MacRumors

The launch of the fourth-generation Apple TV, with Siri integration and a full App Store, resulted in a huge Apple TV sales boost, according to new data shared by Parks Associates. In 2015, Apple TV unit sales were 50 percent higher than unit sales in 2014.

Despite the surge in sales, the Apple TV continues to rank as the fourth most popular streaming media player in the United States, coming in behind Roku, Amazon, and Google. The Apple TV accounted for 20 percent of streaming media players purchased from 1Q 2015 to 1Q 2016, compared to 30 percent for Roku and 22 percent each for Amazon and Google.

While Apple TV remains in fourth place among the four major brands, it had the largest increase in unit sales year-over-year, primarily due to its long-awaited new version, launched in 4Q 2015. Its share of sales in 2015 was 50% higher than its share in 2014. Amazon also had a substantially higher share of unit sales in 2015.

Parks Associates believes Apple trails behind because both Amazon and Roku offer multiple form factors with both standard boxes and smaller sticks available. Amazon, Roku, and Google also offer more affordably priced streaming media players than Apple, with its latest box starting at $149. Apple does, however, continue to sell its third-generation Apple TV for $69, more competitively priced with competing set-top boxes.

In total, 36 percent of U.S. broadband households now have at least one streaming media player, up from 27 percent last year, and media players from Amazon, Roku, Apple, and Google make up 94 percent of those. Media player sales are expected to grow significantly over the next few years, with an estimated 86 million streaming media players set to be sold globally in 2019.

Since Apple just released its latest Apple TV set-top box in October of 2015, there's no word on when another update is planned. Apple has recently been working on building out the tvOS software included on the fourth-generation Apple TV, introducing much-needed new features like dictation, app folders, and Bluetooth keyboard support.

Over the past six weeks, a number of 9.7-inch iPad Pro early adopters have reported sporadic crashing issues that result in the tablet soft rebooting to the Apple logo start up screen and prompting Touch ID or passcode verification.

The bug has afflicted a wide range of 9.7-inch iPad Pro models since the tablet launched on March 31, regardless of storage capacity, color, and Wi-Fi or cellular capabilities. Both iOS 9.3.1 and iOS 9.3.2 appear to be affected.

Based on crowdsourced information from the Apple Support Communities and MacRumors discussion forums, it appears that Safari, while not necessarily the root cause of the problem, may be triggering the crashing and reboot cycles.

MacRumors reader jekjones1558 writes:

I have started getting random reboots. Today for the first time my 9.7-inch iPad Pro froze on the Apple screen during reboot. It seems to happen most when switching between Mail and Safari. I had to hold the on/off button to get it unstuck.

Apple Support Communities user MangoSoda experienced similar behavior:

My 9.7-inch iPad Pro (32GB) is less than 15 days old and has exhibited this behavior at least twice now. I'm up to date on iOS. […] Last time [it crashed] I was looking at […] images on Safari. I also had 5-6 apps running in the background.

Various related discussion topics have amassed over 30,000 views and 500 comments, indicating more than a few isolated users are affected.

The actual underlying problem remains unknown, but it is likely rooted in software and should be addressed by Apple in a future update if warranted, in the same vein as iOS 9.3.2 fixed iPhone SE Bluetooth issues and multiple other bugs. Most affected users report seeing "bug type 298" under Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Usage > Diagnostic & Usage Data.

Apple has not officially commented on the matter, but some customers that have contacted support claim the company is aware of the issue and working on a fix. In the interim, some customers have had their iPad Pro swapped out for a new model at an Apple retail store; however, for some, the problems persist. We will update this article if and as new information becomes available.

As rumors swirl around Apple's potential integration of wireless charging in future iPhone models, The Verge discovered the company has recently hired a pair of engineers with specialties focused in wireless charging and ultrasonic technology. Those two hires came in the past four months, but they are part of a larger group of more than a dozen wireless charging hires over the past two years.

The two latest hires, Jonathan Bolus and Andrew Joyce, come from startup uBeam, which is working on a wireless charging technique centered around the harnessing of ultrasonic waves that are converted into electricity to charge an electronic device. Questions about the viability of uBeam's technology have been around for a while, and former VP of Engineering at uBeam, Paul Reynolds, has been highlighting the company's errors and potential for failure on his personal blog. The most recent post centers around the mishandled and controversial PR battle faced by blood test startup Theranos, and the suggested implications similarly affecting uBeam.

Last week a former engineer from the much hyped wireless charging startup uBeam left some scathing criticism of the company on his blog. He compared uBeam to the now disgraced startup Theranos, saying that uBeam has avoided any full-fledged public demonstrations because its technology doesn't work as advertised. While it can do some very limited charging over a short distance, he allowed, the basic laws of physics prevent the product from being practical at any commercial level.

