MacRumors

Apple on Thursday removed nearly 39,000 apps from its Chinese App Store due to the apps lacking an official license from local regulators, reports Reuters.

The report, which cites data from research firm Qimai, says that games affected by the cull included Ubisoft title Assassin's Creed Identity and NBA 2K20. According to Qimai, only 74 of the top 1,500 paid games on the China App Store survived the purge.

In addition to the 39,000 games, the report says Apple also removed more than 46,000 apps in total from its store.

Apple in February gave app developers an initial June 30 deadline to prove they had a license for their games, and later extended the deadline to December 31. However, in July the company froze updates for thousands of iOS mobile games lacking an official license, and in August removed 30,000 apps for similar reasons.

Apple in July reportedly warned developers of app removals, should their apps not meet regulatory requirements. The removal of apps lacking official licenses is said to come from increasing government pressure on Apple to comply with local regulations that have been in place since 2016.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Amazon has announced it is acquiring Wondery, the podcast startup that reportedly held talks with Apple last month as it shopped for a buyer.

In a press release, Amazon said that Wondery had signed an agreement to join Amazon Music, bringing popular podcasts like "Dirty John" and "Dr. Death" into the streaming service's existing podcast offering.

We're pleased to announce that Wondery has signed an agreement to join Amazon Music. Wondery is an innovative podcast publisher with a track record of creating and producing top-rated podcasts that entertain and educate listeners, including "Dirty John," "Dr. Death," "Business Wars," and "The Shrink Next Door." Wondery is already delighting listeners with its collection of immersive podcasts, and the company is evolving this entertainment medium into a truly new and exciting experience.

A Wondery purchase would have provided Apple with a library of original content along with a source for ideas that could be turned into TV shows in the future. Wondery is currently working on TV shows based on podcasts, including a WeWork series that will premiere on Apple TV+.

Wondery was said to be looking for $300 to $400 million, and it's possible that this price tag was too high for Apple. Regardless, Amazon's acquisition of the startup will make it another serious competitor in the podcasting space alongside the likes of Spotify.

Apple plans to better compete with Spotify when it comes to podcasts, and rumors have suggested that Apple is looking to buy original podcasts. Apple has been looking for podcasts that could be adapted into ‌‌Apple TV‌+‌ content, and it also plans to create podcasts that will augment its TV shows.

Apple has already purchased podcasting companies. In 2017, it bought Pop Up Archive to improve search, and in early 2020, it bought podcasting service Scout FM, which turns podcast shows into radio-style stations.

Amazon says that when the deal closes, nothing will change for Wondery podcast listeners, as the podcasts will continue to be available through a variety of providers, which puts the deal in contrast to other recent podcast acquisitions where the deal has been closed based on an agreement that the content becomes exclusive to the buyer.

Long-running used smartphone buyer Gazelle has announced the coming end of its trade-in program, which accepts people's old iPhones, iPads, and Macs in exchange for cash.

The company revealed the news in an email to customers, explaining that it will no longer offer its trade-in option from February 1, 2021. Customers have until January 31 to get a quote and complete a trade-in, while anyone who has already initiated a trade-in can expect it to continue as normal.

Beginning February 1st, 2021, we will no longer be offering our trade-in option on Gazelle. If you have a trade-in that is in process right now, your trade-in will continue as planned. You can also still log in to your account to view the status of your current trade-ins.

You will still be able to buy high quality used electronics for a fraction of the price from our online store. We're excited to continue to help you save with awesome prices on used smart devices!

In future, Gazelle intends to focus on its in-store ecoATM kiosks, which offer instant cash for devices, although they don't usually offer as much in return as customers would get through traditional trade-in programs.

The ecoATMs can be found in over 4,000 locations across the United States, and the company says the kiosks have collected more than 25 million devices, which equates to over 6 million pounds of e-waste.

Gazelle didn't give a reason for its decision to end its trade-in program, but several rival services have surged in popularity in recent years, including eBay's "Instant Selling" service and Apple's own trade-in program for Apple and other devices in exchange for credit toward a new Apple Store purchase.

