MacRumors

Apple's online stores for several countries including Australia and New Zealand have launched their Black Friday one-day shopping events, also giving an idea of what promotions will be like as the event launches in a number of other countries over the coming hours.

As rumored, Apple is offering offering gift cards with purchases rather than direct discounts on most items. While many customers would prefer discounts over free gift cards, others may appreciate that the gift card offers typically represent better deals than seen with discounts in past years.

Gift cards are available with the purchase of the following items (prices from Australian store):

- iPad Air: A$ 75 gift card
- iPad mini: A$ 50 gift card on non-Retina models, no gift card on Retina models
- iPad 2: A$ 50 gift card
- iPod touch: A$ 50 gift card
- iPod nano: A$ 25 gift card
- MacBook Air: A$ 150 gift card
- MacBook Pro: A$ 150 gift card for both Retina and non-Retina models
- iMac: A$ 150 gift card
- Apple TV: A$ 25 gift card
- AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule: A$ 50 gift card
- Various accessories: Gift card amounts vary

Gift card amounts for customers in the U.S. and other countries should be similar and cover the same products. Sales in Apple's U.S. store should begin at midnight Pacific Time.

Some third-party retailers such as MacMall may be offering even better deals than Apple, particularly when sales tax difference and discounts vs. gift cards are taken into account, and we've put together several overviews of deals for Macs and iPads. Additional deals are summarized in our Black Friday roundup.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has dismissed a privacy lawsuit against Apple alleging that the company was collecting location data through iPhones and iPads even when the devices' geo-location data was turned off, reports Reuters. Koh found that the plaintiffs had not adequately shown that they relied on Apple's alleged misrepresentations, writing in her ruling:

Plaintiffs must be able to provide some evidence that they saw one or more of Apple's alleged misrepresentations, that they actually relied on those misrepresentations, and that they were harmed thereby.

The plaintiffs alleged that Apple was collecting location data in violation of its own privacy policy and also claimed Apple lured them into spending more money on their devices than they would have if they had known about the sort of data that Apple had been collecting.

The case is one part of a nationwide litigation that combines 19 related lawsuits. This specific lawsuit was first filed in 2011 and was one of the first of many lawsuits against Apple and other tech companies regarding location data and privacy.

Concerns regarding location data have have ramped up in recent months following news of a U.S. government program called PRISM allowing the National Security Agency direct access to user data on corporate servers from Internet companies like Apple, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook and more. Since then, Apple and other companies have reiterated statements on customer privacy.

Black Friday, which falls on November 29 this year, will see multiple retailers offering discounts on Apple's lineup of Macs, including the Retina MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air, and the iMac. While Mac discounts haven't been as popular as iPad discounts, there are still some great deals available from retailers like Best Buy, MacMall, and Amazon, which will price match the lowest available price.

We've listed the best Mac deals from our Black Friday Roundup below, but these discounts are likely to be popular so customers aiming to get a good price should purchase early.

11 and 13-inch MacBook Air

Best Buy is offering a $150 blanket discount on all MacBook Airs, beginning on Friday, November 29 at 10 AM. Customers will be able to take advantage of the deal both online and in Best Buy stores.

MacMall will be offering a $102 discount on both the 11 and 13-inch MacBook Air models, dropping the price of the entry level 11.6-inch MacBook Air to $897 and the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air to $997. MacMall's deals are available online.

Because Best Buy charges sales tax in all states, many customers may find that MacMall's deals offer higher discounts. MacMall only charges sales tax in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, Minnesota, Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

13-inch Retina MacBook Pro

As one of its "Doorbuster Deals." Best Buy is offering a $200 discount on the entry-level 13.3-inch Retina MacBook Pro, which comes to $1,099.99.

MacMall is offering $102 off of its stock of 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros, bringing the price of the entry-level model down to $1,187.

