MacRumors

Shipments of the supply-constrained iPad mini with Retina display are likely to double in Q1 2014, according to market research firm IHS iSuppli (via CNET) and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, with both stating that the estimated shipment of 2 million Retina iPad mini tablets in the current quarter will grow to a total shipment of about 4.5 million devices in the first three months of next year.

Rhoda Alexander, director of Tablet and Monitor Research at IHS iSuppli, stated the following about the supply constraints surrounding the tablet:

Rhoda Alexander told CNET on Tuesday that she expects production of about 2 million Mini Retina tablets in the fourth calendar quarter.

"When you think about some of the releases where they sold that many iPads in a weekend," that's not a lot, she said.

Meanwhile, Ming-Chi Kuo stated his estimates for a production boost of the tablet, stating that shipments of the Retina iPad mini will increase due to an improvement in manufacturer yield:

We maintain our iPad mini R shipments forecast of around 2.2mn units for 4Q13. Considering production yield improvement at the supply chain, we forecast shipments will grow 102% QoQ in 1Q14 to 4.5mn units. But marked shipments growth given the low base in 4Q13 can’t make up for overall iPad shipments in 1Q14.

In something of a surprise move, Apple began accepting orders for the Retina iPad mini in the United States and several other countries yesterday, with the device's quiet launch potentially due to constrained supplies. Currently however, availability through Apple's online store appears to be holding up for the time being, with the company's U.S. stores showing the same shipping estimates seen at the time orders went live: 1-3 business days for 16 and 32 GB Wi-Fi models and 5-10 business days for all other models.

Previous rumors have suggested that available quantities of the mini are extremely low due to display production issues, with Apple turning to Samsung to help with production. Apple did also launch its Personal Pickup option for the Retina iPad mini yesterday, with stores seeing quick sellouts of many models. Walk-in sales of the device will apparently not be offered until supplies improve.

Black Friday, a major shopping day in the United States, is still more than two weeks away, but several retailers have already begun advertising upcoming deals. As is typical, Target, Walmart, and Best Buy will all be offering discounts on popular Apple products like iPhones, iPads and MacBook Pros.

We've gathered up a list of current deals, but expect other retailers, like Apple, to also publicize upcoming deals over the course of the next two weeks.

Best Buy:

- $50-$70 off iPad Air
- $100 off 16 GB iPad 2
- $48 off iPhone 5c
- $200 off 21.5-inch iMac
- $200 off 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro
- $50 off 32 GB iPod touch
- $15 off Apple TV
- $20 off AirPort Extreme
- $15 off $100 in iTunes Gift Cards

Target:

- $75 gift card with the purchase of any iPad mini
- $100 gift card with the purchase of any iPad Air
- $50 Gift Card with the purchase of a 16 GB 5th gen iPod touch
- $10 off Apple TV
- $60 in iTunes Gift Cards for $50

Walmart:

- $75 gift card with the purchase of an iPhone 5s (starting at $189)
- $75 gift card with the purchase of an iPhone 5c (starting at $45)
- $100 gift card with the purchase of a 16 GB iPad mini ($299)

Sam's Club:

- iPhone 5c for $0.96

Black Friday will kick off on Friday, November 29, the day after Thanksgiving. Many retailers open their doors beginning at midnight and some stores will be opening even earlier this year.

Confirming earlier reports suggesting the long-rumored Apple television set is taking a backseat to other Apple projects, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today told investors that he does not expect Apple to produce a television set until 2015 or 2016.

Kuo does believe, however, that Apple may launch a new version of the existing Apple TV set top box with the same A7 processor found in the iPhone 5s and Apple's newest iPads in 2014.

We expect Apple to launch a new version of the Apple TV with an A7 processor in 2014, and we forecast 2014 shipments to total 8.2mn units. Shipment growth will be limited unless Apple is able to integrate more TV content, services and its App Store, in our view.

According to Kuo, the cost of launching a supply chain for television set production is a major obstacle for Apple's television set plans, as is the company's continued struggle with procuring additional content deals. Kuo believes that integrating TV content, an App Store, and other services are key to skyrocketing the Apple TV and a subsequent television set from a hobby to a viable product.

We believe the slowdown in Apple TV shipments suggests Apple faces challenges in integrating TV content and services. If Apple wants to launch iTV, the challenges of integrating content and service are more difficult considering the different TV content ecosystems (e.g. cable operators) in various countries. Moreover, establishing an iTV supply chain is very costly. Thus we believe iTV launch will be delayed to end-2015 or early 2016 at the earliest.

