MacRumors

Five students from Sydney, Australia, namely Bishoy Behman, Mazen Kourouche, Marcus Barsoum, Matthew Alvarez, and Paul Behman, were the first customers in the world to walk out of an Apple retail store with an all-new iPhone today, although without the specific model they had been hoping for.

The students had been taking turns waiting since Wednesday morning local time for the chance to purchase an iPhone 7 Plus in Jet Black, but Apple later announced that no iPhone 7 Plus models in any color, or iPhone 7 models in Jet Black, will be available on launch day for walk-in customers.

The students were disappointed, but ultimately walked away with two iPhone 7 models each and $100 Apple gift cards provided by the store. Some customers who lined up elsewhere were provided with Apple gift cards of lesser value, but others received nothing, suggesting it was not a companywide initiative.

Despite rainy and windy conditions, and the lack of iPhone 7 Plus availability, the video below shows that hundreds of customers still showed up at the flagship Apple Sydney location for the launch today.

Just a few hours earlier, the first iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus pre-order deliveries began in New Zealand, and orders are now beginning in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. The first-wave launch will continue through to Alaska and Hawaii as the date reaches September 16 across the world.

Apple has not indicated when stores will receive more iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus shipments, but in-store reservations will resume on September 17 at 8:00 a.m. local time in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and Hong Kong, and on September 17 at 6:00 a.m. local time in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the U.K.

Just a day after Apple CEO Tim Cook shared his views on augmented reality in an interview with Good Morning America, Business Insider has unearthed two recent hires Apple poached from companies with expertise in augmented and virtual reality.

Zeyu Li, who served as a principal computer vision engineer at Magic Leap, is now working at Apple as a "Senior Computer Vision Algorithm Engineer." Magic Leap, for those unfamiliar, is a startup developing a head-mounted display similar to the HoloLens from Microsoft, designed to project virtual objects into the real world.

Yury Petrov, a former research scientist at Facebook-owned Oculus, is now serving as a "research scientist" at Apple. According to his LinkedIn profile, Petrov studied virtual reality experiences, prototyped optics, and developed computer simulation software. Despite his vague title, given his expertise, it's reasonable to imagine he's working on similar projects at Apple.

Psychophysical and physiological studies of visual and multisensory experience of virtual reality (VR) including user experience factors in head-mounted displays (HMD). Determined perceptual constraints on HMD hardware parameters. Research and development of novel optical systems for HMD. Prototyped optics of superior quality. Developed a popular Matlab library for computer simulations in optics (Optometrika). Research and development of new types of VR controllers. Prototyped controllers significantly increasing user enjoyment of VR. Research and development of 3D audio stimulation for VR.

Rumors have suggested Apple has a dedicated team exploring augmented and virtual reality and how the emerging technologies could be used in future Apple products. Apple has been building up its team over the course of the last several months through new hires and acquisitions of companies like Metaio, Flyby Media, and Faceshift.

Apple is said to be working on developing several prototype VR/AR headsets, and Apple CEO Tim Cook has spoken about augmented reality several times over the course of the last few months.

In July, Cook said Apple is "high on AR in the long run" and said Apple continues to "invest a lot in this." Earlier this week, he said that he believes augmented reality, rather than virtual reality, is "the larger of the two" because it allows people to "be very present" while using the technology.

In addition to the new hires, developer Steven Troughton-Smith recently discovered Apple has included references to a "HeadMountedDisplayRenderingTechnique" in SceneKit code since iOS 9, perhaps already laying the groundwork for future products.

With time zone differences, Apple customers in Australia and New Zealand are always the first to get their new devices when orders begin shipping out.

It's just about 9:00 a.m. in New Zealand, so customers who pre-ordered an iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, or Apple Watch Series 2 are beginning to receive their shipments and have begun sharing photos of their devices on social networks like Instagram and Twitter. Deliveries will begin soon in Australia.

As September 16 hits around the world, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will be available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, US Virgin Islands and the US.

Retail stores in those countries will be opening at 8:00 a.m. local time letting customers pick up reserved devices and purchase new phones via walk-in. Customers who did not pre-order will have a limited selection of iPhones for walk-in purchases, as Apple has said there are no iPhone 7 Plus models and no Jet Black iPhone 7 models available at all.

