Ahead of the official launch of Single Sign-on on tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 later this month, Apple has added a new App Store section (via reddit) with apps that support the feature for beta testers. The apps are categorized by supported TV providers, including DirecTV, Dish, Sling TV, Hotwire, and GVTC.
If you are a Dish Network satellite TV subscriber, for example, you can sign in once with your Dish username and password to start using any of the following apps, among others: Watch Cooking Channel, Watch DIY, Watch Travel Channel, Hallmark Channel Everywhere, and Watch Food Network.
When you open an app that supports Single Sign-on on iOS 10.2 beta, a pop-up alert asks if you "want to allow XYZ to use your sign in credentials," according to beta testers. If you decline, the app lets you sign in and authenticate with a provider-specific username and password as usual.
On a fourth-generation Apple TV running tvOS 10.1 beta, Single Sign-on can be accessed by opening the Settings app and navigating to Accounts > TV Provider. On an iPhone or iPad running iOS 10.2 beta, Single Sign-on can be accessed by opening the Settings app and tapping on the TV Provider section.
Single Sign-on will be available on tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 in December upon completion of beta testing, enabling U.S. customers to sign in once with their cable TV credentials to access all live cable content available through their cable TV subscription, even when it is spread across multiple apps.
Apple has announced it will be opening a new retail store at Vanke Mall in Qibao, an ancient town and popular tourist destination in the suburbs of Shanghai, China, on Saturday, December 10 at 10:00 a.m. local time. The location will become Apple's seventh retail store in Shanghai and its 489th store overall.
Apple is closing in on 500 retail stores worldwide following the grand openings of its Marché Saint-Germain location in Paris, France and Zhujiang New Town location in Guangzhou, China earlier this month. Apple has opened 20 new retail stores in 2016, excluding the upcoming Shanghai location.
Sales related to virtual reality and augmented reality products "have been weaker than expected," according to data collected by a number of market research firms and shared by DigiTimes.
A lack of content and expensive prices, specifically for VR headsets, are two factors said to be at the center of the weak demand for the technology as 2016 closes out. The results could potentially have a negative effect on companies investing in VR and AR technology development, including Apple.
The market watchers noted that Sony's PSVR, Google's Daydream View, HTC's Vive, Samsung Electronics' Gear VR, and the Oculus Rift all ended up with sales figures weaker than their initial expectations. Coming out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday last week, the research firm SuperData noted that VR headsets have been "the biggest loser" this holiday season.
Because of the slower-than-expected consumer adoption of each technology, companies rumored to be investing in VR and AR products are believed to be feeling "pressured" about such investments. Specifically, HTC was noted as "seeing decreasing share in the worldwide smartphone market" while waiting for its Vive headset to contribute profits.
Many research firms' numbers also have shown that VR product sales in 2016 have been weaker than expected due to lack of content and high product costs. VR/AR technologies also require more improvement in order to stimulate demand from both the consumer and enterprise sectors.
It will take more time before the VR/AR market may begin enjoying robust growth, and such a slower-than-expected development is putting pressure on firms that have invested resources into related development, such as HTC, which is seeing decreasing share in the worldwide smartphone market while its Vive has yet to start contributing profits. The year of 2017 could be a difficult one for HTC.
Although Apple's relation to such technology has leaned more towards an AR experience -- most recently suggesting a feature that would be integrated into the iOS camera app -- the company has been rumored to be developing a full-on VR headset as well. If included in pre-existing apps within iOS, an augmented reality experience by Apple would be less risky for it to undertake, but some rumors also point towards a separate product category coming down the line.
It's unclear when Apple's decade-long investment in VR/AR development might come to fruition in a consumer product, but some basic AR experiences have already proven popular on the company's devices, including this summer's gaming phenomenon Pokémon Go.
Apple has been criticized in South Korea for its mobile app refund policy which game developers say removes them from the process and is regularly being abused.
Apple controls the App Store payment refund process for paid-for apps and determines whether to give refunds to consumers. According to The Korea Times, because Apple does not provide information about who has been issued a refund, developers have no other choice but to manually track down users and check if they continue to use the charged content they have already received the refunds for.
