MacRumors

Customers who require a replacement AirPod from Apple have in some cases been receiving an AirPod running 2D3 firmware, which is not a version of the AirPods firmware that's been publicly released.

As described on the MacRumors forum and Reddit (via iMore), customers who get an AirPod with the 2D3 firmware are unable to pair it with the existing unreplaced AirPod, leaving the AirPods unable to be used together.

Apple has apparently been shipping these AirPods running the unusable firmware since March 25 or earlier, so some customers have been without a functional set of AirPods for a few weeks. From Reddit:

Having the same problem. Had the left replaced originally and that came with 2D3. Apple then replaced the right and that came with 1A673. I could get them to pair individually, but that's ridiculous.

I eventually got through to a senior advisor yesterday who used screen sharing to take a look for himself; he was totally confused and handled it great so far. He made himself the assignee for my case and I'm expecting a call back today after he left me with some tips from engineering. Those tips didn't work and now it appears both AirPods are fried. I can no longer get any AirPod to pair with my phone. The case is fine since I can pair my wife's AirPods with my phone using my case.

The advisor did admit that I'd never be able to get these to pair since the lesser versioned AirPod wouldn't be able to update to a non-public version. He even said there's little documentation on it, and that what likely happened is when it was made, 2D3 was about to be released but ended up not coming out because of bugs.

Apple's support staff has been unable to help customers, and even after multiple AirPods shipments, customers have been unable to get a working set. From MacRumors reader blue_marzipan:

I have the same problem and have spent the last 2 days trying to get Apple to help. The issue is the firmware 2D3 is not available for update yet. I finally got to a Senior Adviser and he said he could not help me other than send me another set but could not check the firmware before shipping so may or may not match. They have sent me 2 left ones, both with the 2D3 firmware which of course won't sync with the other one and cannot be updated. The adviser wasn't helpful at all. He said if many people report the problem (in my case it took 48hrs to get to him), then engineers might look at it. Otherwise there was nothing he could do for me.

And from MacRumors reader SorsCode, who is experiencing the same problem:

Update: Not a good one, but an update. I'm on my 4th replacement on the right Airpod now and still haven't been able to get one with 2D3 on it. They have sent me both Left and Rights at the same time. All my lefts have been 2D3 and my rights have been all over the place. Escalating tonight to see if we can just stop the madness and get a refurbished set sent.

According to a person on Reddit who spent 10 hours talking to Apple's support staff over the course of a week, the 2D3 AirPod problem appears to be somewhat widespread, and given that Apple's teams are working from home right now, there's no available word on when the new 2D3 firmware might be released to solve the problem.

There will be no solution until the new firmware is released, but in some cases, Apple's support team has been replacing affected replacement AirPods with new, functional sets that are running older firmware. This doesn't appear to be universal, though, and there are still some who are struggling to work out the problem.

This appears to be an issue that is primarily impacting customers who own the second-generation AirPods, but there have been a few reports from customers who own AirPods Pro that have been affected.

Amid the current work-from-home restrictions in place throughout the United States and other countries, tech companies are grappling with how their summer internship programs will work, and Axios has rounded up statements from a number of the largest employers to see what their plans are.

Summer internship programs are important for both interns and the companies, as they provide valuable experience and contacts for students while companies can use them for recruiting purposes as they later look to bring some of those interns into full-time roles.

While some companies are moving their internship programs online, Apple told Axios that it is currently planning a mix of online and in-person opportunities and is looking to bring on over 1,000 interns this summer.

Apple, which told Axios it plans to hire more than 1,000 people for a mix of online and in-person internships and pledged in a statement to "extend to our interns the same precautions and care that we're extending to all our other personnel as a part of the ongoing COVID-19 response."

With universities and businesses still largely shut down, however, the situation remains fluid and it remains to be seen what types of activities will be permitted or appear reasonable a month or two from now.

Multiple third-party resellers in China are offering discounts on the iPhone 11 lineup this week, with savings up to an equivalent of $227 off a high-end iPhone 11 Pro Max, according to the South China Morning Post.

On JD.com, the 64GB version of the basic iPhone 11 now costs 4,999 yuan (US$708), 500 yuan (US$70) cheaper than the original price. The more expensive iPhone 11 Pro has an even steeper price cut that shaves off 1,200 yuan (US$170). And the top-tier iPhone 11 Pro Max is selling for a whopping 1,600 yuan (US$227) off.

The savings are likely passed on by Apple in an attempt to bolster demand during a time when consumer confidence and spending is lower, although the company declined to comment on whether it had authorized the price cuts and ‌iPhone‌ 11 prices on Apple's Chinese website have not been reduced.

Chinese resellers offered similar discounts on ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XR models in early 2019, shortly after Apple lowered its revenue guidance for the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year due to fewer ‌iPhone‌ upgrades than it had anticipated, particularly in the Greater China region.

HBO today announced that its HBO GO and HBO NOW streaming services will no longer be available on second-generation and third-generation Apple TV models starting April 30, 2020.

