MacRumors

Schematics featuring the dual-camera 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus or "Pro" that's set to launch in the fall of 2016 have been published in the June issue of Japanese magazine MacFan, reiterating many of the design details that have been previously rumored for the device.

Japanese site Mac Otakara has shared images taken from MacFan, which seemingly confirm rumors that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will use largely the same design as the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

The schematic focuses solely on the 5.5-inch model, which MacFan says will measure in at 158.22mm x 77.94mm x 7.3mm, identical to the dimensions of the iPhone 6s Plus.

While this agrees with a previous Mac Otakara rumor suggesting the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will not be significantly thinner, it does disagree with other rumors (including one from Ming-Chi Kuo) that have pointed towards a thinner chassis that approaches the thinness of the 6.1mm iPod touch. While it is not yet clear which design rumor will prevail, the most recent rumors are converging around a thicker body.

Also depicted in the schematic is the dual camera setup that's rumored for the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, a Smart Connector, and the absence of a headphone jack. Apple is planning to remove the headphone jack in its 2016 devices, with headphones instead connecting via Lightning or Bluetooth. Though some rumors have suggested the iPhone 7 will include stereo speakers, the design drawing features a single speaker. No other significant details are included in the MacFan drawing.

In the past, MacFan has offered up accurate information about Apple's devices, sharing design details of the iPhone 6/6 Plus and 12.9-inch iPad Pro ahead of launch. While largely accurate because its schematics often focus on previously available rumors, MacFan does not always provide a reliable picture of exact dimensions, predicting a 12.2-inch size for the iPad Pro and a 6.7mm thickness for the iPhone 6 Plus, so some of the detail on thickness could be inaccurate.

Apple is expected to debut the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in the fall of 2016.

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.5 El Capitan update to developers and public beta testers, one week after releasing the second OS X 10.11.5 beta and a month after releasing OS X 10.11.4, the fourth update to the OS X El Capitan operating system. OS X 10.11.5 has been in testing since April 6.

OS X 10.11.5 beta 3 has a build number of 15F28b and can be downloaded through the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Apple Developer Center (for developers).

OS X 10.11.5, like prior OS X El Capitan updates, appears to focus on security enhancements, performance improvements, and bug fixes to address issues that have popped up since the release of OS X 10.11.4. No obvious outward-facing changes were discovered in the first two OS X 10.11.5 betas, but we'll update this post if any new features are found in the third beta.

Apple today released the third beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3.2 update to public beta testers, one day after seeding the third iOS 9.3.2 beta to developers. iOS 9.3.2 comes more than a month after the release of iOS 9.3, a major update that introduced Night Shift mode and other new features. iOS 9.3.2 has been in testing since April 6.

Beta testers who are taking part in Apple's best testing program will receive the iOS 9.3.2 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.

Those who would like to participate in Apple's beta testing program can sign up through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas.

As a minor 9.x.x update, iOS 9.3.2 appears to focus on performance improvements and under-the-hood bug fixes to address issues discovered following the release of iOS 9.3. We don't know all of the fixes that will be included in the update, but a significant Game Center bug appears to have been fixed.

iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 also re-introduced a much desired feature -- the ability to use Low Power Mode and Night Shift simultaneously for power saving features combined with blue light reduction.

No other outward-facing changes or immediately apparent bug fixes have been discovered in the first three developer betas.

The latest data from research firm IDC reveals that Apple's smartphone market share dropped to 15.3 percent in the March quarter as the worldwide smartphone market fell nearly flat during the first three months of 2016.

Apple yesterday reported iPhone sales of 51.2 million during the three-month period ending March 26, compared to 61.2 million units and 18.3 percent market share in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, overall smartphone shipments totaled 334.9 million during the quarter, a year-over-year increase of only 500,000 units.

Despite the plethora of new features found on the newer "S" models, current iPhone 6/6 Plus owners may feel that a 6S upgrade may not be warranted at the moment. Apple also announced the new iPhone SE, which looks to challenge similarly priced Android options in numerous emerging markets where Apple has traditionally been seen as too expensive.

Samsung continued to lead the market with 81.9 million smartphones shipped for 24.5 percent market share, down only slightly from 24.6 percent in the year-ago quarter. Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo rounded off the top five smartphone makers in the quarter as Chinese vendors continue to churn the top of the charts.

Huawei, which manufactures Google's popular Android-based Nexus 6P smartphone, shipped 27.5 million handsets during the quarter for 8.2 percent market share as it attempts to compete with Apple and Samsung in the U.S. market and other regions beyond China. Its market share was 5.2 percent one year ago.

OPPO and Vivo, meanwhile, pushed out Lenovo and Xiaomi respectively for the fourth and fifth spots on the top smartphone vendors list.

Apple hasn't divulged sales numbers for the recently released iPhone SE, but during today's second quarter earnings call, company executives said that demand for the device was "very strong" and higher than expected.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the iPhone SE puts Apple in a strategic plan to attract new customers with its affordable price point and powerful internal specifications. Cook says Apple is working hard to meet demand and improve shipping times for the device.