Apple says it does not provide information about users who have requested a refund in order to protect consumer rights. But some users have reportedly abused the loophole in Apple's refund policy to purchase charged content multiple times, request refunds and continue to consume the content without actually paying for it. According to The Korea Times, some of the abusers even run profitable businesses to operate the refund process on others' behalf.
Mobile game companies in the country are said to be taking their own measures to counteract Apple, which has so far remained silent on the issue. Korean game development studio Flint said it had independently tracked down 300 users who they suspected of abusing the App Store refund policy, and pledged to "root out the abusers" by requesting judicial authorities for an investigation.
Next Floor, distributor of Korean game Destiny Child, also complained about the difficulties in dealing with abusers without Apple's help.
"We are regulating those who abuse the payment process and damage other users under our management policy," the company said. "Unlike other application stores, Apple does not provide refund information to the game companies and we are having difficulties in promptly counteracting the problem."
Mobile game studio Nexon and Longtu Korea said it had asked Apple for the lists of users who requested refunds several times, but the company did not respond. "I cannot understand Apple's policy in that it does not provide the list of people who abuse the system even when it is already causing problems in the market," said a source from the studio.
By contrast, Google's app store refund policy states that users can receive refunds on charged mobile content only once if they request it within two hours after payment.
A subset of users who purchased a new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar claim to be experiencing shorter than expected battery life.
In particular, some users claim to be getting as little as 3 to 6 hours of battery life on a single charge, or between 30% and 60% of the up to 10 hours advertised.
Currently I'm powering a 1080p external monitor and casually browsing with Chrome. At full charge, I'm getting an estimate of 3 hours battery life. With gaming it's even less.
I bought a maxed out 13-inch Touch Bar model and I've been using it for about a week. With light use, I've been consistently getting around 5-6.5 hours when mainly browsing. Apple claims 10 hours wireless web but my battery has never lasted this long.
Reddit user Azr-79 yesterday claimed his new base model 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar received only 3 hours and 45 minutes of battery life on a single charge, despite what he described as "normal usage" in the form of web browsing, watching YouTube videos, and software development.
MacRumors forum member Scott claimed he experienced a 5 percentage point drop in battery life, from 10% to 5%, in just 12 minutes. Google Chrome, a known battery hog, was listed as the only app drawing significant power. The discussion topic he posted in and others are littered with similar claims of sizeable percentage drops in mere minutes.
Other claims on Reddit include anywhere from 3 hours to 5 hours to 6 hours — sometimes more, and sometimes less.
Conversely, some users report battery life exactly in line with Apple's advertised figures. Reddit user Andrew J., for example, said he was working on non-intensive tasks on his new MacBook Pro for 90 straight minutes, and still had 92% battery life with an estimated 10 hours and 35 minutes of usage remaining.
I've been working non-stop for the past 1.5 hours, back and forth between emails, Safari, Calendar, Messages, organizing files, editing some PDFs in Adobe Acrobat DC, and building a financial model in Excel. I started at 100% and am now at 92% battery, with an estimated 10 hours 35 minutes remaining. If you're not getting this kind of battery life on your MBP you should definitely get it checked out.
Estimates unsurprisingly vary widely based on screen brightness, background processes, and other factors, so user reports are only anecdotal evidence and your mileage may vary. It is also important to note battery life could be initially reduced until Spotlight finishes indexing your new MacBook Pro.
Battery life complaints are nothing new following the launch of a new Apple product. However, some users speculate battery life could be impacted by the new MacBook Pro switching from more efficient integrated Intel graphics to the power-hungrier dedicated AMD Radeon Pro GPU for unnecessary tasks.
Once again, however, there are always claims to suggest otherwise. Reddit user Lebron Hubbard claims he received 5 hours and 48 minutes of battery life on his high-end built-to-order 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar when forcing only the dedicated AMD Radeon Pro 460 graphics to run using gfxCardStatus:
Even though the dGPU rarely kicks in for day to day stuff, the Radeon Pro 460 seems really efficient for small tasks. 5:48 is nothing to scoff at for dGPU only, and it runs very cool and quiet.
