MacRumors

watchos2Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 2.2 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the third watchOS 2.2 beta and more than two months after releasing watchOS 2.1, the first major update to the watchOS 2 operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 2.2 has been in testing since January 11.

The fourth watchOS 2.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on an iPhone running the iOS 9.3 beta by going to General --> Software update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the Apple Watch charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.

watchOS 2.2, along with iOS 9.3, introduces support for pairing multiple Apple Watches with a single iPhone. Both updates are required, with each watch running watchOS 2.2 and each iPhone running iOS 9.3. watchOS 2.2 also includes a revamped look for the built-in Maps app on the Apple Watch with access to the Nearby feature first introduced with iOS 9 and new buttons for quickly accessing directions to home and work.

There were no other obvious outward-facing changes introduced in the first three watchOS 2.2 betas aside from the changes to the Maps app, but the update undoubtedly includes under-the-hood performance updates and bug fixes to address issues that have been discovered since the release of watchOS 2.1. WatchOS 2.2 is expected to debut in the spring, perhaps at Apple's rumored March event.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Apple today provided developers with the fourth beta of an upcoming 9.2 update to tvOS, the operating system that runs on the fourth-generation Apple TV and powers its built-in App Store. Today's tvOS 9.2 beta 4 comes two weeks after Apple released the third beta of tvOS 9.2 and a month after the release of tvOS 9.1.1, a minor update to tvOS 9.1. tvOS 9.2 has been in testing since January 11.

tvOS betas are more difficult to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Installing the tvOS beta requires the Apple TV to be connected to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the software downloaded and installed via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Those who have already installed the first three tvOS 9.2 betas will be able to download the fourth update over the air.


tvOS 9.2 is a significant update for the tvOS operating system and new features have been added continually throughout the beta testing process. It brings support for Bluetooth keyboards, allowing a keyboard to be paired to the Apple TV for text entry. Bluetooth keyboard support is a major feature that was missing from previous versions of tvOS and its addition should make it much easier to do tasks like entering passwords on the fourth-generation Apple TV.

Along with Bluetooth keyboard support, the tvOS 9.2 update introduces support for grouping apps into folders on the Home screen like on iOS devices, plus it includes a new look for the App Switcher interface and it brings support for iCloud Photo Library and Live Photos.

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Support for dictation allows Apple TV users to dictate text and spell user names and passwords rather than typing them in. Dictation capabilities are available in all countries where Siri is available on the Apple TV. With tvOS 9.2, Siri also gains the ability to search for App Store apps, improving app discovery. Siri can search for a specific app or bring up a category of apps, such as games.

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tvOS 9.2 also introduces MapKit so developers can incorporate maps into their tvOS apps, and it adds Siri support for US Spanish (in the US only) and French Canadian (in Canada only). UK English, Australian English, and US English are also now available as Siri options in the UK, Australian, and US Storefronts when English is set as the tvOS language.

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We'll update this post with any new features that are discovered in the fourth beta of tvOS 9.2.

What's new in tvOS 9.2:

Remote - According to the release notes, there's a firmware update for the Apple TV Remote. It includes improved motion sensor performance and support for additional sound bar and receiver hardware.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

ios93Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third iOS 9.3 beta and more than two months after the public release of iOS 9.2, the last major update to iOS 9. iOS 9.3 has been in testing since January 11.

The fourth iOS 9.3 beta is available as an over-the-air update and through the iOS section of the Apple Developer Center.

As a major .1 update to the iOS 9 operating system, iOS 9.3 introduces several new features. There's a Night Shift mode to reduce the amount of blue light iOS users are exposed to in the evening by shifting the iPad or iPhone display to a warmer (yellower) color spectrum, and there are several features designed to improve the iPad for Education program, such as multi-user login. Multi-user login, while an appealing feature, is limited to MDM customers and is not available to the general public.


Multiple apps and features are also seeing updates in iOS 9.3. Apple News includes more personalized recommendations, faster updates, a landscape view on the iPhone, and support for in-line video, while Health includes a new Apple Watch-style "Activity" view, Notes has an option to password protect individual entries, and third-party apps can add songs to Apple Music.

