MacRumors

iPhone remained the world's most popular smartphone by a significant margin last quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were the two most popular models specifically, with an estimated 21.5 million and 17.4 million shipments respectively.

Chinese brand OPPO's flagship R9 smartphone trailed in third with an estimated 8.9 million shipments, while Samsung's mid-range Galaxy J3 and J5 rounded off the top five with an estimated 6.1 million and 5 million shipments respectively. Other brands combined for an estimated 294.4 million smartphone shipments.

Apple reported that it sold 50.8 million iPhones last quarter, but it does not break out sales on a model-by-model basis.

Strategy Analytics' estimates suggest the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus accounted for roughly 76.5 percent of Apple's smartphone sales last quarter, with the remaining 23.5 percent of sales derived from older models. The data also suggests a 55/45 percent sales split for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus respectively.

In late January, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone 7 Plus is the most popular Plus-sized iPhone that Apple has ever sold, topping both the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 6 Plus. Last week, he added that Apple significantly underestimated iPhone 7 Plus demand, resulting in a shortage of the device for several months.

iPhone was the world's most popular smartphone last year as well, according to research firm IHS Markit.

A new photo depicting what could be the rear shell for the next-generation iPhone SE or "iPhone 7s" has surfaced on Chinese social network Sina Weibo. The photo was later submitted to leak aggregator Slashleaks.

There's no way of telling whether this photo is real or not, but it appears to show a bump-less cutout for a single-lens camera with another cutout for what might be a vertically-aligned LED flash.

The document in the photo suggests the iPhone, codenamed N79, could have a strengthened Ion-X glass display like the Apple Watch. If real, the paperwork likely belongs to one of Apple's contract manufacturing partners in Taiwan, such as Foxconn, Pegatron, or Wistron.

There's not much else that can be gleaned from the photo, asides from what appears to be more of an iPhone 7-like design, which would be a shift away from an iPhone 5s design if this is indeed for the iPhone SE as Slashleaks suggests.

This would be the first next-generation iPhone SE design rumor we've seen so far this year, so treat it with a healthy dose of skepticism. Last year, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple is unlikely to release a new iPhone SE in the first half of 2017, suggesting a refresh won't occur before the end of June.

If that timeline is accurate, Apple could be planning to announce the next iPhone SE alongside the tentatively named iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, and iPhone 8 in September. Or, it could wait until spring 2018, given the original iPhone SE launched in March 2016. At this point, it's too early to say.

Apple doubled the iPhone SE's storage capacities to 32GB and 128GB a few months ago.

When Apple Music launched in 2015, one of the biggest complaints from users and critics centered on the somewhat confusing user interface of Apple's first foray into music streaming. Although the app was redesigned last year in iOS 10, concerns were then raised around the oversized nature of Apple Music's new typography and artwork.

This week visual design student Jason Yuan, who studies at Northwestern University, has shared a new project that he's been working on the past few months, which was sparked when Apple rejected him for a graphic design internship at Apple Music. Yuan decided to take Apple's rejection, which referenced wanting to see "more growth and training," and turn it into a new passion project focused on a visual overhaul of Apple Music (via The Next Web).

He said his redesign provides a few "potential solutions" to the service's problems.

At first, I was frustrated — Northwestern University doesn’t offer any sort of undergraduate graphic design program, so whatever growth they were looking for would have to be self taught … but as soon as I came to this realization, I became inspired to embark on what became a a three-month long journey to the holy grail — the iOS app that Apple Music deserves.

For me, this was an opportunity to really dig my teeth into UX research and design, an excuse to spend way too much time on Sketch and Principle, a reason to bore everyone around me with my notebook of crudely drawn wireframes … My process was guided by qualitative user research, Apple’s official Design Principles, and my own designer intuition.

One of Yuan's first ideas is called "The Sampler," which he pitches as a replacement to "My New Music Mix." The Sampler would be for users "reluctant to sit through an entire playlist full of new music," and would present Apple Music subscribers with samples of songs in a Tinder-like UI that they could swipe up to reject or swipe down to add to their library. These samples would last around 15 seconds and present highlights from the songs in question so users would immediately know if they like the music or not.