(Thanks, Kenneth!)

Earlier this week, we highlighted a couple of third-party accessories that seek to address some of the shortcomings of Apple's AirPods Max Smart Case, including a new zippered case from WaterField Designs that does a much better job of protecting the headphones while not in use.

Our videographer Dan has had a chance to try out the new $99 leather Shield Case from WaterField, and he's come away impressed with its quality and usefulness. He does feel, however, that this is the sort of thing that should have shipped with the ‌AirPods Max‌ in the first place rather than necessitating a third-party accessory purchase on top of the $549 price tag for the ‌AirPods Max‌ themselves.

The Shield Case is certainly bulky, but there's not much WaterField could have done about that considering the design of the ‌AirPods Max‌ that only allows the ear cups to be turned inward and doesn't permit a more compact folded arrangement seen on many other over-ear headphones.

If you can live with the bulk, the Shield Case offers several nice features, including a zippered design that completely protects the ‌AirPods Max‌, unlike Apple's Smart Case that leaves the headband and even portions of the ear cups exposed.

In addition to the main compartment for the ‌AirPods Max‌, the Shield Case includes three smaller pockets for cables and other accessories: a deep, padded one with a zippered closure on the front of the case, a mesh one on the rear, and a tiny one with a velcro closure inside the case.

One of the primary benefits of Apple's Smart Case is that it can immediately put your ‌AirPods Max‌ into a low-power mode to conserve battery, making use of magnets embedded in the case to trigger the mode. WaterField's Shield Case does the same thing, thanks to what it calls the Magnetic Leather Butterfly, a leather flap with embedded magnets that not only triggers low-power mode but also helps keep the two ‌AirPods Max‌ ear cups from touching each other while in the case.

If you want to bring your Smart Case along with your ‌AirPods Max‌, the Shield Case has you covered there as well, as the ‌AirPods Max‌/Smart Case combo fits inside just fine and the leather butterfly folds down out of the way.

All in all, the Shield Case from WaterField Designs is a quality product that does its job well. It's a bit pricey at $99, but when you're already willing to spend $549 on the ‌AirPods Max‌, it might be a worthwhile add-on to help protect your purchase.

The Shield Case is available in four styles: Chocolate Leather and Waxed Canvas, Black Leather with Ballistic Nylon, Blue Leather with Ballistic Nylon, and Crimson Leather with Ballistic Nylon. Similar to the ‌AirPods Max‌ themselves, the Shield Case is in short supply, with new orders scheduled to ship on February 19.

Back in August, Apple made headlines for its efforts to oppose a trademark application by the creators of the recipe and meal-planning app Prepear, with Apple objecting to the proposed Prepear logo trademark based on claimed similarity to Apple's own logo.

Despite the fact that Prepear's logo depicts an outline of a pear, Apple claimed in its filing that Prepear's logo "consists of a minimalistic fruit design with a right-angled leaf, which readily calls to mind Apple's famous Apple Logo and creates a similar commercial impression."

Super Healthy Kids, the company behind Prepear, launched a petition in an attempt to persuade Apple to drop its opposition targeting a small business trying to protect a logo that appears quite dissimilar to Apple's logo, and the petition has garnered over 250,000 signatures so far.

While Apple has not dropped its opposition, it appears a resolution to the dispute may be coming fairly soon, as filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board last week have requested that the trial proceedings be suspended for 30 days as the "parties are actively engaged in negotiations for the settlement of this matter."

Despite the official 30-day pause, either side is free to resume the proceedings at any time and the proceedings will automatically resume on January 23 if there is no further word from the two parties.

Should a settlement not be reached, the dispute appears to be set to drag on for some time, with initial pretrial disclosures set to begin in March, main trial briefs beginning in October, and a potential request for an oral hearing not coming until December 2021.

Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is pushing for a major shakeup at Intel in response to threats from Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, AMD, TSMC, and Samsung (via Reuters).