Apple Music for CarPlay offers "New" and "For You" sections for better music discovery, and a Nearby Feature in CarPlay Maps offers more information about what's close by. Paired with watchOS 2.2, an iPhone running iOS 9.3 is able to support multiple Apple Watches, and for iPhone 6s users, there are new Quick Actions for Weather, Settings, Compass, Health, App Store, and iTunes Store.

The second iOS 9.3 beta added a Control Center toggle for the Night Shift feature, while the third iOS 9.3 beta focused on fixing bugs and added Verizon Wi-Fi calling. New features found in the fourth beta will be listed below.

What's new in iOS 9.3 beta 4:

Night Shift - The Control Center icon for Night Shift has been redesigned. It's now a moon inside of a sun instead of a moon inside of an eye.

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Tag: iOS 9.3
Related Forum: iOS 9

swift.pngIBM has announced that it is bringing Apple's Swift development language to the cloud to simplify end-to-end development of enterprise apps. Swift will be available as a server-side language on IBM Cloud, and today's phase of the rollout includes a preview of a Swift runtime and a Swift Package Catalog.

Developers can start exploring the benefits of Swift on the IBM Cloud in three ways:

- Experiment in the Swift Sandbox: Quickly experiment with open sourced Swift, ramp up your skill set and learn what Swift can do for your enterprise by checking out new enhancements to the Swift Sandbox.
- Develop and Deploy: Start building end-to-end applications on Bluemix and quickly deploy them with Kitura, a new open source web server released by IBM, on both OSX and Linux.
- Share Swift Resources: Leverage code across projects by creating packages and submitting them to the Swift Package Catalog on Bluemix to encourage sharing of new Swift resources with the global developer community.

Apple and IBM announced an enterprise partnership in July 2014, released the first ten MobileFirst for iOS apps by year end and have launched new apps periodically since. MobileFirst for iOS apps are designed in a secure environment, and can easily be deployed, managed and upgraded through IBM cloud services.

Apple and IBM list all of the MobileFirst for iOS apps on their websites.

Tags: IBM, Swift

The Seiko wristwatch that Steve Jobs wore in the famous 1984 Macintosh photo shoot sold for $42,500 in an online auction on Saturday (via CNET). Consigned by Jobs' former house manager Mark Sheff, the watch's band was said to be "in heavily worn condition," but still managed to draw the interest of 14 bidders and about 5,600 page views before closing out for $42,500.

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The watch wasn't the only item of Jobs' old artifacts to get sold on the auction, however, with items ranging from his old Birkenstock sandals ($2,750) to one of the former Apple CEO's classic black turtlenecks, this one from his time at NeXT ($7,500). A lot of items, including his NeXT name tag, business card, 10K gold-filled Apple Computers pen, and a personally signed USPS return receipt, all sold for $16,250.

Considering the company's prolific history, many of its products have sold well in reseller's markets over the past few years. In December of 2014, a functioning Apple-1 computer that Jobs himself sold out of his parents' garage in 1976 went for $365,000 at an auction in New York. A few months earlier, the Henry Ford Museum won another Apple-1 computer auction with a record bid of $905,000.

time-cook-time-100-2015-iconsApple CEO Tim Cook discussed a range of topics in an interview with Fortune posted online today. Although Cook skirted the topic of the Apple Car, eventually Fortune brought up the recent hiring of automobile industry people by Apple, and asked Cook to put the rumors to rest once and for all.

Yeah, I’m probably not going to do that. The great thing about being here is we’re curious people. We explore technologies, and we explore products.

And we’re always thinking about ways that Apple can make great products that people love, that help them in some way. And we don’t go into very many categories, as you know. We edit very much. We talk about a lot of things and do fewer. We debate many things and do a lot fewer.

According to Cook, the addition of people from the automotive industry isn't a confirmation of the Apple Car, but simply a way for Apple to "explore things with teams of people." Once an idea gets past that stage, and the company begins "spending large amounts of money," that's when Cook and the team are "committed" to seeing the project through to the end. Although he doesn't directly confirm it, the suggestion hints that Apple's potential smart car is in the exploratory phase.

