MacRumors

Despite criticism from Apple, EU lawmakers on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favor for new rules to establish a common charger for all mobile device makers across Europe (via Reuters).

Members of the European Parliament voted by 582-40 for a resolution urging the European Commission, which drafts EU laws, to ensure that EU consumers are no longer obliged to buy new chargers with each new device.

The resolution said voluntary agreements in the industry had significantly reduced the number of charger types, but had not resulted in one common standard.

The Commission should adopt new rules by July, the lawmakers' resolution said, calling for "an urgent need for EU regulatory action to reduce electronic waste, empower consumers to make sustainable choices, and allow them to fully participate in an efficient and well-functioning internal market."

The proposed charging ports for portable devices include Micro-USB, USB-C, and the Lightning connector. Thursday's resolution didn't specify what the mobile charging standard should be, but non-Apple mobile devices and increasingly laptops and tablets are charged by USB-C. Even Apple's own 2018 iPad Pro models adopted USB-C wholesale, so the EU is highly unlikely to choose Apple's Lightning connector.

Apple last week pushed back against proposals for binding measures to make smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices use a standardized charging port such as USB-C. Responding to the proposals, the company issued the following statement:

Apple stands for innovation and deeply cares about the customer experience. We believe regulation that forces conformity across the type of connector built into all smartphones stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, and would harm consumers in Europe and the economy as a whole.

More than 1 billion Apple devices have shipped using a Lightning connector in addition to an entire ecosystem of accessory and device manufacturers who use Lightning to serve our collective customers. Legislation would have a direct negative impact by disrupting the hundreds of millions of active devices and accessories used by our European customers and even more Apple customers worldwide, creating an unprecedented volume of electronic waste and greatly inconveniencing users.

We do not believe there is a case for regulation given the industry is already moving to the use of USB Type-C through a connector or cable assembly. This includes Apple’s USB-C power adapter which is compatible with all iPhone and iPad devices. This approach is more affordable and convenient for consumers, enables charging for a wide range of portable electronic products, encourages people to re-use their charger and allows for innovation.

Prior to 2009, the Commission considered mandating that all smartphones use only USB Micro-B connectors which would have restricted the advancement to Lightning and USB Type-C. Instead, the Commission established a voluntary, industry standards-based approach that saw the market shift from 30 chargers down to 3, soon to be two — Lightning and USB-C, showing this approach does work.

We hope the Commission will continue to seek a solution that does not restrict the industry’s ability to innovate and bring exciting new technology to customers.

The European Commission, which acts as the executive for the EU, has been pushing for a common charger for more than a decade. However, the latest resolution makes legislation more likely, with the EU executive having included the common charger standard as one of the set of actions it plans for this year.

Update: There has been some confusion regarding the EU's resolution for a common charger standard, and whether the proposed legislation would cover just the charger brick or both the charger and connector cable – and thus the mobile device's port.

While the EU hasn't been particularly clear on this point, their recent Impact Assessment Study on Common Chargers of Portable Devices does suggest any regulation should cover the port as well as the connecting cable and charger. The key passage reads:

In summary, the most effective approach to addressing the consumer inconvenience that results from the continued existence of different (albeit mostly interoperable) charging solutions would be to pursue option 1 (common connectors) in combination with option 4 (interoperable external power supply).

Whether the commission accepts the recommendation of its impact assessment and enshrines it in EU law remains to be seen.

Apple today confirmed that its redesigned Maps app is now available for all users across the United States, offering better road coverage, more accurate pedestrian data, more precise addresses, and more detailed views of roads, parks, buildings, airports, and more.

Apple began testing an expansion of the new Maps app to the Southeast and Central United States in late December, which were the final two regions to get the Maps app, but the full rollout was not completed until today.

In an article announcing the completed launch of the new Maps app, Apple's vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue said that Apple is "deeply invested" in creating the "best and most private" maps app in the world.

"We set out to create the best and most private maps app on the planet that is reflective of how people explore the world today. It is an effort we are deeply invested in and required that we rebuild the map from the ground up to reimagine how Maps enhances people's lives -- from navigating to work or school or planning an important vacation -- all with privacy at its core. The completion of the new map in the United States and delivering new features like Look Around and Collections are important steps in bringing that vision to life. We look forward to bringing this new map to the rest of the world starting with Europe later this year."

