufactured, and 2011 Mac mini models have now eclipsed that coverage period after being discontinued in late 2012.
2011 Mac mini models were the first with a Thunderbolt port, and the first without an optical disc drive for CDs/DVDs.
It has been over 1,100 days since Apple last refreshed the Mac mini, according to the MacRumors Buyer's Guide. The computer is still powered by Intel's dual-core Haswell processors, now five generations old.
When Apple announced plans for a modular Mac Pro, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said the Mac mini "is an important product" in the company's lineup, but he didn't confirm if a new machine is in the works.
Facebook today is rolling out a preview for a new standalone app aimed at kids under the age of 13, which the company says was built to make it easier for kids to "safely video chat and message with family and friends." The "Messenger Kids" preview is available only on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad in the United States, letting young family members download the app, which can then be controlled by their parent's Facebook account.
Facebook said that it developed the app with guidance from the National PTA, as well as experts in child development and online safety. Messenger Kids does not require children to create a Facebook account, but instead asks parents to download the app, authenticate it, and then create a miniature profile of their kid that is linked to the parent's Facebook account.
Once parents set up an account, kids can have one-on-one or group video calls only with contacts approved by their parents. The home screen of the app shows these approved contacts, as well as which are online.
Whether it’s using video chat to talk to grandparents, staying in touch with cousins who live far away, or sending mom a decorated photo while she’s working late to say hi, Messenger Kids opens up a new world of online communication to families. This preview is available on the App Store for iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone.
Like other Facebook apps, there are a wide variety of masks, emojis, and sound effects to use within video chats. Kids will be able to send photos, videos, and text messages -- and edit them with GIFs, frames, stickers, and doodling tools -- to their friends also on Messenger Kids, as well as adult family members. The adult contacts will receive these messages on their normal Messenger app.
For parents, there will now be a Messenger Kids parental controls panel on their own Facebook app, where they can approve or disallow certain contacts from being able to talk with their kid. Facebook said that there are "no ads" in Messenger Kids and any of the child's information from the app "isn't used for ads."
Messenger Kids is available on the iOS App Store for free starting today [Direct Link], and Facebook confirmed that there are no in-app purchases. For more information, visit Facebook's new website for the kid-focused app.
Spotify is quietly testing a new feature that enables listeners to provide positive or negative feedback on track selections in Discover Weekly playlists.
First spotted by Mashable, Spotify has started including a small heart symbol and a blocked sign at the lower left corner of the desktop app interface when a song is playing in a Discover Weekly playlist. When users hover over the heart or blocked sign, a description overlay shows "Like" or "Don't like", respectively.
Clicking "Like" adds the track to the listener's library, while clicking "Don't like" causes a dialog to appear asking whether it's the song or the artist the user isn't keen on. Selecting either ensures that track/artist doesn't show in Discover Weekly again.
According to Spotify, it is testing the like/dislike buttons as a possible new feature for Discover Weekly (they can already be found in the Daily Mix), but they won't appear for everyone, and the streaming service still hasn't decided if a full rollout will follow.
Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist has been a hit with subscribers. Spotify announced in May 2016 that more than 40 million people had used the playlist service, streaming just under five billion tracks in under a year. As Mashable notes, some users have been requesting like/dislike buttons for the playlists for at least a couple of years.
Dialog Semiconductor admitted on Monday that Apple, its top customer, could build its own power management chips for future iPhones without relying on the British-based chipmaker (via Reuters). The comments saw Dialog shares tumble as much as 19 percent, despite the firm claiming there was no risk to its existing supply deals in 2018.
Dialog said it was already in the advanced stages of working with Apple on designing "2019-type products" that could lead to commercial contracts by next March.
"Our position remains that we have seen no material change to our ongoing relationship with Apple Inc," Chief Executive Jalal Bagherli told investors on a conference call.
However, the company acknowledged for the first time that "Apple has the resources and capability to internally design a PMIC and could potentially do so in the next few years".