Apple's built-in Activity Monitor and third-party app coconutBattery are useful tools for tracking system processes and detailed battery information.
Apple officially says the new MacBook Pro is rated for up to 10 hours of battery life. Specifically, its tech specs page says all new 13-inch and 15-inch models are capable of up to 10 hours of wireless web browsing, up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback, and up to 30 days of standby time on a single charge.
TechCrunch placed battery life at 9 hours and 35 minutes for the 13-inch model. Mashable said 10 hours is a fair estimate overall. The Wall Street Journal got 9.5 hours on the 13-inch model. Engadget gauged between 9 and 10 hours of video playback on the 15-inch model. Nilay Patel got 5.5 hours on the 13" in real-world use.
Apple explains how it performs its battery tests on its website:
The wireless web test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing 25 popular websites with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%. The iTunes movie playback test measures battery life by playing back HD 1080p content with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%. The standby test measures battery life by allowing a system, connected to a wireless network and signed in to an iCloud account, to enter standby mode with Safari and Mail applications launched and all system settings left at default.
Apple's website also provides tips for maximizing battery life on the MacBook Pro, including updating to the latest version of macOS, optimizing Energy Saver settings in System Preferences, dimming the screen's brightness to the lowest comfortable level, and turning off Wi-Fi while not connected to a network.
Additional battery optimization advice provided by users includes performing a fresh install of macOS Sierra and resetting the SMC.
Google this week began rolling out the latest update to its desktop Chrome web browser ahead of schedule, with Chrome 55 fixing multiple security vulnerabilities and defaulting to HTML5 on the majority of websites.
Google Chrome has been phasing out Flash support since September, when version 53 of the browser started blocking Flash-based page analytics and background elements. Version 54 brought a YouTube code rewrite that forced YouTube Flash players to switch to HTML5.
Chrome 55 brings the most visible move away from Flash by defaulting to HTML5 across the board. Users are now prompted to enable Flash when they visit sites that still use it, exempting 10 of the most popular sites on the web, including Facebook and Amazon.
Chrome 55.0.2883.75 for Mac contains a number of other fixes and improvements, including 26 patches identified by external researchers as part of Google's bug bounty program, and another 10 security fixes implemented by Google itself. The addition of CSS automatic hyphenation means Chrome can now hyphenate words when line-wrapping, which improves the visual appearance of text blocks.
Chrome 55 should be available to download for most Mac users now. Existing users can update by selecting Chrome -> Preferences via the menu bar and clicking the About section. Users downloading Chrome for the first time will automatically receive the updated version from the Chrome download page. An update for the iOS browser app is expected soon.
Last week, Apple wrote a letter to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration telling it that "new entrants" to the auto industry should get the same rights as the established companies in the industry, reportsVentureBeat. In the letter, Apple admits to its interest in "machine learning and automation" as it pertains to transportation.
Apple uses machine learning to make its products and services smarter, more intuitive, and more personal. The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation.
Apple points out that established car manufacturers do not have to pursue exemptions to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards when attempting to test cars on public roads due to the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. New entrants in the auto industry, like Google and others, are not granted the same right under the FAST Act.
The Cupertino company argues that the best way to maximize safety benefits for autonomous vehicles, ensure fair competition and encourage innovation is for the NHTSA to amend policy to state that seeking exemptions isn't necessary for internal development vehicles on public roads.
The other half of the letter, which is dated November 22, addresses the Federal Automated Vehicles policy and a proposed data sharing program. "Apple agrees that companies should share de-identified scenario and dynamics data from crashes and near-misses," the letter says. "Data should be sufficient to reconstruct the event, including time-series of vehicle kinematics and characteristics of the roadway and objects." Apple also points out that data sharing should not come at the expense of privacy, and that companies should invest resources to protect the "individuals' fundamental right to privacy."