Any music that is swiped down upon is then saved to Yuan's equivalent of the My New Music Mix, taking out the automatic curation of content currently in place and making it more personalized in Yuan's design. Yuan said that The Sampler was inspired by the idea of gamification, which he argued would allow the user to create "an immediate connection to the music they discover," instead of just taking a shot at what Apple Music serves up to them now.

The visual designer also came up with more cohesive branding in Apple Music's album and playlist artwork, which he argued is currently "kind of all over the place," with a mix of collages, 3D typography, and more for various radio stations and activity playlists. To fix this, Yuan focused on the circular bubble art that Apple Music subscribers encounter when signing up for the service -- which also references the iPod click wheel and iPhone contacts -- while subtly altering colors and profile shots for the artist and playlist in question.

Yuan went on to address the basic UI complaints currently leveled at Apple Music, reducing the font size and white space of the app's launch tab while also introducing a new "Watch" tab for the service's upcoming slate of TV shows. He eliminated what he argued as extraneous UI additions, like the "Downloaded Music" front page menu option, and personalized For You so it introduces music based on location, time, and even recent social media activity.

Connect is gone for good in Yuan's design as well.

Truth is, I didn’t see any data from my research that would justify keeping the Connect feed in the app as is. Users were more interested in connecting with friends and family through music (a la Spotify) instead of with artists through a watered-down Twitter.

I think Apple should focus on integrating existing social media with Apple Music instead of trying to push yet another one on its already overburdened consumers.

There are plenty of other highlights from Yuan's list of redesign ideas, including tweaks to Now Playing, Browse, Search, and how users love or dislike a song. Yuan ended his article saying he's happy with the knowledge he gained and progress he made redesigning Apple Music as a personal project, but never intended the tweaks to be taken seriously by Apple.

"I don’t expect the good folks at Apple Music to take anything from this case study," Yuan mentioned. "In fact, I might actually have a heart attack if anyone working on Apple Music stumbles upon this article… but if you’re out there, I hope my work was able to give you some ideas and spark some conversations!"

Check out the rest of Yuan's Apple Music changes in his Medium post right here.

Mobile phone leaker @OnLeaks and tech blog @GearIndia posted a series of high-quality renders on Tuesday that claim to be based on leaked factory CAD images of Apple's upcoming OLED iPhone.

The images offer perhaps the clearest idea yet of how Apple's redesigned "iPhone 8" with edge-to-edge display may look with the screen powered off, if the company does indeed choose to sign off on a stainless steel-edged, all-glass design. The renders are based on the expectation that the iPhone 8 will be 144mm tall, 71mm wide, and 7.7mm thick, making it slightly larger than an iPhone 7 but smaller than an iPhone 7 Plus, and slightly thicker than both.

The pictures show the smooth front glass of the edge-to-edge OLED display, which is expected to lack any sort of button indentation in favor of an entirely virtual home button. The only visible features appear in a bezeled run-off area housing the microphone hole and a dual-lens front-facing camera, which is rumored to include 3D sensing capabilities, potentially for use in facial/iris recognition or future augmented reality functionality.

On the back we can see the widely-rumored vertical orientation of a slightly protruding dual-lens camera, a change from the horizontal arrangement used on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

The placement of the Touch ID sensor isn't made explicit on these CAD-based renders and remains the biggest question mark concerning Apple's plans. Sources suggest the company has struggled to embed the Touch ID technology in the OLED display because of production challenges, which may force it to re-locate the fingerprint sensor to the rear of the device, possibly just below the Apple logo.

Apple is thought to be testing several prototypes for its redesigned "tenth anniversary" iPhone and rumors have toed and froed over whether production is behind schedule or on course for a September launch, when it is expected to be announced alongside the so-called iPhone 7S and 7S Plus. The last word on the subject comes from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who implied that this year's shortage could be more "severe" than in previous years, suggesting the phone could be hard to come by for several months after launch.

Apple recently acquired Beddit Sleep Monitor, an app and sleep system designed to monitor daily sleep habits through the iPhone, according to an updated privacy policy posted both on the Beddit website and in the Beddit app when creating an account. A link within the app also directs to the Apple Privacy Policy.