A report last week claiming Apple would design its own power management chips as early as 2018 came as a serious blow for Dialog, which exclusively designs the current main power management chip for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models. Apple reportedly accounted for nearly three quarters of Dialog Semiconductor's revenue in 2016.
Dialog's PMIC chip controls an iPhone's battery, including charging capabilities and energy consumption. Apple's own design will supposedly be "the most advanced in the industry", according to Nikkei Asian Review, and could enable future iPhones to have a better balance between performance and battery consumption. Taiwanese supplier TSMC will be the exclusive manufacturer of Apple's in-house power management chip, according to the report.
Since last week's report, Dialog shares have lost nearly a third of their value. At one point this morning they were down 15.2 percent at 26.47 euros ($31.38), according to Reuters.
Bagherli said Apple's feedback so far on 2019 product plans had been "very good" and that he expected to have more clarity by March on the terms of new business from Apple for 2019. Dialog would update investors when it had more details, he said.
Semiconductor suppliers are typically barred by Apple from revealing their supply relationships. Dialog, which has previously declined to name Apple, referring to it only obliquely as its "largest customer" or its "main business", said it had received a special dispensation from Apple to mention it.
Dialog emphasized that it had no reason to believe its 2018 business with Apple would be affected if Apple chose to design its own chips, but acknowledged that it would need to meet the company's "technology, quality, price, and volume expectations" if it wanted to remain a key supplier.
Dialog Semiconductor may turn out to be the second large British company to lose major business from Apple with the next couple of years. In April, Imagination Technologies shares plunged after Apple informed the firm it plans to stop using its PowerVR graphics technology in its devices by mid-2019.
AirPods will remain one of Apple's most popular accessories in 2018, with shipments likely to double to an estimated 26-28 million units on a year-over-year basis, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo said there has been strong demand for AirPods, which he views as the most important accessory in Apple's wireless ecosystem. His prediction implies AirPods shipments will total 13-14 million units in 2017.
An excerpt from Kuo's latest research note with investment firm KGI Securities, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors:
We believe demand for AirPods has been strong, and note that the shipping time of the product on Apple's official shopping website has shortened to 1-3 days, mainly thanks to an improved assembly process and increased capacity from Luxshare as the new assembler […] We expect AirPods to remain one of the most popular Apple accessories in 2018, with shipments likely to rise 100% YoY to 26-28mn units next year.
Chinese company Luxshare could become the main assembler of AirPods in 2018, with a higher order allocation than fellow supplier Inventec, after improving its assembly process and increasing production capacity.
Apple doesn't break out AirPods sales like it does with iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Instead, it groups the wireless earphones under its "Other Products" category, alongside Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats, iPods, and other accessories.
Apple reported revenue of $3.2 billion from its "Other Products" category last quarter, up 36 percent year over year.
Last month, on an earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he was "thrilled with the momentum" of AirPods. He boasted that Apple's entire wearables business generated the annual revenue of a "Fortune 400" company in the 2017 fiscal year.
The combination of music streaming on Apple Music and AirPods is truly a magical experience for people on the go. We're thrilled with the momentum of these products. In fact, our entire wearables business was up 75 percent year over year in the fourth quarter, and in fiscal 2017, already generated the annual revenue of a Fortune 400 company.
AirPods launched for $159 in December 2016 after a two month delay, but orders on Apple's website faced a six-week shipping estimate until August 2017 as Apple struggled to improve the supply-demand balance of the wireless earphones.
We haven't heard many rumors about second-generation AirPods, but Apple will be releasing an inductive charging case for the wireless earphones designed to work with its AirPower charging mat, which itself will launch in early 2018.
iPhone X handsets make up over 2 percent of the iPhone active installed base, just three weeks after it was released on November 3, according to research conducted by IHS Markit. The countries with the highest rates of adoption are markets with high gross domestic product per head, like Singapore, Denmark, Switzerland, and Japan.
