MacRumors

Earlier this week, Geek.com highlighted a growing a number of complaints from owners of Apple's 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro regarding overactive fans. The issue has been noted in our forums and is the subject of a lengthy thread in Apple's discussion forums. From one report:

My first instance of runaway fans was under the lightest of conditions, having only one browser open only a few tabs and a cool computer. The fact it was cold is what is so alarming. Out of nowhere the fans spun up to a roar, stayed there for a few minutes, then decelerated back down to idle. Every so often this happens, usually daily, and it's horribly annoying on a high quality well engineered computer.

From the list of reports flowing in, users suspect that Apple's recent shift to using SanDisk solid-state drives in the Retina MacBook Pro may have something to do with the issue, although it is likely a software issue rather than a hardware one.

Apple support staff have offered mixed responses to the issue, with some customers receiving replacement machines while others have been assured that the behavior is normal. If the issue is indeed a software one as is suspected, Apple should be able to fix it relatively easily with an update pushed out to owners of the affected machines, but it is unclear whether Apple is working on a fix at this time.

(Photo from iFixit)

In late 2012, a new Apple seller appeared on eBay, offering Apple-certified refurbished products. The storefront, known simply as Refurbished-Outlet, is believed to be run by Apple itself.

As 9to5Mac pointed out in November, the Refurbished-Outlet seller makes the same promises that Apple does when selling refurbished products on its online Apple Store, with a full one-year warranty and a quality inspection by Apple.

Refurbished-Outlet has quietly sold over 10,000 Apple products, and as of late (via dealnews) the store has been selling products at a steep discount, offering cheaper prices than can be found in Apple's own "Special Deals" refurbished store.

For example, Refurbished-Outlet was previously offering a 13-inch MacBook Air with a 128GB SSD for $899. Apple charges $999 for the same refurbished setup. Currently, Refurbished-Outlet has an 11-inch MacBook Air with a 1.8Ghz processor, 4GB RAM and a 256GB HD for $949, while the same laptop is $1,049 from the Apple Store.

A fourth generation 32GB iPod touch can be purchased from Refurbished-Outlet for $179, which Apple normally charges $209 for. A 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular third generation retails for $599 in the Apple Store but can be purchased for $549 from the eBay store.

Though Refurbished-Outlet offers some products at discount, several share price listings with Apple's official refurbished store. For example, the 2.4Ghz 17-inch MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM and a 750GB hard drive is $2,079 on eBay, and $2,079 in the Apple Store.

Prices are unpredictable and inventory changes on a daily basis, but the Refurbished-Outlet does offer significant discounts on Apple-certified refurbished products. Neither Apple nor eBay have confirmed that Apple is running the store directly.

Earlier this year, analysts from Detwiler Fenton claimed that Apple's rumored lower-cost iPhone would use a Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm rather than one of Apple's own A-series chips, arguing that the ability to integrate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi directly into the main chip would allow Apple to save on costs.

China Times (spotted and translated by Japanese blog Mac Otakara) now cites an unnamed source making the same claim. The report says that TSMC has been contracted to produce the Snapdragon chip using its 28-nanometer process.

The report also suggests that another cost-saving measure for the low-cost handset would be to offer 3G only, rather than LTE. There are separate versions of Snapdragon with 3G and LTE, giving Apple the option of either mobile data technology. From a Google translation of the original China Times article:

Supply Chain Industry revealed that Apple's low-cost iPhone uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon single-chip, initially only support 3G without support for 4G LTE single-chip native support for WiFi and Bluetooth wireless networking capability, so do not need to increase the wireless network mode group. Of this chip commissioned TSMC foundry to 28 nm.

As we noted when this rumor surfaced the last time, Apple would seem much more likely to simply use older generations of its existing chip lineup in a cheaper iPhone in order to save on costs, and reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that Apple will do exactly that by using the current A6 chip in the lower-cost iPhone while moving on to a more powerful A7 chip in the iPhone 5S.

Digitimes is reporting that both Apple and Samsung are expected to introduce wireless charging solutions for their "flagship models" of smartphones in 2013.

While their "industry sources" pinpoint Qi inductive charging as the technology to be used by Samsung, Apple appears to be working on their own version of wireless charging.

Apple is likely to adopt the wireless charging technology developed internally, but it remains unknown if the next-generation iPhone will come with built-in wireless charging capability or with other attached accessories, said the sources.

Samsung's solution is said to be likely an add-on accessory to replace the back-cover of their smartphones. Palm used a similar back-cover replacement option for their short lived Touchstone wireless charging system for the Palm Pre. Digitimes' sources, however, weren't clear if Apple's solution would be built-in or an additional accessory.

Speculation has linked Apple to wireless charging solutions before, but Apple's Phil Schiller downplayed that possibility in late 2012. When questioned by AllThingsD about wireless charging systems:

As for wireless charging, Schiller notes that the wireless charging systems still have to be plugged into the wall, so it’s not clear how much convenience they add. The widely-adopted USB cord, meanwhile, can charge in wall outlets, computers and even on airplanes, he said.

Apple has previously been shown to have done research into magnetic resonance charging technology which is distinct from the more commonly used inductive wireless charging.

Digitimes has a mixed record with Apple rumors, so Apple's likelihood of incorporating such technology so soon remains uncertain.