As of May 8, the Beddit privacy policy says the following:

Beddit has been acquired by Apple. Your personal data will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Apple Privacy Policy.

The Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor, which can be purchased from Apple for $150, is a thin, flexible sensor that's designed to be placed under the sheet on the top of a mattress. It collects and analyzes sleep-related data like sleep time and efficiency, heart rate, respiration, movement, snoring, room temperature, and room humidity.

All of the data collected by the Beddit Sleep Monitor is then made available to iPhone users through an accompanying Beddit iPhone app, which provides "personalized insights" and "customizable sleep coaching" to help users improve their sleep habits.

According to the Beddit website, the device uses ballistocardiography (BCG) to measure the mechanical activity of the heart, lungs, and other body functions. When the heart beats, for example, the Beddit sensor can measure the mechanical impulse generated by the acceleration of the blood through the circulatory system.

Based on the changes to the Beddit privacy policy, it appears Apple may have plans to continue selling the device and collecting health-related data from it, which could potentially be used to enhance future versions of products like the Apple Watch.

There have been several rumors suggesting the upcoming OLED "iPhone 8" could potentially be delayed due to production delays, and in a new note to investors sent out today, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterates his prediction that production ramp-up will be delayed.

According to Kuo, who titled his note "Rising probability of worst-case scenario for iPhone shipments," production ramp-up of the iPhone 8 could be delayed to "as late as October-November," a departure from Apple's traditional August to September ramp-up period.

The result will be "severe supply shortages" that persist for "a while" after the new iPhone models are introduced in September. To be clear, Kuo continues to believe Apple will introduce the iPhone in September, but he suggests there's a strong possibility the device will be hard to come by for several months following its release.

Due to the possible iPhone 8 shortages, Kuo believes Apple may only ship 80 to 90 million iPhone units during the second half of 2017, down from 100 to 110 million units. Kuo does say it's not clear if demand will fully shift to the iPhone 8, due to questions about the usefulness of a rumored 3D sensor, the potential for Touch ID to be eliminated, and market competition.

While we are positive on potential replacement demand triggered by OLED iPhone, it's too early to determine if demand will shift fully in that direction. We recommend investors keep tabs on the following issues: (1) whether the 3D sensor of OLED iPhone provides an innovative user experience; (2) whether OLED iPhone cancels Touch ID (fingerprint recognition); and (3) whether Apple's competitors launch more innovative products which could compete with OLED iPhone in 4Q17-2Q18.

It is not unusual for us to hear rumors of production delays and supply shortages ahead of an iPhone release, and indeed, the iPhone 7 Plus was constrained for months after its launch, but the warnings about the iPhone 8 are popping up more frequently from trusted sources and are more dire than warnings we've seen for past iPhone release cycles.

Rumors have suggested that Apple is struggling with integrating the Touch ID fingerprint sensor underneath the glass of the iPhone 8, which has led to production difficulties. Due to these issues, rumors have also indicated that Apple could potentially put Touch ID on the back of the device or perhaps more unlikely, eliminate it entirely in favor of other biometric systems, like facial recognition. Kuo has not mentioned removing Touch ID entirely in previous research notes, but the wording of today's document seems to suggest he believes it's a possibility.

Apple is also said to be having trouble with the display lamination process and integrating a new 3D sensing front camera system into the device. Given the major design changes coming in the iPhone 8, including an edge-to-edge OLED display and a glass body, it is not surprising to hear that many of the new technologies involved are causing production problems.

Some rumors have suggested Apple could delay the debut of the iPhone 8 entirely, not introducing it in September, but most rumors believe the company will show it off at the event and perhaps launch it in small quantities.

Apple today sent press invites to a variety of news and media sites for its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, confirming plans to hold a keynote event on June 5 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

Apple traditionally holds a keynote event on the first day of the Worldwide Developers Conference, where new software is introduced. We expect to see new versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS at the conference, and there's a chance we could also see new hardware like updated iMacs and Apple's rumored Siri speaker.