According to IHS, countries where "Plus" models have been popular show a strong correlation with initial adoption rates for iPhone X, because consumers in those markets are more interested in larger displays and dual-lens camera technology, and are willing to spend more to get them.
Production constraints appear to have had little effect on early uptake of iPhone X, which is said to be "very similar" to adoption of previous flagship iPhones launches over the same period, said IHS analysts.
In the US, iPhone X adoption after three weeks matched the adoption of iPhone 8 Plus and beat early adoption levels for both the iPhone 8 and 7 Plus. Only the iPhone 7 model had greater initial success. In Japan, initial iPhone X adoption was as good as or better than any recent iPhone launch, and matched the level of the iPhone 7.
Apple is set to enjoy its best ever year for iPhone, according to IHS, with year-on-year increases in iPhone shipments over the next four quarters. In the fourth quarter of 2017, IHS Markit forecasts Apple will ship 88.8 million iPhones, which would be the highest number of iPhones ever to be shipped in a single quarter.
Shipping 31 million iPhone X units would cause the iPhone average selling price (ASP) to exceed US$700 for the first time in the iPhone's 10-year history, assuming total shipments in the quarter amount to 88.8 million.
Shipping estimates for the iPhone X continue to improve in many countries. In the United States, iPhone X models ordered today will arrive in just about a week, while several European stores list delivery dates of December 12. In line with IHS Markit's analysis, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier claimed that improved iPhone X shipping estimates are due to better-than-expected improvements in production, rather than a lack of demand for the new device.
Chinese developers have earned more selling apps on Apple's iOS platform than devs from any other country, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Sunday (via Bloomberg). His comments were made in a keynote speech given at China's annual state-run World Internet Conference, which aims to develop the digital economy, while operating under the rubric of respecting the right of sovereign nations to regulate and control public internet access.
Cook said developers on its iOS platform number 1.8 million in China, collectively earning a total of $16.9 billion, which is roughly a quarter of total global App Store earnings. Apple said earlier this year that the global developer community has earned over $70 billion since the App Store launched in 2008.
Tim Cook delivers a speech at the Fourth World Internet Conference (Photo: IC)
"The theme of this conference – developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits – is a vision we at Apple share," Cook said. "We are proud to have worked alongside many of our partners in China to help build a community that will join a common future in cyberspace."
China's cyber regulation has stepped up in the last year, with new rules coming into force that require companies to store data locally and make data available for surveillance measures. Apple was the first foreign tech firm to announce amendments to its data storage arrangements in China, when the cybersecurity laws came into effect in June.
"Much has been said of the potential downsides of AI, but I don't worry about machines thinking like humans. I worry about people thinking like machines," he said. "We all have to work to infuse technology with humanity, with our values."
Technology of the future should have openness, creativity and safeguards to protect users while providing privacy and decency, he added.
Cook's words appeared carefully chosen so as not to upset his Chinese hosts, who routinely curtail access to online services seen as a potential threat to the country's internal cohesion. Facebook and Instagram have been blocked by China's Cyberspace Administration since 2009 and 2014, respectively. Encrypted messaging service Telegram was also blocked inside China after it became popular with the country's human rights lawyers, while several VPN apps – which are commonly used to evade censorship and access services abroad – were recently pulled from China's App Store in compliance with stricter state rules.
The Wuzhen-based conference was opened earlier on Sunday with comments from Chinese president Xi Junping, read by the head of the government's publicity department, in which Xi advocated for "cyber sovereignty", the idea that states should be permitted to manage and contain their own internet without external interference.
"Developments online are raising many new challenges to sovereignty and security, and China is willing to work with the international community to respect cyberspace sovereignty and promote partnerships," said Xi in the note. "The development of China's cyberspace is entering a fast lane... China's doors will only become more and more open."
China remains the world's biggest smartphone market, one which historically Apple has struggled to penetrate. The company shipped an estimated 11 million iPhones in China last quarter, up 40 percent from the year-ago quarter, despite six consecutive quarters of declining iPhone sales in the region.
