MacRumors

According to new data by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (via AllThingsD), the iPhone 5s has been outselling the iPhone 5c by more than a two-to-one margin since the launch of both devices last month, with the higher-end device accounting for 64% of total iPhone sales and the lower-cost device accounting for 27%. The iPhone 4S made up the remaining 9%, with the iPhone 5s capturing a lesser percentage of new sales this year when compared to the 68% of new sales captured by the iPhone 5 last year.
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What’s more surprising is the iPhone 5c’s sales performance relative to that of the iPhone 4S’s following the debut of the iPhone 5. Despite the 5c’s newness and its colorful design, it’s not selling that much better than the 4S did when it was demoted to legacy iPhone by the flagship iPhone 5.

According to CIRP’s analysis, the 5c accounted for 27 percent of iPhone sales during the time period surveyed — just slightly more than the 23 percent captured by the 4S during the same period last year. Remember, the new 5c is this year stepping into a role similar to the one the old 4S served last year: The $99 iPhone. But Apple has attempted to improve its value proposition, tricking it out with a new plastic chassis and color options.

A 2-to-1 lead for the iPhone 5s over the iPhone 5c would appear to mark a decline from the launch weekend of September 20, when analytics firm Localytics saw the ratio at closer to 3.5-to-1 by tracking the new devices showing up on its network. At the time, we noted that the gap would likely narrow over time as the launch weekend focused on early adopters buying the higher-end iPhone 5s models that were in short supply, while over the longer term the iPhone 5c would more likely hold appeal for mainstream customers updating when their current contracts run out, and that dynamic appears to already be playing out in the weeks following the launch.

Last week, it was reported that Apple is cutting iPhone 5c production from 300,000 units to 150,000 units per day, with the iPhone 5c seeing significantly better availability compared to the iPhone 5s. It is, however, unclear how much of the ample iPhone 5c stock are due to weak demand and how much is due to Apple simply having met demand through more effective production.

Apple announced last month that the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c had sold a record nine million units during their launch weekend, but the company did not break down the sales distribution between the two models. However, a report from last week stated that the iPhone 5c finished second in sales over the month of September at US carriers AT&T and Sprint, and finished within the top three in sales at all four major carriers, which suggests that the lower-cost iPhone is at least selling fairly well.

Related Forum: iPhone

uk_iphone_store_recyclingAfter officially launching the U.S. version of the program in late August, Apple has officially confirmed that it is launching its iPhone trade-in program today at its UK retail stores, reports Pocket-lint.

"iPhones hold great value. So, Apple Retail Stores in the UK are launching a new program to assist customers who wish to bring in their previous-generation iPhone for reuse or recycling," an Apple spokesperson has said. "In addition to helping support the environment, customers will be able to receive a credit for their returned phone that they can use toward the purchase of a new iPhone."

Under the program, users can receive a gift card in exchange for their older devices, although the gift card must immediately be used toward the purchase of a new iPhone.

Customers may also get quotes from Apple for a similar trade-in program online that launched nearly two years ago, with the option of shipping a device for recycling available as well. In the United States, the online and in-store programs are run by different third-party companies, and the same may be true in the UK, meaning that consumers may want to check both programs to determine any differences in trade-in value. Separate trade-in services may also offer greater value, although Apple's in-store program offers the convenience of an immediate no-hassle credit against the purchase of a new device.

Related Forum: iPhone

cricket_logo U.S. regional prepaid carrier Cricket today announced today that it will be offering the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to customers beginning October 25th. The devices will be compatible with the company's various nationwide 4G LTE and 3G CDMA wireless networks and feature nationwide talk, text and data plans with no annual contracts.

Cricket Communications, Inc. today announced Cricket Wireless will offer iPhone 5s, the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world, and iPhone 5c, the most colorful iPhone yet, to customers beginning on October 25, 2013. Customers may pre-register interest today at www.mycricket.com/register. For more information please visit: www.mycricket.com.

Cricket first began offering the iPhone in 2012, but stated back in Feburary that weak iPhone sales would prevent it from purchasing its full allotment of iPhones from Apple. However, Cricket's parent company Leap Wireless announced during its Q1 2013 financial results that its subsidary experienced improved iPhone sales amidst significant customer and revenue losses.

This past July, AT&T agreed to acquire Leap Wireless for $15/share -- roughly $1.2 billion in cash, plus the $2.8 billion in net debt that the company held. Cricket has now also become the third major prepaid carrier to offer the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s after Sprint's Virgin Mobile and AT&T's AIO Wireless.