In a support document on its website, HBO says this change is being made "in order to provide the best streaming experience":

In order to provide the best streaming experience, we need to make some changes to our supported devices list. Starting on April 30, 2020, HBO GO will no longer be available on the Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation). Not sure which Apple TV you have? Identify your Apple TV model

If Apple TV was your primary streaming device, here are some other ways to stream HBO GO on your TV:

- Stream HBO GO using another streaming player or a game console. For a list of supported devices, see Supported devices.
- Use AirPlay to stream HBO GO to your Apple TV.
- Use an HDMI cable to connect your phone, tablet, or computer to your TV.
- Use Chromecast to cast HBO GO from your phone, tablet, or computer to your TV.

There is an identical notice for HBO NOW.

HBO's announcement comes just as a number of third-generation Apple TV users have also been struggling with accessing YouTube content.

Apple Music today told independent record labels that it is launching a $50 million advance royalty fund to make sure that artists get paid amid the ongoing pandemic.

In letters sent out to record labels that were seen and shared by Rolling Stone, Apple said that livelihoods are at risk and that it "wants to help."

These are difficult times for the music industry globally. Livelihoods are at risk, with multiple sources of income that our industry relies on vanishing overnight. Apple has a deep, decades-long history with music, and we are proud to be in close partnership with the best labels and artists in the world. We want to help.

Today Apple Music is announcing the creation of a $50 million-plus fund available as advances on future royalties to independent labels, to help them pay artists and maintain operations.

Royalty advances will be offered to independent labels with a direct Apple Music distribution deal who meet a minimum quarterly threshold of $10,000 in Apple Music earnings. Each advance will be based on the label's past earnings, and will be recoupable against the label's future earnings. This offer is in good faith that labels will channel funds to artists and label operations based on financial need.

Label agreements for the advances will be posted in iTunes Connect, in the Agreements, Tax, and Banking module, on April 10. To receive an advance you will need to accept the Royalty Advance agreement and be on the latest Apple Music distribution agreement before May 8, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

We hope that together we can help provide stability for artists by sustaining an enduring and vibrant music sector. If you have additional questions, please contact us.

Independent record labels that earn at least $10,000 in quarterly ‌Apple Music‌ earnings will qualify for royalty advances, and a direct ‌Apple Music‌ distribution deal is required.

According to Rolling Stone, the music industry has been struggling in recent months, as live music has been put on hold and many concert tours and major music festivals have been postponed or canceled. Music streaming is also down and artists are pushing back release dates for albums.

Apple today updated its website to announce that it will share its earnings results for the second fiscal quarter (first calendar quarter) of 2020 on Thursday, April 30.

Apple's second quarter earnings results will give us a better picture of how product sales have fallen due to the pandemic that has spread across the world. Apple's stores outside of China have been closed since March 14, and Apple's stores in China were closed for several weeks in February.

In February, Apple announced that it would not meet its revenue goals for the quarter due to the outbreak. At the time, Apple cited store closures in China and manufacturing issues, but the problem has grown significantly worse since then. Apple originally expected to see revenue of $63 to $67 billion in the March quarter, but that number is likely to be much lower.

Apple's quarterly earnings statement will be released at 1:30 p.m. Pacific/4:30 p.m. Eastern, with a conference call to discuss the report taking place at 2:00 p.m. Pacific/5:00 p.m. Eastern. MacRumors will provide coverage of both the earnings release and conference call on April 30.

Apple has updated the search feature in the Apple Maps app to focus on categories that are most important to people right now: groceries, food delivery, pharmacies, hospitals, and urgent care.

These category options come up first when searching, coming ahead of restaurants, fast food, gas stations, banks, and other categories that used to be higher priority in the list.

Places that are currently closed, such as shopping centers, are at the bottom of the search category list. These changes were first noticed by German site iPhone Ticker, which also points out similar changes that have been made in the Google Maps app.

Google Maps has gone even further than ‌Apple Maps‌, letting users know when a business is closed or has shorter hours. The app also warns users to call a doctor before visiting a medical location.

Complete Anatomy, an iPad app from 3D4Medical, is designed to teach medical school students human anatomy with a virtual dissectible heart, real-time muscle movement mapping, nerve tracer, and microanatomy models to explore.

In the future, Complete Anatomy will take advantage of the LiDAR Scanner built into the 2020 iPad Pro to add a new feature that will allow healthcare professionals to accurately and instantly assess the range of motion of patients who are recovering from an injury or surgery.

The feature is demoed in a YouTube video featuring Irene Walsh, the chief design officer at Complete Anatomy. According to Walsh, there has been no standardized way to measure range of motion, a problem solved with the ‌iPad Pro‌'s LiDAR Scanner.

Using the new 2020 ‌iPad Pro‌, Complete Anatomy is able to view movements in three dimensions, using motion capture to identify which movement a person is doing. Movements are paired with 3D muscle animations, providing information on the primary muscles required to carry out the action.