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.
Today is Day 2 of Best Buy's 20 Days of Doorbusters sale event, which began yesterday and offers customers new deals on a variety of products every day until December 20. For today's sale, you can get $200 off the mid 2017 model of Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro in three configurations, which we've listed below. These discounts are mostly hitting between $50 and $100 below the price of similar models at other retailers like B&H Photo and MacMall, so be sure to check them out before the sale prices disappear tonight at midnight.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy and Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Besides MacBook Pro, Best Buy today also the Beats Pill+ speaker on sale for $149.99, a savings of $80 from its normal price of $229.99. You can buy the Bluetooth speaker in Black, White, or (PRODUCT)RED. If you're looking for other colors, Walmart has the Beats Pill+ at the same $149.99 price point in Asphalt Gray and Turf Green, part of the Beats Neighborhood Collection.
Additionally, there is a collection of MacBook accessories made by Incase available during Day 2 of Best Buy's Doorbuster event. With these discounts you can get up to $35 off select hard shell, cover, and sleeve accessories created for 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro and 13-inch MacBook Air.
Check out Best Buy's deals page for more of Day 2's discounts -- which include an Amazon Fire TV, Lenovo laptop, and Google Pixel 2 -- and remember that all of today's sales will end around midnight tonight. For those planning ahead, the next few notable Doorbuster days include headphones (December 4), Smart 4K TV sets (December 6), iPad (December 11), iPhone (December 17), and another MacBook sale (December 19).
To keep track of even more deals going on this week, make sure to head over to our full Deals Roundup.
Encrypted messaging app Signal pushed out its v2.19 update late on Friday after a post-release 48-hour delay, owing to an App Store issue that Apple has now resolved. The update includes a number of new features and improvements, including full UI display support for iPhone X.
After the update is applied, users will no longer see the "Load Earlier Messages" link within chat threads, because additional messages now appear automatically upon scrolling to the top of a conversation.
In other improvements, a new simplified interface has been introduced to the Signal mobile app that aims to make sending photos, files, and GIFs easier and quicker. For example, attachment previews are now displayed directly in the message bar instead of on a separate confirmation screen.
Adopting a design concept popularized by Facebook Messenger known as "Jumbomoji", emoji characters are now also visibly larger in Signal chat bubbles that don't contain any other text. Elsewhere, messages that fail to send have been made easier to spot and re-send, while a new "Tap for More" option should make navigating extremely long messages a more pleasant experience.
The list of supported languages has also been expanded to include Burmese, Hebrew, and Persian, while users with an external keyboard linked to their device can now make use of new key combination shortcuts for sending messages (Shift + Enter, and Command + Enter).
Apart from the above changes, Open Whisper Systems has revamped the layout code to improve performance and flexibility, so everything should feel smoother and more refined, according to the developers. Lastly, a number of bugs have been fixed, including one where recently sent messages sometimes reappeared after being deleted.
Apple CEO Tim Cook will attend China's state-run internet conference next week, reports the Wall Street Journal. The annual World Internet Conference starts on Sunday in Wuzhen and is organized by the central government's Cyberspace Administration.
According to the conference's website, other foreign executives and officials set to attend include Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Facebook VP Vaughan Smith, LinkedIn co-founder and VP Allan Blue, and Microsoft executive VP Harry Shum.
The event will host a range of discussions including the future of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and methods of combating criminal activity and terrorism online, all of which feed into the summit's main aim of advancing the digital economy "for openness and shared benefits". What the press material doesn't mention is the Cyberspace Administration's role in online censorship and its history of blocking access within China to unapproved sites and internet services.
Skype became the latest victim of its strict internet filters when it was removed from the App Store last month. Earlier this year, Apple was forced to remove many VPN apps from the App Store in China due to the administration's regulations, while other apps affected in the past or present include WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and the New York Times app.