Part of exploring technologies and picking the right one is becoming so familiar with it you can see ways that it can be used. And for us, we’ve never been about being first. We’ve been about being best. So we explore many different things, many different technologies. And at first we might not know what product it might wind up in. And then later we’ll see that that really cool technology enables maybe things that we’re doing today to take on something bigger, maybe something new. But once we start spending gobs of money—like when we start spending on tooling and things like that—we’re committed.

Cook also touched on the topic of Apple occupying an era of "peak iPhone," thanks to a Q1 2016 fiscal quarter that saw iPhone sales remain largely "flat" from the same time last year (74.8 million iPhones in 2016 compared to 74.5 million in 2015). Cook said that he and Apple attempt to ignore such chatter and focus on the tenets of customer satisfaction and product quality, believing that "over time," he's sure "that everything else will catch up."

The Apple CEO ended with hinting that the company's newest headquarters will open in "early 2017," although a specific date has yet to be set. The name of the new campus is still up in the air as well, but Cook said that it will in some way pay homage to Steve Jobs and that Apple is "working with Laurene [Powell Jobs, Steve’s widow] and the family" on specifically deciding which direction to take with honoring the late CEO.

Check out Fortune's full Q&A with Tim Cook here.

Apple-FBIApple has shared a new Q&A page that explains why the company is opposing a court order to create a unique version of iOS that would bypass security protections and allow the FBI to unlock an iPhone via brute-force attack.

Apple says the objection is "absolutely not" based on the company's concern for its "marketing strategy," as the U.S. Department of Justice opined last week, but rather about ensuring "the vast majority of good and law abiding citizens, who rely on iPhone to protect their most personal and important data" are not at risk.

Apple admits that creating a "government-ordered backdoor" is technically possible, but says "the technique, once created, could be used over and over again, on any number of devices." The company insists that complying with the court order would have "dangerous implications" for customer privacy and safety, and set a "very dangerous precedent" that would expand the powers of the U.S. government.

Law enforcement agents around the country have already said they have hundreds of iPhones they want Apple to unlock if the FBI wins this case. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks. Of course, Apple would do our best to protect that key, but in a world where all of our data is under constant threat, it would be relentlessly attacked by hackers and cybercriminals. As recent attacks on the IRS systems and countless other data breaches have shown, no one is immune to cyberattacks.

Again, we strongly believe the only way to guarantee that such a powerful tool isn’t abused and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is to never create it.

The White House has denied that the FBI is asking Apple to "create a new backdoor to its products," insisting that the agency is seeking access to a single iPhone belonging to suspected San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook. FBI Director James Comey also said "the San Bernardino litigation isn't about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message," but rather "about the victims and justice."

Apple says it has "done everything that's both within our power and within the law to help in this case," adding that it has "no sympathy for terrorists." The company believes the best way forward would be for the government to withdraw its demands under the All Writs Act and form a commission to "discuss the implications" of the matter. Apple says it "would gladly participate in such an effort."

Apple has been given an extension until February 26 to legally respond, and a hearing will be held at 1:00 p.m. Pacific on March 22 in a California federal court. Google, Facebook, and Twitter have publicly backed Apple's stance on the issue, and some campaigners rallied to support the company, while U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and some San Bernardino victims have sided with the FBI.

In an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch, Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees that he has "received messages from thousands of people in all 50 states," and that the "overwhelming majority" have "voiced their strong support" for the company.

Our fellow citizens know it, too. Over the past week I’ve received messages from thousands of people in all 50 states, and the overwhelming majority are writing to voice their strong support. One email was from a 13-year-old app developer who thanked us for standing up for “all future generations.” And a 30-year Army veteran told me, "Like my freedom, I will always consider my privacy as a treasure."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

FBI Director James ComeyFBI Director James Comey has written an editorial to respond to concerns that the agency's demands of Apple in the ongoing San Bernardino shooter case undermine privacy rights and threaten future security efforts.