Intel's in-house manufacturing capabilities have struggled to provide the chips its clients want in recent years, with many of its offerings lagging behind its rivals in terms of speed and power consumption. While 2020 has afforded Intel a boost in the form of surging laptop sales, the company has failed to capitalize on demand more broadly for semiconductors and is facing the loss of major clients such as Apple, who have begun to transition from Intel chips to custom silicon.

In a letter to Intel's chairman, Omar Ishrak, seen by Reuters, Third Point calls for "immediate action" to restructure and explore alternative business strategies. Firstly, Third Point requests that Intel urgently addresses its "human capital management issue." Many of Intel's talented chip designers have reportedly fled the company due to being "demoralized with the status quo," which has stifled innovation.

The letter explicitly highlighted that Intel has lost its prime position in microprocessor manufacturing to TSMC and Samsung Electronics, and is losing key market share in its core PC and data center markets to AMD. The company is also accused of being largely absent in the emerging market of artificial intelligence. "Without immediate change at Intel," the letter cautioned, "we fear that America's access to leading-edge semiconductor supply will erode."

Third Point encouraged Intel to consider separating its chip design and manufacturing divisions, and instead seek a joint venture in manufacturing. It was also urged to divest its failed acquisitions, such as the $16.7 billion purchase of programmable chip maker Altera in 2015.

Following Apple, Intel customers Microsoft and Amazon are expected to cease using its chips, resorting to their own custom silicon instead. Third Point expressed concern that the custom silicon designed by these companies is sent to be manufactured by companies in East Asia. As such, it suggests that Intel must offer new solutions to retain its major clients as customers rather than have them send their manufacturing away.

Splitting up design and manufacturing operations could help Intel address some of the threats it is facing. Tapping external vendors to manufacture its most advanced processors, a step Intel executives are said to be extremely resistant toward, could help to lower costs. Furthermore, opening up Intel's own manufacturing capability to make non-Intel processors could allow it to produce the custom silicon chips increasingly wanted by its major clients.

Intel has reportedly been slow to respond to investors' concerns. The letter threatened that if Third Point senses "a reluctance to work together to address the concerns," it will submit nominees for election to Intel's board at its next annual meeting. Third Point is said to hold a $1 billion stake in Intel, affording it a position where it can push for change at the company.

A statement from Intel responded to the intervention, saying "Intel welcomes input from all investors regarding enhanced shareholder value. In that spirit, we look forward to engaging with Third Point LLC on their ideas towards that goal."

As 2020 comes to an end, many retailers are discounting a wide array of Apple accessories. In this article, we've rounded up the best sales you can find online for Apple accessories from companies like Nomad, Speck, Twelve South, Pad & Quill, JBL, and more.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Sale duration varies from site to site, but for a large portion of them, you'll have until New Year's Eve to take advantage of the discounts.

ZAGG

ZAGG is offering 30 percent off your entire cart when you purchase two or more products. With this sale, you can select at least two compatible products and see 30 percent taken off your order total in your shopping cart.

This excludes sale items. The offer extends across ZAGG's family of brands, which includes Mophie, Braven, InvisibleShield, IFROGZ, Gear4, and HALO. You can also save on smartphone sanitizers, starting at $29.99.

Twelve South

On Twelve South, you can shop the "Happy New Gear Sale" to save 20 percent sitewide. You'll need to enter the code BYE2020 to see the savings.

Twelve South offers a variety of accessories tailored for Apple products, including the new SuitCase for MacBook, Curve Riser for iMac, AirSnap Pro for AirPods Pro, BookBook for iPad and iPhone, and many more.

Pad & Quill

Pad & Quill's New Year Sale Event has up to 40 percent off select leather products, including briefcases, bags, iPad Pro cases, iPhone 12 cases, and Apple Watch straps.

Belkin

You can save 15 percent this week at Belkin with the code NY2021. This coupon takes 15 percent off select products at the retailer.

Belkin offers a variety of tech accessories, including charging bricks, speakers, headphones, screen protectors, cables, docks, routers, and more.