Along with announcing the new design features in the Maps app, Apple highlighted Maps features added in iOS 13 such as the street-level Look Around view, which is available in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston and Oahu, plus Collections, for creating lists of favorite places.

Favorites, another new iOS 13 feature, lets users save directions for places that are frequently visited, while other major Maps features include Share ETA, flight status info, indoor maps for malls and airports, Siri natural language guidance for directions that are easier to follow, and real-time transit information in cities that include San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.

Apple also shared details on the privacy features built into the Maps app. Maps is not connected to the Apple ID, personalized features are all done on-device, data collected by Maps is associated with random identifiers that continually reset, and Apple servers "fuzz" location searches by converting precise locations where searches originated to a less-exact location after 24 hours.

With the rollout of the new Maps completed in the United States, Apple plans to also bring the redesign to Europe "in the coming months."

As noted on Reddit, unlocked aka SIM-free iPhone models now qualify for Apple Card Monthly Installments, which allows customers to purchase an iPhone with the Apple Card and pay for it over two years with no interest or fees in the United States. Previously, the installment plan was limited to carrier-activated iPhones.

When using Monthly Installments, the cost of your new iPhone is divided into 24 interest-free monthly installments. Each installment is included in your Apple Card minimum payment and is due every month for 24 months. Monthly Installments are billed to your Apple Card statement on the last day of the month.

Apple already offered interest-free iPhone financing through its iPhone Upgrade Program, but the Apple Card plan has a few advantages, including managing payments in the Wallet app and no late fees. iPhone purchases via Apple Card Monthly Installments also qualify for instant 3% Daily Cash.

How to View and Pay Apple Card Monthly Installments

Paying for an Apple Card Monthly Installment is as simple as paying off your minimum payment or higher each month.

To see and manage your Apple Card Monthly Installments, update to iOS 13.2 or later. Then, open the Wallet app, tap on your Apple Card, tap the button with three-dots in the top-right corner, and tap Installments.

The installments screen shows the total amount paid off so far, the remaining balance, the due date and amount of your next monthly installment, and a history of your monthly payments. There is also a Pay Early option that can reduce the number of payments, but this requires paying off your entire Apple Card balance first.

If you tap Total Financed, you can review other details like a description of the iPhone you purchased and how much Daily Cash you received.

As a shortcut, when you purchase an iPhone with Apple Card Monthly Installments, you will receive a notification on the iPhone or iPad you use to manage your Apple Card that can be tapped to view installment details.

Apple Card Monthly Installments are available for purchases made at Apple Stores, Apple.com, and through the Apple Store app.

Apple matched or overtook Samsung to become the world's biggest smartphone maker in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to new data from market tracking firms.

A new report by Strategy Analytics put Apple's iPhone shipments for the fourth quarter of last year at 70.7 million units, slightly ahead of Samsung's estimated 68.8 million.

Apple grabbed first position with 19 percent global smartphone marketshare, while Samsung claimed second position, staying flat at 18 percent. Huawei dipped to 15 percent share in third place. Full-year smartphone shipments totaled 1.4 billion units in 2019, according to Strategy Analytics.

"Apple iPhone shipments rose 7 percent annually from 65.9 million units worldwide in Q4 2018 to 70.7 million in Q4 2019. This was Apple's best growth performance since 2015. Apple's global smartphone marketshare has lifted from 18 percent to 19 percent in the past year. Apple is recovering, due to cheaper iPhone 11 pricing and healthier demand in Asia and North America."

Research firms are forced to estimate global smartphone sales because Apple stopped providing its own ‌iPhone‌ figures in January 2019, while Samsung gives a total number that includes smartphones and feature phones.

As a result, there are inconsistencies between market researchers' data. For example, IHS Markit have the positions of the two biggest players flipped, with Samsung at 70.7 million and Apple at 67.7 million. As Bloomberg notes, the consensus is that there's essentially no longer any daylight between the two dominant brands in mobile phones.