"The San Bernardino litigation isn't about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message," Comey said in an op-ed piece that appeared on the Lawfare blog late Sunday. "It is about the victims and justice. Fourteen people were slaughtered and many more had their lives and bodies ruined. We owe them a thorough and professional investigation under law."

The editorial comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook vehemently opposed the FBI's demand that the company helps break into the iPhone of one of the shooters, claiming that the order undermined decades of security advancements designed to protect customers. "Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices," Cook wrote in a letter last week.

Comey rejects that claim in the article and states that "the particular legal issue is actually quite narrow. The relief we seek is limited and its value increasingly obsolete because the technology continues to evolve."

We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist's passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly. That's it. We don't want to break anyone's encryption or set a master key loose on the land.

Tellingly however, Comey goes on to say that the case highlights how such "awesome new technology" creates "serious tension" between security and privacy, which should be resolved by the public at large:

That tension should not be resolved by corporations that sell stuff for a living. It also should not be resolved by the FBI, which investigates for a living. It should be resolved by the American people deciding how we want to govern ourselves in a world we have never seen before.

The editorial follows confirmation by the FBI that it worked with San Bernardino County government officials to reset the iCloud account password on an iPhone belonging to suspected terrorist Syed Farook, and is the latest development in the ongoing dispute between Apple and the FBI that dominated technology headlines last week.

Google, Facebook, and Twitter publicly backed Apple's stance on the issue, and some campaigners rallied to support the company, while U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and some San Bernardino victims have sided with the FBI. Apple has until February 26 to file its first legal arguments against the court order.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

iPhone-PasscodeThe U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has confirmed that it worked with San Bernardino County government officials to reset the iCloud account password on an iPhone belonging to suspected terrorist Syed Farook, according to a press statement obtained by Re/code.

Apple told reporters on Friday that the Apple ID password associated with Farook's iPhone was changed "less than 24 hours" after being in government hands. Had the password not been altered, Apple believes the backup information the government is asking for could have been accessible to Apple engineers.

Nevertheless, the FBI insists that the iCloud password reset does not impact Apple's ability to comply with a court order demanding it create a modified iOS version that allows authorities to unlock the shooter's iPhone 5c by way of a brute-force attack.

The FBI further stated that "direct data extraction from an iOS device often provides more data than an iCloud backup contains," and said investigators may be able to extract more evidence from the shooter's iPhone with Apple's assistance. Tim Cook and company, however, have thus far refused to cooperate.

Even if the password had not been changed and Apple could have turned on the auto-backup and loaded it to the cloud, there might be information on the phone that would not be accessible without Apple’s assistance as required by the All Writs Act order, since the iCloud backup does not contain everything on an iPhone. As the government’s pleadings state, the government’s objective was, and still is, to extract as much evidence as possible from the phone.

Cook shared an open letter on Wednesday stating that while Apple is "shocked and outraged" by the San Bernardino attacks last December, and presumes "the FBI's intentions are good," the company strongly believes that building a "backdoor" for U.S. government officials would be "too dangerous to create."

The White House later denied that the FBI is asking Apple to "create a new backdoor to its products," but rather seeking access to a single iPhone. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice called Apple's opposition a "marketing strategy" in a motion filed to compel Apple to comply with the original court order.

The dispute between Apple and the FBI has ignited a widespread debate over the past six days. Google, Facebook, and Twitter have publicly backed Apple, and some campaigners have rallied to support the company, while U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and some San Bernardino victims have sided with the FBI.

Apple now has until February 26 to file its first legal arguments against the court order.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Today at Mobile World Congress, Samsung announced the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, the latest devices in its flagship line of smartphones. While the two new devices are nearly identical to last year's Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, they add a trio of features that were left out of those models: expandable storage, water resistance and more battery life. However, while previously rumored, the device does not come with a pressure-sensitive 3D Touch-like display.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge (via The Verge)

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge now include support for microSD cards with up to 200 GB of storage to complement the 32 GB of onboard storage. The U.S. will only receive 32 GB variants of the devices while some regions will receive a 64 GB version alongside the 32 GB version. The devices also support IP68 water and dust resistance, which means that the phones can be submersed in up to 5 feet of water for 30 minutes. The S7 comes with a 3,000 mAh battery, up from last year's 2,550 mAh, while the S7 Edge comes with a 3,600 mAh battery, up from last year's 2,600 mAh.

