MacRumors

Apple Maps vehicles equipped with LiDAR equipment have now surveyed at least 41 states in the United States, with recent areas including Maine and Iowa, as the fleet of vans continue to collect mapping data across the country.

The vehicles first took to the streets in major American cities like New York in 2015, and they have since traveled to Croatia, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Apple periodically updates a list of locations where the vehicles will be collecting data on its website.

Apple's page notes that it will "blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication," suggesting that the company is working on a feature similar to Google's Street View for Apple Maps.

Back in 2015, Mark Gurman reported that Apple planned to launch a 3D street view feature, based on a combination of its existing Flyover mode with street-level data. He also said the data would help Apple shift to an in-house mapping database by 2018, reducing its reliance on third-party sources like TomTom.

At the time, Gurman said Apple did not believe that Google's classic Street View interfaces were intuitive to users, and as a result, he said the company was exploring new ways to present that kind of imagery.

Google launched Street View way back in 2007, so if Apple is truly working on its own competing feature, then it will presumably have points of differences. Otherwise, it is certainly possible that the vehicle-collected data will only be used for storefront imagery or other underlying mapping improvements.

When Apple's fleet of vans first hit the streets, it was speculated they could be the basis of an Apple Car. But those rumors quieted down after the vans were labeled with Apple Maps decals, and because Apple has shifted towards testing self-driving software with Lexus 450h SUVs near its headquarters in California.

It's too early to say when Apple will fully take advantage of the data it has collected, but with parts of at least 80 percent of the United States now surveyed, the fruits of the labor could be witnessed sooner rather than later.

Apple's widely rumored trio of new iPhone models expected to launch in September might not include a Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter in the box, according to Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis and his associates.

"We currently model no dongle this year," the analysts predicted, in a research note obtained by MacRumors today.

Cirrus Logic would be the primary loser within Apple's supply chain, as a supplier of audio-related components inside of the adapter. Barclays has lowered its quarterly and yearly revenue guidance for the company by up to five percent, for the time being, but that could change if they hear otherwise.

At this point, it appears that the Barclays analysts are merely guessing that the adapter will no longer be bundled, as in previous research notes, they have mentioned it may take until May or June to find out for certain.

Barclays does have some credibility in this area, as last year, the investment bank accurately predicted that Apple would continue to include the adapter in the box alongside the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. The analysts routinely visit with Apple's supply chain partners in Asia to gather information like this.

"We believe it stays this year but goes away at some point, potentially in the 2018 model," the analysts said back in April 2017.

Apple eliminating the headphone jack starting with the iPhone 7 was a controversial decision, but the adapter has at least helped ease the transition. Its inclusion has always felt temporary, and as AirPods and other wireless headphone become more widespread, Apple may no longer feel the need to bundle the dongle.

Apple still sells the Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter for $9 as a standalone accessory, which is cheap by its standards, so customers that prefer to use wired headphones won't be forced to pay too much extra whether the adapter is removed from the iPhone box this year or at a later time.

Ming-Chi Kuo, widely considered to be one of the best analysts covering Apple, might no longer focus his research on the iPhone maker.

China Times reports that Kuo resigned from Taiwanese research firm KGI Securities on Friday and, while his next move is uncertain, the publication suggests he will focus less on Apple and more on other emerging industries.

Kuo has been one of the most prolific sources of rumors about Apple's unreleased products and services since as early as 2010, when he was a senior analyst at industry publication DigiTimes. He briefly covered Apple for Concord Securities in 2011, before moving to KGI Securities in early 2012.

Kuo's research notes typically relayed information gathered from Apple's supply chain partners in Taiwan and other Asian countries. This information frequently allowed Kuo to accurately predict upcoming products on Apple's roadmap, although specific details and release dates were occasionally inaccurate.

While he doesn't have a perfect track record, our archive of Kuo's research notes reveals several high-profile rumors that proved to be accurate. In March 2016, nearly two years prior to the iPhone X, for example, he said Apple was developing a new iPhone with a 5.8-inch OLED display, glass back, and metal frame.

Later in 2016, he shared a laundry list of predictions about the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, including the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack, a new glossy Jet Black color option, stereo speakers, and improved water resistance.

Kuo also accurately forecasted the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, Apple Watch Series 2 with GPS, iPhone SE, Apple Pencil, 12-inch MacBook, MacBook Pro models with a Touch Bar and Touch ID, and the MacBook Pro with Retina display. In between, he's shared tidbits like an iPod touch refresh with new colors and white front bezels.

