Joe Rossignol

More than two years ago, Apple informed the FBI that it planned to roll out end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups, according to Reuters. Apple ultimately dropped the plan at some point after the FBI objected, although the report notes that it is unclear if the federal agency was a factor in the decision. A former Apple employee told Reuters that the company did not want to risk scrutiny...

Apple is widely rumored to release four new iPhones in the fall, including one 5.4-inch model, two 6.1-inch models, and one 6.7-inch model, and Japanese blog Mac Otakara has offered a few details surrounding these devices. The information is said to come from sources within Apple's supply chain in China. The translated report is quite difficult to decipher, but here are some details that are ...

Apple today began selling certified refurbished iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max models for the first time since the devices were released in September 2018. At the time of writing, the refurbished models are available in Space Gray, Silver, or Gold with 64GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage through Apple's online store in the United States. All of the models are unlocked, aka SIM-free. Refurbished ...

Tim Cook visited Ireland today to collect an award from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for Apple's 40 years of investment in the country. Apple's CEO also met with Irish musician Hozier and Dublin-based game studio WarDucks. In 2016, the European Commission found that Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland and forced the company to repay 13 billion euros in back taxes. Apple and Ireland are...

It has been a big week for Apple TV+ news, with release dates announced for several upcoming series, a multi-year agreement with actress and producer Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and now a major award win. At the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles tonight, actress Jennifer Aniston won an SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for her leading role...

Apple today announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with award-winning actress and producer Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who will develop new projects exclusively for Apple TV+ as both an executive producer and actress. Louis-Dreyfus has broken records with multiple Emmys, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and Critics Choice Awards for her work as an actress and producer, and is a...

Acclaimed actress Meryl Streep is set to narrate a forthcoming animated short film about Earth Day for Apple TV+. In celebration of Earth Day, which falls on April 22, the 36-minute short will follow a curious seven-year-old who learns about the planet from his parents and visits a mysterious exhibit at the "Museum of Everything," according to Variety. The film is based on The New York Times...

Speed to the rescue in Kings of the Castle, this week's addition to Apple Arcade across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The colorful, family-friendly speed runner game by Frosty Pop supports one to four players. The game's description on the App Store:The dragon Zantorian locked Prince Rupert away in a castle tower on a dangerous and mysterious island. Lord Baldor dispatches the princess to...

Dutch company Robin Telecom today announced that its Robin ProLine doorbell is the first to support HomeKit Secure Video, allowing the camera to capture and store recordings securely in iCloud. With help from an Apple TV, HomePod, or iPad set up as a home hub, the ProLine doorbell can intelligently detect when motion from a person, animal, or vehicle is captured and store a recording in...

Apple today announced that, in the next few days, prices of App Store apps and in-app purchases, excluding auto-renewable subscriptions, will decrease in Thailand and increase in Pakistan due to foreign exchange rate fluctuations. Additionally, on January 1, 2020, a 7% sales tax for overseas digital services was introduced in Singapore. App Store developers based in Singapore who provide...

Apple and the NBA today announced that they have partnered on a new Apple Music playlist, as noted by Bloomberg. The report notes that the new Base:Line playlist will have about 40 songs with a hip-hop focus. The songs will also be available through the NBA's app and website, and will be featured in game highlights shared on social media. Apple plans to refresh the playlist weekly, with...

iPhone 12 models will feature a "refreshed" front-facing TrueDepth system that benefits Apple supplier Lumentum, according to Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Thomas O'Malley, and Baylie Harri. This suggests that Face ID could be improved on iPhone 12 models, but no specific details were provided. In a research note provided to MacRumors, the analysts added that the rear-facing camera system ...

As a reminder for anyone who may have missed the announcement during the holidays, Apple revealed that it will share its earnings results for the first quarter of its 2020 fiscal year on Tuesday, January 28. The financial report should be released at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time on that day as usual, followed by a conference call with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri at 2:00 p.m....

Apple plans to release one 5.4-inch, one 6.7-inch, and two 6.1-inch iPhone models in 2020, according to UBS analysts Timothy Arcuri and Munjal Shah. While the analysts expect all four iPhones to be equipped with OLED displays, they believe other features like camera specifications and RAM will vary by model. In a research note shared with MacRumors, the analysts provided an overview of the...

Apple is developing 5G-enabled iPads with mmWave support, according to sources cited by industry publication DigiTimes. A paywalled preview of the report claims Taiwan's Advanced Semiconductor Engineering will supply antenna-in-package technology for the 5G iPads, in addition to 5G iPhones. While not specified, it is almost certain that these models would be iPad Pros given 5G is a high-end...

Apple on Monday released Xcode 11.3.1 with bug fixes and improvements, including reducing the size of dependency files produced by the Swift compiler, which can improve incremental build times and disk usage for targets with many source files. Full release notes are posted on Apple's developer website. As with Xcode 11.3, version 11.3.1 supports developing apps for iOS 13.3, iPadOS 13.3, macOS ...

Apple today filed an unreleased Mac with a model identifier of A2289 in the Eurasian Economic Commission database, as spotted by MacRumors. The computer is described as a portable Mac running macOS Catalina. As pure speculation, it is certainly possible that this listing could correspond with the rumored 13-inch MacBook Pro with a scissor keyboard, following in the footsteps of the 16-inch...

With goals of reducing waste and increasing convenience, European lawmakers today will debate whether all smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices should have a standardized charging port such as USB-C. At least some members of the European Parliament want "binding measures" that ensure one type of charger is compatible with all portable devices, as the European Commission's previous...

Apple has shared a heartwarming short film about three generations of Chinese women coming together for the Chinese New Year. The video, starring leading Chinese actress Zhou Xun, was shot on the iPhone 11 Pro. Prominently featured on Apple's website in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the short film was directed by Academy Award nominee Theodore Melfi, with cinematography by Golden Globe Award...

Last month, reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he expected four 5G-enabled iPhones to launch in the second half of 2020, including models with both sub-6GHz and mmWave support depending on the region. Kuo said iPhone models with mmWave would be available in five markets, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom, adding that Apple may disable 5G...