MacRumors

Apple this morning shared a new Apple Music video on its YouTube channel, which artistically highlights album covers from a range of artists like Sia, FKA Twigs, Kesha, Fleetwood Mac, and more.

The 38 second spot is designed to promote Apple Music, the company's streaming music service. It features a series of clips depicting album art overlaid on the Apple Music logo, interspersed with images of artists.

Know what's next. Now. Discover millions of songs, always ad-free with Apple Music.

Apple Music has been steadily growing in popularity since its June 2015 debut. As of late September, Apple Music had more than 30 million paid subscribers. Comparatively, Spotify, the main Apple Music competitor, has 60 million paid subscribers.

Apple has aimed to increase interest in its service through a wide range of exclusives, including exclusive album releases, documentaries, and television shows like Carpool Karaoke: The Series and Planet of the Apps.

Improv Everywhere recently turned a New York City subway station entrance into a fake Apple Store, complete with both fake employees and customers lined up for the iPhone X. It shared the entire act on YouTube today.

The improv group started by affixing a large Apple logo to a glass elevator at the corner of East 23rd Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan, which actually leads down to trains on the Lexington Avenue Line.

Next, they had 50 fake customers line up along the sidewalk. Fake employees, wearing blue shirts with Apple logos, stood near the entrance to the elevator and cheered as people went down to the trains.

The whole scene attracted the attention of many onlookers, who were told a new Apple Store was opening in the subway station since Apple's iconic glass cube store on nearby Fifth Avenue is (actually) undergoing renovations.

The fake employees even tried to convince people to line up for the iPhone X. To make the act look more convincing, some of the fake customers came out of the elevator holding white bags while acting excited.

Many people that walked by were confused by what they were seeing, with some individuals stopping for interviews with fake camera crews. A few people even joined the queue for the iPhone X, as Improv Everywhere explains in a blog post.

A few people who believed us actually got in line to wait, hoping to get their hands on the iPhone X early. We were worried this might happen, and we really didn't want to waste anyone's time. So our Apple employees would tell people that we'd run out of phones, and only the first 50 people in line would get one.

The improv act looks to have occurred a few weeks ago, based on a Reddit discussion full of confused New Yorkers.

"Anyone know what Apple event is going on at the 23rd street 6 train stop in NYC?" one user wrote. "Walked by and there was a long line for the subway elevator, and Apple employees lined up welcoming people into it one at a time."

"Just spoke to one of the employees, looks like they're doing a silent iPhone X release to advertise the new store," another user replied.

In actuality, of course, the iPhone X doesn't launch until this Friday. Many actual customers are already starting to line up at stores around the world for a chance to purchase the device on a first come, first served basis.

The improv act was the idea of Josh Berger, Deanna Director, and Maggie McClurken, and directed by Improv Everywhere's Charlie Todd.

Apple's upcoming AirPower wireless charging mat has recently appeared on Polish online retailer X-Kom's website for 999 Złotych, and while it can't be purchased yet, the listing may be a clue about how much the accessory will cost stateside.

As noted by Polish blog ThinkApple, many products that cost 999 Złotych on Apple's online store in Poland are priced at $199 in the United States. Bose's SoundLink speaker, for example, is 999 Złotych in Poland and $199.95 in the United States.

Similarly, the iPod touch with 32GB of storage costs 990 Złotych in Poland and $199 in the United States on Apple's website.

What we don't know is if the price X-Kom lists for the AirPower is simply a placeholder, or if Apple will charge the same amount. Apple's pricing is often consistent with third-party retailers, but not always, and currency exchange rates fluctuate.

AirPower is an oval-shaped charging mat that can inductively charge multiple Apple devices at once, including the iPhone 8, iPhone X, and Apple Watch Series 3 models. It will also work with Apple's upcoming wireless AirPods charging case.

The mat's ability to charge multiple devices will be achieved with a propriety technology being developed by Apple. Apple said it will work to have its technology become part of the universal Qi standard supported by the latest iPhones.

Apple said AirPower will be released in 2018, but it hasn't provided a more specific release date yet.

Following yesterday's release of watchOS 4.1, which enables Apple Music and Beats 1 streaming over LTE on cellular-enabled Apple Watch Series 3 models, Apple has outlined how much impact the functionality has on battery life.

While all Apple Watch Series 3 models are rated for up to 10 hours of battery life when playing music from the watch's built-in storage, Apple says the device gets up to seven hours of battery life when streaming Apple Music with LTE.

Apple also says the Apple Watch Series 3 has up to five hours of battery life when streaming live radio with LTE. watchOS 4.1 features a new Radio app with access to Beats 1 and other Apple Music radio stations.