Both devices have received minor design improvements intended to make the devices easier to hold. The S7 now has a flatter home button and a less pronounced camera bump among other small refinements. The S7 Edge has received a larger 5.5-inch display (both devices sport the quad HD Super AMOLED display in the Galaxy S6). However, the S7 Edge has also received a sleeker, more curved back that, according to The Verge, results in a 5.5-inch device that is easily workable with one hand.


The rear camera in the new S7 and S7 Edge is now 12 megapixels, down from last year's 16 megapixels. Samsung says the camera now has larger pixels that let in 56 percent more light than the previous model's camera; it also comes with a f/1.7 aperture that lets in an additional 25 percent more light. The camera sensor's shape has also changed, moving from a 16:9 ratio to a 4:3-like ratio. The camera can also focus three times faster than the previous model thanks to its new dual pixel system, which uses every pixel as a "focus pixel," according to Samsung.

Finally, both S7 devices are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor rather than Samsung's own Exynos chips, which powered the S6. However, Samsung notes that some regions of the world will still receive S7 devices powered by the Exynos chips. Both devices also have 4 GB of RAM, up from last year's 3 GB. Neither phone is equipped with the new USB-C port, with Samsung instead opting to continue with Micro USB due to its compatibility with its Gear VR headset and being the more mature technology.

The phones both run Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Samsung's TouchWiz interface. The two big software enhancements for this year's model are additional edge swipe gestures for the S7 Edge and an always-on display that continually shows either a clock with notifications, a calendar or an image. The system uses the proximity sensor to keep the display on, so when the phone is face-down, in a pocket or purse it turns off. Samsung says the feature only uses half a battery percentage an hour.

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will be available on all four major U.S. carriers on March 11. The S7 will come in either black or gold color options while the S7 Edge will be available in black, gold or silver. Samsung didn't reveal prices, but said they will be roughly in line with last year's prices. Pre-orders will begin February 23. Users who purchase an S7 or S7 Edge between February 23rd and March 18th will receive a free Gear VR headset.

A new Kickstarter project, the "Dune Case," is offering up a PC case that looks awfully familiar, closely mimicking the well-known cylindrical design of Apple's Mac Pro.

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Available in black or gold and made of aluminum, the Dune Case promises "an innovative housing" that's a "sleek and stylish" alternative to standard PC cases. The page doesn't reference the Mac Pro, instead treating the design as a fresh idea.

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While the Dune Case is different than the Mac Pro internally, lacking the unified thermal core that is the Mac Pro's signature feature to absorb and disperse heat, the visual similarities are impossible to deny. One variance -- the Dune Case is much larger than the Mac Pro.
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Its cylindrical form promotes natural airflow for superb thermal performance and provides freedom and flexibility to customize configurations. The conventional approach for air flow management is to move it horizontally through the PC, leaving many areas with no circulation and recycled hot air. the Dune Case design promotes superior thermal dynamics by pulling the air vertically up and out through its aerated lid; aiding natural air flow and keeping temperatures down.

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While a Mac Pro is priced at upwards of $2,000, the Dune Case PC case is being sold at an early bird price of $159. The Dune Case has thus far raised $38,000 out of $130,000 and there are 26 days to go on the campaign, but given the similarities to the Mac Pro, there's a chance Apple could make an effort to shut down the project before it's funded.

Shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion demanding Apple comply with an order to help it unlock the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, Apple executives shared key information with several reporters, including BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski, about government missteps that may have led to reduced access to the iPhone in question.

