MacRumors

Apple CEO Tim Cook has apparently joined Twitter with the username @tim_cook, with fellow Apple executive Phil Schiller retweeting him as a means of verification. The account was first created back in July, but today saw Cook's first tweet.

Cook's bio on the site reads "CEO Apple, Fan of Auburn football and Duke basketball". Cook is an alumnus of both Auburn and Duke. His first tweet reads, "Visited Retail Stores in Palo Alto today. Seeing so many happy customers reminds us of why we do what we do."

Earlier today, Cook visited the downtown Palo Alto Apple store and shook hands with customers standing in line to purchase the iPhone 5s.

Following the release of iOS 7 and the debut of its new iPhones, Apple has today pushed a new software update to its Apple TV set-top box following months of testing.

As expected, the update offers a number of new features for Apple TV users, including support for Apple’s newly released iTunes Radio music service, iCloud Photos and Videos, iTunes Music Store purchases on the device, Podcasts, and AirPlay from iCloud.

With AirPlay from iCloud, iTunes users can play content purchased from the iTunes store on any Apple TV, streaming it via iCloud.

- iTunes Radio: Create your own radio stations and listen to them ad-free with iTunes Match.

- iTunes Music Store: Browse, purchase, and play music directly from the iTunes Music Store.

- iCloud Photos: Adds support for playing video from a shared photo stream and viewing photo streams from multiple contributors.

- AirPlay from iCloud: Apple TV will play content from iTunes in the Cloud instead of your AirPlay device when possible. Requires iOS 7 on AirPlay device.

- Podcasts: Sync your podcasts and podcast stations across Apple TV and all your iOS devices.

- Subtitles & Captioning: Automatic subtitle selection based on Apple TV language setting. Customize closed caption style.

- Conference Room Display: Lock Apple TV into Conference Room Display (for business and education environments) and show onscreen instructions for using AirPlay.

- Software Update: Keep your Apple TV always up to date by automatically installing software updates when available.

- Setup: Use an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 7 to automatically transfer network settings, your Apple ID, and language preferences. Not available on iPhone 4 and iPad 2.

Apple has been working hard to bolster its Apple TV content offerings in recent months and has added additional apps for Vevo, The Weather Channel, the Disney Channel, the Smithsonian Channel, and more. The company is also rumored to be working on an updated version of its Apple TV hardware, which could debut later this year.

Chipworks is performing a more in-depth examination of the iPhone 5s than the one performed by iFixit last night.

Among its discoveries, Chipworks found that the A7 chip is manufactured by Samsung, a big win for that firm after rumors surfaced earlier this year that Taiwan Semiconductor Company (TSMC) might win the contract for the new chip. Code discovered in iOS 7 back in July did suggest that Samsung would remain the primary manufacturer for the A7.

Chipworks also found what it believes to be the M7 motion coprocessor, which iFixit dubbed the "magical" chip because it couldn't be found on the logic board during the original teardown. Instead, the M7 is a discrete processor from NXP:

Luckily, we’ve been able to locate the M7 in the form the NXP LPC18A1. The LPC1800 series are high-performing Cortx-M3 based microcontrollers. This represents a big win for NXP. We had anticipated the M7 to be an NXP device based on input from industry analysts and our partners and we are happy to see this to be the case.

The M7 is dedicated to processing and translating the inputs provided to it by the discrete sensors; the gyroscope, accelerometer and electro magnetic compass mounted throughout the main printed circuit board. Traditional Apple techniques lead us to believe that the these discrete sensors will most likely be STMicroelectronics for the accelerometer and the gyroscope while the electro magnetic compass would again be an Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM). We have since confirmed the compass to be AKM’s AK8963.

Chipworks will be continuing its teardown throughout the day.

Following last night's teardown of the iPhone 5s, iFixit has completed its iPhone 5c teardown. Unsurprisingly, the iPhone 5c's dismantling has revealed numerous similarities with the iPhone 5, including nearly identical innards with matching A6 processors.

While the internals and form factor are largely the same, the iPhone 5c is slightly thicker and heavier than the iPhone 5 and due to its polycarbonate shell. The 5c also has a larger battery, measuring in at 1510 mAh compared to the 1440 mAh battery of the iPhone 5, and it shares camera parts with the iPhone 5s, though the latter has a larger aperture. iFixit found that the plastic shell was nearly impossible to bend, largely because of its heft – the rear case weighs in at 43.8 grams.

We may not have super strength, but we put this case to the muscle test, anyway. The results: this lacquered plastic is as strong and blue as Captain Planet.