Apple's approximate tie with Samsung is due to a recent surge in ‌iPhone‌ sales, which brought in $56 billion in revenue for 8 percent growth during the December quarter, according to the company's latest financial results.

The ‌‌iPhone‌ 11‌ was the top-selling ‌‌iPhone‌‌ every week during the quarter, and the three new ‌‌iPhone‌‌ models were Apple's most popular iPhones. The company reported $22.2 billion in profit on $91.8 billion revenue, making the last quarter the best in Apple's history in terms of revenue and profit, topping the first fiscal quarter of 2018.

Meanwhile, Samsung this week reported a 38 percent decline in profit. The Korean company saw a boost in its mobile business, but it wasn't enough to offset declines in its component operations, mainly due to falling memory chip prices.

Samsung's mobile business increased 67 percent to $2.13 billion, while its revenue increased 7 percent to $21.1 billion. But soft demand in its display business and sliding LCD prices saw its operating profit slump 57 percent, while revenue dropped 11 percent.

Looking at the broader picture, IHS Markit's figures suggest Samsung shipped significantly more smartphones than Apple over the whole of last year – 295 million in total, compared to Apple's 193 million.

According to Strategy Analytics, so did Huawei – the Chinese manufacturer reportedly shipped around 240 million phones, allowing it to overtake Apple and become the world's second best-selling smartphone manufacturer in 2019.

Apple and Broadcom have been ordered to pay the California Institute of Technology a fine of $1.1 billion for infringing on Caltech's patents related to WiFi transmissions, reports Bloomberg.

Apple has been ordered to pay $838 million, while Broadcom has been ordered to pay $270 million, but Apple plans to file an appeal.

Caltech in 2016 filed a lawsuit against Broadcom and Apple, claiming that the two companies infringed on a series of patents granted between 2006 and 2012. The patents in question relate to IRA/LDPC codes that use simpler encoding and decoding circuity for improved data transmission rates and performance, with the technologies used in the 802.11n and 802.11ac Wi-Fi standards supported by many Apple products.

At the time, Caltech said that Apple was infringing on four of its patents with the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple TV, Airport routers, and Apple Watch. Caltech demanded a jury trial and preliminary and permanent injunctions in the U.S. against Apple products using its technology. A jury today ruled that Apple and Broadcom violated three of the four patents.

Apple and Broadcom denied infringing on the patents and even filed counterclaims against Caltech, urging the court to invalidate the patents in question.

Apple claimed that because Caltech didn't file the lawsuit until 2016, six years after the 802.11n wireless standard was published, the time limit to collect damages had expired. Apple also argued that Caltech does not make, use, or sell products that practice the claims in the asserted patents.

There are dozens if not hundreds of macOS shortcuts and tricks to streamline your workflows and make it easier to use your Mac, but many of these shortcuts are easily overlooked or forgotten.

For this guide and accompanying YouTube video, we asked MacRumors readers on Twitter and YouTube for their most useful macOS tips, which we've compiled below. Some of these are more basic and will work for all users, while others are a bit more advanced for those who are looking for a deeper dive into macOS. Check out our video to see them in action, or read through the guide for a quick overview.

Desktop and App Management

• Activate Spotlight for Searching - To bring up a handy search interface that will let you find files on your Mac, just use Command + Space. Spotlight can do all kinds of things, from locating files to answering basic questions to solving math problems.
• Swap Between Apps - To switch between your open applications, press Command + Tab. Keep holding down the Command key and then press Tab to cycle through the open apps. Let go when the app you want is highlighted.
• Close Apps From App Switcher - When you're in the Command + Tab view, press the Q key with command held down to close an open app.
• Hot Corners - If you don't already use Hot Corners, they're worth checking out. You can set tasks that will happen when your mouse hovers in a specific corner, like launching Mission Control, showing the desktop, and more. Set them up in System Preferences > Mission Control > Hot Corners.
• Advanced Hot Corners - If you want to use Hot Corners but have found yourself accidentally activating features, hold down the Option key when setting up a Hot Corner. From there, the Hot Corner won't activate unless you're holding down the Option key.
• Hide a Window - To quickly hide a window on the desktop, just press Command + H. The app will disappear into the background, but you can get it back by clicking on the icon on the dock or using Command + Tab.
• Hide All Windows - You can hide all of the windows except for the window for the app you're currently using by pressing Option + Command + H.
• Cycle Between App Windows - If you have multiple windows open for an app like Safari, you can swap between those open windows using Command + the Tilde (~) key.
• Switch Between Multiple Desktops - If you use multiple desktops, you can swap between them quickly by pressing the Control button and then either the left or the right arrow.

