Similar to the current confusion regarding the release date of Apple's AirPods, a couple of differing launch days for the new wireless BeatsX earphones have begun sprouting up online, leading to uncertainty over when exactly Apple will begin selling the new Beats-branded earphones.
In line with some AirPods rumors, most retailers are placing order dates in December for BeatsX. The new rumors would mean BeatsX will miss the retail rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up this week, but would place the earphones as potentially available for last-minute holiday shopping later in December.
Fry's Electronics has the earphones listed as estimated to ship on December 5, 2016. Users can add the BeatsX to their cart, but pre-orders aren't available yet as checkout can't be completed at the time of writing. The date was originally spotted by a user on Reddit.
Photo, video, and audio electronics retailer B&H also has a date listed for BeatsX, with expected availability of the earphones on December 16. Users can pre-order BeatsX at B&H, although detailed shipping estimates for them are not yet available. At both Fry's and B&H, the BeatsX earphones are listed at the expected price of $149.95.
On Apple's website, the earphones are still simply "coming this fall." As was the case with the AirPods, it's likely that most retailers are using placeholder dates for BeatsX until they receive word on the official launch. Still, since November is nearly over and there's been no word from Apple yet, there is a growing possibility that both AirPods and BeatsX will launch sometime in December, in time for holiday shopping.
The BeatsX earphones were announced during Apple's September 7 iPhone event, along with the Beats Solo3 and Powerbeats3 devices. The new line of Beats headphones have Apple's W1 chip -- also found in the AirPods -- that lets them pair easily with an iPhone. The Powerbeats3 wireless earphones launched in October.
Apple has announced it is opening a third retail store in Paris, France at Marché Saint-Germain on Saturday, December 3 at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Marché Saint-Germain render based on renewal plans
Apple will be one of several new stores opening this month at Marché Saint-Germain, or the St. Germain Market, which has been under construction for several months following a renewal project. The market is centrally located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Apple had been rumored to be a future tenant since 2015.
Apple Marché Saint-Germain will be the company's first new retail store since opening its Via Santa Fe location in Mexico in late September. Apple has two other stores in Paris at the Opéra de Paris and Carrousel du Louvre, along with an Apple Watch boutique at Galeries Lafayette. It will be Apple's 20th store in France.
Update: Apple is also opening a new store at Zhujiang New Town, an area in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, on Thursday, December 1 at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Developer Riley Testut has begun teasing the launch of a new emulator, called "Delta," coming this December in beta form, presumably for iOS devices. On Delta's teaser site, hazy images of controllers for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64 are shown alongside the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color. Testut tweeted out the information for Delta yesterday, while also saying goodbye to his previous emulator GBA4iOS.
Users were able to get GBA4iOS onto their iOS device without jailbreaking it by setting the iPhone's date back to 2012, but even a 2.0 update to the software made it easier to install the emulator and removed that requirement. A built-in web browser allowed users to install and play original Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Game Boy Color ROMs right on their iPhone or iPad. Although the platform has yet to be confirmed, Testut's mention of GBA4iOS alongside the Delta teaser suggests that the new emulator will be for iOS devices.
The new website for Delta doesn't confirm how the emulator will handle downloads yet, but will likely be in a similar vein to Testut's previous software emulators. Responding to a few user questions in the original Twitter thread, Testut mentioned that tvOS support is something he wants, but "there are some technical issues right now standing in the way," so the launch is expected to focus on iOS.
Apple often takes a stringent approach to emulators that appear to download on its devices, but it was Nintendo which filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request against GBA4iOS in 2014, leading to the shut down of that emulator. Similar ends met emulators like iDOS and iMAME in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
iFixit today announced the release of its redesigned Essential Electronics Toolkit, a magnetized case equipped with a variety of tools and screwdriver bits for repairing iPhones and other electronics at home.
Many of the tools are featured in iFixit's iPhone repair guides, including the iFixit Opening Tool, iFixit Opening Picks, and Suction Handle, providing the essentials for do-it-yourself screen repairs and battery swaps.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an Apple patent on Tuesday that shows the company has been researching a foldable iPhone design that uses a flexible OLED display.
First spotted by AppleInsider, a patent titled "Flexible display devices" describes an iPhone design that folds in two when not in use, reminiscent of the old clamshell cellphones Motorola used to make in the 1990s.
Apple's version utilizes a number of flexible parts including an OLED and a hinged metal support structure, made in one example of a nickel and titanium alloy known as nitinol, which has special elastic properties. Flexible polymers are used in alternative embodiments.