In a media event today, Facebook announced significant changes to the way its signature News Feed is displayed to users on desktop, smartphones and tablets. The company has increased the size of shared images and video content, while also introducing several different sub feeds to allow readers to focus on certain content like photos, music, or pages you like. In addition, the newsfeed will have the same look and feel where its accessed, whether across the desktop, smartphone or tablet.

Today we're announcing a new version of Facebook designed to reduce clutter and focus more on stories from the people you care about. You see all the stories you saw in your News Feed before, but with a fresh new look. We've completely rebuilt each story to be much more vibrant and colorful and highlight the content that your friends are sharing. Photos, news articles, maps and events all look brighter and more beautiful.

Facebook is aiming to "give everyone in the world the best personalized newspaper we can," according to founder Mark Zuckerberg. Users can sign up for a waiting list (scroll to the bottom) to get early access to the improved News Feed on the desktop, while smartphone and tablet versions will be rolling out over the next several weeks. Note: MacRumors readers can "Like" MacRumors on Facebook to get our news updates in your Facebook feed.

The New York Post reports that Apple has been seeking to undercut its potential competitors with regard to royalty rates for its rumored streaming music service, currently offering a rate that is just half that paid by Pandora despite rumors that Apple is looking for more flexibility than allowed under the license used by Pandora.

The tech titan, the most valuable company in the world, made an initial offer to the label of about 6 cents per 100 songs streamed, sources said.

That’s about half of the 12 cents per 100 songs paid by Pandora, the leading online radio service that Apple is taking aim at, sources said. [...]

By comparison, terrestrial radio-backed online services — such as iHeart — pay about 22 cents per 100 songs streamed.

Subscription service Spotify pays the highest rate for its service, 35 cents per 100 songs streamed, sources said.

The report claims that Apple had hoped to have its so-called "iRadio" service ready for the iPhone 5 launch, but was forced to slow down its timetable due to the difficult content negotiations. Sources indicate that Apple would like to bundle iRadio with the existing iTunes Match service, although iRadio would also be ad-supported.

Pandora has been seeking to lower its royalty payments, arguing that the current structure does not allow it to earn a profit on its service. The company has noted that it pays out a much higher percentage of its revenue in royalties than satellite service SiriusXM does, leaving essentially no room for profit once its other costs are accounted for.

Pandora currently takes advantage of a compulsory licensing option that permits it to broadcast any music it wishes without having to strike individual deals with record labels, but license places significant restrictions on content, preventing users from requesting specific songs, rewinding, or skipping more than a handful of songs per hour. Apple is reportedly seeking a much more flexible arrangement for its users, but labels are reluctant to sign on at the rates currently being offered by the company.

Update 10:14 AM: The New York Times reports that Apple's plans are indeed still being delayed due to the ongoing negotiations.

Apple had hoped to introduce the service early this year, but now it is not likely to reach the market until the summer, if not later, according to these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential.

Update 1:59 PM: Bloomberg corroborates word of the delay, noting that Apple still intends to launch the service later this year.

Apple Inc. delayed the start of an online radio service to compete with Pandora Media Inc. after talks with music labels stalled, according to four people with knowledge of the situation.

The company still seeks to start the advertising-supported radio service by the end of the year, said the people, who asked for anonymity because the plans haven’t been made public.

Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, doesn't post to his Twitter account very often. Mostly he has written innocuous messages wishing followers "Happy Christmas" or cheering on the world champion San Francisco Giants.

Today, Phil tweeted a link to a 'Mobile Threat Report' from research company F-Secure. Most of the report highlights security and malware vulnerabilities in the Android operating system, while mentioning only a couple of iOS issues. He warns followers to "be safe out there".

Among other things, the report [PDF] shows the growth in mobile threats, particularly on the Android operating system. Android accounted for 79 percent of the 301 mobile threats in 2012, while just 0.7 percent of threats attacked iOS.

The tweet is a bit out of character for Apple, which usually prefers a quiet public face on issues like this. This could be part of a push by Apple Public Relations to share more favorable third-party reports about the company in an effort to drive the conversation in a favorable direction.

A set of patent applications discovered by AppleInsider today suggests that Apple may be considering allowing customers to resell or lend iTunes Store content to other users in the same way they might sell a physical book, music CD or movie DVD.

Apple's system is similar to one outlined in a separate patent already granted to Amazon, although Amazon's approach requires transactions to be made via a central marketplace while Apple's proposed approach would also allow direct user-to-user transfers.

Techniques are provided for managing access to a digital content item (such as an ebook, music, movie, software application) to be transferred from one user to another. The transferor is prevented from accessing the digital content item after the transfer occurs. The entity that sold the digital content item to the transferor enforces the access rights to the digital content item by storing data that establishes which user currently has access to the digital content item. After the change in access rights, only the transferee is allowed access to the digital content item. As part of the change in access rights, the transferee may pay to obtain access to the digital content item. A portion of the proceeds of the "resale" may be paid to the creator or publisher of the digital content item and/or the entity that originally sold the digital content item to the original owner.

Restrictions are outlined to prevent abuse of the facility, such as allowing publishers to limit transfers to certain timescales (for example, requiring the user to have owned the product for a certain length of time before selling it), frequency (limiting how often someone could sell their content), price (enforcing a minimum price) and buyer (perhaps limiting sales to within the country of origin).

The patent covers gifting and loan as well as resale, and outlines an option for the content publisher to receive a cut in return for granting rights to transfer the content.

It should of course be noted that Apple files a huge number of patent applications, only a tiny minority of which ever see the light of day in an Apple product or service, but it is interesting to see Apple at least exploring the idea.