During a Q3 earnings call in August, Cook said Apple believes in engaging with governments around the world even when it disagrees with rules or restrictions. Regarding the removal of VPN apps from China's App Store, Cook said that over time Apple hoped to see the restriction loosened, because "innovation requires freedom to collaborate and communicate".
Some folks have tried to link it to the [Apple-FBI dispute] last year — they're very different. In the case of the US, the law in the US supported us. It was very clear. In the case of China, the law is also very clear there, and like we would if the US changed the law here, we would have to abide by it in both cases. That doesn't mean we don't state our point of view, in the appropriate way — we always do that.
To what extent Cook will voice concerns about Chinese law at the summit is unclear, however his attendance reflects the country's growing importance to Apple's business as it seeks to boost revenue in the region. Apple shipped an estimated 11 million iPhones in China last quarter, up 40 percent from the year-ago quarter, according to research firm Canalys. The strong growth put an end to six consecutive quarters of declining iPhone sales in the region. However, that growth could be short lived.
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus sales have quickly "run out of steam" in mainland China, despite being heavily discounted by online retailers, according to the South China Morning Post. And while the iPhone X could help Apple in the fourth quarter, its high price and supply constraints might inhibit the company's growth in China in the short term, according to Canalys.
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.
Not all users were affected, but those who were saw their keyboards offering up "I.T" as a predictive text suggestion and an automatic autocorrection when typing "it." Some people also saw the word "is" autocorrect to "I.S."
The I.T. autocorrect problem has been around since iOS 11 first launched in September, but not every iPhone user experienced the issue. It appeared to be more limited in scope than a similar autocorrect bug that caused the letter "i" to autocorrect to "A[?]."
The "A[?]" bug was fixed in an iOS 11.1.1 update that was released to the public on November 9.
Reports on Twitter and reddit indicate that the iOS 11.2 update successfully fixes the I.T. autocorrect bug, so affected users should install it immediately.
iOS 11.2 also fixes several other bugs, including a major date-related bug causing crashing starting at 12:15 a.m. on December 2, and it introduces faster 7.5W wireless charging and Apple Pay Cash.
Apple today released iOS 11.2, the second major update to the iOS 11 operating system available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. iOS 11.2 comes a month after iOS 11.1, the first major update to iOS 11, and it follows several other smaller bug fix updates.
The iOS 11.2 update is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the update, go to Settings --> General --> Software Update. Eligible devices include the iPhone 5s and later, the iPad mini 2 and later, the iPad Air and later, and the 6th-generation iPod touch.
iOS 11.2, as a major 11.x update, brings several new features and important bug fixes. It introduces Apple Pay Cash, Apple's peer-to-peer payments service. Apple Pay Cash works through the Messages app and is designed to allow for quick person-to-person money transfers, like Square Cash or Venmo.
You can quickly and easily send and receive money through iMessage conversations with Apple Pay Cash. Cash is sent from a linked debit or credit card, while received cash is stored in an Apple Pay Cash card in the Wallet app and can be used for purchases or transferred to a bank account. For more on Apple Pay Cash, check out our how to.
For the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus iOS 11.2 appears to introduce faster 7.5W wireless charging speeds through compatible Qi-based wireless charging accessories. At 7.5W charging speeds, the three new iPhones are able to charge faster wirelessly than with the standard 5W wired iPhone power adapter.
When it comes to the iPhone X interface, iOS 11.2 adds a small bar underneath the status bar icons located at the upper right side of the Lock screen, which is designed to make the location of the Control Center gesture more clear. On the iPhone X, Control Center is accessed by swiping down from the top of the device.
In Control Center on all devices, there are two new informational pop-ups that are displayed when using the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth toggles. These pop-ups explain that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are disabled temporarily rather than permanently when accessed from the Control Center.
iOS 11.2 introduces a new Sports section in the dedicated TV app, which offers up access to live sports games through integration with the ESPN app. The Sports app can be accessed through a new "Sports" tab at the bottom of the app, and it offers up custom content based on team preferences and current sports seasons.