Related Forum: iPhone

IngressIngress, a mobile-augmented reality game created by Google for Android devices, is set to launch on iOS devices next year, reports AllThingsD.

Plans for the iOS version of the game were confirmed by Ingress product manager Brandon Badger, with the Android version experiencing over ten thousand active players a month and one million activations total since Google launched a closed beta for the title last November.

As described in the Google Play description, the multiplayer gameplay of Ingress centers around two sides, The Enlightened and The Resistance, who compete against each other for clues about a mysterious new technology. The story is set in real-time with Google delivering new clues every week, with players claiming local landmarks around them in the real-world, which earns them points for their respective team in-game.

Ingress transforms the real world into the landscape for a global game of mystery, intrigue, and competition.

Our future is at stake. And you must choose a side.

A mysterious energy has been unearthed by a team of scientists in Europe. The origin and purpose of this force is unknown, but some researchers believe it is influencing the way we think. We must control it or it will control us.

Move through the real world using your Android device and the Ingress app to discover and tap sources of this mysterious energy. Acquire objects to aid in your quest, deploy tech to capture territory, and ally with other players to advance the cause of the Enlightened or the Resistance.

An unauthorized version of Ingress was released for iOS earlier this year for both jailbroken and non-jailbroken devices, however the port's creators warn that players may be banned for using an unofficial app. A new Ingress story titled "13Magnus" began today with live events planned for 38 cities, concluding in San Francisco on December 14th. Ingress is set to launch for iOS in 2014, but Google has not specified when.

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Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Neutral)
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Apple may be planning to release a 12-inch MacBook with an all-new design and high-resolution Retina Display in the middle of 2014, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

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Specifically, the new MacBook is expected to feature a clamshell form factor even thinner than the current MacBook Air, and may debut at a lower-price point than the current Retina MacBook Pro line due to an improving yield rate. While Kuo stops short of calling the new model a replacement for the current MacBook Air line, his description of the model suggests that it would indeed supplant Apple's current ultra-slim notebook line.

We expect the unprecedented 12” model will boast both the portability of the 11” model, and productivity of the 13” model. The high resolution display will also offer the outstanding visual experience of the Retina MacBook Pro. The offering will likely be lighter and slimmer than the existing MacBook Air to further highlight ease of portability in the cloud computing era. We think the form factor will showcase a much improved clamshell structure, and that it will redefine laptop computing once again following the milestone created by the MacBook Air.

Kuo's claims match with a report from NPD DisplaySearch analysts earlier this week claiming that Apple is planning to introduce a new 12-inch MacBook Air next year. That new model was predicted to use a high-resolution 2304 x 1440 display

Both rumors also fall in line with earlier reports that Apple is set to move to IGZO displays for many of its future products, allowing for higher-resolution displays with lower power consumption.

Kuo has generally been quite accurate with his predictions over the past several years, including accurately outlining many of the details of Apple's 2013 launch plans as far back as January. Other accurate predictions have included the introduction of a "third MacBook line" that arrived in the form of Retina MacBook Pro models and the discontinuation of the 17-inch MacBook Pro last year.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forums: MacBook, MacBook Air

Apple may be preparing to release a cheaper model of the iMac in 2014, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states in a new research note. The analyst believes that sales of recent iMac models have failed to meet expectations and that Apple may look to introduce a lower-cost option in order to bolster sales in critical foreign markets.imac_family_2013

Our surveys indicate that Apple’s last iMac model, released at end-2012 with an all-new-design, shipped fewer-than-expected units in the worldwide market. We think the price was set too high and the model failed to make an impact in critical foreign markets like China. We thus think Apple may offer a budget iMac model to push shipments among non-US markets in the face of solid competition from Levono (CN), HP (US) and other rivals.

We are optimistic that a budget iMac would boost overall iMac shipments to grow 10-20% YoY in 2014.

After a major redesign last year, the iMac was given a surprise refresh last month as Apple updated the line of desktops based on Intel's Haswell processors, faster PCI Express-based flash storage options, and new 802.11ac Wi-Fi capabilities. Currently, the entry-level iMac 21.5 inch iMac starts at $1,299, while the 27-inch iMac starts $1,799. Both models are $100 more expensive than the previous generation iMacs, which debuted in 2011.

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ipad5_2 Countering earlier reports about the possibility of Apple launching a larger, 12.9-inch iPad next year, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states in a new research note that the company will instead release a new sixth-generation 9.7-inch iPad with 30-40% higher pixel density than seen in both the current and upcoming full-sized iPad.