Apple envisions that the upper housing could include cameras, display controllers, speaker modules and light sensors, with the lower section of the chassis containing microphones, CPU and graphics processor, along with vibrating and other typical smartphone mechanisms.
The two sections connect via a single- or multi-shaft hinge that allows them to rotate relative to each other, while flexible printed circuit boards keep the connection intact. The flexible display meanwhile runs over the two sections and includes extra material to support two or more folding configurations.
Apart from the the more familiar clamshell folding system, the patent describes how the display could fold outward, allowing both halves of the screen to remain accessible when the phone is closed shut. This second configuration also includes clips for fixing to the user's clothing.
Later in the patent, Apple explores other more elaborate embodiments including a two-hinge design vaguely reminiscent of a Jacob's Ladder toy, and goes on to consider cover glass and viewing angle details.
The patent is more a point of interest rather than an indication that Apple is set to release a foldable phone, however the research could make its way into other products. The technology could be implemented in a large iPad that folds away, for example.
In addition, next year's 10th anniversary "iPhone 8" is expected to include a flexible OLED display, but the traditional overall form factor will most likely remain.
The first wave of European shipments of MacBook Pros with Touch Bars appear to be out for delivery, after several Apple customers across the pond and beyond saw their orders enter the "Preparing for Dispatch" stage over the last 48 hours.
Many MacRumors readers in the EU are reporting notifications of imminent courier deliveries, while a handful of readers in Germany, Sweden, France, and the U.K. claim to have received their new MacBooks early this morning.
The new MacBook Pros sold out quickly, with shipping estimates moving from 2 to 3 weeks to 3 to 4 weeks hours after they went on sale. Current shipping estimates are 3 to 4 weeks. Apple's Phil Schiller said that the company has received more online orders for the new MacBook Pro than any previous model. Slice Intelligence sales estimates suggest the new model has already outsold all competing laptops in 2016.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar starts at $1,799 while the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar starts at $2,399.
European readers interested in tracking their orders and discussing their configurations and shipping status can join our dedicated MacBook Pro pre-order EU shipping thread.
A malicious video link that when played in Safari causes iOS devices to crash has been discovered this morning.
Playing the MP4 video in question through Safari appears to have no effect at first, but gradually the operating system slows down before it freezes completely, after which only a hard reset will bring the device back to life. YouTube channel EverythingApplePro has posted a demonstration (i.e. not the original video) showing the exploit in action.
The bug appears to affect iOS builds as far back as iOS 5, while iPhones running iOS 10.2 beta 3 are said to power off and show the spinning wheel indefinitely.
If you fall victim to the prank, you'll need to hard reboot to get your device working again. According to a Reddit post by user Riddle, currently the top level domains hosting the video appear to be vk.com and testtrial.site90.net, but bear in mind that the video could be hosted on other sites quite easily and that URL shorteners can mask the actual address you're being linked to.
This kind of prank isn't new. Three years ago, a text exploit made the rounds that caused both Mac and iOS devices to crash.
Apple's upcoming iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1 updates will bring a new "TV" app where users will be able to view much of their TV and movie content from across various apps, all centrally located to make it easy to pick up where you left off and receive recommendations on additional content.
The new TV app has been gradually going live on both platforms for U.S. users during the beta testing period, and it works hand-in-hand with a "Single Sign-on" feature that will let subscribers to certain pay TV services authenticate their accounts once on a systemwide basis and receive access to content across all supported apps for which they are eligible.
When the early beta of Single Sign-on began going live earlier this month, there were four supported TV providers, with Dish Network and its Sling TV subsidiary being the most recognizable while small regional services GVTC Communications and Hotwire rounded out the list.
Full support for Single Sign-on will require apps to be updated to recognize the systemwide authentication, but the provider listings have offered a glimpse at which providers are currently on board with the feature.
As of this week, another major provider has joined the Single Sign-on program, with AT&T's DirecTV now appearing in the TV Provider list for authentication. The addition of DirectTV's 20 million U.S. subscribers makes it the biggest provider to support the feature so far, displacing Dish Network and Sling TV.
The addition of DirecTV isn't necessarily a surprise, as Apple had touted "DirecTV, Dish Network, and more" in its press release announcing the new TV app last month, but it's apparently taken DirecTV a few extra weeks to prepare. Still notably absent are the major U.S. cable companies such as Comcast and Charter/Time Warner, and there's no word on if or when those companies will be coming on board.