Managing Files

• Quickly Open Folders - To open up a folder in Finder or on your desktop, hold Command and press the down arrow key. To go back, just hold Command and press the up arrow key.
• Clean Up Your Desktop - For those with macOS Mojave or later, on a messy desktop, just right click and choose "Stacks" to have your Mac automatically organize everything by file type.
• Instant File Deletion - If you want to delete a file and want to bypass the Trash Can on the Mac that saves files before deleting them, just select a file and press Option + Command + Delete at the same time.
• Create an Auto Duplicating File - If you want to create a duplicate file when clicking on a specific file, just right click, select "Get Info." and then check the Stationary Pad box. Every time you open that file, it'll actually open a duplicate, which is great for templates and similar file types.

Screenshots

• Video Screenshots - Shift + Command + 3 takes a screenshot, Shift + Command + 4 lets you select an area of the screen to screenshot, but Shift + Command + 5, a lesser known option, brings up an interface that lets you record your screen or a portion of your screen.
• Cleaner Screenshots - When using Shift + Command + 4 to select an area of the screen, if you press spacebar, the icon turns to a camera. From there, you can click on any open window to get a screenshot of just that window or interface element like dock or menu bar.

Safari

• Safari Picture-in-Picture (YouTube) - You can watch a video in Safari while you do other things. To do so with YouTube, just right click twice on a video that's playing to bring up a menu offering the picture-in-picture feature.
• Safari Picture-in-Picture Pt. 2 - If the right clicking method doesn't work to pop out a video or you're not watching YouTube, there's another method. With a video playing, look for the audio icon in the Safari toolbar, right click it, and it should bring up a picture-in-picture option.
• Easier Link Copying - If you want to copy the current URL in Safari, press Command + L to highlight the URL bar and then press Command + C to copy. It's quicker than using a mouse.

Force Touch Trackpad

• Quick Looks - When using a Mac with a Force Touch Trackpad, if you click and hold on something like a website link or a YouTube video, you can see a little preview of the content to see what it is without having to leave the current page you're on.
• Dictionary - If you see a word that you're not familiar with, highlight it and press down on it with the Force Touch Trackpad to get a dictionary definition.
• Rename Folders and Files - If you Force Touch on a folder or file name, you can quickly rename it. Force Touch on a folder or file icon and you can see a preview of the file.

Apple Watch and Mac

• Unlocking With Apple Watch - If you have an Apple Watch, you can use it to unlock your Mac, which is a super useful feature for those who don't know about it. To set it up, open System Preferences > Security & Privacy and then toggle on Unlock Mac with Apple Watch.
• Apple Watch Password Authentication - For those with macOS Catalina and an Apple Watch, the Apple Watch can also be used as an alternative to a password so you don't need to type in passwords frequently.

Notification Center

• Activate DND Quickly - If you hold the Option key and click on the Notification Center icon in the top right corner of your Mac's menu bar, you can activate Do Not Disturb.

Keyboard Tricks

• Alternate Mouse Control - There's an option to control your mouse cursor with your keyboard, and it can be enabled in Accessibility. Open up the Accessibility settings and under Pointer Control, choose the Alternate Control Methods tab. From there, turn on Enable Mouse Keys and select toggle to turn on Mouse Keys when Option is pressed five times. When you press Option x5, Mouse Keys turn on and you can use the keyboard to move the mouse.
• Quick Access to Function Key Settings - When pressing one of the function keys to activate Mission Control, Brightness, Media playback, and more, if you hold down Option when you press, you can access the corresponding Settings options inside System Preferences for those keys. Note: This doesn't work on Touch Bar Macs.

Share More Tips

Do you have other useful Mac tips and tricks that we didn't cover here? Let us know in the comments and we might highlight them in a future video.