There was some speculation that Apple could release an updated Apple TV product during the company's recent iPad event, but according to TechCrunch's MG Siegler, Apple is not yet ready to debut its revamped hardware, which could include upgrades like Siri integration or motion control, so a 2014 timeline makes sense.

Apple has also thus far been unable to secure the deals with content providers and cable companies that are necessary for it to revolutionize the television experience, but it remains in ongoing negotiations with multiple companies including Time Warner.

Yesterday, the MacRumors Forums were targeted and hacked in a similar manner to the Ubuntu forums in July. We sincerely apologize for the intrusion, and are still investigating the attack with the help of a 3rd party security researcher. We believe that at least some user information was obtained during the attack.

In situations like this, it's best to assume that your MacRumors Forum username, email address and (hashed) password is now known. While the passwords are "hashed" (which is a one-way conversion from your actual password to a scrambled version), given computing power these days, if your password isn't very complex, they could brute force figure it out by trying lots of combinations.

What this means for you, if you have a MacRumors Forums account, is the following:

1. Change your password on our forums. If you have any problems, please contact us.

2. If you used the same password on any other site, change it there also.

There are several guides online for how to choose a good password. Also, you should generally keep separate passwords for every service, for situations just like this. To help manage distinct passwords for every website, you can use a password manager such as Lastpass or 1Password.

Canonical provided a post-mortem of the Ubuntu forums attack on their blog. Our case is quite similar, with a moderator account being logged into by the hacker who then was able to escalate their privileges with the goals of stealing user login credentials.

We are still working to get the forums fully functional and more secure. Again, we are very sorry for the breach.

Why did I not get an email sooner?

According to our email service, sending such a large burst of email in one day to all of our users will result in many of those emails getting automatically blocked. As such, we are sending emails out over time to ensure they reach your inbox.

Apple's new Retina iPad mini includes the same 64-bit A7 chip used in the iPad Air and the iPhone 5s, which offers significantly better performance than the A5 chip found in the original iPad mini.

According to new Geekbench 3 benchmarks, the Retina iPad mini is running at 1.3Ghz, much like the iPhone 5s. The iPad Air, however, clocks in at 1.4Ghz, giving it a slight performance edge over both the iPhone 5s and the new mini.

The Retina iPad mini scored a 1390 on the single-core test and a 2512 on the multi-core test, which was similar to the iPhone 5s score of 1399/2523, and lower than the iPad Air at 1466/2856. Compared to the 261/493 score of the original mini, the Retina iPad mini marks an incredible boost in performance speeds.

It is unclear why the mini is clocked at 1.3Ghz instead of 1.4Ghz like the iPad Air, but in terms of real world usage, users are unlikely to notice the small speed differences. It is possible that Apple chose the lower clock speed in the iPad mini to improve overall battery life or to reduce heat within the smaller chassis.

Apple's Retina iPad mini went on sale last night at midnight and is currently still available from the Apple Online Store and in Apple retail locations via Personal Pickup.

Apple's new sapphire glass manufacturing partner, GT Advanced, owns some very advanced technology to manufacture extremely thin sheets of sapphire much more cheaply than current methods.

TechCrunch has done some digging and discovered a company called Twin Creeks that GT Advanced acquired late last year. Twin Creeks developed a hydrogen particle accelerator (pictured below) as a cheaper alternative to saws when attempting to slice larger chunks of sapphire for use on electronics.

Twin Creeks’ hydrogen ion particle accelerator (basically an ion cannon) allowed them to place wafers around the edges of the device and smash them with hydrogen ions. Here’s a description of the process from Extreme Tech:

"A particle accelerator bombards these wafers with hydrogen ions, and with exacting control of the voltage of the accelerator, the hydrogen ions accumulate precisely 20 micrometers from the surface of each wafer. A robotic arm then transports the wafers to a furnace where the ions expand into hydrogen gas, which cause the 20-micrometer-thick layer to shear off."

The process, when applied to solar, is then followed up by backing the sheets with flexible metal. The result is a huge reduction in thickness of sheets without the use of saws. This results in a big reduction in costs.

According to the press release GT Advanced released last week, GT expects to see its gross margins to drop significantly as sapphire glass production rises -- as costs go down -- but the overall volume will more than make up for it.