15-inch Retina Macbook Pro

Best Buy is offering a $150 blanket discount on all of its 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros, bringing the cost of the entry-level model down to $1,849. This deal is available both online and in-store now

MacMall is offering $150 off on current generation standard configuration 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros. Other 15-inch models are $102 off. MacMall's prices, which are available now, will offer a better deal to customers who do not live in one of the states where the company charges sales tax.

iMac

Best Buy will be offering a $200 discount on the entry-level 21.5 iMac, dropping the price from $1,299 to $1,099. The discount is available now.

MacMall is offering a $102 discount on both 21.5 and 27-inch iMacs, which will be available online beginning today at 12 PM PT.

Apple TV, Airport Express, iTunes Gift Cards

Other notable discounts from Best Buy on Apple accessories include a $15 discount on the Apple TV, a $20 discount on the Airport Extreme, and a $100 iTunes card for $85.

For a full list of deals on Apple products ranging from iPads and iPhones to Macs and accessories, make sure to check out our Black Friday Roundup and our guide on how to get the best deal on an iPad. Our roundup includes a list of deals on hardware, accessories, software, and apps, and will be updated as new deals become available.

Earlier this week, Apple teased its upcoming Black Friday promotion, which typically sees the company offering small discounts on a select number of products.

While Apple normally offers standard price cuts during Black Friday, this year’s event might focus on Apple Store gift cards with purchase rather than straight discounts, according to 9to5Mac. The promotion could see customers receiving an Apple Store gift card for later use when buying an eligible product.

Gift cards will likely be offered with the flagship products that Apple typically discounts, including iPads, iPods, MacBooks, and some accessories.

The gift card amounts are said to fluctuate based on the product. For example, gift cards that accompany accessories will have lower amounts of money than Macs. We’re hearing that accessories, such as the Dropcam, will likely include a gift card worth around $25, and Macs could include a $100 card. iOS Devices like the iPad will include a $50 Apple Store gift card. Some more expensive third-party products will also include $50 gift cards.

Apple is expected to announce its Black Friday deals on Friday, November 28 at midnight Pacific Time in the United States, but more information should be available tomorrow morning when Black Friday deals go live in Australia provided the gift card promotion isn't limited to the United States. Last year's discounts included $101 off MacBook Pros and Airs, $41 off the iPad with Retina Display, and $31 off of the iPod touch.

Online retailer MacMall has kicked off their 60 hour Black Friday sale just now. The sale runs until midnight on Friday. Traditionally, 3rd party retailers have offered better discounts than Apple once sales tax is taken into account. MacRumors is an affiliate partner of MacMall.

Their full sale list covers both new and previous generation products. We've pulled out some of the current-generation products of interest and their respective discounts:

Discounts on the MacBook Airs are most notable for a percentage of their total price. Also notable are the $150 discounts for 15" Retina MacBook Pros. MacMall also offers steeper discounts for previous generation machines.

When looking for the cheapest price, it's good to know which retailers charge sales tax automatically. MacMall charges sales tax in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, Minnesota, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

MacMall also runs physical retail stores in Illinois (Chicago) and California (Santa Monica, Torrance, Huntington Beach) and are offering in-store deals at those locations.

We expect to see additional Black Friday sales at Apple's online store though that doesn't kick in until Black Friday itself. We will also cover other sales and discounts. Please send in any notable Apple-related sales.

As numerous potential customers have discovered, the Retina iPad mini has been in very short supply since its quiet launch earlier this month, with Apple reportedly struggling with display yields that have limited production.

Several analysts had previously predicted that Retina iPad mini production would be limited to roughly two million units for the fourth quarter of 2013, but a new report from Digitimes claims that the production issues have been solved and that Apple has forged ahead with orders for four million units for the month of November as the company scrambles to build up its supplies for the holiday shopping season.

As bottlenecks in making components for the iPad mini with Retina have gradually been removed, Apple has increase orders in November to nearly four million units, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

Currently, Apple's orders for the iPad mini with Retina have already surpassed those for the first-generation iPad mini, the sources noted.

In-store availability of Retina iPad mini models has improved markedly for Apple's U.S. retail stores, with the company starting to offer walk-in sales late last week, although availability of Wi-Fi models remains much stronger than for cellular-capable models. Orders placed through Apple's online store are currently being quoted 5-10 business day shipping estimates for all models.