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According to Apple, the Apple ID password on the iPhone was changed "less than 24 hours" after being in government hands. Had the password not been altered, Apple believes the backup information the government is asking for could have been accessible to Apple engineers. The FBI has said it has access to weekly iCloud backups leading up to October 19, but not after that date, and it is seeking later information that could be stored on the device.

The executives said the company had been in regular discussions with the government since early January, and that it proposed four different ways to recover the information the government is interested in without building a back door. One of those methods would have involved connecting the phone to a known wifi network.

Apple sent engineers to try that method, the executives said, but the experts were unable to do it. It was then that they discovered that the Apple ID passcode associated with the phone had been changed.

Apple executives said the entire backdoor demand could have potentially been avoided if the Apple ID password not been changed, as connecting to a known Wi-Fi network would have caused the device to start backing up automatically so long as iCloud backups were enabled. Instead, with the information inaccessible, the FBI has requested tools that set what Apple calls a "dangerous precedent." The FBI wants a version of iOS that accepts electronic passcode input and removes passcode features like time limits and data erasure following failures.

Apple says the software would be the equivalent of a master key that could be used to access millions of devices (including Apple's newest iPhones and iPads) and has called the demand an "overreach" with chilling implications. Apple executives today also denied the DOJ's claim that the company's refusal to comply is a marketing tactic, saying it was done based on "love for the country" and "desire not to see civil liberties tossed aside."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

The United States Justice Department today asked a federal judge to compel Apple to comply with the court's original order that would force the company to help the FBI hack into the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. In the filing, shared by The New York Times, the DOJ calls Apple's refusal to help "a marketing strategy" that "appears to be based on its concern for its business model."

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The DOJ bases this assertion on Apple's past cooperation, when it provided data from devices that ran earlier versions of iOS when ordered to do so via search warrant. Prior to iOS 8, Apple had the tools to extract data from locked iOS devices. With the release of iOS 8, Apple stopped storing encryption keys for devices, making it impossible for the company to access data on devices running iOS 8 or later.

Based on Apple's recent public statement and other statements by Apple, Apple's current refusal to comply with the Court's Order, despite the technical feasibility of doing so, instead appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy.

The government has demanded Apple create a tool that would allow the FBI to more easily hack into Farook's iPhone 5c through brute forcing the passcode, something that's quite different than the orders that Apple has complied with on pre-iOS 7 devices. Apple has been asked to develop a new version of iOS software that would do the following:

- Eliminate the auto-erase function that wipes an iPhone if the wrong passcode is entered 10 times.
- Eliminate the delay that locks the FBI out of the iPhone if the wrong passcode is entered too many times in a row.
- Implement a method that would allow the FBI to electronically enter a passcode using software.

Apple has publicly stated its intention to oppose the order, saying it sets a "dangerous precedent," a statement echoed by several technology companies that have come out in support of Apple. Apple believes that fulfilling the "chilling" request will lead to similar unlocking requests in the future or a general demand to weaken encryption on electronic devices.

Following an extension granted yesterday, Apple still has several days to formulate an official response to the court's demands. Apple is expected to argue that the order goes beyond the powers granted to the government by the All Writs Act, a key law that's being used in the case.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

In January of 2015, WayTools announced the TextBlade, a compact, collapsible keyboard that sparked a lot of interest with its unique multilayered layout that replaces a full keyboard with eight large smart keys.

Refinements, production issues, and other hiccups have long delayed the release of the TextBlade, which was originally scheduled to ship out to pre-order customers in the early months of 2015. After a long development period that has frustrated many early customers, WayTools is finally ready to begin shipping the TextBlade, albeit with a caveat - a limited number of test customers will receive the first TextBlades that are going out, to provide final feedback before a full rollout.

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Starting late next week, pre-order customers who signed up for the TextBlade Test Release Group (TREG) in January and were accepted will start receiving TextBlade shipments. TextBlades will go out to testers on a rolling basis with shipments happening every few days. The Test Release Group was announced to customers through their pre-order page and while WayTools can't accommodate everyone who applied, a couple hundred customers will be participating and will be receiving TextBlades.

