MacRumors

Nearly 21 percent of current Windows laptop owners and 25 percent of current Windows desktop owners intend to switch to a Mac within the next six months, according to a recent survey conducted by market research firm Verto Analytics.

Verto Analytics told MacRumors the survey is based on 6,000 current Windows PC owners age 18 and older in the United States.

Of the respondents, those with an average annual income of $150,000 or more showed the highest likelihood of switching to a Mac.

By comparison, the research firm said at least 98 percent of current Mac owners surveyed intend to stick with Mac as their next computer. In other words, only 2 percent of current Mac users surveyed are planning to switch to another computer brand, be it running Windows or another operating system.

Microsoft is experiencing a resurgence in the post-PC world with an attractive lineup of devices, such as the new Surface Pro and Surface Studio desktop computer, which have even caught the attention of some Apple aficionados.

Last December, Microsoft said more people were switching from Mac to Surface devices than ever before following the supposed "disappointment" of the 2016 MacBook Pro, particularly among professional users.

In April, however, Microsoft said Surface revenue declined 26 percent to $831 million last quarter, down from $1.1 billion in the year-ago quarter. By comparison, Apple reported Mac revenue of $5.84 billion last quarter, a 14 percent increase from $5.1 billion in the year-ago quarter, on the strength of a new MacBook Pro.

Microsoft's new Surface devices should help it combat that decline, while Lenovo, HP, and Dell, the top three worldwide Windows PC vendors, saw shipment growth last quarter, according to market research firm Gartner.

Buried in iOS 11, there seems to be a new sound file that could potentially be implemented when the rumored "iPhone 8" is released with inductive wireless charging capabilities. Highlighted on YouTube, the sound file is called "engage_power.caf," and it is distinct from the existing "connect_power.caf" sound file that's used whenever an iPhone is connected to a Lightning cable.

In the video below, the unused charging sound is compared to the existing charging sound in iOS 11. The new audio file provides a longer, more distinct sound that could perhaps be used to assure iPhone users that their devices are properly charging should the iPhone 8 indeed include an inductive-based wireless charging function as has been rumored.

In fact, there are several other sound files in iOS 10 and 11 that are unused and do not have a purpose, so it's not entirely clear if the new charging sound will actually be added to the iOS 11 operating system or what it will be used for. The hidden sound file in iOS 11 is not accessible on a device running iOS 11 and must be accessed using a computer.

Wireless charging is expected to be included in the radically redesigned "iPhone 8" coming in the fall of 2017, and perhaps its two companion devices (presumably the iPhone 7s and the iPhone 7s Plus), but there's still some question about the form the wireless charging functionality will take.

Early 2017 iPhone rumors suggested Apple was aiming to implement long-range wireless charging, perhaps through a partnership with a company like Energous, but that technology may not be advanced enough to be used in the iPhone. Long-range wireless charging continues to suffer from problems like object interference and much slower charging rates as the distance between the receiver and the transmitter increases.

Apple is no doubt working on long-range wireless charging, but recent information suggests a simpler solution will be added to the iPhone 8 - inductive charging. An inductive charging solution, which is what's used for the Apple Watch, would require the iPhone to attach to some kind of charging puck, mat, dock, or other device. It would perhaps be simpler than a Lightning port, but it isn't a full wire-free contactless solution.

Regardless of how wireless charging is implemented, there's overwhelming evidence that this is a technology Apple is aggressively pursuing. Apple joined the Wireless Power Consortium in February, hired dozens of employees with expertise in wireless charging, and has sourced wireless charging components from a range of manufacturers including Lite-On Semiconductor, MediaTek, and Luxshare.

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming iOS 10.3.3 update to developers, one week after seeding the fourth beta and over a month after the release of iOS 10.3.2, which was a minor bug fix update.

Registered developers can download the fifth iOS 10.3.3 beta from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air with the proper configuration profile installed.

There were no significant features or notable bug fixes found in the first four iOS 10.3.3 betas, suggesting iOS 10.3.3 is an update that's minor in scale, focusing primarily on security updates and bug fixes.

iOS 10.3.3 will likely be one of the last updates to the iOS 10 operating system as Apple shifts development to iOS 11. The first beta of iOS 11 was released to developers on June 5 following Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, and two betas have been seeded thus far.