Yesterday, a survey published yesterday by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster stated that the iPhone 5s is approaching 90% availability in Apple's U.S. retail stores, with supply begin to match consumer demand of the device.

Now, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the shortened wait times for the high-end iPhone is due in part to supplier Foxconn and its high volume production, with the company adding more workers to its assembly lines in China as its overall production capacity grows.

The Taiwan-based contract manufacturer, which has more than one million workers in China, has operated 100 production lines around the clock in Zhengzhou, north central China, at full capacity, according to executives at Hon Hai. The company has about 300,000 workers at its Zhengzhou site, dedicated to just making the iPhone 5S and key components such as metal casings.

To get a glimpse of just how complicated it is to manufacture the iPhone 5S, Hon Hai executives said the company has about 600 workers on each iPhone 5S production line to handle assembly work.

“We have been churning out about 500,000 iPhone 5Ss everyday, the highest daily output ever,” said the executive who declined to be named.

The executive cited in the report also stated that it takes a longer time to assemble an iPhone 5s compared to the iPhone 5c or previous generation iPhone 5, with only 500 workers per production line to assemble the two lower-end devices.

Notably, a report from Digitimes earlier this month stated that the Zhengzhou factory would be ceasing production of the iPhone 5c to shift the facility's manufacturing efforts toward the iPhone 5s. Foxconn was also previously estimated to be operating at only a minimum capacity of 8-9,000 iPhone 5c units per day.

Originally released in September, supplies of the iPhone 5s remained somewhat constrained following the launch, with the bulk of stock tending to go to Apple's own retail stores. However, while supplies continued to be scarce during September and October, they have appeared to generally improved throughout November, with several colors and capacities of the iPhone 5s available for immediate pick up in Apple Stores in the United States.

"Jobs," the Steve Jobs biography directed by Joshua Michael Stern and starring both Ashton Kutcher as Jobs and Josh Gad as Wozniak, can now be purchased or rented in iTunes.

The film, which scored a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, can be purchased for $19.99 in high definition or $14.99 in standard definition. A 24-hour rental is also available for $3.99 (SD) or $4.99 (HD).

"Jobs" can also be purchased or rented via Amazon Instant Video for $14.99 and $4.99, respectively, and it is available on both Blu-ray ($22.99) and DVD ($17.99) from Amazon.com.

Originally released on August 16, the movie received mixed reviews from critics, who felt that it was unappealing and focused too heavily on Apple rather than on the life of Steve Jobs. Original Apple employees like Daniel Kottke and Bill Fernandez also criticized the movie for its inaccuracies.

During its opening weekend, "Jobs" made just $6.7 million, which was below the $8–9 million projected by its distributor, Open Road Films. In theaters the movie, which had a budget of $12 million, has earned $16.1 million in the U.S. and $19.8 million abroad, for a worldwide total of $35.9 million.

Another Steve Jobs movie, from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, remains in the works with a prospective 2014 release date.

Microsoft today released two new anti-iPad ads, continuing its ongoing campaign that pits various Windows tablets against Apple’s iPad. In the new holiday-themed advertisements, Microsoft highlights both the Surface’s kickstand and its support for multiple user accounts.

It is officially the holiday season and we know that many of you are in the middle of deciding which devices to purchase for family, friends, and yourselves. As you consider the alternatives, you should think about what you want to do on your tablet. Surface is designed and built for people who want to do more and be productive on a tablet. This means different things to different people, so we’ve put together a series of videos (with more to come) to show you how Surface compares to its competition in accomplishing many of the things you do every day.

In the first ad, Microsoft suggests that both the Surface and the tablet’s hands-free mode keep the screen clear while completing tasks such as cooking. Windows 8.1 includes a Food & Drink app that allows users to flip through recipe pages by waving a hand in front of the device. "Free apps on the iPad don’t offer the same hands-free technology," says the voiceover.