Apple has announced that the new TV app will become available to the public in December, indicating the company intends to release iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1 within that timeframe.
Apple tonight updated its website with a brand new page teasing a one-day Black Friday shopping event. Apple didn't offer Black Friday deals last year, opting to allow third-party retailers like Best Buy and Target to offer deals instead.
Friday can't come soon enough.
Our one-day shopping event will be here before you know it. Come back this Friday to check off everyone on your list.
Last year, Apple SVP of Retail Angela Ahrendts said the company was backing away from Black Friday promotions because "being good to your employees will always be good for your business."
On its Black Friday website, Apple says that its one-day shopping event will include free shipping on in-stock items ordered by 5 PM. You'll also be able to take part in the event with the Apple Store app and in-store. Those interested in visiting an Apple retail store on Black Friday will need to check their local Apple store's extended holiday hours because there will not be uniform opening and closing times.
Apple has also provided easy links to four holiday gift collections curated by the company, including "Apple gifts," "Music gifts," "Photography gifts" and "Games & Toys."
It's unclear what kind of Black Friday promotion the company will use this year. In the past, Apple has offered gift cards worth variable amounts with the purchase of Apple products. For instance, purchasing a Mac would yield a $100 gift card. However, in its European stores Apple has also opted for more traditional discounts.
Samsung plans to launch a glossy black version of its nine-month-old Galaxy S7 smartphone early next month, according to The Korea Herald.
The report claims the new color will help Samsung compete with the popular Jet Black and Matte Black variants of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The new color could also fuel additional Galaxy S7 sales to help fill the void left by the permanently discontinued Galaxy Note 7 following battery safety concerns.
If the report proves accurate, it would not be the first time Samsung has followed in the footsteps of Apple in terms of smartphone colors. Earlier this year, it released a "pink gold" version of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge after Apple launched the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in Rose Gold last year.
Samsung's existing Black Onyx variant of the Galaxy S7 already has a somewhat glossy finish, so the new color would presumably be even slicker.
Digital image and video stabilization features have been included in modern smartphones for a while now, with each new generation offering improved correction for jumps and jitters that typically occur during handheld shooting.
Still, even the latest handsets can't quite match the benefits that can be gained from using a motorized mount specifically designed to reduce vibration and unwanted shake.
Smartphone gimbals are made for just this purpose. Phone gimbals look similar to selfie sticks, but incorporate special motorized axes that keep shooting balanced and steady by adjusting for tilt, roll and tracking movements.
One brand that's been steadily gaining plaudits for its gimbals is Zhiyun. The Chinese firm's gimbals in its Smooth range have been noted amongst video aficionados for their robust design, multiple operational modes, and relative affordability compared to the competition. Here, we looked at the company's latest Z1-Smooth II ($329) to see what advantages a gimbal offers for iPhone owners.
512 Pixels blogger Stephen Hackett has created a unique video showcasing Apple's new "Designed by Apple in California" coffee table book alongside actual Apple products, ranging from the PowerMac G5 to iPod socks.
The video helps bring the book to life by providing a nostalgic look back on the past two decades of Apple products, starting with the original iMac in 1998 through to the Apple Pencil in 2015. Hackett said most of what it is in the book is a part of his personal collection of Apple products.
MacRumors provided a hands-on look inside Apple's new book last week. "Designed by Apple in California" chronicles 20 years of Apple design with 450 photos of its products and the processes used to make them. The high-quality photos were taken by photographer Andrew Zuckerman.
Apple says it took eight years to design the linen-bound hardcover book, dedicated to late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. It features specially milled, custom-dyed paper with "gilded matte silver edges," and low-ghost ink. It is available now in a smaller 10.2×12.8 inches size for $199 and a larger 13×16.3 inches size for $299.
The book is also available at select Apple retail stores, including Apple Regent Street in London, Apple Opera in Paris, and Apple Ginza in Tokyo, among others. In the U.S., it is available in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, San Francisco, and Palo Alto, and at Apple's campus store at its Cupertino headquarters.
Twelve South today introduced a new product in its HiRise line, called the HiRise Duet, which provides charging stations for an iPhone or iPad, as well as an Apple Watch. The stand supports the Apple Watch's Night Stand Mode, which displays an alarm clock and turns the device's Digital Crown into a snooze button.
The stand has a 3.75” square footprint and includes an integrated Lightning charger for iPhone and iPad, as well as a Magnetic Charging Disc for the Apple Watch, all of which are powered by a single AC cable. The bottom of the stand is lined with a layer of leather to protect the Apple Watch from scuffs.