Moment

Moment is offering up to 50 percent off camera accessories through New Year's Eve. This includes up to $100 off mics, up to $200 off lights, up to $150 off gimbals and rigs, and more.

JBL

JBL is having a "Get Going, Get Fit" sale this week, offering up to 50 percent off Bluetooth headphones, speakers, and more.

These discounts have been automatically applied on JBL's website. Savings include the JBL Tune 125TWS for $59.95 ($40 off) and the JBL Reflect Flow for $99.95 ($50 off).

Nomad

Nomad's New Year's sale gives customers 20 percent off sitewide with the code MYGIFT. Nomad's products include the Base Station Pro wireless charger, Rugged Folio for iPad Pro, laptop sleeves for MacBook Pro, and more.

Speck

Speck is offering 25 percent off sitewide this week. With this sale, you can save on most items on Speck's website, but the offer can't be combined with other coupons or sale items.

The sale will run through January 2, 2021. Speck sells a large variety of cases for iPhone, iPad, MacBook, AirPods, and Samsung smartphones.

Miscellaneous

• Adorama - December Rebate Sale includes discounts on Beats headphones, MacBooks, and more
• B&H Photo - Year-End Sale includes savings on camera equipment, backpacks, and more
• Harber London - Get 15 percent off the new Leather Sling Bag with code SLINGBAG
• Hyper - Get 25 percent off with the code HOLIDAY
• Newegg - Get up to 60 percent off clearance items, including keyboards, monitors, and more
• OWC - Save on hard drives, cables, USB hubs, and more during OWC's annual Area 51 sale

Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.

A new report by Sensor Tower reveals that 2020 has been a record-setting year for worldwide spending on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, which collectively passed $100 billion in a single year for the first time ever in November.

The trend of increased spending continued over Christmas, when consumers around the world spent an estimated $407.6 million across Apple's ‌App Store‌ and Google Play. This represents a 34.5 percent year-on-year growth from approximately $303 million in 2019. At the same time in 2019, spending only increased by 17.1 percent year-on-year.

Spending on Christmas day constituted 4.5 percent of December's total spending so far, which reached nine billion dollars globally on December 27. The majority of holiday spending was on mobile games, which climbed by 27 percent from $232.4 million at the same time last year to $295.6 million.

Tencent's "Honor of Kings" was the leading game with approximately $10.7 million in consumer spending, which is a 205.7 percent increase from Christmas 2019. TikTok was the top app for spending outside of games, generating $4.7 million globally.

Following previous years, Apple's ‌App Store‌ captured the majority of spending between the ‌App Store‌ and the Google Play Store, with 68.4 percent of spending, up 35.2 percent year-on-year. The Google Play Store saw $129 million in revenue compared to the ‌App Store‌'s $278.6 million.

In the United States, consumers spent almost $130 million across both app stores this Christmas, which is a 38.7 percent growth year-on-year and exceeds global growth by six points.

As with the global marketplace, mobile games generated the most revenue in the U.S., increasing 26.4 percent from $69 million in 2019 to $87.2 million. Other apps grew 72.2 percent from $24.8 million to $42.7 million.

"Roblox" was the top mobile game in the U.S., with consumer spending climbing 40.4 percent this Christmas from $4.7 million to $6.6 million. Disney+ was the leading non-game app for consumer spending, generating $2.6 million in the U.S., which was up 44.4 percent from $1.8 million at the same time in 2019.

After using AirPods Max for a while now, some users have reported experiencing an issue with the headphones that occurs when switching them between active noise cancelation and transparency modes.

Pressing the noise control button on the right ear cup is meant to toggle ‌AirPods Max‌ between the two modes seamlessly, but sometimes only one of the ear cups will switch modes in response, leaving one cup in ANC and the other in Transparency.

One MacRumors staff member has also run into the problem, which seems to be intermittent. Hopefully Apple can nix the bug in a future software update, but until then, if you're experiencing the issue, follow these steps to reboot your ‌AirPods Max‌.