In the second ad, Microsoft points out the iPad’s failure to support multiple user accounts in iOS, which is a point of contention for many iPad users. Both the Surface 2 and the Surface 2 Pro support both multiple accounts and parental monitoring. "The iPad doesn’t allow for multiple accounts and does not have the ability to monitor usage," states the ad.

Microsoft’s newest ads are part of a long series of anti-iPad advertisements that have attempted to point out several flaws in Apple’s tablet, including its lack of an integrated kickstand and keyboard, the absence of dedicated productivity software on the tablet its poor multitasking capabilities and its failure to offer expandable storage. Microsoft’s VP of communications, Frank Shaw, even took to the company’s blog in October to denounce Apple’s iWork software.

Despite its steady stream of ads and its vigorous anti-iPad campaign, Microsoft was forced to initiate price cuts on its original Surface tablets earlier this year, revealing in July that the Surface lineup had earned just $853 million for the company.

Though the original Surface tablets did not sell well, Microsoft released its Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro in September, priced at $449 and $899, respectively.

Western Digital has released a new version of its WD SmartWare hard drive software following extensive reports of data-loss on Western Digital drives after the installation of OS X Mavericks.

The MacRumors Forums, Western Digital's forums, and Apple's Support Communities all had threads about lost data after connecting Western Digital external hard drives to computers after updating to Mavericks.

WD is happy to announce the release of WD SmartWare Version 1.3.6 for Mac 10.5-10.9.

Fixed an issue related to reports of some customers, under certain conditions, experiencing data loss when updating to Apple's OS X Mavericks (10.9).

The WD SmartWare update is available for download from Western Digital's website.

Over the course of the last several years, notebook and desktop PC shipments have declined as lighter, more portable tablets have surged in popularity and begun replacing traditional computers. In 2014, tablets will come even closer to dominating the PC market, accounting for half of all shipped PCs, according to a prediction from research firm Canalys.

Out of the total PC market, which includes notebooks, tablets, and desktops, tablets are predicted to make up a total of 50 percent of all shipments. Apple's iPad line up will account for 30 percent of tablets shipped, while Android tablets will make up 65 percent of shipments. Microsoft's tablets are expected to be responsible for five percent of total tablet shipments.

In the third quarter of 2013, tablet PC shipments accounted for 40 percent of total PC shipments. Canalys forecasts 285 million tablet shipments in 2014, which will surge to 396 million units shipped in 2017.

While Apple will remain a highly profitable player in the PC market over the course of 2014, Canalys expects that the company will see a decline in its market share. In 2013, Apple managed to hold the top vendor position in the PC market thanks to combined sales of iPads and its desktop and notebook computers.

"Apple's decline in PC market share is unavoidable when considering its business model. Samsung narrowly took the lead in EMEA this quarter and Apple will lose its position to competitors in more markets in the future," said Canalys Senior Analyst Tim Coulling. "However, Apple is one of the few companies making money from the tablet boom. Premium products attract high value consumers; for Apple, remaining highly profitable and driving revenue from its entire ecosystem is of greater importance than market share statistics."

In August, Canalys' research suggested non-iOS tablets had surpassed the iPad in global market share for the first time, with Apple responsible for 42.7 percent of tablet shipments while tablets from Samsung, Amazon, Acer, Lenovo, and others combined to make up 57.3 percent of shipments.

Canalys predicts that Apple's share of the tablet market will shrink further in 2014 under the continued onslaught of less expensive Android and Windows tablets. Apple's cheapest tablet is the original iPad mini, which is priced at $299 and still significantly more expensive than competing products like the $229 Nexus 7 from Google and the $229 Kindle Fire HDX from Amazon.

Honda today announced the launch of Siri "Eyes Free" integration for select Honda and Acura vehicles. The functionality, which launches as a dealer-installed accessory for the 2013-2014 Honda Accord and 2013 Acura RDX and ILX models, allows users to interact with Siri hands-free systems in these cars without having to take their eyes off of the road.

Owners can direct Siri to perform a number of specific tasks while they keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. Using Eyes Free mode, Siri takes hands-free functionality even further and helps minimize distractions by keeping an iOS device's screen from lighting up.