There are multiple bug fixes in the update, including a fix for an animation bug in the Calculator app that caused some numbers and symbols to be ignored when entered in rapid succession. The update removes the animations from the calculator app so calculations can be done quickly with no need to pause between entering numbers to obtain the correct result.
The update also addresses a date bug that caused continual crashing in iOS 11.1.2 after December 2. The problem was linked to local notifications, and according to a support document, it is fixed in iOS 11.2. iPhone and iPad users experiencing this bug should turn off notifications and then install iOS 11.2.
Other new features in iOS 11.2 include redesigned camera emojis and other emoji tweaks, a new loading animation for Live Photos effects, and Live wallpapers for the iPhone X. For developers, the update introduces a new feature that allows them to offer new customers discounted introductory pricing for auto-renewable subscriptions in the App Store. Full release notes for the update are available below:
iOS 11.2 introduces Apple Pay Cash to send, request, and receive money from friends and family with Apple Pay. This update also includes bug fixes and improvements.
Apple Pay Cash (US Only) Send, request, and receive money from friends and family with Apple Pay in Messages or by asking Siri
Other improvements and fixes - Adds support for faster wireless charging on iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X with compatible third-party accessories - Introduces three new Live wallpapers for iPhone X - Improves video camera stabilization - Adds support in Podcasts to automatically advance to the next episode from the same show - Adds support in HealthKit for downhill snow sports distance as a data type - Fixes an issue that could cause Mail to appear to be checking for new messages even when a download is complete - Fixes an issue that could cause cleared Mail notifications from Exchange accounts to reappear - Improves stability in Calendar - Resolves an issue where Settings could open to a blank screen - Fixes an issue that could prevent swiping to Today View or Camera from the Lock Screen - Addresses an issue that could prevent Music controls from displaying on the Lock Screen - Fixes an issue that could cause app icons to be arranged incorrectly on the Home Screen - Addresses an issue that could prevent users from deleting recent photos when iCloud storage is exceeded - Addresses an issue where Find My iPhone sometimes wouldn’t display a map - Fixes an issue in Messages where the keyboard could overlap the most recent message - Fixes an issue in Calculator where typing numbers rapidly could lead to incorrect results - Addressed an issue where the keyboard could respond slowly - Adds support for real-time text (RTT) phone calls for the deaf and hard of hearing - Improves VoiceOver stability in Messages, Settings, App Store, and Music - Resolves an issue that prevented VoiceOver from announcing incoming Notifications
Update: We're seeing several reports that Apple Pay Cash is not available in the release version of iOS 11.2. Given that this update was released at an unusual time, it may not be activated as of yet. It's likely we'll see Apple Pay Cash become available early next week.
A date-related bug in iOS 11.1.2 appears to be causing iPhones and iPads to continually crash or respring when time-based local notifications are received after 12:15 a.m. on December 2, according to reports on Twitter and reddit.
The problem seems to be tied to local notifications received from apps that offer daily or repeat reminders. For example, meditation app Headspace, one of the affected apps, sends daily reminders to users to encourage them to take some time to meditate. Any app using local (as in not pushed from a remote server) notifications that repeat will cause a crash.
If you have an app that has local notification with repeating settings, it will crash iOS Springboard on Dec. 2 (Tomorrow!) Here is a reproducible app by @takayamahttps://t.co/ecEoxFN2hM
— Yoshimasa Niwa (@niw) December 2, 2017
On reddit, users have had some success fixing the issue by disabling notifications and turning off background app refresh, while Apple's support staff appears to be recommending a manual date change to a time before the problem occurred as a temporarily solution. Reinstalling apps and restarting does not fix the issue. The problem looks like it's limited to devices running iOS 11.1.2 -- devices on the current iOS 11.2 beta aren't affected.
Apple Stores in Australia, where it is late afternoon on December 2, are reportedly being inundated with support requests from customers who are experiencing the issue.
PSA from staff: if you have an iPhone, it will likely crash due to a date bug when date rolls over to 2 December, depending on time zone.