As was announced in February, the Worldwide Developers Conference will take place from June 5 to June 9 in San Jose, California, a departure from past events that have long been held in San Francisco at the Moscone Center.

Tickets, which were priced at $1,599, were distributed by random selection at the end of March, and free tickets provided to scholarship winners were also handed out in April.

Apple expects to host about 5,000 developers, with hundreds of Apple engineers available to answer questions and host app development sessions. Developers who cannot attend will be able to watch the sessions through the WWDC 2017 website, and the WWDC app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

For the June 5 keynote event, MacRumors will provide a live blog both here on MacRumors.com and on our MacRumorsLive Twitter account, along with detailed coverage of everything Apple announces during the week.

MacRumors has learned that Apple is planning to quickly refurbish several of its retail stores after closing time on May 16, with the overnight transformations to be completed by the time each store reopens on May 17. These dates may slightly vary between now and May 20 depending on the store.

Older and smaller Apple Stores that have yet to be fully renovated with the company's next-generation retail design will receive new fixtures that mirror the updated look and feel as much as possible, according to a source. We're hearing this is a worldwide effort, and every older-generation store may be involved.

Apple plans to replace its existing accessory shelves in each store with what it calls the Avenue, as pictured above, a person familiar with the matter said. Apple will also be adding more "feature bays" to each store for displaying products and accessories, and new stools for the Genius Bar and other seating areas.

Here's how Apple described the Avenue when it opened its flagship Union Square store in San Francisco last year:

“The Avenue,” inspired by the window displays along a boulevard that dynamically change with the season. Avenue walls are interactive themed “windows” where Apple’s products and services come to life, from music, to creativity, apps, photography and more. New “Creative Pros,” Apple experts in creative arts, offer advice and expertise at each of the displays. Customers will also find “Only at Apple” products on the Avenue, a curated collection of third-party accessories.

Apple will significantly reduce the number of accessories it keeps on display on the sales floor, but it will still have ample stock in the back of the store, the person said. A customer interested in purchasing an accessory that isn't readily shelved can simply ask an employee, who will grab it from the back.

Apple has over 35 next-generation retail stores around the world, including locations in Brussels, Dubai, London, Mexico City, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and elsewhere. It has also fully updated and expanded many existing stores with the new look, but those larger renovations usually take several months.

Apple has 460 other retail stores, however, and this quick facelift will bring many of them closer in line with the newer aesthetics.

With Amazon having launched the Echo Show, a new Alexa-enabled smart speaker that comes equipped with a 7-inch screen, Bloomberg has shared a little tidbit on Apple's own speaker plans, making it clear that there's still no concrete information on whether Apple's speaker will include a display.

In a piece outlining Amazon's new speaker, Bloomberg references a comment made recently by Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, where he said that a voice assistant in a device without a screen doesn't "suit many situations."

While marketing chief Phil Schiller recently talked up the benefits of having a screen on a voice-activated device, it's not clear whether the Apple version will in fact have one.

Rumors of Apple's work on some kind of in-home Siri-based smart speaker to compete with the Amazon Echo first surfaced in early 2016, but while the speaker is said to be close to launching, details remain scant.

We've heard it will feature Siri integration and focus heavily on sound quality, with "excellent acoustics performance" and some form of Beats technology. Design details shared in late April said it would feature a Mac Pro-style concave top with built-in controls and a "fat" body with speaker mesh covering the majority of the device, but no display was mentioned.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said the speaker has a 50 percent chance of debuting at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference coming in June, and as Bloomberg first mentioned in September (and reiterates again today) the speaker is currently being tested within the homes of Apple employees, so it may not be long before we have more concrete details about the device.

Based on today's Bloomberg report, Apple's speaker will have one benefit over the Amazon Echo and Google Home - native Apple Music integration. Amazon devices chief Dave Limp told Bloomberg that while Amazon would "love to have Apple" the company is "not super big" on allowing Apple Music integration.

For more details on Apple's upcoming Siri speaker, make sure to check out our dedicated roundup, which aggregates all of the information we've heard about the device so far. More information about Amazon's Echo Show can be found in our launch article.