In October, it was reported that Apple was abandoning its car plans "for now." After numerous layoffs and reassignments, the remaining members of the Apple Car team were said to be focusing on autonomous systems. Dozens of employees are also working on a car operating system in Canada. The letter was signed by Apple VP of Product Integrity Steve Kenner, who used to be Ford's Global Director of Automotive Safety. It's not known when Kenner joined Apple, as his LinkedIn still lists Ford as his employer.
Update: Apple issued a statement to Financial Times confirming the letter and Apple's interest in helping to define rules for self-driving vehicles.
“We’ve provided comments to NHTSA because Apple is investing heavily in machine learning and autonomous systems,” the Apple spokesman said. “There are many potential applications for these technologies, including the future of transportation, so we want to work with NHTSA to help define the best practices for the industry.”
Apple this evening updated its executive profiles page to remove Paul Deneve, suggesting he may no longer be with the company or has left the executive team. Hired in 2013, Paul Deneve served as Apple's vice president of special projects, reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Paul Deneve came to Apple from luxury fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, where he served as CEO. Deneve, who joined Apple as it was working on the Apple Watch, also worked at several other luxury fashion labels like Courreges, Nina Ricci, and Lanvin.
Paul Deneve's executive profile, which has now been removed from Apple's website.
During his time at Apple, Deneve has had a hand in marketing the Apple Watch. He was involved in projects like the massive floral window installation at Selfridges, and worked alongside Apple's head of retail Angela Ahrendts getting the Apple Watch in high-end boutiques around the world.
Deneve's LinkedIn page continues to list him as a vice president at Apple.
Update: According to Apple, Paul Deneve is still at the company, but is now reporting to Jeff Williams instead of Tim Cook.
Since new MacBook Pro models launched last month, an increasing number of early adopters have reported serious graphics issues on Apple's latest notebooks. The glitches and other problems appear to be most prevalent on built-to-order 15-inch models, but standard 13-inch and 15-inch configurations are also affected.
MacRumors reader Jan Becker, for example, said the graphics began to glitch on his new high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro, equipped with built-to-order AMD Radeon Pro 460 graphics, while transcoding video with Adobe Media Encoder in Premiere Pro. The notebook subsequently crashed.
Becker claims when he took his MacBook Pro to an Apple retail store to be replaced, an employee said the graphics issues are likely a hardware problem. He later claimed he received a phone call from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, where it allegedly has a team of engineers looking into the issues.
Apple called me from Cupertino. They put together a group of engineers to get to the root of this. I re-created the incident while I was on the phone with them and sent them the log files of the crash. They also want to "capture" my MacBook Pro with all the files on it to investigate more.
The most common symptoms reported by users include brightly colored flickering, full-screen checkerboard patterns, screen tearing, and other visual artifacts. Affected systems may subsequently experience unresponsiveness or a kernel panic, sometimes resulting in the MacBook Pro crashing.
15-inch MacBook Pro with AMD Radeon Pro 460 graphics with full-screen visual artifacts
The high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and built-to-order AMD Radeon Pro 460 graphics appears to be most commonly afflicted, but several users have reported similar issues on 15-inch models equipped with standard AMD Radeon Pro 450 or AMD Radeon Pro 455 GPUs as well.
MacRumors reader Jayselle recorded his 15-inch MacBook Pro with AMD Radeon Pro 455 graphics flickering while connected to two external LG displays.
It is not entirely clear if the issues are a hardware or software problem. The graphics appear to act up most when users are completing intensive tasks, such as transcoding video with Adobe Media Encoder, syncing large photo libraries with Photos, or using other Adobe apps such as Photoshop and Lightroom.
It would initially seem the issue is limited to 15-inch MacBook Pro models with dedicated AMD graphics, but there are a few isolated reports of graphics issues on 13-inch models with integrated Intel Iris 540 and Intel Iris 550 graphics — including the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a standard row of function keys.
Separately, a number of users are reporting brief glitches during the boot up process on new MacBook Pro models, particularly along the bottom of the screen. It appears this issue is related to FileVault 2 startup disk encryption, as the glitches go away for many of these users once the feature is disabled.