How to Reset AirPods Max

1. Before you reboot your ‌AirPods Max‌, make sure they have some charge by plugging them into a charging point via the supplied USB-C to Lightning Cable.
2. Press and hold the Noise Control button and the Digital Crown until the LED status light at the bottom of the right-hand earcup flashes amber.

After rebooting your ‌AirPods Max‌, the issue should be fixed on this occasion and you'll get ANC or Transparency mode in both cups when you press the noise control button. If the problem recurs at a later time, simply repeat the same steps.

If the problem is more persistent, you may want to try entirely resetting your ‌AirPods Max‌ by using the same steps as above but holding the Noise Control for a longer 15-second timeframe. Once the status light flashes amber and then changes to white, they've been reset and you can reconnect them to your device by going through the setup process. If even that doesn't do the trick, it's probably time to contact Apple Support.

Apple has pulled an iOS app from the App Store that encouraged users to organize secret underground parties despite social distancing measures and U.S. pandemic restrictions, reports The Verge.

Called "Vybe Together," the app billed itself as a place to organize and attend secret parties, with its now-defunct website using the tagline "Get your rebel on. Get your party on."

App users could act as party organizers and approve other users who wanted to attend their event. Approved invitees then received the event address two hours before the party was due to start.

According to one of the developers contacted by The Verge, Vybe Together had a few thousand users and thousands more had requested access before Apple pulled it from the ‌App Store‌. The app had also been promoted on TikTok before its account on the short-form video sharing platform was banned.

The ongoing health crisis has made indoor gatherings of people from different households an unsafe practice and in many regions such parties would be clear violations of pandemic restrictions, so it's unclear why Apple approved the app in the first place.

According to the report, the website's FAQ page acknowledged the danger of the pandemic, but said the app was designed to promote "small gatherings" rather than "large scale parties."

Whether the app led to many people holding the unsafe events is unclear, although it promoted "gatherings every weekend" on TikTok, including New Year's Eve parties.

The app had 25 ratings on the ‌App Store‌ before it was removed, and its Instagram page had under 1,000 followers. Before it was banned from the photo-sharing platform, Vybe Together's account had a single text post which read: "Blown out of proportion by the media. We DO NOT CONDONE LARGE GATHERINGS."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple today sent out emails informing Apple Pay users about a New Year promotion that will see Grubhub offering a 20 percent discount on purchases of $10 or more when customers use ‌Apple Pay‌.

Customers can make a $10+ Grubhub purchase either on the web or in the Grubhub app and then get a 20 percent discount by using the promo code APPLEPAY when checking out.

The discount is limited to $10, which means a $50 purchase will get the maximum discount amount. The promo code can be used one time, and it is not able to be used for alcohol purchases. The discount is applied prior to tax, tip, and fees, and it is available until January 1, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

Though 2020 forced Apple to shift how it operates with many employees working from home for most of the year, Apple still managed to get a long list of new products out over the course of the last 12 months, refreshing most devices in its lineup and introducing new software.

In our latest YouTube video, we rounded up our top five products of 2020. Though there was a lot to choose from, there were several standouts like the M1 Macs, the iPhone 12 lineup, the iPad Air, the AirPods Max, and the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro.

Magic Keyboard

It may seem like forever ago, but back in March 2020, Apple debuted new iPad Pro models with updated camera technology that includes a LiDAR Scanner for the first time, and alongside the new ‌iPad Pro‌ models, Apple introduced the Magic Keyboard.

Apple previously had a Smart Keyboard for its iPads, but the Magic Keyboard is the best Apple-designed iPad keyboard to date. It has a scissor mechanism keyboard that's similar to the keyboard used for Apple's Macs, and for the first time, there's a trackpad.

The trackpad makes the ‌iPad‌ more laptop-like than ever, and Apple's iPads are also now compatible with mice. The Magic Keyboard also has a nifty float design that allows the display to be adjusted, and it even works well in a lap.