TechCrunch goes on to note a patent that Apple got last year that creates a layered touchscreen with a "hyper-thin sheet of sapphire" combined with much cheaper glass sheets. The sapphire glass could be on the outside of the phone, protecting the screen from scratches, while enjoying the cost-savings of cheaper forms of glass on the rest of the display assembly.

By doing this, Apple could stretch out the production and cost factors of sapphire enough to support manufacturing full-size display cover sheets, not just small wearable panels, buttons or protective camera covers. This, in turn, could mean sapphire cover sheets that are harder and tougher than standard glass materials on your iPhone years sooner than most analysts have predicted.

The new Apple/GT Advanced facility is expected to open in Mesa, Arizona sometime next year.

Following the start of orders for the Retina iPad mini a few hours ago, Apple has issued a press release officially announcing the launch. The release notes that the Retina iPad mini will not only be available for online orders, but also through the in-store Personal Pickup mechanism by which customers can check stocks at their local Apple retail stores and purchase online before heading to their stores to pick up their orders. Walk-in sales will apparently not be offered until supplies improve.

Stocks of the Retina iPad mini have apparently yet to make their way to Apple's U.S. retail stores, as all stores are currently showing no availability for pickup, but limited supplies should be arriving shortly. Some of Apple's international stores do, however, already have stock available for in-store pickup, as noted by MacStories' Federico Viticci, who has placed an order for pickup and confirmed with his local store in Italy that supplies are indeed available.

Availability through Apple's online store appears to be holding up for the time being, with the company's U.S. stores showing the same shipping estimates seen at the time orders went live: 1-3 business days for 16 and 32 GB Wi-Fi models and 5-10 business days for all other models.

Update: Some U.S. retail stores on the East Coast are beginning to show availability of Wi-Fi models for Personal Pickup. Many stores have all 8 color/capacity Wi-Fi configurations available at the moment.

Update 2: Apple has now opened up Personal Pickup availability for a number of its stores across the United States. Many stores are, however, still listing no in-store stock, and those that do have stock are seeing quick sellouts of many models.

Yesterday, a report from The Times Union claimed that Apple would begin A-series chip production at an upstate New York factory belonging to semiconductor company GlobalFoundries, with the Albany newspaper's sources also stating that Samsung would be helping to set up the facility.

AllThingsD now shares a bit more information on the arrangement, noting that Samsung will remain the primary manufacturer of Apple's A-series chips, with a GlobalFoundries facility to be used as a secondary factory on an "as needed" basis when Samsung's Austin, Texas facilities are unable to meet demand from both Apple and Samsung's own handset division.

Sources close to the situation said the deal that appears to be taking shape looks more like this: Samsung will use GlobalFoundries for what is known as “flex capacity.” This is a long-standing industry practice under which a chip manufacturer pays to occasionally use another company’s factories when demand on their own factory is running higher than they would like, and they need a little help.

...That’s where GlobalFoundries will come in, picking up the additional work on an as-needed basis. Samsung would basically hire GlobalFoundries as a subcontractor, and continue to manage the relationship with Apple. This is a very different business relationship than, say, if Apple were to tap GlobalFoundries as a “second source” for chips. Apple would of course have to give its blessing to the arrangement.

Samsung has long been the sole supplier of Apple's A-series chips, but Apple has been trying recently to move away from its rival for component supplies. Earlier this year, it was reported that Apple had struck a deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to begin producing A-series chips, but Samsung appeared to be remaining involved as a supplier in Apple's roadmap for future chips. Samsung's move to use a GlobalFoundries facility to help produce Apple's A-series chips would appear to indicate that Apple and Samsung are indeed committed to partnering on future production.

Apple has launched a new page on its iTunes Store allowing users to easily donate money to the American Red Cross toward Super Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in the Philippines. The donation page, which is accessible through the main Apple.com page and the desktop iTunes Store, permits donations at the $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, and $200 levels.

Apple will transfer 100% of each donation directly to the American Red Cross, allowing users to have their donations seamlessly billed to their existing iTunes Store accounts. With Apple currently holding over 500 million iTunes Store accounts with credit cards attached, the company has a very significant customer base that can take advantage of the donation program.

Apple has conducted several similar campaigns in the past, most recently in October 2012 following Superstorm Sandy, in March 2011 following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and in January 2010 following the Haitian earthquakes.

In something of a surprise move, Apple has begun accepting orders for the Retina iPad mini in the United States and several other countries as of midnight Pacific Time on November 12. Orders for the 16 and 32 GB Wi-Fi versions are currently shipping within 1 to 3 business days while orders for the 64 and 128 GB versions along with cellular models are shipping within 5 to 10 days.