Contrary to speculation that next year’s iPad next year may come in a 12” form, or larger, we think it will not change from the current 9.7” format as we think a 12” iPad would not provide a good mobility experience given today’s technology limitations.

In light [of] advancing Oxide and a-Si technologies, the PPI of iPad 6, which we expect to come out at end-2014, will exceed that of 2013’s iPad 5 by 30-40%, which will offer more competent visuals.

In his research note, Kuo also touches on the third-generation iPad mini, which would be expected to launch alongside the higher-resolution iPad 6. Kuo believes that the second-generation iPad mini expected to be introduced at Apple's media event later this month will adopt a Retina display and that there will be no further changes to resolution for the third-generation iPad mini next year.

Apple is expected to unveil both the fifth-generation iPad and the second-generation iPad mini during an October 22 event that will also showcase other Apple products such as Mavericks and the Mac Pro.

Related Roundups: iPad, iPad mini
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During its September iPhone media event, Apple announced that anyone who purchased an eligible new iOS device after September 1 would be able to download iPhoto, iMovie, and the iWork suite of apps (Keynote, Pages, and Numbers) for free. Apple today began sending out emails with iTunes credits to users who purchased both new iOS devices and one or more of the now-free iOS apps prior to its September 10 announcement.

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Eligible users appear to be receiving credit based on the number of apps they purchased, and the credit can be used towards the purchase of any content in the iTunes Store, including books, apps, and music.

Pages, Numbers and Keynote are normally $9.99 each in the App Store, while iMovie and iPhoto are priced at $4.99 each, which is a total savings of approximately $40 for customers who purchase a new Apple device.

Thanks Tim!

Unity, the engine behind a multitude of iOS apps, was today updated to version 4.2.2, adding iOS Game Controller support. According to the release notes, iOS game controller support plugs directly into the standard Unity Input API.

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Like most mobile games developers, we’ve been closely following what important additions and changes the recently released iOS 7 update has made. One of the biggest and most exciting of Apple’s initiatives is the standardization of game controllers for iOS-based platforms. So we’re happy to tell you that, in addition to several important bug fixes for Xcode 5 / iOS 7 (Build&Run, WebCamTexture and status bar), Apple Controller support is included with 4.2.2!

First introduced with iOS 7, Apple’s Game Controller API is designed to work with MFi (Made for iPhone) game controllers. While no such controllers have yet to be released, several are said to be in the works, including offerings from Logitech and GameCase.

Multiple games have also begun incorporating Game Controller support, including major titles like Walking Dead and Bastion. Though there is no information available on when MFi controllers might be available, increasing news of support suggests that the release could come at any time, possibly during Apple’s iPad-centric fall event.

Unity's blog post also has a mini tutorial for Unity developers that includes tips on how to add controller support to games.

Apple has clarified the shipping times for its iPhone 5s, with new shipping estimates ranging from two to three weeks for all carriers, colors, and capacities in the United States, Canada, and Asia Pacific. Apple Stores in Europe continue to list Apple's previous "October" shipping timeline.

shippingtimes
Taking into account delivery times, iPhones ordered today will arrive to customers in late October or early November.

The updated shipping time comes as Apple prepares to launch the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c to 35 new countries on October 25 and an additional 16 countries on November 1.

Though Apple's shipping times seem to have improved somewhat, a new study conducted by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reveals that in-store iPhone 5s availability has been slipping over the past two weeks. As a result, it is more difficult to reserve an iPhone for pickup, or walk into a store to purchase one, while previously, some models, such as Space Gray, were readily available.

Apple's iPhone 5s has been available in limited quantities since launch, selling out within a matter of hours after Apple began taking online orders. Gold and silver models in particular have been hard to come by, with supplies of the gold model in particular drying up within 30 minutes of the phone’s launch. The iPhone 5c remains in stock, with new orders shipping out within 24 hours.

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple’s proposed Apple Campus 2, now in the final planning stages, can be seen in detail in new model photos provided by San Jose Mercury News. The 4-story circular building, which Steve Jobs famously described as "like a spaceship," encompasses more than 2.8 million square feet and is designed to house upwards of 12,000 employees.

Dai Sugano

Image courtesy of San Jose Mercury News

As seen in the model, the campus includes the main spaceship building with curved glass windows and polished concrete ceilings, several auxiliary buildings, a massive parking structure topped with solar panels, an underground parking lot, and a huge number of trees. In addition to the main working area, the plans include an auditorium for events, a fitness center, and additional space for research and development. Apple's Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer, was on hand to give some details about the campus.