Given the ongoing controversy over the viability of uBeam's proposed technology, it is perhaps unsurprising some of its engineers are looking at other job opportunities, and Apple's interest in wireless charging makes the company a natural fit.

Apple has filed various patents relating to wireless charging in the past, but remains quiet on its implementation in a future iPhone. Apple executives have downplayed the significance and usefulness of wireless charging before, mainly due to the necessity of users needing some kind of mat to lay the iPhone on, which would still need to be plugged into a wall.

A possible solution for that problem came from a Bloomberg report earlier in the year, which said Apple was pursuing an extended range wireless charging technique that would negate the need of a separate charging mat and fuel up an iPhone from across a room with no extraneous accessories required. Apple never commented on the report, but speculation suggested Apple could be working with Energous Corporation on the technology.

uBeam's promise for wireless charging is similar to Apple's alleged goal of a free range, totally wireless charging ability for iPhone devices, so the two new hires could be helping the company introduce such a feature into a new model down the line. Reports early in the year pointed to the introduction of wireless charging in this year's iPhone 7, but it's largely expected now for the feature to be held off until 2017 or even later.

Apple today announced a major update to its GarageBand music creation software for Mac and iOS, adding a wide range of Chinese instruments that are designed to celebrate the "rich history of Chinese music." Today's update also includes "extensive Chinese language localization."

In a press release, Apple says the update adds traditional Chinese instruments like the pipa and erhu, plus Chinese percussion offerings that include drums, wood blocks, cymbals, and gongs. 300 Apple-created Chinese musical loops have also been added to the apps.

"GarageBand is the most popular music creation app in the world and we're excited to introduce these new features that incorporate the rich history of traditional Chinese music," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Product Marketing. "By adding classic Chinese instruments and new Live Loop templates, the new GarageBand app makes it fun and easy to make Chinese-inspired music right on your iPhone, iPad or Mac."

The new instruments are available on both the iOS and Mac versions of GarageBand, and each instrument includes different playing articulations like rapid picking and note bend for the pipa and trill, grace note, and glissando for the erhu.

Apple-created loops have been created from a wide variety of instruments and styles, including guzheng, dizi, yangqin and Peking Opera, which can be combined with the new instruments for a unique sound. GarageBand for iOS also includes two new Chinese templates for Live Loops and new sharing options for popular Chinese social networks.

All of the new features in today's update are automatically enabled in Greater China and for Mac users outside of Greater China. On iOS devices outside of Greater China, the features can be enabled through the advanced settings menu.

Singaporean musician JJ Lin posted a YouTube video of himself using the new GarageBand app for iOS with Tim Cook, which Tim Cook tweeted.

Apple has been aiming to express its support for China in recent weeks following hints of regulatory trouble in the country. Apple is reportedly being targeted for being "too deeply established" in China's core industries and recently saw iTunes Movies and iBooks Stores in the country shut down following the Hong Kong iTunes release of the controversial independent movie Ten Years, which had been banned in China.

Apple recently announced a $1 billion investment in Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing, and this morning, he visited the country to meet with Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu. Cook also met with App Store developers at an Apple Store in Beijing.

GarageBand for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]

GarageBand for Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]

Apple Pay competitor Merchant Payment Consortium, aka MCX, has decided to postpone the rollout of its CurrentC payments platform following feedback from its pilot program. MCX will be downscaling and laying off 30 employees as it transitions to focusing on business partnerships with financial institutions instead of building out CurrentC.

MCX CEO Brian Mooney announced the news in a statement today, which was shared by TechCrunch.

Utilizing unique feedback from the marketplace and our Columbus pilot, MCX has made a decision to concentrate mode heavily in the immediate term on other aspects of our business including working with financial institutions, like our partnership with Chase, to enable and scale mobile payment solutions. As part of this transition, MCX will postpone a nationwide rollout of its CurrentC application.

As MCX has said many times, the mobile payments space is just beginning to take shape -- it is early in a long game. MCX's owner-members remain committed to our future.

As a result, MCX will need fewer resources. This change has resulted in a staff reduction of approximately 30 employees. These are very tough decisions, but necessary steps.

MCX, a consortium of merchants like Walmart, Best Buy, CVS, Rite Aid, Target, Lowe's, and more, has been working on the CurrentC payments platform since 2012. Given that it was backed by multiple high profile retailers, it was believed CurrentC could be a major Apple Pay competitor, but over the past two years, it has not moved out of the testing and development phase.