The temp fix is to manually set date/time to a date prior to 2 Dec. This will make some apps unusable due to date checks on server.
— J (@jeremybank) December 2, 2017
Apple will undoubtedly fix this problem quickly through an iOS update, but as people wake up on December 2 in the United States and other countries throughout the world, there's likely to be quite a lot of confusion when devices begin inexplicably respringing over and over again.
If you're experiencing continual crashing, the first thing to try is disabling notifications for apps that send regular reminders. It can, however, be difficult to tell which apps are responsible, so a secondary solution is to set the date on your iPhone to before December 2 as you await a fix from Apple.
If you aren't experiencing any crashes, there's no need to turn off notifications or adjust the date on your device.
Update: Apple has released iOS 11.2 to fix this problem, along with an accompanying support document outlining steps to take if you're experiencing crashes. Apple recommends turning off notifications and then installing the update.
If your device with iOS 11 unexpectedly restarts repeatedly on or after December 2, 2017, learn what to do.
Use these steps to turn off notifications for all the apps on your device, then update your device to iOS 11.2: 1. Tap Settings > Notifications. 2. Tap an app, then turn off Allow Notifications. Repeat this step for each app. 3. Update your device to iOS 11.2. 4. After updating, tap Settings > Notifications and turn Allow Notifications on again for each app.
As we barrel towards the climax of the holiday season, the pace of things happening in the iOS gaming world becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with. Getting good positioning on the App Store over the holiday iTunes Connect freeze has resulted in unbelievable rewards for developers, so it seems like everyone and their brother targets these few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas to make as large of a splash as possible.
Fighting for top positioning in our most anticipated games list is the sequel to Reigns, Reigns: Her Majesty. It's something I've mentioned here before, but we've finally got an early copy of the game and posted some first impressions. Basically, the game is exactly what we wanted: More Reigns with some fabulous quality of life improvements and additional variety added through a zodiac system, persistent items, and a bunch of other neat stuff.
Cat Quest is a cat-packed action RPG which we loved in our review. It's a real-deal premium game that feels delightfully out of place in the current App Store which has largely been overrun by super simple free games. Cat Quest is getting way better with additional updates, the latest of which hit this week. It comes at a great time where a lot of people have beaten the game and provides way more replay value through New Game+ modes. Our favorite is the new "Mew Game" mode which features modifiers like not being able to equip armor, and a bunch of other wild variety.
Things are heating up in our two favorite digital CCG's on the App Store: The Elder Scrolls: Legends and Hearthstone. Card games thrive on a constant cycle of new content, and these are no different. Elder Scrolls recently added a whole new card set titled Return to Clockwork City, which is based on the Clockwork City featured in The Elder Scrolls III Tribunal expansion. Meanwhile, in the world of Hearthstone, the dungeon crawling and treasure hunting expansion Kobolds & Catacombs is due out next week on December 7th. You have until then to buy the $49.99 pre-order pack to get 50 packs of cards and a fancy card back when the set launches.
While Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has been available for a while now, Nintendo isn't wasting any time when it comes to running events in the game. Currently, there's a holiday event running where you can unlock all sorts of holiday-centric stuff for your camp and camper. Potentially more interesting than that is the impact Pocket Camp is having on Animal Crossing: New Leaf sales on the Nintendo 3DS. In Japan, New Leaf has seen a 214% boost in sales, perfectly illustrating that Nintendo's strategy of bringing people into these core franchises on Nintendo hardware via giving them a taste on mobile is working quite well.
With the success of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds on Steam, it's not surprising to see the unbelievable amount of clones that have been hitting the App Store. What is surprising is the recent announcement that there's an official PUBG coming to mobile, backed by Chinese megacorp Tencent. Things get stranger from there, as a few days later it was announced that Tencent is also releasing a secondPUBG mobile game. Seems odd, but, it seems like everything Tencent touches turns to gold so, who knows.