"You see the energy and the love and the attention to detail that we've put into this," he told this newspaper during a sneak-peek of a top-secret, living-room sized model of the building. "We have treated this project just as we would any Apple product. And this will be a place for the most creative and collaborative teams in the industry to innovate for decades to come."

"The concept of the building," said Oppenheimer, "is collaboration and fluidity. It'll provide a very open-spaced system, so that at one point in the day you may be in offices on one side of the circle and find yourself on the other side later that day."

Though only the main buildings will be constructed during the first phase of the project, Apple has plans to add additional buildings to house extra employees at some point in the future.

Following an early October approval from the Cupertino Planning Commission, the campus is still subject to a vote from the Cupertino city council on October 15 and a final vote on November 19. If all parties involved approve the construction, Apple will remain on track for a 2016 debut of the new structure. A full gallery of the model can be seen on the Mercury News site.

Update: As noted by TechCrunch, Apple has begun sending out brochures asking residents of Cupertino to support the new Apple campus by emailing the Cupertino city council and attending the October 15 vote. The company says that it intends to break ground shortly after the campus is approved.

Update 2: The City of Cupertino has posted a nearly three-hour video (via MacGeneration) of the October 1 session discussing Apple's Environmental Impact report on the new campus project. The session includes a presentation by Apple Senior Director of Real Estate and Facilities Dan Whisenhunt, with a brief overview video beginning at the 8:15 mark in the session video.

AT&T is planning to discontinue its standard monthly voice and data plans for new customers, instead offering only its Mobile Share plans, reports Engadget.

AT&T is planning to axe its traditional monthly calling and data plans for new customers – both individual and family – in favor of the network’s latest shared data options, Engadget has learned after receiving an anonymous tip and reaching out to AT&T. It appears that this move is in response to the overwhelming success of AT&T’s Mobile Share since its original debut.

First introduced during the summer of 2012, AT&T's mobile share plans offer unlimited talk and text while providing a pool of data that can be used across multiple devices.

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The plans include a monthly data cost and a per-device charge that ranges from $10 to $50 based on the type of device and the selected data plan. Data is priced between $20 and $500, for between 300MB and 50GB of usage.

At the current time, AT&T also offers individual and family plans that include separate voice, data, and messaging charges at varying price points. The company says that for 95 percent of its customers, Mobile Share plans offer a better value.

The elimination of current voice and data plans will not affect existing customers, even through phone upgrades, line activations, and other plan adjustments. New customers, however, will only be able to choose a Mobile Share plan when signing up with AT&T after the changes go into effect.

AT&T plans to continue to offer the basic $40 plan that includes 450 minutes and no texting or data for customers who require a basic option. The switch to Mobile Share for new customers will be implemented on October 25.

Video game developer Codemasters has released F1 Challenge for iOS devices, a title based on the popular internationally sanctioned auto racing league. The game includes over 90+ racing events along with specific moments from the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship, touch-optimized controls including swipe gestures for turning and boosting, and real-life drivers and licensed cars from manufacturers such as Ferrari and McLaren.

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Complete over 90 racing events and recreate thrilling moments from the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™ in F1 Challenge – an officially licensed FORMULA 1™ videogame.

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Racing apps have proven popular on iOS, and titles based on the Formula One license have appeared occasionally throughout the App Store in the past couple of years, including various other racing titles and official timing apps. F1 Challenge is a $2.99 app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

Several threads on the Apple Support Communities forum are reporting random reboots on the iPhone 5s while using Apple's iWork apps, with the issue being signaled by the brief appearance of an all-blue screen naturally being compared to the famous Windows "Blue Screen of Death" (BSOD). The issue was reported by iPhone in Canada last month but has been gaining significantly more attention today after being picked up by The Verge.

As shown in videos posted by users, the issue may appear when a user simply opens a document in Pages or another iWork app and then closes the app by pressing the home button on their device. Double-pressing the home button to enter multitasking mode can also trigger the issue. Users in the threads are also reporting random reboots during regular device use, which also may be caused by a number of reasons specific to the device.


Users have reported that the error can be temporarily fixed by turning off iCloud syncing for Apple's Pages, Keynote and Numbers apps, but that fix does not appear to address the other random reboots on the device. Apple released iOS 7.0.2 last month with a fix for a lock screen passcode bypass issue, and was said to be seeding iOS 7.0.3 internally as of last week, but it is unknown if it will contain a fix, or whether Apple will deploy updates to its iWork suite of applications to remedy the problem.

Earlier today, a study showed that apps running on the iPhone 5s are crashing twice as frequently as on the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5, with the new 64-bit A7 chip and M7 motion coprocessor presumably adding wrinkles that may be causing some apps difficulties.