The company did not give any early indication that it would launch the Retina iPad mini today, aside from a mention of the seemingly unlikely November 12 date on its GSX site for service providers just hours ago.

The quiet launch of the Retina iPad mini may be due to constrained supplies, as rumors have suggested that available quantities of the mini will be extremely low due to display production issues. Apple is unlikely to have enough supply of the tablet to meet demand.

Visually, Apple's Retina iPad mini is nearly unchanged from the original mini, though it is both slightly heavier and thicker. The tablet includes a Retina display with a 2048 x 1536 resolution, along with an A7 processor and the M7 coprocessor originally introduced in the iPhone 5s.

The entry-level 16 GB Retina iPad mini will retail for $399 in the United States, with an extra $100 for each increase in capacity and $130 for cellular connectivity.

Apple will launch its long awaited Retina iPad mini on November 12, according to multiple sources citing a posting by Apple on the company's GSX site for service providers. Apple plans to launch the tablet in the United States, Australia, China (Wi-Fi only), Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore.

While a release time beyond 'November 12' was unavailable, Apple has previously launched its products via press release at around 5:30 AM. It is possible that the company will notify consumers of the mini's availability with a press release before initiating sales in-store and online. It is, however, already November 12 in a number of countries around the world, including New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and Japan.

While the quiet release of an iPad is unusual for the company, it could be due to reports of severe supply constraints of the Retina iPad mini. According to reports, display problems have caused serious production issues, and it is unlikely Apple will have enough supply of the tablet to meet demand.

Apple's Retina iPad mini has the same general design of the original mini, though it is slightly heavier and thicker. The tablet includes a Retina display with a 2048 x 1536 resolution, along with an A7 processor and the M7 coprocessor originally introduced in the iPhone 5s.

The Retina iPad mini will retail for $399 for the entry-level 16 GB Wi-Fi model with an extra $100 for each capacity increment and $130 for cellular connectivity.

Update: All of Apple's online stores around the world have gone offline. It is unclear, however, if the downtime is related to preparations for a Retina iPad mini launch or simply scheduled maintenance that commonly occurs at this time of day.

Apple's iPhone 5s supplies appear to be improving, following significant supply constraints that have plagued the phone since its initial September 20 launch. In the Online Apple Store, iPhone 5s shipping estimates have decreased, with all models and capacities, including gold, now shipping within one to two weeks in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Shortly after the launch of the iPhone 5s, shipping estimates for all colors and capacities slipped to 7 to 10 days and fell to a vague "October" timeline. In the middle of the month, shipping estimates were updated to two to three weeks, where they have remained until today.

According to several different reports, Apple significantly ramped up its iPhone 5s production in the weeks following the phone's launch while simultaneously cutting down on iPhone 5c production. Supplies of the iPhone 5c have remained plentiful since the phone was launched and all models and capacities continue to ship within 24 hours.

Apple's improved shipping estimates come following second and third wave launches on October 25 and November 1 that brought the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c to an additional 50 countries. The iPhones are now available in more than 60 countries, bringing Apple closer to its stated goal of availability in 100 countries by the end of the year.

In store supplies of the iPhone 5s appear to be improving as well, with even the gold iPhone 5s seeing greater availability as a Personal Pickup option across the United States.

Apple today enhanced its Apple Support site with a new option allowing customers to initiate automatic screen sharing when receiving help on a Mac via phone call, giving customers more control over their Apple support experience and facilitating quicker, more accurate responses from support staff.

Selecting the screen sharing box prompts a temporary download that will allow screen sharing to begin when a support call is initiated by Apple, though customers can choose to disallow screen sharing with an Apple representative by not checking the box. Screen sharing can only be used on voice calls and is not an available option for chat sessions.

As noted by 9to5Mac, the new automated website selection replaces previous screen sharing protocols, which involved AppleCare representatives asking customers to opt into screen sharing only when necessary. Choosing to use screen sharing is now a customer decision, and while customers were previously able to request screen sharing options, the new checkbox makes the process simpler.

Customers have always been able to request screensharing, at which point the AppleCare representative would instruct them to download an application from Apple's site that facilitates the connection. Now the download is listed directly on the support page. If a customer opts to use screensharing, the AppleCare rep must comply with their request whether they think it will help or not.

In addition to screen sharing, Apple has been making other significant changes to its support site in recent months and in August, the company launched a redesigned AppleCare website with simpler interface and 24/7 live chat support.