As insurance, Apple's extended holiday return policy is currently in effect. MacBook Pros purchased or delivered between November 10 and December 25 are eligible for return until January 8, 2017 in the United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, and select other countries.
Select 2011-2013 MacBook Pro models have exhibited similar graphics issues in the past, including distorted video, no video, or unexpected system restarts. Apple accordingly launched a Repair Extension Program offering free repairs and refunds, but not before facing a class action lawsuit over the matter.
Apple appears to be aware of and is investigating these latest graphics issues, but it has yet to publicly comment on the matter. Apple been actively exchanging MacBook Pros for affected customers, according to users. Schedule a Genius Bar appointment or contact Apple Support to facilitate this process.
Both AT&T and Verizon offer apps and streaming services that don't count against the data cap they impose on customers, a practice that the United States Federal Communications Commission does not approve of.
The FCC this week sent letters (via The Verge) to both Verizon and AT&T, claiming that the data cap exemptions, called "zero rating," raise net neutrality concerns and could impact consumers and competition.
AT&T and Verizon each offer programs that allow content providers to pay a fee to be exempted from customer data caps, programs that they themselves take advantage of with their own apps and services.
DirecTV Now, AT&T's recently introduced streaming television service, does not use data when streamed on the AT&T network, for example. DirecTV Now pays for the data, but as an AT&T subsidiary, AT&T is just paying itself. Verizon, meanwhile, exempts its own Go90 streaming service from using data on the Verizon network and does not pay fees to do so.
The FCC first sent a warning to AT&T in early November, but was not pleased with the response it received from the company. In this week's letter, the FCC says that it has come to the "preliminary" conclusion that the Sponsored Data program inhibits competition, harms consumers, and violates Open Internet rules. It asks AT&T to answer a series of questions about its Sponsored Data practices.
We find that those responses fail to alleviate the serious concerns expressed in our November 9 letter regarding the potential anti-competitive impacts of a wholesale Sponsored Data program for zero-rated mobile video services. Indeed, your submission tends to confirm our initial view that the Sponsored Data program strongly favors AT&T's own video offerings while unreasonably discriminating against unaffiliated edge providers and limiting their ability to offer competing video services to AT&T's broadband subscribers on a level playing field.
A similar letter sent to Verizon expresses concern over the "FreeBee Data 360" program and says it has the potential to "hinder competition and harm consumers" because Verizon does not need to pay to participate in the Sponsored Data program when it exempts its own app, but competing content providers do.
The position that the participation of Go90 in FreeBee Data 360 is the same as that of third parties, however, fails to take account of the notably different financial impact on unaffiliated edge providers. For example, while there is no cash cost on a consolidated basis for Verizon to zero-rate its own affiliated edge service, an unaffiliated edge provider's FreeBee Data 360 payment to Verizon is a true cash cost that could be significant.
AT&T and Verizon have responded to the letters sent by the FCC in statements given to the media. AT&T says the government should not take away a service that's saving customers money, while Verizon says its practices are good for consumers, non-discriminatory, and consistent with the rules.
The two carriers have been given a December 15 deadline to respond to the FCC's concerns.
Apple today updated its Apple Store app for iOS to version 4.1, adding support for rich notifications and expanding the functionality of the Apple Store app on the Apple Watch.
Rich notifications, available in iOS 10, deliver more information than a standard notification and in many cases, are interactive, so you can do more without having to unlock your phone.
In addition to supporting iOS 10's new notification system, the Apple Store app for Apple Watch has been updated with a new feature that allows customers to make one-tap purchases from their "Favorites" list.
Items added to the Favorites list on iOS or the web will be visible on the Apple Watch and can be purchased by tapping on them on the Apple Watch. Apple Pay is used to make the purchase, so a device with Apple Pay and an available credit or debit card is required.
According to Apple's release notes, today's update also includes unspecified improvements and performance enhancements.
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming iOS 10.2 update to developers and public beta testers, four days after seeding the fourth beta of iOS 10.2 and more than a month after releasing iOS 10.1, the first major update to iOS 10.