Related Forum: iPhone

chromeAccording to research firm Chitika (via GigaOM), Google's Chrome browser for iOS now accounts for 3% of total iOS web traffic, up from 1.5% when it was first released for the platform in June 2012. The research attributes the browser's rise in usage to a release of the new version of Chrome optimized for iOS 7, an advertising campaign for the browser, and the release of the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on September 20.

While Chrome usage share on iOS devices rose only about 0.3 percentage points following September 22, keep in mind that iOS has an incredibly large existing user base meaning that usage changes need to be exceptionally great to cause a significant impact. In this realm, Google still has work to do, but the recent growth is a likely indicator that Chrome is regaining some traction in the iOS browsing space.

Google has regularly updated Chrome since its debut, including an update in July that improved interoperability with other Google Apps by giving users the ability to open links for YouTube, Maps, G+ and Drive in the app instead of the browser itself. Earlier this month, a report detailed an issue in Chrome for iOS 7 that revealed private Incognito seraches, but Google notes that this issue is the result of iOS limitations that require regular and incognito tabs to share the same HTML5 local storage.

Chrome is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

iphone5c.jpgTarget will be cutting the price of the iPhone 5c down to $49.99 from $79.99 starting this Sunday, October 13, reports CNET. Customers who have a Target REDcard can save an additional five percent on the device upon purchase. The move follows a rapid string of recent price cuts for the lower-cost device, inclduing Best Buy and RadioShack knocking the price of the device down to $50 with a gift card while Walmart dropped its own pricing to $45 through the holidays.

Yesterday, it was reported that Apple is cutting iPhone 5c production from 300,000 units to 150,000 units per day, with the lower-cost iPhone 5c seeing significantly better availability compared to the high-end iPhone 5s. It is, however, unclear how much of the plentiful iPhone 5c supplies are due to weak demand and how much is due to Apple simply having met demand through more effective production.

Apple announced last month that the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c had sold a record nine million units during the launch weekend for both devices, but the company did not break down the sales distribution between the two models. However, a report from earlier this week did state that the iPhone 5c finished second in sales over the month of September at US carriers AT&T and Sprint, and finished within the top three in sales at all four major carriers, which suggests that the lower-cost iPhone is at least selling fairly well.

Related Forum: iPhone

iphone-5sAccording to a study by mobile application mangement platform Crittercism, iOS apps are twice as likely to crash on the new iPhone 5s as they are when running on the iPhone 5 and 5c, reports AllThingsD.

The app crash rates on the iPhone 5s are attributed to the unforseen issues that developers have had transitioning to the new internals of the iPhone 5s, such as rewriting drivers and code for the phone's 64-bit A7 chip and M7 coprocessor. Apple notably began allowing developers to submit 64-bit apps for the iPhone 5s on September 16, just four days before the launch of the device itself.

“Anytime there is new hardware or software release, we see issues,” Crittercism CEO Andrew Levy said in an interview. “Inevitably, over time, those issues get resolved.”

Levy said that perhaps the reason the iPhone 5s is seeing more crashes than the equally new iPhone 5c is that, while developers were able to check their apps for compatibility with iOS 7 during several months of beta testing, the new hardware wasn’t available ahead of time. The iPhone 5s packs a new 64-bit A7 chip and an M7 coprocessor, while the 5c is nearly identical, internally, to the iPhone 5.

However, the company compliments Apple for releasing two updates in quick succession for iOS 7, stating that the company is "doing a really good job of addressing these issues as they come up.” Since its launch last month, a number of noteworthy apps have been redesigned or optimized for the iPhone 5s, with more developers stating that they will update their apps to accommodate the new processor in the near future.

Related Forum: iPhone

Following the announcement of a partnership with Leica for charity earlier this week, Apple's senior vice president of design Jony Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson have created the (RED) Desk, an aluminum table that will be auctioned off to benefit Product (RED), reports The Verge.
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Superstar designers on a mission: Created to help fight AIDS in Africa, (RED) Desk by Jony Ive & Marc Newson is a signed one-of-a-kind, machined from solid aluminum, with an intricate cellular surface pattern, fabricated by renowned aluminum specialists Neal Feay Studio.

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The table, along with the one-of-a-kind Leica M Rangefinder and a pair of solid gold EarPods, which were both designed by Ive, will be auctioned via Sotheby's on November 23. Proceeds will go to Product (RED), a longtime Apple partner. Apple has raised more than $65 million for the charity since 2006.