While speculation has mounted about whether Apple had anything to do with Kuo's decision to step down, given the company's culture of secrecy, it is believed that his departure was a move planned several months ago.

Kuo has yet to publicly comment on the report, and it's possible he may continue to cover Apple to at least some extent in the future.

Apple has postponed production of its rumored 2018 MacBook Air model to the second half of the year, according to supply chain sources (via DigiTimes).

A new version of Apple's most affordable MacBook was expected to go into mass production in the second quarter, but the company has reportedly already informed supply chain partners of the deferment, without revealing its reasoning behind the decision.

The sources said that Apple has informed supply chain partners that mass production of its new notebook model for 2018 will not kick off until the second half of the year, yet without explaining the rescheduling move. Some partners speculated that the postponement might be caused by problems with some key components such as processors.

DigiTimes was first to report on Apple's intention to release a new entry-level 13-inch MacBook, due in the second half of 2018, which would serve as a replacement for the MacBook Air. Two months later, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued a research note claiming Apple has a "more affordable MacBook Air" set to be released at some point in 2018.

Kuo didn't offer any details on what to expect in an updated MacBook Air beyond a lower price tag, but DigiTimes believes Apple could upgrade the MacBook Air with a Retina display, which has led to speculation about whether the machine will be an updated MacBook Air or a lower-cost MacBook.

Bolstering these claims, Taiwanese site Economic Daily News believes Apple is working on a more affordable version of the MacBook Air with a price point of $799 to $899, while Bloomberg claims Apple is working on a new MacBook that costs under $1,000, but it isn't clear whether it's in the MacBook Air family or a new sub-$1,000 machine in the MacBook line.

The original plan for a second-quarter introduction pointed to an April–June timeframe, which indicated the new model could be announced at WWDC in June, but news of the deferred production makes that suggestion seem less likely, with an October release looking more probable.

As a result, some MacBook Air supply chain partners who have readied their material inventories to support second-quarter production now reportedly face low capacity utilization before starting to deliver shipments in the third quarter, according to DigiTimes' sources.

The current MacBook Air models haven't seen any substantial updates in three years. Since that time, Apple has discontinued the 11-inch model, while the only recent upgrade to the 13-inch model has been a bump to the base processor option last June, but it's still a Broadwell chip from the 2014–15 timeframe.

Sprint and T-Mobile have finally reached a merger agreement, which means if approved by regulators, two of the four major carriers in the United States will combine into one entity in an all-stock deal worth billions.

The new combined company will be named T-Mobile and current T-Mobile CEO John Legere will serve as the Chief Executive Officer. Sprint and T-Mobile say the company will be a "force for positive change" in the U.S. wireless, video, and broadband industries, supercharging T-Mobile's Un-carrier strategy and allowing the new company to "lead in the 5G era."

The New T-Mobile will have the network capacity to rapidly create a nationwide 5G network with the breadth and depth needed to enable U.S. firms and entrepreneurs to continue to lead the world in the coming 5G era, as U.S. companies did in 4G. The new company will be able to light up a broad and deep 5G network faster than either company could separately.

T-Mobile deployed nationwide LTE twice as fast as Verizon and three times faster than AT&T, and the combined company is positioned to do the same in 5G with deep spectrum assets and network capacity.

According to the terms of the deal, T-Mobile plans to exchange 9.75 Sprint shares for each T-Mobile share. Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, will own 42 percent of the combined company and SoftBank, Sprint's parent company, will own 27 percent. Deutsche Telekom will have voting rights over 69 percent of the new company and will appoint nine of its 14 directors, while Sprint will appoint four.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that the combined company will "create a fierce competitor" that's able to "deliver more for consumers and businesses in the form of lower prices, more innovation, and a second-to-none network experience," while current Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, who will serve on the board of the new company, said that the merger will make the U.S. a "hotbed for innovation."

"We intend to bring this same competitive disruption as we look to build the world's best 5G network that will make the U.S. a hotbed for innovation and will redefine the way consumers live and work across the U.S., including in rural America. As we do this, we will force our competitors to follow suit, as they always do, which will benefit the entire country. I am confident this combination will spur job creation and ensure opportunities for Sprint employees as part of a larger, stronger combined organization, and I am thrilled that Kansas City will be a second headquarters for the merged company."

Along with the faster rollout of 5G technology, Sprint and T-Mobile say the merger will lead to job creation, lower prices for consumers, improved coverage, and "unprecedented network capacity."

The deal between Sprint and T-Mobile still needs to be approved by antitrust regulators in the United States, but if it goes through, the U.S. will have three major carriers rather four. The combined Sprint and T-Mobile company will have nearly 100 million customers, putting it second only to Verizon.

