MacRumors

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more on a possible partnership between Energous and WattUp.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Apple has moved to quash rumors that it is interested in purchasing rival music streaming service Tidal, according to BuzzFeed.

Back in June of this year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was "in talks" to acquire Tidal, which has fiercely competed with Apple Music for exclusivity rights to top list artists.

However, pushed on the subject in a forthcoming interview, head of Apple Music Jimmy Iovine told BuzzFeed that "We're really running our own race. We're not looking to acquire any streaming services." Iovine didn't deny that discussions had taken place, but said that no acquisition deal was currently in the works.

Iovine's remarks are the first time anyone from Apple has commented on the alleged talks, which some believed indicated Cupertino's hardened resolve to catch Spotify as the leader in the streaming market. Yesterday, Spotify announced that it now has over 40 million paying subscribers, compared to Apple Music's 17 million as of early September, showing that Spotify is still outpacing Apple's service in terms of growth.

Buying Tidal would have landed Apple Music an additional 4 million subscribers, all things remaining the same.

Theoretically, acquiring the company could have also aided Apple's relationships with some big names in the music industry – Tidal is owned by various artists including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, and Madonna. Back in June, Kanye West suggested the company wanted to partner up with Apple Music to heal the schism between the rival services, which he said was harming the industry.

In March 2015, Jay Z acquired Tidal parent company Aspiro AB for $56 million, but it has struggled to find stability. The company has moved on three chief executives in the last year, and last week it reported a net loss of $28 million for 2015, more than double its losses from the year before.

Apple released a redesigned, more streamlined version of its own streaming service on Tuesday as a part of the new iOS 10 release.

Apple has issued a statement to a number of press outlets including TechCrunch, indicating that all models of the iPhone 7 Plus as well as the Jet Black iPhone 7 have completely sold out ahead of Friday's launch and will not be available at Apple's retail stores. The announcement will help those who had hoped to purchase one of those models on a walk-in basis on Friday plan appropriately.

We couldn’t be happier with the initial response to iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and we are looking forward to beginning sales through our retail stores and partners around the world.

Beginning Friday, limited quantities of iPhone 7 in silver, gold, rose gold, and black will be available for walk-in customers at Apple retail stores. During the online pre-order period, initial quantities of iPhone 7 Plus in all finishes and iPhone 7 in jet black sold out and will not be available for walk-in customers. Availability at partner locations for all finishes may vary and we recommend checking directly with them.

Customers can continue to order all models in all colors on apple.com. We sincerely appreciate our customers’ patience as we work hard to get the new iPhone into the hands of everyone who wants one as quickly as possible.

As Apple notes, it is possible that other retailers may have some stock of these models, but given that Apple prioritizes its own sales channels over other retailers, customers should not count on being able to find them elsewhere.

Apple announced last Thursday that it will not release first-weekend sales numbers for the iPhone 7, and given quickly slipping shipping estimates in Apple's online stores and extreme shortages of in-store stock for launch day, it appears early sales will be heavily constrained by supply rather than any weakness in demand.

In recent weeks, Apple has been sending out surveys to users asking about MacBook Pro features, most notably the headphone jack. A survey question shared by MacRumors reader Blake asks "Do you ever use the headphone port on your MacBook Pro with Retina display?"

There are several other reports on Twitter from users who have been asked similar questions about the headphone jack, suggesting Apple is exploring the removal of the headphone jack in a future version of the MacBook Pro. Apple has eliminated the headphone jack from the iPhone, so it makes sense that the trend will continue for other products.

Apple is also asking users about battery life and other ports, including the SD card slot. One question asked "How do you upload photos from a digital camera or phone to your MacBook Pro with Retina Display?"

Based on a leaked MacBook Pro shell, the upcoming MacBook Pro will include four USB-C ports and a headphone jack, with Apple doing away with all other ports on the machine. If the shell is an actual part, the machine will not include an SD card slot, HDMI port, USB-A port, or a MagSafe connection.

The design of the MacBook Pro that's launching in 2016 has already been finalized ahead of its release, and Apple is likely to continue using the same design for several years going forward, so the removal of the headphone jack is probably not something that MacBook Pro users need to worry about for the foreseeable future.

Rumors suggest Apple will release a redesigned MacBook Pro with a redesigned chassis and an OLED touch panel as early as October.