Last, but not least, is two different mobile esports events happening this weekend. I'm actually writing this from London right now, as I'm in town to attend the Clash Royale World Championships this Sunday. Clash Royale is an absurdly massive game, and I'm really curious to see what it looks like to be played in a competitive setting. On the other side of the pond is Amazon's Champions of Fire which is taking place this Saturday and Sunday in New York City (and tickets are free if you're local). Champions of Fire is in its second year, and features a variety of different casual games being played by popular YouTubers and streamers. Both are being streamed on Twitch, so click the above links for all those details.
Those seem to be some of the biggest stories of the week, cherry picking from a massive amount of new games and other associated mobile gaming news. If these are the things you're into, be sure to visit TouchArcade!
Mac owners who are still running macOS High Sierra 10.13 and who have already installed Apple's root security fix on that version of the operating system will need to install it once again upon upgrading to macOS 10.13.1, reports Wired.
Security researchers running a patched version of the original macOS High Sierra update, 10.13.0, told Wired that the root bug was reintroduced upon installing the macOS 10.13.1 update. After updating, they needed to install Apple's security patch again. Even that didn't fix the issue until their machines were rebooted.
Those who had not yet upgraded their operating system from the original version of High Sierra, 10.13.0, to the most recent version, 10.13.1, but had downloaded the patch, say the "root" bug reappears when they install the most recent macOS system update.
And worse, two of those Mac users say they've also tried re-installing Apple's security patch after that upgrade, only to find that the "root" problem still persists until they reboot their computer, with no warning that a reboot is necessary.
The root fix, released on Wednesday for macOS High Sierra 10.13.0 and 10.13.1, addresses a serious vulnerability that was first discovered a day earlier on Tuesday. The bug enabled the root superuser on a Mac with a blank password and no security check, letting anyone bypass the security of an admin account with the username "root" and no password.
While the security update successfully fixes the issue, it appears Apple may not have releases a modified and patched version of macOS 10.13.1, so customers who installed the update on 10.13 might think they're protected upon updating to 10.13.1, but they're not. Instead, the bug is fully re-introduced.
Apple may fix this problem now that the oversight has been pointed out, but in the meantime, customers upgrading from macOS High Sierra 10.13 to 10.13.1 should make sure to download the security update a second time and restart to be certain the root vulnerability is patched.
This won't be an issue when the macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 update is released, as Apple patched the bug in the macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 beta that was released this morning.
Apple is promoting the Apple Watch Series 3 as a holiday gift idea in a new series of ads shared this afternoon on its YouTube channel. Entitled "The Gift of Go," each of the four videos focuses on the Apple Watch Series 3 being used during a specific activity.
The ads focus on snowboarding, soccer, working out, and swimming, with each one showing off a different Apple Watch Series 3 feature. Soccer and snowboarding, for example, demonstrate phone calls over cellular and text messaging.
Workout highlights Apple Music, and Swim focuses on the Workout app. All of the ads share the same general style - a quick look at a feature that shifts to a multi-object view that then transforms into wrapping paper over an Apple Watch Series 3 box.
These videos are just about 15 seconds in length, which is the video length that Apple uses for social media ads on sites like Instagram.
All of the videos focus on the aluminum Apple Watch Series 3 models that have LTE capabilities, with the red Digital Crown clearly visible in each one.
While these are the first short videos featuring the Apple Watch Series 3 that Apple has shared, the company has been running several Apple Watch ads that debuted when the device was first announced in September.
Apple Watch Series 3 models are likely to be a popular holiday gift. Pricing on the Series 3 models with LTE begins at $399, while non-LTE models are priced at $329.
In August 2016 the European Commission ruled that Apple must repay 13 billion euros ($15.46 billion) in back taxes dating between 2003 and 2014. According to the EU, the taxes were avoided with the help of sweetheart tax deals from Ireland, and today The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will now begin paying these back taxes "as soon as early next year."
Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist has been a hit with subscribers. Spotify announced in May 2016 that more than 