Walsh says that the upcoming version of Complete Anatomy on the ‌iPad‌ "has the potential to transform the medical community of the future."

The LiDAR Scanner feature is coming to the Complete Anatomy app in the near future, though no specific release date is provided. So far, few apps are able to take advantage of the LiDAR Scanner, but previews like these give us an idea of just how powerful of a tool it will be when implemented by developers.

Rumors suggest that iPhones set to be released in 2020 will also include a similar 3D scanning LiDAR feature, which would allow Apple's iPhones and ‌iPad Pro‌ models to be used for more advanced and exciting augmented reality functions.

Apple today released iOS and iPadOS 13.4.1, minor updates that come two weeks after the release of iOS and iPadOS 13.4, major updates that introduced iCloud Folder Sharing, a new Mail toolbar, trackpad support for the iPad, and more.

The iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.4.1 updates are available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update.

The update addresses an issue that prevented devices running iOS 13.4 from participating in FaceTime calls with devices running iOS 9.3.6 and earlier or OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and earlier. It also fixes a bug in the settings app that could cause choosing Bluetooth from the quick actions menu on the Home screen to fail.

Discovered shortly after the release of iOS 13.4 and macOS 10.15.4, the ‌FaceTime‌ issue prevented iPhones, iPads, and Macs running these updates from making or receiving ‌FaceTime‌ calls from older devices that aren't able to upgrade, such as the ‌iPad‌ 2, third-generation ‌iPad‌, iPhone 4S, the first-generation iPad mini, and the fifth-generation iPod touch.

It wasn't clear if the problem was caused by a bug or was intentional, but the fix included in today's update clarifies that Apple did not mean to remove the option for devices running iOS 13.4 to communicate with older devices. Full release notes for the iOS 13.4.1 update are below:

iOS 13.4.1 includes bug fixes for your iPhone.

- Fixes an issue where devices running iOS 13.4 could not participate in FaceTime calls with devices running iOS 9.3.6 and earlier or OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and earlier.
- Addresses a bug with the Settings app where choosing a Bluetooth from the quick actions menu on the Home screen would fail.

The iPadOS 13.4.1 update fixes the same two issues, but also addresses a third bug that could cause the flashlight not to turn on on the new 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models after the Flashlight button in Control Center or the Lock screen is tapped.

iOS 13.4.1 could be one of the last updates to the iOS 13 operating system as Apple prepares to transition work to iOS 14. There will be at least one additional update, though, as Apple is already beta testing iOS 13.4.5.

Apple has a team called Information Systems & Technology (IS&T), that builds its internal technology tools, including servers and data infrastructure. The IS&T group, according to an excerpt from an upcoming book shared by BuzzFeed News "operates in a state of tumult."

Made up largely of contractors hired by rival consulting companies, Apple's IS&T team has been likened to a "Game of Thrones nightmare" with turmoil, infighting, and disagreements that hinder work.

"There's a Cold War going on every single day," Archana Sabapathy, a former IS&T contractor who did two stints in the division, told me. Sabapathy's first stint at IS&T lasted more than three years, the second only a day. Inside the division, she said, contracting companies such as Wipro, Infosys, and Accenture are constantly fighting to fill roles and win projects, which are handed out largely on the basis of how cheaply they can staff up to Apple's needs.

Companies involved in providing contractors for available roles don't care about the work, the talent, or the effort that's put in. People come and go with no notice, and Apple employees have been forced to rewrite code created by IS&T on multiple occasions.

Experiences shared on Quora have said that working on the IS&T team is "worse than sweatshops in India" and a "soul sucking" place to be.

Apple also has unrealistic expectations for the IS&T team, paying consulting companies as much as $150 an hour while contractors make much less, up to $55 per hour, leaving Apple with "lesser contractors" to fill the "same high demands."

The excerpt suggests that Apple should make an effort to fix its "broken" IS&T division as it would be the right thing to do from a moral standpoint and could also help Apple's business.

The full excerpt can be read over on BuzzFeed's website, and it comes from the book "Always Day One" by BuzzFeed writer Alex Kantrowitz. "Always Day One" takes a look at the inner workings of Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

Following this weekend's news from Tim Cook that Apple is working with its supply chain to produce a million face shields per week for medical workers, the company has shared a support document outlining how to assemble and adjust the shields.

The document includes a series of images and animations showing how the simple three-piece product can be assembled for either a regular fit or with extra space between the user's face and the shield, and then how the latex-free silicone strap should be threaded to secure the shield and forehead band together and around the user's head.

Apple includes a video of the assembly process, as well as instructions for use and for sterilizing and reusing shields. There's also a printable PDF of the instruction sheet that comes in the box with the shields. The paper copy includes a link and a QR code to make it easy to get to the online instructions, as well as an email support contact for those needing assistance with their shields.

Cook said in his video announcement about the new face shields that they can be packed flat with 100 units per box.

(Thanks, Petter!)