Customers who planned to wait in line to obtain an iPhone 7 Plus or a Jet Black iPhone 7 should instead order online. Delivery estimates for those devices range into November based on color and configuration.

In the United States, the first iPhone 7 deliveries will begin starting at approximately 8:00 a.m. local time, with the first deliveries occurring on the east coast.

Apple may be working with Energous on a wireless charging project according to regulatory filings discovered by VentureBeat. Energous certification documents dating back to 2014 features a mysterious "Apple compliance testing" listing, which could hint at a partnership.

According to VentureBeat, this is proof Apple is considering using Energous' WattUp wireless charging technology in one of its devices, but it should be noted that this listing isn't concrete proof of a relationship - it could also be a reference to MFi testing for an iPhone case or other WattUp iPhone accessory.

The conclusion here is obvious: the WattUp reference design would only undergo compliance testing at Apple if Apple is evaluating its use in one of its portable devices. And the fact that Energous names the company so nonchalantly and unambiguously seems to be suggestive of a well-formed relationship between the two.

While there continues to be no undeniable proof that Energous is working with Apple, there have been other hints. Energous has claimed it is working with "one of the top five consumer electronics companies," it has relationships with Apple manufacturers TSMC and Foxconn, and both are members of ANSI.

Energous also happens to be the only company that has a long-distance RF-based wireless charging system (WattUp) that's nearly ready to launch in consumer products. According to rumors, Apple is working on an extended range wireless charging solution, which would allow the iPhone to be charged at a distance without the need to be placed on a mat or other charging base. WattUp transmitters can charge devices located up to 15 feet away.

Apple is said to be planning to introduce wireless charging in the 2017 iPhone and may be working to overcome obstacles like the loss of power transfer efficiency that occurs when the distance between the transmitter and the receiver increases.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, "Wireless is the future." Given the recent removal of the headphone jack and the need for the Lightning port to serve multiple functions, wireless charging is a logical next step.

Over the course of the last several months, Apple has been hiring engineers with expertise in wireless charging and it's rumored to be seeking a supplier for wireless charging chips, suggesting there are plans in motion for the next-generation iPhone.

Read more on a possible partnership between Energous and WattUp.

Apple today released an updated golden master (GM) version of macOS Sierra to developers, a week and a day after releasing the first golden master following its September 7 event. The golden master represents the final version of macOS Sierra that will be released to the public on Tuesday, September 20.

The golden master update can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center at this time, and it is not clear if it will be available through the Mac App Store. The new GM seed is build 16A323, while the build released last week was 16A320.

macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an "Auto Unlock" option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a "Universal Clipboard" for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.

Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user's devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There's also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and "Tapback" response options.

Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.

macOS Sierra will be officially released to the public on September 20 and it will be available for free to all users with a compatible Mac. For full details on all of the new features included in the update, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere says T-Mobile customers who own an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or iPhone SE should not install Apple's iOS 10 update, released on Tuesday. According to Legere, iOS 10 is causing those three iPhone models to lose connection to the T-Mobile network.

Legere's comments come following customer complaints that started circulating following T-Mobile's latest carrier update, 25.1. It was initially believed the problem was the carrier update on T-Mobile's end, but Legere says that's not the case.

Apple is working to resolve the problem, but in the meantime, customers should avoid the update. T-Mobile has offered a fix for those who have already updated to iOS 10 and are experiencing connectivity issues -- restart. According to the company, the only way to resume connectivity is to restart the iPhone each time that it loses connection.

Apple is expected to have a fix ready in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Update: According to T-Mobile, Apple has fixed the issue for customers who were experiencing disconnects.

A T-Mobile Support document instructs users to go to Settings --> General --> About to install a new carrier update, 25.2.

In a piece on car company Magna International, Bloomberg has shared a tidbit about Apple's car development plans, suggesting there are approximately a dozen engineers from Magna working with Apple's car team in Sunnyvale.

Magna employees are said to be helping develop Apple's electric vehicle, reigniting rumors that Apple is working with a third-party to manufacture its vehicle rather than taking on vehicle development costs itself.

A completely new vehicle can cost several billion dollars, so leaning on the expertise of an industry veteran is a way of minimizing those costs. Apple has been quick to understand that: about a dozen Magna engineers have been working with the iPhone-maker's team in Sunnyvale to develop a vehicle, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.