Registered developers can download the iOS 10.2 beta 5 from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air with the proper configuration profile installed.
iOS 10.2 introduces new emoji, such as clown face, drooling face, selfie, face palm, fox face, owl, shark, butterfly, avocado, pancakes, croissant, and more. There are more than a hundred new emoji, including several profession emoji available in both male and female genders, such as firefighter, mechanic, lawyer, doctor, scientist, and more. Apple has also redesigned many existing emoji, adding more detail to make them look much more realistic.
Along with new emoji, iOS 10.2 includes new wallpaper, new Music sorting options and buttons for Repeat and Shuffle, new "Celebrate" and "Send with Love" Screen Effects, an option for preserving camera settings, Single-Sign On support for watching live TV via apps, and the official "TV" app that was first introduced at Apple's October 27 event.
The TV app serves as an Apple-designed TV guide that aims to simplify the television watching experience and allow users to discover new TV shows and movies to watch.
The TV app is available on iOS devices and the Apple TV, and in iOS 10.2, the "Videos" app has been replaced entirely with the new "TV" app, which will now serve as the iOS TV and movie hub.
Apple has called iOS 10 its "biggest release ever" for iOS users, with a revamped lock screen, a Siri SDK for developers, an overhauled Messages app, a dedicated "Home" app for HomeKit users, new facial and object recognition capabilities in Photos, and redesigned Maps and Apple Music apps.
We found that a small number of iPhone 6s devices made in September and October 2015 contained a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs. As a result, these batteries degrade faster than a normal battery and cause unexpected shutdowns to occur. It's important to note, this is not a safety issue.
Apple added that iPhones are designed to shut down automatically under certain conditions, such as extremely cold temperature. In this case, some iPhone 6s models are shutting down with around 30% battery percentage remaining to protect the device's internal components from low voltage.
Apple said it has investigated other factors that could potentially cause an iPhone to shut down unexpectedly, but it has not identified any new factors. Nevertheless, the company said it will continue to monitor and analyze customer reports. Apple reiterated the battery issues are not a safety concern.
Apple launched a repair program earlier this month offering free battery replacements for affected iPhone 6s models. These devices fall within a limited serial number range manufactured between September 2015 and October 2015. Apple has since launched a tool to check if your serial number is affected.
Apple is also offering refunds to customers who previously paid to have their eligible iPhone 6s battery repaired or replaced. Apple recommends customers experiencing iPhone 6s battery issues visit an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or contact Apple Support.
Apple is set to change its pricing from U.S. dollars to local currencies for apps and in-app purchases in nine different countries later this month.
Beginning in the next few weeks, developers will be paid in the local currency for sales in the following countries: Egypt (Egyptian Pound), Kazakhstan (Kazakhstani Tenge), Malaysia (Malaysian Ringgit), Nigeria (Nigerian Naira), Pakistan (Pakistani Rupee), Philippines (Philippine Peso), Qatar (Qatari Riyal), Tanzania (Tanzanian Shilling) and Vietnam (Vietnamese Dong).
Apple has displayed pricing in U.S. dollars across several regions for a while now, but the change to local currencies should make App Store browsing easier for customers in their respective countries.
Apple notified developers of the currency change and assured them that any auto-renewable subscriptions they offer in the affected regions would not be interrupted.
A former senior Foxconn manager was recently indicted for stealing 5,700 iPhones in China to pocket around $1.56 million. Factoring in his accomplices, the entire scheme made $2.2 million between 2013 and 2014 by stealing only the iPhones which were supposed to be scrapped on the manufacturing line, and selling them to various shops in China, according to a report by Asia One (via Business Insider).
The ringleader, identified only by his family name Tsai, was reported as having instructed eight other employees to smuggle out thousands of iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s devices in order to sell them illegally. The operation was caught during an internal audit of the Shenzhen-based Foxconn factory, and Tsai was arrested this year for running the operation, and then released on bail.