On the downside, it's priced starting at $300, which is incredibly expensive for a keyboard, and it doesn't fold back so you can't use it as a standard case when you don't need the keyboard.

iPad Air

Introduced in September 2020, the iPad Air is Apple's first device that has a fullscreen display and Touch ID, with a ‌Touch ID‌ fingerprint sensor built into the power button.

It also got a faster A14 chip before the A14 chip came to the ‌iPhone‌ 12 (even though Apple ultimately released the ‌iPad Air‌ and the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup at the same time), and it comes in a range of fresh colors that haven't been used before for an ‌iPad‌.

Compared to prior-generation ‌iPad Air‌ models, it got an ‌iPad Pro‌ style-display with slimmed down bezels, and with its A14 chip, ‌Touch ID‌, and new design, it's a solid deal at its $599 starting price.

iPhone 12

Apple released four new iPhones this year, including a 5.4-inch iPhone mini, its smallest ‌iPhone‌ in many years designed for those who are fans of smaller devices, and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max, the largest ‌iPhone‌ to date.

All of the new iPhones feature a fresh ‌iPad‌ Pro-style design with squared off edges that mark a departure from the rounded edges we've seen in the ‌iPhone‌ lineup since the ‌iPhone‌ 6.

The iPhones all feature OLED displays even at the low end, and have A14 chips that are incredibly fast. They all have great cameras, but the iPhone 12 Pro Max has the highest-end camera setup, though both Pro models feature the same LiDAR Scanner first introduced in the ‌iPad Pro‌.

‌iPhone‌ 12 models are also equipped with a ring of magnets inside that makes them compatible with a new technology called MagSafe, which is used for attaching chargers and magnetic accessories. With ‌MagSafe‌, iPhones are able to charge wirelessly at up to 15W, an improvement over the prior 7.5W charging maximum.

M1 Macs

At WWDC in June, Apple confirmed that it was working on its own Apple silicon Arm-based chips, and in November, the first Apple silicon Macs were unveiled with "M1" chips. The ‌M1‌ Macs are, without a doubt, the most exciting new products that Apple has come out with in the Mac lineup in years.

Prior to launch, no one knew quite what to expect from the ‌M1‌ Macs, but Apple surprised everyone with downright incredible performance. When it comes to single-core CPU speeds, the ‌M1‌ Macs beat out all other Macs on the market, and in multi-core performance, they're on par with some of Apple's higher-end desktop machines.

Apple put its ‌M1‌ chip in the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, and despite the speed gains introduced with these chips, these are the low-end Macs, with even more powerful chips expected for the 16-inch MacBook Pro, iMac, and other machines in 2021.

AirPods Max

We weren't expecting the AirPods Max until 2021, but Apple introduced them as a December surprise. The ‌AirPods Max‌ are Apple's first Apple-branded over-ear headphones, and they turned out to be more expensive than anyone expected at $549.

The ‌AirPods Max‌ feature aluminum ear cups, mesh ear cushions, and a mesh headband, and though they're heavier than many other over-ear headphone options on the market because of the premium build, most people have found them to be comfortable.

‌AirPods Max‌ have all of the features that you expect from AirPods like quick pairing, fast device switching, and great range, plus Active Noise Cancellation, Adaptive EQ, and Spatial Audio. They sound great, as they should for $549, and battery life is decent at 20 hours.

The one real downside is the Smart Case, which has a curious design, offers no protection, and is generally seen as one of the worst cases included with a set of premium headphones.

Wrap Up

What's on your list of top five Apple products of 2020? Let us know in the comments.

In 2021, we're expecting many more new devices, including additional (and more powerful) ‌M1‌ Macs, AirTags, an Apple TV, new software, and the ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup. You can keep an eye on what's rumored to be launching in our Upcoming Apple Products guide, and we'll have an in-depth rundown later this week.

Corellium, a mobile device company that supports iOS, this week won a significant victory in its legal battle against Apple. Apple last year sued Corellium for copyright infringement because the Corellium software is designed to replicate iOS to allow security researchers to locate bugs and security flaws.