Sprint and T-Mobile are aiming to close the deal "no later" than first half of 2019. More information about the merger can be found in the press release and in a new "All for 5G" website the two companies have created.

Apps designed for the Mac don't typically receive as much attention as apps for iOS devices, so we've launched a monthly series that highlights useful, interesting Mac apps that are worth checking out.

This month's app selection, outlined in the video and the post below, includes apps for managing and organizing your files, getting info about your Mac, accessing your favorite content quickly, and more. Many of the apps we've included this month were chosen by our forum members.

• DaisyDisk ($9.99) - DaisyDisk is an app that's been around for quite some time, but it was just recently updated with extended support for Apple File System (APFS), the file system on macOS High Sierra. DaisyDisk is designed to show you all of the files on your Mac, so you can see what's eating up your disk space. Using simple drag and drop gestures, you can delete unnecessary content, freeing up storage.
• Hazel ($32) - Hazel is a little bit more expensive than the typical Mac apps we feature, but it has a unique function -- it automatically sorts and organizes all of your files. You can assign Hazel to watch folders on your Mac, such as the download folder, and using user-specified rules, Hazel will organize all incoming files into categories like Movies, Music, Pictures, Old Files, New Items, and more. Hazel can be used to open, archive, tag, rename, and upload files, and there are tools for cleaning up support files when you delete an app.
• Shortcut Bar ($8.99) - Shortcut Bar is a simple menu bar app that lets you access your favorite files, folders, apps, web bookmarks, and text snippets, essentially putting all of the files and apps you use most on your Mac right at your fingertips.
• Station (Free) - Station is an app that's designed to house and aggregate all of your web applications in one easy to access location. Instead of having dozens of tabs open with things like Gmail, Twitter, Instagram, and Slack, you can relocate them all to Station for quicker, more streamlined access. Station is, essentially, a web browser that has a more thoughtful layout for accessing web apps.
• iStat Menus ($9.99) - iStat Menus is a fairly well-known app that's worth checking out if you haven't already. It provides a wealth of information about your Mac that's accessible through your menu bar. You can track battery life and health, processor usage, memory usage, network details, weather information, and more, and it can send notifications based on your custom parameters. Want to know if your CPU usage has exceeded 60 percent for over 10 seconds or if your internet is down? iStat Menus can do that. It's free to download in a trial capacity, but unlocking full functionality costs $9.99.

Do you have favorite must-have Mac apps that we haven't highlighted yet? Let us know what they are in the comments and we might feature them in a future video. Many of this month's picks came from our forum members.

For more of our Mac app picks, make sure to check out our lists from February and March.

Apple is working on a powerful headset that will support both augmented reality and virtual reality applications, according to an inside source that spoke to CNET.

The headset, which is codenamed T288, features an 8K display for each eye that would be untethered from either a computer or a smartphone.

Instead, it would connect to a "dedicated box" using a high-speed short-range wireless technology called 60GHz WiGig. The box would be powered by a custom 5-nanometer Apple processor that's "more powerful than anything currently available" and similar to the custom chips that Apple will use in future Macs. At the current time, the box resembles a PC tower, but it "won't be an actual Mac computer."

The future of VR is expected to be cordless devices -- and Apple wants to bring its trademark simplicity to the setup. The box would use a wireless technology called 60GHz WiGig, the person familiar with Apple's plans said. A second-generation version, called 802.11ay, would boost speeds and range and make the technology more attractive for high-end VR headsets that aren't tethered to computers.

Users will not need to install special cameras in a room to detect their location as with some available VR headsets. All of the technology will be built into the headset and the box.

Past rumors have suggested that Apple is working on a number of virtual and augmented reality prototypes using a secret research unit, but recent information has been specific to a set of augmented reality smart glasses. It is not clear if the smart glasses mentioned in previous rumors are the same as this new AR/VR headset.

Those rumors have suggested Apple is developing an augmented reality headset with a dedicated display, a built-in processor, and an "rOS" or reality operating system that's controlled using input methods like touch panels, voice activation, and head gestures.

Apple has been heavily focused on augmented reality with the launch of ARKit in iOS 11, and Apple CEO Tim Cook has said multiple times that he believes augmented reality is more important than virtual reality. Augmented reality, says Cook, is the "larger of the two" because it allows people to "be very present," but he has admitted that virtual reality has interesting use cases for education and gaming.

Apple is said to be aiming to launch the headset in 2020, but CNET's source warns that work on the device is in the early stages and plans could be changed or scrapped.