Tsai has now been charged with breach of trust and faces a maximum of ten years as a jail sentence if found guilty. It wasn't made clear when the final verdict on the matter will be reached.
Tsai and his accomplices sold the testing phones, which were supposed to be scrapped, to stores in Shenzhen and made nearly Tw$50 million (S$2.2 million) from 2013 to 2014, said the New Taipei district prosecutor's office. Foxconn reported the case to Taiwanese authorities following an internal audit and Tsai was questioned after he returned to the island earlier this year and was released on bail.
In August, it was reported that Foxconn's profits had declined 31 percent in the second quarter of 2016, affected by the iPhone sales slump Apple faced at the same time this year. For the entire quarter, Foxconn made 17.7 billion New Taiwan dollars, down from NT$25.7 billion a year prior.
In the meantime, Apple today added the smaller 13-inch MacBook Pro from early 2011 to the list. The notebook is classified as "vintage" in California and Turkey, and "obsolete" in the rest of the United States and world.
The early 2011 13-inch MacBook Pro is no longer eligible for hardware service or new parts from Apple or Apple Authorized Service Providers, except in Turkey and California, where Apple will continue to provide repairs and documentation for up to two years, or roughly December 2018 in this case, as required by local statutes.
Meanwhile, the iMac (20-inch, Early 2009) and iMac (24-inch, Early 2009) are now considered fully obsolete worldwide. This means the pair of iMacs have lost their "vintage" status in California and Turkey, and are no longer eligible for hardware service or new parts from Apple or Apple Authorized Service Providers anywhere.
Vintage products are those that have not been manufactured by Apple for between five and seven years. Obsolete products are those that were discontinued by Apple more than seven years ago. Apple and Authorized Service Providers make no distinction between obsolete and vintage products outside of California and Turkey.
Analysts at financial firm Oppenheimer today added to the pile of criticisms aimed at Apple and its current, and future, state of innovation within the technology industry. In a recently published note (via Business Insider), the firm addressed a few "strategic issues" it currently has with Apple, as well as concern for the future trajectory of the company.
In the near-future, Oppenheimer believes that iPhone sales will peak, specifically in 2018, and that "the company lacks the ability to raise prices across its iPhones, iPads and Mac products," which is hurting its growth. The firm also described a disharmony between "Apple's primary role as 'the hardware platform' ... with its secondary role as 'the software and service provider.'"
"We believe Apple lacks the courage to lead the next generation of innovation (AI, cloud-based services, messaging); instead will become more reliant than ever on the iPhone ... We believe Apple is about to embark on a decade-long malaise. The risks to the company have never been greater."
While the "Apple is doomed" mindset has been prevalent for much of the company's lifespan, the "universe of negativity" surrounding the company became more noticeable throughout 2016. In April, Apple reported its first year-over-year decline in iPhone sales and quarterly revenue since 2003, and although initial shipments of the new Touch Bar MacBook Pro models were reported as strong, subsequent user experiences have largely varied between positive and negative opinions.
In October, Apple forecasted a return to growth for the last half of 2016 thanks to the holiday shopping season, potentially putting an end to the company's downturn after its first annual revenue decline since 2001 and three consecutive quarters of negative growth. The constant bright spots in Apple's revenue remain its services category, including the App Store, iCloud, and Apple Music.
Google issued an update to its YouTube app for iOS this week that adds a progress bar to the thumbnails of previously watched videos, allowing users to resume playback from where they left off.
Ever have trouble remembering if you've seen a video or how far you made it through the video? We have added a progress bar to all previously watched thumbnails that lets you know how far you made it through the video. Partially watched videos will resume from where you left off.
The version 11.45 progress bar update follows a recent redesign of the YouTube app which also brought in-app video editing tools to make videos.
Sales related to virtual reality and augmented reality products "have been weaker than expected," according to data collected by a number of market research firms and shared by 
Last week, Apple 
Apple today updated its Apple Store app for iOS to version 4.1, adding support for rich notifications and expanding the functionality of the Apple Store app on the Apple Watch.
Earlier this week, we reported on Apple's plans to add 