It's good to know that, though the rear panel is made with plastic to presumably cut costs, Apple did not compromise build quality in the process.

iFixit gave the iPhone 5c a 6 out of 10 repairability score, one point lower than the iPhone 5 and the same score given to the iPhone 5s, due to the lack of the pull tab on the battery, the proprietary screws, and the considerable amount of adhesive used to hold the phone together. iFixit has a number of other pictures and a detailed rundown of the iPhone 5c dismantling process on its website.

Senator Al Franken (D-MN) has sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook expressing concern over the new Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the iPhone 5s, which went on sale earlier today.

In the letter (PDF), the Senator, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, says he is an iPhone owner and is concerned about the use of fingerprints to unlock the device.

It's clear to me that Apple has worked hard to secure this technology and implement it responsibly. The iPhone 5S reportedly stores fingerprint data locally "on the chip" and in an encrypted format. It also blocks third-party apps from accessing Touch ID. Yet important questions remain about how this technology works, Apple's future plans for this technology, and the legal protections that Apple will afford it. I should add that regardless of how carefully Apple implements fingerprint technology, this decision will surely pave the way for its peers and smaller competitors to adopt biometric technology, with varying protections for privacy.

Franken goes on to ask twelve separate questions of Cook, including:

- If it's possible to convert locally-stored fingerprint data into a format that can be used by third parties.

- If it's possible to extract and obtain fingerprint data from an iPhone 5s either remotely or with physical access to the device.

- What diagnostic information the iPhone 5s sends to Apple about the Touch ID system.

- Whether Apple considers fingerprint data to be the "subscriber information" or "electronic communication transactional records", the "contents" of communications, customer or subscriber records, or a "subscriber number or identity" as defined in the Stored Communications Act, or a "tangible thing" as defined in the USA PATRIOT Act.

The last group of questions relates to when and if Apple could be required to disclose fingerprint information to U.S. Government law enforcement agencies.

Apple, for its part, has posted an extensive knowledge base article about the security benefits of the Touch ID system, though it only discloses broad details about how the iPhone 5s stores fingerprint data, but nevertheless, it may answer some of the questions that Senator Franken asked:

Touch ID does not store any images of your fingerprint. It stores only a mathematical representation of your fingerprint. It isn't possible for your actual fingerprint image to be reverse-engineered from this mathematical representation. iPhone 5s also includes a new advanced security architecture called the Secure Enclave within the A7 chip, which was developed to protect passcode and fingerprint data. Fingerprint data is encrypted and protected with a key available only to the Secure Enclave. Fingerprint data is used only by the Secure Enclave to verify that your fingerprint matches the enrolled fingerprint data. The Secure Enclave is walled off from the rest of A7 and as well as the rest of iOS. Therefore, your fingerprint data is never accessed by iOS or other apps, never stored on Apple servers, and never backed up to iCloud or anywhere else. Only Touch ID uses it and it can't be used to match against other fingerprint databases.

Senator Franken gave Tim Cook and Apple thirty days to answer the questions and, though it is not a subpoena and Apple is not required to respond, the company is likely to cooperate.

This is not the first time that Senator Franken has interacted with Apple -- in 2011, he asked both Apple and Google to require clear privacy policies for apps sold on their app stores. He also introduced a bill to help protect customer location data.

With the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c having now officially launched in nearly all of Apple's first-wave locations, Apple has issued a brief statement citing "incredible" demand for the new devices and acknowledging shortages of iPhone 5s models, reports AllThingsD.

“Demand for the new iPhones has been incredible and we are currently sold out or have limited supply of certain iPhone 5s models in some stores,” an Apple representative told AllThingsD.

Shipping estimates for online orders of the iPhone 5s opened at 7-10 business days in many countries, and while the device launched with 1-3 business day shipping in the United States, estimates quickly slipped to a minimum of 7-10 business days and even "October" in the case of the gold models.

In-store stock has also been very tight, with third-party retailers and even some Apple retail stores having little or no stock of gold and silver iPhone 5s models. In-store stocks of iPhone 5c models appear to be much more plentiful amid lower demand driven by excitement for Apple's higher-end iPhone 5s with early adopters and the availability of pre-orders for the iPhone 5c.

Within four hours after Apple began taking orders for the iPhone 5s, Apple Store shipping estimates for new orders of the device slipped to 7-10 days in the U.S. and Canada, following a similar pattern to shipping estimates in other countries where the 5s went on sale earlier today. The original shipping estimate for all 5s models was 1-3 days.

Some 28 minutes after they went on sale, all gold iPhone 5s models saw their shipping estimates slip to October.