We're thrilled with the response that we've seen on it. It is clear that there is a demand there even much beyond what we thought. That is really why we have the constraint that we have.

Since its release, the iPhone SE has been in short supply despite reports of lackluster sales. For the past several weeks, new iPhone SE orders have listed expected delivery times of two to three weeks, suggesting Apple has not yet been able to meet demand for the device.

Priced attractively at $399 for the entry-level 16GB model, the iPhone SE adopted the external design of the iPhone 5s with parts sourced from later iPhone models like the iPhone 6 and the 6s. The result is a 4-inch iPhone that is on par performance wise with Apple's current flagship devices.

Positive news about the iPhone SE comes as Apple is reporting its first ever decline in iPhone sales and its first year-over-year decline in revenue in 13 years. During the quarter, Apple sold 51 million iPhones, down from 61 million in Q2 2015. Revenue was at $50.6 billion, down from $58 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Apple's guidance for Q3 2016 suggests it expects the downward trend to continue, with the company forecasting expected revenue of $41-43 billion. In Q3 2015, Apple posted revenue of $49.6 billion.

Apple today announced financial results for the second fiscal quarter (first calendar quarter) of 2016. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $50.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $10.5 billion, or $1.90 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $58 billion and net quarterly profit of $13.6 billion, or $2.33 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. As expected, the year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue was the first for Apple since 2003.

Gross margin for the quarter was 39.4 percent compared to 40.8 percent in the year-ago quarter, with international sales accounting for 67 percent of revenue. Apple also declared an increased quarterly dividend payment of $0.57 per share, up from $0.52. The dividend is payable on May 12 to shareholders of record as of May 9. The company currently holds $233 billion in cash and marketable securities, partially offset by $77 billion in long-term debt.

In addition to the increase in the dividend payment, Apple says it will once again expand its share repurchase authorization by an additional $35 billion to $175 billion and the company says it expects to spend over $250 billion in cash under its capital return program by the end of March 2018.

Apple sold 51.1 million iPhones during the quarter, down from 61.2 million a year earlier, while Mac sales were 4.03 million units, down from from 4.56 million units in the year-ago quarter. iPad sales were also down once again, falling to 10.25 million from 12.6 million.

“Our team executed extremely well in the face of strong macroeconomic headwinds,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from Services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices.”

Apple's guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 includes expected revenue of $41–43 billion and gross margin between 37.5 and 38 percent.

Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q2 2016 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Conference Call and Q&A Highlights are available in reverse chronological order after the jump.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation will keep the method that it used to hack into the iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook a secret, reports The Wall Street Journal. Citing sources with knowledge of the FBI's plans, the report suggests the FBI will tell the White House that an internal government review does not make sense because it "knows so little" about the hacking tool that was employed.

A government review under the U.S. Vulnerabilities Equities Process, which allows federal agencies to determine whether or not critical security flaws should be shared with companies, would potentially lead to an order to disclose the security vulnerability to Apple. Without a review, Apple may not find out how the iPhone was breached.

The decision, and the technical and bureaucratic justification behind it, would likely keep Apple in the dark about whatever security gap exists on certain models of the company's phones, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The Wall Street Journal's report comes following a statement made by FBI Director James Comey at a cybersecurity event in Washington D.C., which was shared by Reuters. According to Comey, the FBI is still in the process of determining whether or not a government review should move forward.

"We are in the midst of trying to sort that out," Comey said. "The threshold (for disclosure) is, are we aware of the vulnerability, or did we just buy a tool and don't have sufficient knowledge of the vulnerability to implicate the process?"

"We are close to a resolution," he added at a cybersecurity event at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Sources that spoke to Reuters say the Vulnerabilities Equities Process is not set up to handle flaws that are discovered and owned by private companies, with Comey's statement suggesting the FBI does not own the method used to hack the iPhone.

To break into Farook's iPhone 5c, the FBI employed the help of "professional hackers," paying upwards of $1.3 million for a tool exploiting a security vulnerability. While Apple would like details on the flaw so a fix can be implemented, the FBI can keep using the vulnerability so long as it remains unpatched.

The FBI has said the method used to break into the iPhone 5c does not work on the iPhone 5s and later, but it can be used to access iPhone 5c devices running iOS 9.

Update 4/27: In a statement shared by The New York Times, the FBI has confirmed that it will not give Apple details on the hacking method used to break into the iPhone.

"The F.B.I. purchased the method from an outside party so that we could unlock the San Bernardino device," Amy S. Hess, executive assistant director for science and technology, said in a statement.

"We did not, however, purchase the rights to technical details about how the method functions, or the nature and extent of any vulnerability upon which the method may rely in order to operate. As a result, currently we do not have enough technical information about any vulnerability that would permit any meaningful review" by the White House examiners, she said.

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