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Mark Knighton, WayTools' CEO, says the company is using the Test Release Group to iron out final bugs ahead of the full TextBlade release.

We're not expecting huge problems. We think it will be firmware and we think it will be corner cases -- unusual cases. The basics are operating fine. What we're looking for is what happens when you press a weird button combination, or your unit gets stuck and doesn't respond. That's a software failure. It's rare, and usually some weird corner case. We've killed off most of those, but some of that may come up. We're looking for the number of incidents where someone has to reset [the TextBlade] to be miniscule.

Customers who are not part of the testing group will need to wait longer to receive their TextBlades, and the wait is dependent on the outcome of the testing. Should all go well, a general release could happen towards the end of March, but the wait could be several weeks longer. "TREG tests will be complete when users give us the thumbs up," said Knighton. "Based on what we find together, that may take as little as a week, or up to several weeks. When the TREG users are happy, we'll start the broader release."

To give users who are awaiting their own TextBlades a first look at a TextBlade in the wild, WayTools sent me one under the same confidentiality agreement as the testing group. I'll share some unboxing photos and initial thoughts on the TextBlade below, but there are still a few details that will remain under wraps until the final release.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Donald-Trump-iPhone-TweetDonald Trump, a leading Republican candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, has called for a boycott of Apple until it complies with a court order to unlock an iPhone 5c used by shooter Syed Farook in the 2015 San Bernardino attacks, according to Reuters.

"Boycott Apple until such time as they give that information,” Trump said at a campaign event in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. "It just occurred to me."

Trump's statement is ironic given that his latest tweets on his personal Twitter account were shared from an iPhone. Trump's comments come just two days after he criticized Apple for opposing a court order to unlock an iPhone as part of an ongoing FBI investigation into the attacks, saying "who do they think they are?"

“I agree 100 percent with the courts. In that case, we should open it up." […] "I think security, overall, we have to open it up and we have to use our heads. We have to use common sense," Trump continued, echoing his recent common refrain. Somebody the other day called me a common-sense conservative. We have to use common sense."

Apple published an open letter on Wednesday stating that the company will oppose an order from a U.S. federal judge that demands the company create a new version of iOS that circumvents several important security features, allowing access to Farook's smartphone data to assist the FBI's investigation.


Apple CEO Tim Cook said that while the company is "shocked and outraged" by the San Bernardino attacks last December, and presumes "the FBI’s intentions are good," the company strongly believes that building a "backdoor" for U.S. government or law enforcement would be "too dangerous to create."

The U.S. Department of Justice has since called Apple's privacy stance a "marketing strategy," according to The New York Times. In a court document, federal attorneys deny claims that Apple would be creating a "backdoor" for the FBI, and the department demands that the court force Apple to assist the FBI in unlocking Farook's iPhone.

Update: Trump has shared a follow-up tweet claiming he uses "both iPhone and Samsung," but he insists that he'll "only be using Samsung" until Apple complies with a court order in the FBI's investigation. His latest tweets have come from Android and the web.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple's chip suppliers including Cirrus Logic and Analog Devices (ADI) have started to book production capacity for the rumored iPhone 7 at their foundry and backend partners, according to DigiTimes. iPhone 7 production is expected to ramp up in the second and third quarters, ahead of the smartphone's launch in September.

Cirrus Logic is notable given that Barclays analysts believe the iPhone 7 will have dual speakers supplied by the Austin-based company. In a research note to investors, Barclays said the second speaker will likely take over the space currently occupied by the 3.5mm headphone jack on current iPhones.

Multiple sources have reported that Apple will remove the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7 in favor of an all-in-one Lightning connector for audio output, charging, and connecting peripherals. The device would also expectedly support Bluetooth headphones, and a digital-to-analog adapter could allow use of non-Lightning wired headphones.

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iPhone 7 mockup with no rear antenna bands and flush camera

Meanwhile, at least one iPhone 7 or 7 Plus model is expected to have a dual-lens camera system, with driver components supplied by ADI, the report claims. The dual-lens hardware could be based on LinX technology, which could lead to brighter and clearer DSLR-quality photos and several other major advantages.