For outdoor sessions with the Workout app, the Apple Watch Series 3 is rated for up to three hours of battery life with streaming audio, GPS, and LTE. That's one hour less than an outdoor workout without streaming audio.

Apple says battery life varies by use, configuration, cellular network, signal strength, streaming quality settings, and many other factors.

Apple today made a small change to the way Apple IDs work, and for the first time, Apple customers who have an Apple ID that uses a third-party email address can update that Apple ID to use an Apple @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com email address.

Prior to today, an Apple ID that used a third-party email address could be changed to another third-party email address, but there wasn't an option to use one of the Apple email accounts that are created when an Apple ID is made.

The change was outlined by MacRumors reader Dillon, who sent an email to several executives earlier this month asking for the problem to be changed. Dillon was contacted by Apple Executive Relations last week and was told Apple's engineering team would look into the problem. He received a second phone call today, letting him know the issue had been fixed. From Dillon:

For a long time if you had an Apple ID that used a 3rd party email address as your Apple ID you were unable to change it to an Apple email address... even if the Apple address was on the same account.

I couple of weeks ago I sent an email addressed to Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, Phil Schiller, and Eddy Cue. I explained the situation and asked if they could fix it. Last week I received an email and phone call from someone at Apple Executive Relations. The women I spoke to told me that the problem would be sent to an engineering team and would be addressed. Today I got another call and email informing me that the issue had been resolved.

I tried it out and sure enough... I can finally set my Apple email as my Apple ID!

Apple's "Change Your Apple ID" support document was today updated to reflect the updates made to the Apple ID, and it now includes a section confirming a third-party email address can be changed to an @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com email address.

When swapping from a third-party Apple ID email address to an email address ending in @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com, Apple warns that there is no way to change it back to a third-party email account.

If you enter a new Apple ID that ends with @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com, you see a message to confirm. When you change your Apple ID to an @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com account, you can't change it back to a third-party email account. Your former Apple ID that ends with a third-party email, becomes an additional email address for your Apple ID account.

This should be a welcome change for all Apple customers who have wanted to change their Apple ID addresses to an official Apple email address. Those who want to go ahead and swap should read Apple's support document and follow all of the steps, which include signing out of all iOS devices before making the change.

Update: While this feature is working for some users, others report being unable to change their Apple IDs. It's possible this feature has not yet rolled out to all users, or that it's not fully functional as of yet. It's unclear at this point why it's not working for some people.

With iPhone X delivery estimates now at five to six weeks for all carriers, colors, and capacities, customers who want an iPhone X but didn't pre-order will need to wait until well into December to get their hands on one of the new devices.

There's still one way to get an iPhone X on launch day - waiting in line. Apple says there will be iPhone X models available for walk-in purchases, but if pre-orders are any indication, supplies are going to be tight. Stores are opening starting at 8:00 a.m. local time for iPhone X sales.

If you're planning to try for an iPhone X this Friday, make sure to check out these tips to maximize your chances of success.

Pick Your Store

Strategically choosing where you're going to wait in line for an iPhone X is the most important part of the process. If you're in a more remote area without a lot of options this isn't up for debate, but in urban areas where there are a range of Apple Stores, carrier stores, and big box retailers to choose from, it takes a little more thought.

Apple Stores are going to have the most available iPhone X stock, but will also have more people waiting in line than carrier stores or major retailers. In the United States, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile stores will have the iPhone X available for purchase, as will Target and Best Buy locations.

If you've waited in line for an iPhone before, you probably have insight into some of the better locations. In the Bay Area, for example, we have dozens of stores to choose from, but Palo Alto and San Francisco tend to get the most stock. Flagship stores like San Francisco are often well stocked, but draw a lot of customers, while indoor locations like Valley Fair are popular. Smaller Apple Stores like Oakridge and Los Gatos are often more overlooked, and I've picked up several launch day items at the former.

These examples are limited to my area, but the same thing goes for every location. Think about how populated an area is, what the waiting conditions are like, and how many iPhones are likely to be available to try to find the best spot. There are hidden gems out there.

If you haven't waited in line before, ask around for suggestions. The MacRumors forums are a good resource to get tips and chat with others who are going to be waiting in line.

Apple Store employees aren't going to give out details on the amount of stock that will be available, but sometimes you can get lucky with a third-party retailer, so if you're going to choose a carrier or a big box store, it's worth calling ahead just to check.

If the location you're planning to visit is at an indoor mall, make sure to check the mall policies. Some malls won't open up overnight and will be closed until the early morning hours.

Go Early

Once you've decided on a location, the best advice I can give is go early. iPhone X pre-orders sold out in minutes, so it definitely looks like stock is low. The last thing you want to do is line up at 4:00 a.m. and wait for hours just to not get a new device.