Unlike plastic stands that get dragged across the nightstand from the weight of the power cord, the all metal HiRise Duet stays put. This mighty one pound, dual charging stand weighs as much as three iPhone 7's. So when you reach for your iPhone in the middle of the night, or go for the snooze button in the morning, both devices will be right where you put them - atop HiRise Duet. You’ll also notice the curves on HiRise Duet mirror the beautiful design of iPhone and Watch.
The HiRise Duet is available from Twelve South for $119.99. The stand supports the iPad mini, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and any recent Lightning-enabled iPhone generation.
Instagram today revealed two major new updates coming to its platform, including transient live videos and direct messages, akin to Snapchat. The company has added live video as a new UI option in the story camera -- Boomerang was added there recently as well -- and the feature lets users go live for up to an hour. As with Facebook's own live video, friends get notifications when the stream begins, and can comment as events unfold.
Live video will also be added into the Explore Tab, so users can see trending and most popular live videos, perhaps from news sources and entertainment accounts as breaking news happens across the world. Just like stories, live videos will disappear when the stream is over, "so you can feel more comfortable sharing anything, anytime," according to Instagram.
The company is continuing its "pressure-free" mantra with disappearing direct messages, which will let users send photos and videos to friends and groups that disappear once they've been viewed. The sender will also be notified if the receiver has replayed the message or taken a screenshot, just like in Snapchat.
While live video is gearing up to rollout globally over the next few weeks, the short-lived photos and videos in direct messages will begin appearing in the Instagram app today. For those who have yet to download it, Instagram is available for free on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Apple has shared a new TV ad called "Frankie's Holiday" in time for the holiday season, accompanied with the tagline "open your heart to everyone."
In the ad, Frankenstein's monster brings a package with ornaments to a town square and starts singing "Home for the Holidays" by Perry Como on his iPhone. While he initially shocks the large group of people in the town, a young girl urges Frankenstein to come forward, and everyone joins along in singing with him.
Frankenstein's monster is portrayed by Everybody Loves Raymond star Brad Garrett, who stands 6'8" tall.
Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller has allegedly responded to an email from software developer Ben Slaney to further clarify why the new MacBook Pro maxes out at 16GB of RAM, noting that supporting 32GB of RAM would require a different logic board design which might reduce space for batteries.
Schiller: The MacBook Pro uses 16GB of very fast LPDDR memory, up to 2133MHz. To support 32GB of memory would require using DDR memory that is not low power and also require a different design of the logic board which might reduce space for batteries. Both factors would reduce battery life.
Slaney himself wrote an article explaining how the new MacBook Pro uses a low power, enhanced version of RAM called LPDDR3E, which maxes out at 16GB. To achieve up to 32GB RAM would have required using DDR4 RAM, but low-power LPDDR4 RAM is not supported by the Intel processors powering the late 2016 models.
Using the iStat Menus tool, Slaney determined that, under normal conditions, the LPDDR3E RAM uses 1.5 watts of power. In comparison, he said the notebooks would use about 3-5 watts if they were using DDR4 memory, although this estimate is rather loosely based on tests of DDR4 RAM on Windows-based notebooks.
Slaney said the 2-5 watts saved translates to 10% of overall power usage being dedicated to RAM versus 20-30% that would be required for DDR4 RAM, which, if accurate, helps justify Apple's power versus performance tradeoff.
To put more than 16GB of fast RAM into a notebook design at this time would require a memory system that consumes much more power and wouldn't be efficient enough for a notebook. I hope you check out this new generation MacBook Pro, it really is an incredible system.
Apple's decision is even more justified when considering background power draw, or the energy a notebook uses to go back into sleep mode after regular usage. Slaney said this figure is estimated to be about 50% of overall power draw on an average system when using DDR4 RAM, but only 20% when using LPDDR3 RAM.
Moreover, the new MacBook Pro would get less than 7 days of standby time if it used DDR4 RAM, compared to 30 days with LPDDR3E RAM, he said.
Apple have been using LPDDR for several generations of their notebooks, and it’s part of the way that they get very long standby time on them. Switching to DDR4 would drastically decrease it from the 30 days of standby time that they get now to less than one week. With DDR4 they’d have produced a notebook that would have a completely drained battery if it was at 50% charge and you closed the lid and left it for a few days. Not only would that be annoying, but by running the battery flat often it would end up damaging a percentage of their batteries because they’d frequently get 100% discharged, which puts a lot of stress on them, and sometimes even kills them.