Additional functionality includes:

- Sending text messages and e-mails
- Reading incoming text messages and emails
- Setting up calendar entries, reminders, and alarms
- Checking the weather
- Turn-by-turn voice navigation (when the audio system is set to Bluetooth® Audio or iPod mode)
- Sports scores and stock quotes

The launch of Siri Eyes Free for Honda and Acura vehicles, which was first announced in January, is just the first step in extending the iOS experience to vehicles, and Honda will be holding a Google Hangout next Tuesday at 10:00 AM Pacific Time to make further announcements about iOS integration for the company's vehicles.

One of the iOS 7 features highlighted by Apple at the operating system's initial unveiling in June was "iOS in the Car", a system for interacting with iOS devices not only through Siri Eyes Free but also through in-dash displays in vehicles. The feature did not launch with the rest of iOS 7, and Apple continues to list iOS in the Car as "Coming Soon".

Apple has implemented changes to its App Store search engine to compensate for small typos, misspellings, and spacing issues, reports TechCrunch. Previously, an app name had to be spelled correctly and with the proper spacing in order to bring up desired search results unless a developer thought to include misspellings in keywords.

Sources familiar with the matter confirm to us that these App Store search engine changes went into effect a few weeks ago.

The improvements could lead to increased app downloads for affected developers, particularly those with hard-to-spell or lengthy titles, as many are only now beginning to realize.

According to App Store SEO firm SearchMan, comparing App Store search data taken earlier this year to search data from November shows a notable improvement in search results for misspelled words in many cases. "Newz," for example, used to show nine results, but with the built-in spelling correction, it now displays over 2,199.

SearchMan CEO Niren Hiro did find, however, that there's a cap of 2,200 results on misspellings, and some erroneous searches, such as "shoping" are seeing fewer results than before as the App Store now corrects for misspellings rather than looking for keyword matches. Some misspellings are also not returning many results, as a misspelled search for "restaurant" still turns up only two apps.

While autocorrected searches are a welcome and long overdue change in the App Store, app misspellings represent only a small percentage of App Store searches. According to App Store optimization firm Straply, which tested various spellings of "Angry Birds," correct spellings drove 98.48% of searches while misspelled variations failed to generate even a single percent of search volume.

Apple's spell check improvements come several months after the company implemented significant changes to its App Store Top Chart ranking algorithms to boost app discoverability.

When Apple gave its full unveiling of the new Mac Pro at last month's media event, many observers were disappointed that the company did not also announce new higher-resolution displays to complement the radically redesigned professional desktop, which Apple touts as being able to support up to three 4K displays simultaneously.

But the recent introduction of new 27-inch and 32-inch 4K display panels from AU Optronics (via Reddit and AmongTech) is sparking speculation that Apple could yet have a display announcement in the relatively near future. Both panel sizes offer 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which could use the new Thunderbolt 2 connectivity standard to support either much larger desktops than with the 2560 x 1440 resolution of the current Apple Thunderbolt Display or high-quality "Retina" sharpness at an equivalent of 1920 x 1080.

Apple currently uses well-regarded LG panels in its Apple Thunderbolt Display, and it is unclear if the new panels from AU Optronics will meet Apple's exacting quality standards. Still, many have been looking for technology that would even allow Apple to offer a 4K display alongside the Mac Pro, and the new AU Optronics panels using the embedded DisplayPort (eDP) signaling standard embraced by Apple appear to be a significant step in that direction.

Even if Apple were to launch 4K displays using these panels, timing remains unclear as Panelook listings for the new panels indicate that they are "in production" but with customer sampling and mass production not scheduled until the first quarter of next year.

Also in question is whether Apple would even use 16:9 3840 x 2160 panels for a 4K display, as some have suggested that the company may prefer to push Thunderbolt 2 to its limit and support the wider 4096 x 2160 "Cinema 4K" standard given that the display will undoubtedly be targeted at professionals, many of whom in the film industry will be working with content using that resolution standard adopted for film production.