As the coronavirus outbreak in China continues to spread, Apple today shuttered two more of its retail locations in the country. Stores located in Nanjing and Fuzhou, China, have been temporarily closed, according to Bloomberg.

During yesterday's earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that one store location in Qingdao, China had already been shut down, bringing the total stores closed to three. Many other stores have limited hours.

Apple plans to reopen the Nanjing and Fuzhou stores on February 3, while the Apple Store in Qingdao will reopen on February 4.

Apple has limited employee travel to China to "business critical" operations, and it is providing care kits to Apple employees located in Wuhan and across China.

There are more than 6,000 cases of coronavirus, primarily in China, though the virus has been spreading to other countries. Some of Apple's supplier factories in China are going to be closed until February 10 due to Chinese New Year and the outbreak, which Apple CEO ‌Tim Cook‌ said Apple is working to manage to avoid an impact on production.

The virus situation is still emerging, and Apple is continuing to gather data points, says Cook. The company is experiencing a sales slowdown due to the closing of retail stores and shoppers who are afraid to go out. As a result, Apple set its next quarter guidance range at $63 to $67 billion, which is a larger range than normal. Cook said that this $4 billion range is reflective of the coronavirus outbreak and the "uncertainty" around it.

The Unicode Consortium today announced the finalized Emoji 13 characters that will be introduced alongside Unicode 13 in 2020, and which will eventually be adopted by Apple for use on the iPhone, iPad, Macs, and more.

There are a total of 62 new emojis included in the Emoji 13 update, such as smiling face with tear, polar bear, seal, bubble tea, pickup truck, fondue, teapot, magic wand, beetle, and piñata.

- Faces - Smiling Face with Tear, Disguised Face

- People - Ninja, Person in Tuxedo, Woman in Tuxedo, Person with Veil, Man with Veil, Woman Feeding Baby, Person Feeding Baby, Man Feeding Baby, Mx. Claus, People Hugging

- Body Parts - Pinched fingers, anatomical heart, lungs

- Animals - Black Cat, Bison, Mammoth, Beaver, Polar Bear, Dodo, Seal, Beetle, Cockroach, Fly, Worm

- Food - Blueberries, Olive, Bell Pepper, Flatbread, Fondue, Bubble Tea

- Household - Potted Plant, Teapot, Piñata, Magic Wand, Nesting Dolls, Sewing Needle, Mirror, Window, Plunger, Mouse Trap, Bucket, Toothbrush

- Miscellaneous - Feather, Rock, Wood, Hut, Pickup Truck, Roller Skate, Knot, Coin, Boomerang, Screwdriver, Carpentry Saw, Hook, Ladder, Elevator, Headstone, Placard, Transgender Symbol, Transgender Flag

- Clothing - Thong Sandal, Military Helmet

- Musical Instruments - Accordion, Long Drum

The update also includes 55 gender and skin-tone variants, along with new gender-inclusive emojis that can be used as an alternative to gendered versions, such as person with veil and person with tuxedo rather than the current woman/man options.

Apple will adopt the new Unicode 13 emoji characters at some point in 2020, likely in the fall as an update to iOS 14. Apple last year introduced Unicode 12 emojis in the iOS 13.2 update that was released in October.

Apple recently snatched a top engineer from Netflix as Apple works to build out a technical team to support Apple TV+ and the company's other services, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The new hire, Ruslan Meshenberg, helped build Netflix's platform and participated in key initiatives to create a faster and more consistent service for viewers. He ran the infrastructure guaranteeing Netflix shows and movies played reliably.

Meshenberg has joined Apple's internet-services organization just this week, with his LinkedIn profile listing him as an Engineering Leader.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Meshenberg is joining Apple at a time when Apple is shifting its approach to cloud services, relying more often on third-party providers to save money.

Michael Abbott, a former Twitter engineer, has been responsible for Apple's internet-services operations and he has been adding engineers to Apple's technical team. Apple has not run into any particular major issues with ‌Apple TV‌+ or its other new services, but hires like Meshenberg will ensure that things continue to run smoothly as Apple scales up with new customers and new content offerings.