Update: A public beta is also available.

Earlier this year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities said the widely rumored 5.8-inch iPhone with an OLED display will feature a Lightning connector with USB-C Power Delivery that enables fast charging capabilities.

Curtis said the USB-C Power Delivery chips built into both the iPhone and 10W power adapter will be supplied by Cypress Semiconductor. The research note suggests it'll be the same CYPD2104 chip used in the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

An excerpt from the Barclays research note distributed to clients, obtained by MacRumors and edited slightly for clarity:

We believe that in the iPhone 8, Apple likely includes Cypress Semiconductor's USB-C Power Delivery chip in the phone and an additional chip within the power brick in box (likely a new 10W, which would use a more integrated solution with Cypress Power Delivery).

Like the new 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the so-called "iPhone 8" would be capable of fast charging with a Lightning to USB-C cable connected to the new 10W power adapter or Apple's 29W USB-C power adapter for MacBook.

Apple will presumably include a Lightning to USB-C cable in the box if it's going in this direction, possibly instead of the traditional Lightning to USB cable. Apple could also opt to include a female USB-C to male USB-A adapter in the box.

Apple's current 5W Power Adapter for iPhone and 12W Power Adapter for iPad both have slower USB-A ports.

Given the "iPhone 8" is expected to have around a 2,700 mAh L-shaped two-cell battery pack, faster charging would be a welcomed addition. The device is also widely rumored to feature wireless charging on top.

Over the past few weeks, former Apple executives that originally led the team behind the iPhone's creation have been reminiscing about the time before the smartphone's debut, which will see its tenth birthday tomorrow, June 29. The latest interview has been posted by Wired, with "father of the iPod" Tony Fadell discussing the multiple prototypes of the original iPhone, Apple's attempt to create a touchscreen MacBook, the poorly received collaboration between Apple and Motorola in the Rokr, and more.

Addressing the "many different origin stories for the iPhone," Fadell pointed out that such stories were the result of Apple's multiple running projects and prototypes that it had for the iPhone. These included four big brands: "a large screen iPod" with a touch interface, an "iPod phone" that was about the size of an iPod mini and used a click wheel interface, the Motorola Rokr, and even an ongoing attempt to get a touchscreen onto a MacBook Pro to further prove the feasibility of the technology that would eventually end up in the iPhone, and never in a MacBook.

The touchscreen Macbook project was basically trying to get touchscreen technology into a Mac to try to compete with Microsoft tablets. Steve was pissed off, and wanted to show them how to do it right. Well, that might have been the project to show Microsoft how to do it right, but they quickly realised there was so much software and there were so many new apps needed, and that everything had to be changed that it was very difficult. Plus the multitouch itself, we didn't know we could scale it that large to a full-screen display. Those were the challenges over on Mac.

At the time before the launch of the iPhone, the iPod was Apple's most popular product, and Fadell remembered the company's yearly pressure to continue to grow the brand and entice customers "every holiday." Eventually, Apple's collaboration with Motorola was catalyzed by the company's concern over its users asking themselves, "Which one am I going to take, my iPod or my cell phone?" Apple didn't want to lose that argument, so it introduced the first iTunes support in a cell phone in 2005 with the Rokr, which Fadell said "was not deliberately made poor."

Limitations of the Rokr included a firmware restriction of 100 songs to be loaded at any one time on the cell phone, as well as a slow music transfer process from a computer in comparison to devices at the time specifically dedicated to music playback. Motorola eventually ditched iTunes in the Rokr line as Apple continued releasing iPods like the 2005 iPod nano and its ability to hold up to 1,000 songs, which Motorola saw as undercutting Rokr. Of course, rumors were also ramping up surrounding Apple's work on a phone of its own.

No, it was not deliberately made poor. Not at all. We tried our best. Motorola would only do so much with it. Their software team was only so good. Their operations system was only so good. And that experience just didn't work very well. It was a clash of all kinds of problems, it wasn't a case of trying to not make it good.

We were trying to do this because we didn't want cell phones to come eat our lunch, OK? The Motorola Rokr died much earlier than the arrival of the iPhone. This was us trying to dip our toe in the water, because we said, 'Let's not make a phone, but see how we can work with phones to see if we can have a limited number of songs on a phone'. So people could use iTunes and then they would want to move over to an iPod. It wasn't about making it less good because the iPhone was coming. This was well before the iPhone was even thought of.