LinX's multi-aperture cameras pack impressive image quality in a smaller size than single-aperture cameras, meaning the iPhone 7 Plus could also lack a protruding camera lens. A flush camera would allow the iPhone 7 to lay flat on a table, like older-generation iPhones, and it would contribute to a slimmer iPhone design.

The report also corroborates rumors claiming Apple will move away from Samsung and source most or all of its A10 chips for the iPhone 7 from its longtime Taiwanese supplier TSMC. The foundry has reportedly been aggressively expanding its 16nm FinFET production capacity and expects to begin volume production of chips based on its integrated fan-out (InFO) technology in the second quarter.

In late September, hardware teardowns showed the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus use different-sized A9 chips from Samsung and TSMC. Samsung's 14-nanometer chip measures in at 96 square millimeters, while TSMC's 16-nanometer chip has a size of 104.5 square millimeters.

The difference between the chips is small in size, but early benchmarks found TSMC's A9 chip outperformed Samsung's in battery life by up to 22 percent. Apple later stated there is only 2-3 percent variance in "real world" battery life between the chips, which shortly after was proven by controlled battery life tests.

Other rumors claim the iPhone 7 could have a fully waterproof design, no rear antenna bands, and wireless charging if readied in time.

Related Forum: iPhone

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with EditorsKeys, a company that makes a range of keyboard covers that are designed to display all of the shortcuts to professional-level photo, video, design, and audio editing software. We're giving away 25 keyboard editing skins.

Each soft, ultra-thin silicone cover fits over the keyboard of an iMac, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air and overlays each key with its related shortcut for quicker, simpler editing. Covers are available for a range of software, including Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Photoshop, and Logic Pro X, and they are priced affordably at $30.

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The skins are perfect for people who often use complex editing software but need help remembering all of the different shortcuts available. While the feel of the keys will be softer due to the silicone covering, the skins are thin enough that they won't affect typing speed or accuracy. As an added bonus, they'll protect your keyboard from dirt, dust, and spills.

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Skins work with the 13 and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, the 13-inch MacBook Air, and older MacBook models including the 13 and 15-inch standard MacBooks and the 13-inch MacBook. They also work with the iMac Wireless Keyboard, but are not compatible with the new Magic Keyboard.

MacRumors readers can enter to win a silicone keyboard cover of their choice for one of the following Mac apps:

MacRumors readers who do not use any of the above listed software can win a clear keyboard skin for the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac. To enter to win the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize.

You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.

The contest will run from today (February 19) at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on February 26. The winners will be chosen randomly on February 26 and will be contacted by email. The winners have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen. The prizes will be shipped to the winners for free.

Apple has extended its MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues until December 31, 2016, or four years from its original date of sale, according to a recently updated support document on its website. The program was previously set to expire next week, on February 27, 2016, or three years from the original date of sale.

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Apple launched the repair program exactly one year ago today to address select 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, sold between February 2011 and February 2013, that have problems with distorted video, no video, or unexpected system restarts. Customers can look up their MacBook Pro model using Apple's "Check Coverage" online tool.

Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will continue to repair affected MacBook Pro models at no charge, and customers who already paid for an authorized repair can contact Apple to arrange reimbursement. Customers can bring their MacBook Pro to an Apple Store or AASP, or mail the notebook to a local Apple Repair Center.

MacBook Pro video issues impacted a significant number of customers, prompting a class-action lawsuit against against Apple and an online petition with over 40,000 signatures. Affected MacBook Pro models often have visual banding or malfunctions on the screen, particularly when users are watching HD videos or using CPU-intensive software like the Adobe Creative Suite or Final Cut Pro.

The issues stem from defective Nvidia and AMD GPUs that do not function correctly because of lead-free soldering that causes short circuiting and other problems, according to legal documents. Apple has since launched a similar repair program for late 2013 Mac Pro video issues, which are also related to AMD GPUs. The symptoms are nearly identical, including distorted video and system instability.

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Related Forum: MacBook Pro