According to The Washington Post, a Florida judge threw out Apple's claims that Corellium had violated copyright law with its software. The judge said that Corellium successfully demonstrated that it operates under fair use terms.

"Weighing all the necessary factors, the Court finds that Corellium has met its burden of establishing fair use," Judge Smith wrote Tuesday's order. "Thus, its use of iOS in connection with the Corellium Product is permissible."

In its lawsuit, Apple said that Corellium illegally replicated the operating system and applications that run on the iPhone and iPad. "Corellium has simply copied everything: the code, the graphical user interface, the icons - all of it, in exacting detail," Apple said in the original filing.

Corellium's software does indeed create digital replicas of iOS, iTunes, and user interface elements available on a web-based platform or custom platform built by Corellium, with the software posed as an exact copy of iOS to allow security researchers to locate bugs. Corellium argued that its software helps Apple by making it easier for security researchers to find flaws and has also accused Apple of using the lawsuit to "crack down on jailbreaking."

Corellium claimed that Apple's code in its product is "fair use," which the judge in the case agreed with. Apple has also said that Corellium circumvented Apple's security measures to create its software and violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and that claim has not been tossed out. Apple has not yet commented on the decision.

As an alternative to Corellium, Apple launched a Security Device Research Program to give vetted researchers access to specially-configured iPhones that are less locked down than consumer devices with the aim of helping researchers locate bugs in iOS. Apple in late December began sending out the first of these research iPhones.

Leaker Mr-white, who has in the past shared accurate details on Apple's product plans, today tweeted alleged images of internal hardware that will be used in the second-generation AirPods Pro earbuds expected to be released sometime in 2021.

In the photos below, the hardware on the right side of the image appears to be current ‌AirPods Pro‌ hardware, while the hardware on the left is designed for the next-generation ‌AirPods Pro‌. The cables are in two different sizes, which Mr-white suggests is an indication that the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 could perhaps come in two sizes.

Rumors from Bloomberg have suggested that the second-generation version of the ‌AirPods Pro‌ will feature a more compact design that eliminates the short stem that sticks out from the bottom. The ‌AirPods Pro‌ could feature a rounded shape more similar to earbuds from companies like Google and Samsung, and for this design, it could make sense to offer different sizes for a better fit.

Apple is said to be struggling to shrink the AirPods down to the appropriate size to eliminate the stem, so there's a chance that won't happen, and that could explain why the hardware designs shared by Mr-white appear to be similar in size to the current ‌AirPods Pro‌ hardware.

Rumors have also said that the ‌AirPods Pro‌ will feature a new wireless chip. Mr-white says the new ‌AirPods Pro‌ still have a "W2 chip," but it's unclear what that means. The current ‌AirPods Pro‌ use an H1 processor that does have a wireless chip that's a successor to the original W1 chip in the first-generation AirPods, so it's possible W2 here refers to the H1 and indicates no new wireless chip technology.

Mr-white has shared accurate Apple details in the past, but is not always correct. Earlier this year, Mr-white shared images of a braided cable said to be for the iPhone 12 lineup, but that did not pan out. He has also said that Apple is working on a black Apple Pencil, and that has yet to appear. He did, however, share early leaks of Apple's iPhone 12 casing and display unit, which were accurate.

There's no word yet on when exactly a refreshed version of the ‌AirPods Pro‌ will come out, but the updated earbuds are expected sometime in 2021.

Apple is researching keyboards with small displays on the keys to dynamically change the label on each key, according to a newly-granted patent filing.

The filing, spotted by Patently Apple, is titled "Electronic devices having keys with coherent fiber bundles" and was granted to Apple by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on the final patent day of this year.

The patent explains how each key on a keyboard could have "an associated key display" connected to "control circuitry in the keyboard" via a "coherent fiber bundle." Apple proposes that each key would be "formed from a fiber optic plate" with "opposing first and second surfaces."

While the patent stipulates that each key would need to contain a small display to provide the label, of which any compatible pixel array would work, the foremost technology put forwards by Apple is OLED. The key may be made from materials such as glass, ceramic, metal, or polymer, or even crystalline materials such as sapphire.