The rest of the article reflects upon poor battery life in several Windows-based notebooks with 32GB RAM, part of which can be blamed on the FAA's 100-watt-hour limit on notebook batteries brought on airplanes.
Apple has dissolved its division which develops wireless routers and is now sending engineers who worked on the AirPort lineup into other product teams, including one currently working on Apple TV. The news comes from a report by Bloomberg, who said Apple has been slowly shutting down the division over the past year and made the decision "to try to sharpen the company’s focus on consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue."
Currently, Apple sells three wireless routers, including the AirPort Express ($99), AirPort Extreme ($199), and AirPort Time Capsule ($299), but none of the devices have seen a refresh since 2013. A temporary stock shortage earlier in the year gave hope that a refresh of the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule was coming during WWDC, but Apple never mentioned the products during its keynote. The trio of wireless routers still remain available for purchase for the time being.
Exiting the router business could make Apple’s product ecosystem less sticky. Some features of the AirPort routers, including wireless music playback, require an Apple device like an iPhone or Mac computer. If the company no longer sells wireless routers, some may have a reason to use other phones and PCs.
The central reason for abandoning the AirPort line appears to focus mainly on its small revenue gains in comparison to the company's more lucrative products, like the iPhone. Apple includes its routers in the "other products" category of its annual financial results, a section which generated $11.1 billion in fiscal 2016, or about 5 percent of the company's total sales.
In a new article posted by The New York Times over the weekend, Apple's contributions to the United States workforce and economy are highlighted with a focus on the company's campus in Austin, Texas. Some of its 6,000 employees there (grown from 2,100 seven years ago) were interviewed, providing a glimpse into the employment lifestyle Apple offers its staff members.
The central occupation of the workers in Austin is customer tech support, but there's also employees who manage Apple's network of suppliers, run iTunes and the App Store, update Maps, and keep tabs on Apple's finances. The average income for a call center worker at the Austin campus is $30,000 a year, but following the completion of a one-year contract many become permanent employees and earn $45,000 per year, "plus generous benefits and small annual stock grants."
According to Apple, factoring in senior management staff, the average salary of its Austin staff is $77,000 a year. Although the company didn't tell The New York Times any of its future expansion plans for the U.S., it reiterated on its contributions to the country's workforce, with the iPhone as a launch pad for its employment boost.
“Apple has created over two million jobs in the United States since the introduction of the iPhone nine years ago, including explosive growth in iOS developers, thousands of new supplier and manufacturing partners, and a 400 percent increase in our employee teams,” the company said in a statement. “We made the unique decision to keep and expand our contact centers for customers in the Americas in the United States, and Austin is home to many of those employees. We plan to continue to invest and grow across the U.S.”
In the call center, the entry-level positions open up major possibilities for quality workers later on. One worker, Genny Lopez, began as a basic contractor answering customer calls, and is now on staff fielding and troubleshooting more difficult problems. "You don’t need a crazy technical background to do this job," Lopez said. "A lot of the training is getting really good at talking to people."
In Austin, Apple is also said to encourage employees to test out other team environments, "to allow workers to try a completely different role for six months to see if it suits them and the company." The New York Times met with Brisa Carillo, who was one of the test pilots for the team-switching idea, and found out that she began work at Apple in its call center right after college, but now handles the company's international payroll while she studies for her M.B.A. to continue to move up the ranks of Apple's finance department. A formal program backing the progressive idea is on track to be instituted soon.
Image via The New York Times
Apple prides itself on providing top-notch phone service in 26 languages — 12 are spoken at the Texas call center alone — and the people who handle the calls are expected to follow up on any problem that cannot be quickly resolved. During the recent visit, Stephanie Dumareille, a senior adviser on iOS issues who is fluent in English and Spanish, patiently answered questions from a customer who was worried about saving her résumé online and did not know whether she was using a Windows or a Mac computer.
Much of The New York Times' article is a response to critics, including President-elect Donald Trump, who believe Apple should move its manufacturing plants into the United States to improve its contribution to jobs within the country. A report from last week claimed that Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron to look into making iPhones stateside, a request which Foxconn is allegedly studying closely.
Apple's investment in and nurturing of its employees makes up for its lack of product manufacturing stateside, according to Lopez, who said that at the Austin campus "the product that Apple builds here is us."
Check out the full story by The New York Timeshere.