CurrentC made headlines in 2014 after MCX members CVS and Rite Aid disabled Apple Pay at their retail locations due to MCX exclusivity agreements that lasted until 2015, while other MCX retailers, like Walmart and Best Buy, publicly stated they would not support Apple Pay.

As CurrentC development stalled and exclusivity agreements expired, several MCX members that refused to accept Apple Pay, including Rite Aid and Best Buy, reversed course and began using Apple's payment platform. Major CurrentC backer Walmart, meanwhile, developed its own Apple Pay competitor called Walmart Pay, further casting doubt on the future success of CurrentC.

CurrentC relied on customers to open an app and scan QR codes to make payments, a convoluted system that has been described as offering minimal benefit to consumers. Merchants backed CurrentC because it aimed to do away with credit card processing fees by requiring customers to connect a bank account or pre-paid debit card, and it offered the ability to track customer purchases, something not possible with Apple Pay.

iOS 9.3.2 is causing problems for some 9.7-inch iPad Pro owners, with multiple MacRumors readers and Twitter users reporting issues shortly after installing the update over the air. Affected users are seeing an "Error 56" message that instructs them to plug their devices into iTunes.

While not all 9.7-inch iPad Pro users have reported problems, there have been a number of reports on the MacRumors forums and on social networks, suggesting the problem is widespread. Attempting to restore through iTunes doesn't appear to resolve the issue. From MacRumors user NewtypeCJ:

Mine is bricked. Says it needs to be plugged into iTunes, won't restore or update, just a big loop. Fantastic. :/

According to Apple's error code support document, error 56 is a hardware issue. The document recommends installing the latest version of iTunes, checking for issues with third-party security software, and attempting a restore twice. Apple recommends customers who are still seeing the error message contact Apple support.

With a number of users affected by the bricking issue, Apple will likely need to release an updated version of iOS 9.3.2 that solves the problem.

Update May 17, 10:47 PM: Apple has issued a statement to iMore's Rene Ritchie, simply stating the company is "looking into a small number of reports" regarding this issue.

We're looking into a small number of reports that some iPad units are receiving an error when updating the software. Those unable to restore their device through iTunes should contact Apple support.

No cause or specific solution has apparently been determined.

Apple today released iTunes 12.4, bringing some minor design tweaks and important bug fixes to its media software. iTunes 12.4 comes seven months after the launch of iTunes 12.3, which was released to the public in September, and nearly two months after the last minor iTunes update.

iTunes 12.4 includes a redesigned interface that's designed to be simpler, with the reintroduction of a sidebar for easier navigation and a revamped media picker, as was shared by MacRumors earlier this month.

Today's update may also include safeguards to protect users from an issue that could cause music stored in iTunes to be deleted. The deletion problem affected a small number of users and while Apple was not able to recreate the bug, the company promised "additional safeguards."

The iTunes 12.4 update can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. Full release notes are below.

Now enjoy all of your music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and more in a simpler design.

Navigation. Now you can use Back and Forward buttons as you navigate between your Library, Apple Music, iTunes Store, and more.

Media Picker. Easily switch between Music, Movies, TV shows and more--and Edit to choose just the items you want.

Library and Playlists. Use Sidebar to view your Library in new ways. Drag and drop songs to easily add them to Playlists. And Edit Sidebar to show only your favorite views.

Menus. Menus in iTuns are now simpler and easier to use. Use the View menu to customize your Library or try context menus to act on specific items.

Apple is working on OS X 10.12, set to be unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. iOS 10 is rumored to be gaining Apple Music changes, and it's possible OS X 10.12 will bring additional design tweaks to iTunes for a more streamlined Apple Music interface.

Update: TechCrunch has confirmed that the iTunes 12.4 update addresses the music deletion issue that affected a small number of iTunes users.

Apple today released OS X 10.11.5 to the public, marking the launch of the fifth update to the El Capitan operating system that was first released on September 30, 2015. OS X 10.11.5 comes nearly two months after the release of OS X 10.11.4, an update that introduced Live Photos for Messages and password protected notes in the Notes app.

The OS X 10.11.5 update can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. It is available to all OS X El Capitan users.

Most of the updates to OS X El Capitan have focused largely on under-the-hood improvements, bug fixes, and security enhancements rather than outward-facing changes, and OS X 10.11.5 is no exception. No obvious feature changes were discovered in the beta, and according to Apple's release notes, OS X 10.11.5 includes bug fixes, performance improvements, and security updates.

Prior to releasing the OS X 10.11.5 update, which has been in testing since April 6, Apple seeded four betas to developers and public beta testers.