The company's concerns during its iPod days even looked forward into current technology, particularly over storage capacities and the "celestial jukebox." Fadell said that Apple foresaw users no longer needing to be concerned with storage tiers and paying more for more space, because it "could see a time" when network speeds would ramp up alongside better technology and lead to streaming and downloading directly on a mobile device, like Apple Music and Spotify.

It was very clear, after the Rokr, and after everything we had learned in what it was going to take, that the worry was about the 'celestial jukebox' - people wouldn't have to buy large capacity iPods, 150GB or so, because they were soon going to be able to download. So we had an existential problem, people were not going to have to buy larger and larger iPods. The high-capacity iPods were where we were making all our money, and if they could download at any time - and we could see the time when the networks were going to get faster because of 3G - we were like 'oh my God, we're going to lose this business' to this music jukebox in the sky, which is basically what Spotify is.

In the rest of the interview, Fadell dives into the iPhone team's massive dissection of every possible mobile device at the time to scope out the competition, the remaining similarities between current generation iPhones and original iPods, and the ongoing legacy of 2007's first iPhone.

Fadell said that it changed his life, and "how my kids are growing up compared to how I and my wife grew up," but he hopes iPhone users remember to unplug every now and then: "...it requires all of us to make the proper changes in our lives to make sure we don't lose the analogue portion of our life and we don't just stay digital and mobile all the time."

As predicted, Vivo showcased fingerprint sensor technology embedded in a smartphone screen on Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Shanghai. The 'Under Display Fingerprint Scanning Solution' is based on Qualcomm technology and was demonstrated running on prototype devices based on the existing Vivo Xplay 6 phone.

Vivo claimed the under-display fingerprint solution, which doesn't require a physical button for the sensor, is "the first to be demonstrated by a smartphone manufacturer". The technology enables the use of a "true full-screen display and an integrated unibody and mechanical waterproofing design", said the company.

"In Vivo's R&D plan, fingerprint scanning will not be carried out by an independent button or region. It will be realised more subtly under the screen, behind the metal shell, or even in the frame.

"Based on ultrasonic technology, the fingerprint recognition technology can be further expanded to realize user interaction, such as gesture recognition, security verification and other fields, which will greatly enhance user experience."

Vivo told Engadget that while the fingerprint scanning function was limited to a small region on the prototype devices, in theory the same sensing technology could be applied across the entire screen, but that it would significantly increase production cost.

Following the unveiling, Qualcomm issued a press release announcing the development of new fingerprint scanners that work through displays, thick glass, and metal, with underwater operation, heartbeat and blood flow detection.

"We are excited to announce Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors because they can be designed to support sleeker, cutting-edge form factors, unique mobile authentication experiences, and enhanced security authentication," said Seshu Madhavapeddy, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "This provides OEMs and operators with the ability to offer truly distinct, differentiated devices with added value on truly groundbreaking new devices."

Qualcomm claimed the technology was capable of scanning through OLED display stacks "of up to 1200um", and was the first commercially announced to scan through up to 800 µm of cover glass and up to 650 µm of aluminum, an improvement over the previous generation's 400 µm capability for glass or metal. The company said it had designed the technology as an integrated solution with Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile platforms, and as standalone sensors that can be used with other non-Snapdragon platforms.

Apple's upcoming "iPhone 8" is rumored to include a fingerprint-sensing display, but the company has reportedly faced significant challenges in its efforts to develop the technology for its radically redesigned flagship device, due to release in the fall.

Apple is currently in a major legal battle with Qualcomm over its LTE modems, so it seems unlikely the company would consider offering its technology for inclusion in future iPhones. However, the announcement at least demonstrates that the technology is viable, which lends further credence to reports that Apple has perfected its own screen-embedded fingerprint recognition solution. The technology will give Apple's OLED iPhone a significant advantage over its biggest rival, Samsung, which is expected to stick with a rear fingerprint scanner for this year's Galaxy Note 8.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 8 and more traditional "iPhone 7s" and "iPhone 7s Plus" models around the usual September timeframe for iPhone updates, although rumors have suggested supplies of the more expensive OLED handset could be tight for up to several months after the official debut.