Customers may still be able to purchase launch-day iPhone 5s units by heading to Apple Retail, carrier and select third-party reseller outlets -- but there is no indication how long those stores will have the iPhone 5s in stock.

Apple is opening its retail stores at 8 a.m. local time for the launch, while opening times for carrier and third-party reseller locations may vary. A list of some retailers known to be selling the iPhone 5s is visible on our iPhone 5s launch article.

Last year it took an hour for pre-orders of the iPhone 5 to sell out, while the year before it took some 22 hours to sell out of the pre-order launch-day stock of the iPhone 4S.

Apple is asking its supply chain to increase production of gold iPhone 5s models by one-third amid strong launch-day demand, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Apple Inc. has asked its suppliers to increase production of the gold-colored iPhone 5S by an additional one-third after seeing strong demand, people familiar with the situation said. It isn’t clear whether there are currently supply constraints manufacturing the new iPhone.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

All iPhone 5s models have been seeing lengthy shipping estimates at or soon after the start of online orders, but gold models have been in the shortest supply, with the U.S. online store seeing shipping estimates rapidly slip to "October".

In-store supplies of gold models have also been limited, with some carrier partners and third-party retailers having no supply of gold models. Even Apple's own stores are in many cases reportedly very short on gold models.

Apple started taking orders for its flagship iPhone 5s in the U.S. and Canada at midnight Pacific Time after the phone launched earlier today in 8 other countries around the world. Most locales have seen tight supplies of all capacities and colors, with the gold model said to be particularly difficult to come by.

The iPhone 5s is available directly from Apple via the Apple Online Store and the Apple Store iOS App [Direct Link], with the iOS app historically more resilient against traffic surges than the online store.

Initial orders from the Apple Online Store will ship within 1-3 days.

In the U.S., Apple is selling the 16GB iPhone 5s on most carriers for $199 with a two-year contract, while the 32GB and 64GB versions are $299 and $399 respectively. T-Mobile is offering the 5s for $99 down plus 24 monthly payments of $22.91 per month.

There is also an unlocked GSM version of the 5s available for $649 (16GB), $749 (32GB), and $849 (64GB). All capacities come in Space Grey, Silver, or Gold.

The iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c, with the latter available for pre-order for the past week, will be available in U.S. Apple Retail, carrier and select third-party reseller stores beginning later today. Lines are already forming at retail outlets around the country.

In the U.S., iPhone 5s orders are available from:

Apple:
- Apple Online Store
- Apple Store iOS App [Direct Link]

Carriers:
- AT&T
- Verizon
- Sprint
- T-Mobile

Third-Party Resellers:
- Walmart (In-Store Only, iPhone 5s 16GB available for $189)
- Best Buy (In-Store Only)
- Radio Shack (In-Store Only)
- Target (In-Store Only)

iFixit has already taken apart the new iPhone 5s, currently on sale in Australia. It is the second significant teardown of the device, which was taken apart earlier by Australian iPhone repair firm iExperts. Unsurprisingly, there are no drastic changes from the iPhone 5 to the 5s, but there are some new internals like the Touch ID sensor that are worth examining.

In removing the front panel from the rest of the iPhone 5s, the iFixit team notes that a new cable that runs from the Touch ID sensor to the Lightning port assembly, meaning that extreme care must be taken when removing the screen to avoid damaging the cable.

iFixit did express some concern over the amount of glue used to attach the battery -- a 3.8V - 5.92Wh - 1560mAh unit, slightly larger than the iPhone 5's 3.8V 1440mAh battery -- to the casing, noting that the dramatic increase in glue compared to the iPhone 5 could make it exceptionally difficult to replace the battery. The company also wondered if the sapphire home button was enough to protect the sensitive CMOS Touch ID sensor over time.

Looking at the logic board, iFixit could not find a standalone M7 motion coprocessor chip, dubbing it "invisible". The team believes the M7 may be special silicon built into the A7 chip itself.

Also of note was the striking lack of a discrete M7 co-processor. Perhaps the "M" stands for "magical," because it’s not there, folks. The mythical M7 is most likely a combination of motion-oriented components, and not an actual dedicated chip (as Apple implied during last week’s product announcement). Chock it up to savvy marketing.

Apple's iterative design has allowed it to streamline and optimize internal construction of the 5s, including the loss of extemporaneous antenna interconnect cables "leaving one less thing to break or get disconnected".

Overall, iFixit gave the iPhone 5s a repairability score of 6 out of 10 (10 being the easiest to repair), which is one point fewer than the iPhone 5's 7 out of 10. Compared to the iPhone 5, the 5s battery no longer has a convenient pull tab for removal and the Touch ID cable could be ripped out of its socket during front panel removal.