If you can manage it, this is one of those launches where going the night before or even earlier is going to give you the best chance of getting an iPhone X.

Again, though, this is going to depend on location. Starting the morning before the iPhone X launch, go scout your target store. Drive by to see if there are people waiting outside. It's best to do this a few times during the day, if possible. Once you see a line start forming, that should give you an indication of when you need to be there.

For some launches, I've gone early in the morning and been okay, but for others, I've waited overnight and still not gotten a device. It's better to wait a few additional hours and get a spot closer to the front of the line.

Bring a Friend

Waiting in line is better with a friend because if you need to step out of the line to use the restroom or grab a bite to eat, there's someone to hold your place. It also gives you someone to chat and commiserate with as you stand outside for hours on end. MacRumors readers often plan iPhone launch day meet ups on the forums, and that can be a good way to find someone to wait in line with.

Bring Supplies

If you're going to be waiting for several hours or camping out overnight, supplies are essential. You're going to want a comfortable chair to sit in first and foremost, so bring something that's portable but not uncomfortable, like a beach chair.

Dressing for the weather is important, so check the forecast. Dress warmly in layers so you're prepared for the cold overnight or in the early morning. A jacket, warm boots, gloves, and a scarf will make standing in the cold more bearable if you're waiting someplace chilly. If it's going to rain, bring a raincoat and an umbrella.

Make sure you bring snacks and something to drink, along with entertainment. Charge your iPhone and iPad and bring a battery pack or two if you have them.

Some people bring tents to camp out overnight, but that's a lot of equipment to deal with when it comes time to pack up. Still, if you're waiting for more than 12 hours, it's worth considering.

Apple employees will often provide drinks and snacks in the morning, but employees aren't out overnight so you should bring your own supplies too.

You can't bring a bathroom with you, so make sure you scout out the nearest bathroom locations.

Get to Know Your Line Buddies

When you're waiting in line, make friends. Get to know the people you're with, and get a feel for how many people are ahead of you. Lines will undoubtedly swell as it gets closer to the 8:00 a.m. launch time as people who have been saving spots have more people join them.

Line swelling can be super frustrating, so it's worth being aware of ahead of time. Find out if the people around you are saving spots so there are no surprises. If you make line friends, you also have someone to save your spot if you need to step out of line.

Know What You Want

Before 8:00 a.m., store employees will likely come out, suss out the line, ask what color and capacity you want, and let you know if there's enough available supply to fill demand. Make sure you know what you want and what your backup plan is so this process goes quickly and smoothly.

Make sure you're an authorized user on your phone account if it's a shared plan, and have your payment method planned out and ready. You don't want to run into any hiccups with ordering after waiting in line.

This is also about the time that you should start packing up your supplies and getting ready to head into the store to make a purchase. Most stores will let customers in a few at a time, but from here, the checkout and purchase process should go smoothly.

In addition to pre-orders and limited in-store availability for walk-in customers starting Friday, Apple will also begin accepting reservations for the iPhone X starting this weekend in several countries outside the United States.

Reserve and Pickup will reopen Saturday, November 4 at 6:00 a.m. local time in Belgium, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. We want to stress that reservations no longer begin at 8:00 a.m. in these countries, as Apple changed the time to 6:00 a.m. after this article was published.

After this article was published, Apple updated the page in Australia and Hong Kong with a notice to check back on October 27. Since that date has already passed, Apple may not be accepting reservations in those countries, but we encourage customers to check the pages periodically in case things change.

In those countries, customers should be able to select the iPhone X color and storage capacity they want and reserve that model for pickup at the Apple retail store they specify. The models available, if any, will vary by location.

Other countries where Apple retail stores operate may be included, but we couldn't find other region-specific links yet.

Unlike the standard in-store pickup option offered during the checkout process on Apple's website, which requires paying upfront for the device, the Reserve and Pickup system lets customers pay for the device in store upon pickup.

Reserve and Pickup also lets customers bypass the current 5-6 weeks shipping estimate of pre-ordering with in-store pickup.

The pickup generally must be completed within a 30-minute window selected, or else the reservation may be canceled. A valid government-issued photo ID must be shown at the store, and there's a max of two reservations per customer.

The availability of SIM-free iPhone X models for reservations will vary on a country-by-country basis. Last year, for example, SIM-free iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models could be reserved in Canada.

Apple confirmed to us that Reserve and Pickup will not be available in the United States, but standard, pay-ahead in-store pickup is available.

Update: Apple has adjusted the time for reservations to November 4 at 6:00 a.m. in Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Also, the pages in Australia and Hong Kong now say to check back on October 27, so it's unclear if reservations will still be offered in those countries.