This system would allow the entire keyboard to be "reconfigurable" with labels that can change as needed. The patent highlights that keyboards could be reconfigured "for different languages, to temporarily convert a standard keyboard into a gaming keyboard in which keys correspond to particular in-game actions, or to otherwise modify the behavior associated with pressing the keys in the keyboard."

There is also the suggestion that each key could provide "visual feedback" to indicate the current status of each key, such as whether it corresponds to an uppercase or lowercase letter or an active ability when gaming.

Images included in the patent suggest that the adaptive keyboard could be used both in a laptop enclosure as well as a separate keyboard for desktop computers.

Crucially, this system does not interfere with the dome or scissor switches of physical keyboards. Unlike other Apple keyboard patents, such as one for a static glass keyboard or a full-size touchscreen panel, this proposition explicitly outlines a system to be used with moveable keys, so Apple could theoretically retain the design of its Magic Keyboard.

While patents do not necessarily prove what Apple is intending to bring to market, they can provide an interesting insight into what the company is researching and developing. Considering Apple has demonstrated its interest in adaptive displays on the keyboard through the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar, it does not seem unlikely that Apple would expand similar technology to each individual key at some point in the future.

Apple's stock opened at a new all-time high of $138.05 today, eclipsing the company's previous opening record of $137.59 set on September 2, 2020. However, the share price has since trended downwards slightly in intraday trading.

Apple has seen its stock price rise nearly 150% since opening at a 2020 low of $57.02 in late March, a few weeks after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The company has thrived during the pandemic, seeing strong demand for devices like Macs and iPads as many people work, learn, and socialize from home.

Apple set a September quarter record with $64.7 billion revenue, and its December quarter could be even more impressive, as the entire iPhone 12 lineup launched within the quarter due to pandemic-related delays. In fact, the oft-lucrative holiday quarter could see Apple report all-time high quarterly revenue above $100 billion for the first time ever, according to 27 analyst estimates averaged by Yahoo Finance.

It's worth noting that Apple announced a four-for-one stock split in August, and split-adjusted trading began at the end of that month.

A new report by Flurry Analytics states that nine of the top ten smartphones activated on Christmas Day 2020 in the United States were iPhones.

Christmas Day in the United States is the single greatest day for new smartphone activations, so it represents a unique opportunity to analyse consumer preferences.

The iPhone 11 was the most activated device on Christmas Day, with activations five percent higher than the trailing average of the period between December 18 and December 24. This is the second consecutive year that the ‌iPhone‌ 11 has taken the top spot, followed by the ‌iPhone‌ XR. The leading premium device was the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which has continued to see "strong and long-lasting demand."

This ranking is in line with normal trends, as Apple's newer and higher-end devices generally only surge around launch due to early adopters. The ‌iPhone‌ 12 has made gains as users gradually replace their existing devices in the months after launch. Some smartphones, such as the ‌iPhone‌ XR, were not more popular than the trailing average for that device, meaning that it was not necessarily a popular gift for Christmas, but rather just a popular smartphone.

The only non-Apple device to reach the top 10 was LG's budget K30 smartphone. Overall, budget devices dominated the top ten, with the ‌iPhone‌ SE and LG K30 seeing 34 percent and 181 percent surges respectively. Flurry believes that the success of past years' models, such as the ‌iPhone‌ 11 and ‌iPhone‌ XR, indicates that American consumers were more price-sensitive this holiday season.

One notable exception from the top ten is the iPhone 12 mini, which has seemingly failed to catch consumers' attention as much as other devices, perhaps due to its discount of only $100 compared to the larger ‌iPhone‌ 12.

This year, smartphone activations were down 23 percent year-on-year. Flurry speculates that this may be due to financial hardships, more limited family gatherings, or more spread out gift-giving this year.

Flurry Analytics uses data from over one million mobile applications, providing insights from two billion mobile devices per month, and it will soon report on the full month of December to give a fuller picture of smartphone activations.