This isn't the first time we've heard rumors of some kind of partnership between Apple and Magna. In April, a German news site suggested Apple had a secret car lab in Germany and was planning to have subsidiary Magna Steyr manufacture its cars, and Apple executives also visited Magna Steyr in Austria in February of 2015. Apple also reportedly held talks with Daimler and BMW, but no deal was able to be established due to questions over who would lead the project and who would have ownership over data.

Magna executives and Apple both declined to comment on rumors of a partnership, but in a separate interview on plans to build a new car plant, Magna CEO Donald Walker spoke on partnerships like the one the company has established with BMW. Magna will be producing BMW's 5-Series and is said to be "positioning itself for the prospect that technology companies will eventually join its roster of customers."

"You could easily have enough business outsourced from the existing carmakers to fill up other contract assembly plants, or you could have new entrants that come in and say 'I really want to have something but do I really want to manufacture vehicles?,"' Magna Chief Executive Officer Donald Walker said in an interview at the company's headquarters in Aurora, Ontario.

While Apple has hundreds of employees working on its car project, the company's plans seem to be in flux. Following Bob Mansfield's takeover of the car initiative earlier this year, Apple is said to have laid off dozens of employees as part of a "reboot" that will see focus shifting towards the development of an autonomous vehicle system. Based on these recent rumors, it is no longer clear if a physical Apple-branded car will actually materialize or if the project will result in something more software oriented.

As customers around the world begin receiving Apple's iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case, it has now been confirmed that the charging case is rated for 2,365 mAh, a 26% increase over the iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case's 1,877 mAh rating.

Chinese technical certifications revealed that the iPhone 7 likely has a larger 1,960 mAh battery, as previously rumored, meaning Apple's Smart Battery Case can charge the smartphone fully with roughly 17% capacity remaining.

Apple officially says a fully charged iPhone 7 with a fully charged Smart Battery Case can provide combined talk time up to 26 hours, internet use up to 22 hours on LTE, and video playback up to 24 hours.

When the Smart Battery Case is turned on, a battery status is displayed on the Lock screen and in Notification Center to keep track of its charge level. The case has a silicone exterior in white or black, while the inside has a soft microfiber lining.

The iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case is available now for $99 on Apple's website.

YouTuber MKBHD recently unboxed the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus on his channel, showing the contents of each smartphone's packaging, the boot-up of iOS, and even a quick overview of official Geekbench benchmark results. In the video, the unboxed iPhones encompass the new Jet Black and Black color options, for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, respectively.

Interestingly, once MKBHD begins cycling through the iOS set-up process, he discovered a new step on iPhone 7 that focuses on the haptic feedback of the new Home Button. After confirming your language, region, and setting up Touch ID, Apple ID, and Siri, the iPhone 7 will allow you to "meet the new Home Button." The added process in iOS 10's start-up on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus makes "your iPhone experience even more personal by choosing the click that's right for you."

Here, the iPhone will present you with three options of varying haptic feedback clicks. MKBHD described option one as "really light," almost to the point where he wasn't sure if he was pressing the button or not, three as "a really firm click response," and two as "a default, somewhere in the middle." He said with the middle option the "whole phone seems to be vibrating still," but he decided to go with the highly responsive third option to be sure when the button's been pressed.

Otherwise it seems like the contents of each iPhone 7 box, and the set-up process, are largely what's expected at this point from Apple. Each iPhone comes with the usual paperwork, Lightning cable, AC adapter, and now the new Lightning EarPods and Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter, which are the biggest changes this year. MKBHD's video showcases the colors of Jet Black and Black as well, and he recommends the matte Black finish over Jet Black, which he calls a "special edition" iPhone that's worth checking out in a store, but might be frustrating to keep clean sans case.

He also runs a quick Geekbench test, confirming 3GB of RAM in the iPhone 7 Plus and single-core and multi-core results that fall largely in line with previously reported benchmark results. As expected, the iPhone 7 has 2GB of RAM, but MKBHD didn't put it through the paces of a Geekbench run.

Excitement for the iPhone 7 is growing ahead of the wide release tomorrow, September 16. Last night, Apple confirmed that all models of the iPhone 7 Plus as well as the Jet Black iPhone 7 have completely sold out ahead of Friday's launch and will not be available at Apple's retail stores for walk-in customers. Those prepared to buy other models are already lining up at some Apple stores, including the 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York and Apple Union Square in San Francisco.