The U.S. Apple Store has gone offline in preparation of the launch of online sales for the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 5s is Apple's new top-end iPhone which incorporates the faster A7 processor, camera improvements and a fingerprint sensor.

Lines have started to form at stores across the country. While the the LA Times claims that lines are "noticeably shorter or nonexistent" as compared to previous launches, CNet reports there were healthy lines internationally.

Supply for the new iPhone appears to be tight with international stores selling out relatively quickly. Apple didn't offer pre-orders for the iPhone 5s, so both online and retail sales begin today.

A few reports from U.S. readers in line also indicate very little stock of White and Gold devices. One reader RiderXTC at the Clarendon, VA store indicates that there is a two device per person limit, and White and Gold devices were all claimed quickly:

An Apple employee just came out and asked everyone in line which color, carrier, and size they desired. After getting to the third person, there are no more gold/white or silver/white in any size for any carrier.

The iPhone 5c will also go on sale at retail stores on Friday, September 20th. Retail sales will begin at 8am local time, while online sales will kick off at 12:01am Pacific time.

Update: Mac4Ever has a gallery of long lines for the iPhone 5s launch in France.

Online sales of the iPhone 5s have kicked off in several different countries, and a number of iPhone 5s models, the gold in particular, seem to be in short supply all around the world.

As the Apple Stores in France, Germany, and the U.K. come back online, it is clear that the shortages extend to European customers as well. Immediately after coming back up, the U.K. Apple Store displayed shipping times of 7–10 days for all colors and capacities, as did both of the online stores for France and Germany.

In Australia and China, online Apple Store shipping times for the iPhone 5s rapidly slipped to 7–10 days for all colors and capacities, with immediate unavailability of the 64GB gold version. Apple’s Hong Kong and Singapore online stores have even longer waiting times, displaying an October shipping estimate for all iPhone 5s models.

Based on the extended shipping times seen around the world, it is likely that iPhone 5s supplies will be tight in the United States as well. Both in-store and online stock are likely to be limited, and customers have already begun camping out at Apple Stores across the country in the hopes of obtaining an iPhone 5s on launch day.

Two controller makers are teasing MFi "Made for iPhone" game controllers following the public release of iOS 7. The new OS includes special APIs for third-party hardware game controllers, turning the iPhone and iPad into gaming systems on par with other handheld consoles.

ClamCase has published a trailer for its GameCase iPhone controller, which connects via Bluetooth, includes its own battery, and supports all iOS 7-compatible iOS devices.

At the same time, Logitech is teasing its new hardware controller on its Facebook page. The position of the hands strongly suggests the leaked iPhone enclosure controller that surfaced from Logitech back in June.

Games designed specifically for iOS 7 will be able to tie into Apple's Game Controller framework, allowing for seamless connectivity to authorized third-party MFi devices.

There appears to be a lock screen vulnerability in iOS 7 that allows access to a device’s photos, email, and social networking accounts. According to Jose Rodriguez, who provided a video of the bug to Forbes, a simple set of gestures gives unwarranted access to a device running iOS 7.

The exploit can be initiated by swiping upwards on the device's lock screen to access the Control Center and open the Clock app. Once the clock app is open, holding the phone's sleep button will cause the "Slide to Power Off" option to appear. Tapping on cancel at this juncture and then double clicking on the home button will open the phone's multitasking screen, providing access to the camera and the photos on the device. The key to the trick, however, is to access the camera app from the lock screen first, causing it to appear in the recently used apps list.

Because the photos from the camera app can be shared via Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and email, an intruder can also gain access to those apps using the sharing tools.

I tested the technique on an iPhone 5 running iOS 7, and it worked. Rodriguez’s video shows it working on an iPad, too. It’s not yet clear if the same exploit can bypass the lockscreen of an iPhone 5s or 5c, but Rodriguez tells me he believes it will. I’ve reached out to Apple for comment and I’ll update this post if I hear from the company.

Apple has been plagued by lock screen vulnerabilities multiple times over the course of the year, with a bug appearing in iOS 6.1 that allowed lock screen access to the phone when the emergency call function was manipulated.

The current iOS 7 vulnerability can be avoided by preventing the Control Center from appearing on the lock screen. The setting can be turned on by opening the Settings app, selecting "Access on Lock Screen" and toggling it off.

Update: Apple has told AllThingsD that it is working on a fix.

"Apple takes user security very seriously," Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told AllThingsD. "We are aware of this issue, and will deliver a fix in a future software update."