MacRumors

Apple plans to use a low-power backplane technology called LTPO for future iPhones, according to Korean website The Elec. The backplane is responsible for turning individual pixels on and off on the display.

From the report:

Apple, meanwhile, is moving to more widely apply LTPO panels to its iPhones. This means it needs to find ways to work together with Samsung Display, which is holding its own in terms of both technological prowess and production capacity in the small and mid-sized OLED sector.

LTPO, or low-temperature polycrystalline oxide, has an Oxide TFT structure that uses up to 15 percent less power than LTPS, or low-temperature polysilicon, the backplane technology that Apple currently uses. Naturally, that could contribute to longer battery life on future iPhones.

Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 models already feature LTPO displays. Apple's website says the technology enables Series 5 models to have the same up-to-18-hour battery life as Series 4 models despite having an always-on display:

The low temperature poly-silicon and oxide display features a reinvented pixel architecture that lets the screen refresh rate dip from 60Hz to a power-sipping 1Hz when the watch is inactive. A new low-power driver, ultra-efficient power management, and a new ambient light sensor work together so the display can stay always on with up to 18 hours of battery life.

Apple's transition to OLED started small with the original Apple Watch in 2015, followed by the iPhone X in 2017, so it would not be surprising if LTPO expands from the Watch to the ‌iPhone‌ as early as next year.

Apple has been meeting with United Airlines over upgrades for United's terminal at the San Francisco International airport, according to a Bloomberg article and multiple tweets from attendees at United's meeting with the media in Chicago.

United has been talking with Apple about potential design ideas for its customer waiting areas at the San Francisco airport, where Apple is known to be one of United's biggest customers thanks to all of the Apple employees that regularly fly out of SFO.

The plan is for Apple to help United reconfigure areas in the airport, though what that specifically means is unclear. Linda Jojo, executive vice president of United Airlines Holdings, mentioned spots Apple employees specifically visited as a hint to what might see a redesign.

"The Apple team in San Francisco has been in our baggage hold areas, customer service and the lobbies," she said. "I'm being deliberately vague," she added.

Earlier this year, United Airlines accidentally revealed that Apple is its biggest customer in San Francisco, spending $150 million on airline tickets each year and purchasing an average of 50 business class seats on flights to Shanghai on a daily basis.

Prior to delivering the keynote address at the Ceres sustainability gala in New York City this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke briefly with GQ about the company's environmental efforts, iPhone trade-ins, and more.

Apple has heavily promoted its iPhone trade-in program at its retail stores and on its website over the last year, and Cook said the increased emphasis has been effective, noting that a third or more of customers that visit its retail stores end up trading in an older device for a newer one.

"This year we've really moved the dial on getting the consumer to think about trade-in," he said. "We were up to a third or more of the people that come into our stores that are trading in, and this number is trending up."

Apple's estimated trade-in values currently range from up to $100 for the iPhone 6s to up to $600 for the iPhone XS Max in the United States, with values varying in other countries. The credit can be applied towards your next Apple Store purchase or paid out in the form of an Apple Store gift card.

When asked whether Apple had a plan to encourage more third-party accessory makers to be more sustainable, Cook suggested that Apple is considering introducing some kind of sticker or label that indicates a particular product meets certain environmental standards, be it an iPhone case or a charging cable.

"[…] That is something we're talking about," he said. "I don't want to pre-announce it."

An eco-friendly badge would likely only apply to Apple-certified accessories that license hardware like the Lightning connector through the MFi Program.

Apple received an award from Ceres this week for its sustainability initiatives, including all of its retail stores, offices, data centers, and other facilities being powered by 100 percent renewable energy since 2018. Apple also has a recycling robot named Daisy that is capable of disassembling 200 iPhones per hour.

Apple has a more ambitious, long-term goal to create a fully closed-loop supply chain, in which it would be able to stop mining raw materials and instead build new products entirely with recycled materials. Cook said he is "not worried" about Apple eventually figuring out ways to achieve that feat.

Apple Arcade has received another weekly refresh, with five more games added to the service across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

The new titles include neo-classic side-scrolling action platformer "Fallen Knight" by FairPlay Studios, barnyard game "Hogwash" by Bossa Studios, the hypnotic getaway "Lifelike: Chapter One" by Kunabi Brother, puzzler "Tales of Memo" by Tendays Studio, and roleplaying folktale "Yaga" by Versus Evil.

"Hogwash," "Tales of Memo," and "Yaga" have also been added to Apple Arcade on the Mac, while "ChuChu Rocket! Universe" and "LEGO Brawls" have been extended to the Mac after debuting on iOS last month.

Apple Arcade is Apple's new subscription-based gaming service, providing iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac users with access to dozens of premium games for $4.99 per month, with no in-app purchases or ads. The service launched in late September with a one-month free trial available.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sat down for an interview with People en Español where he talked about diversity at Apple, his personal life and his decision to publicly announce his sexual orientation.

Back in 2014, Cook wrote a letter for Bloomberg Businessweek where he came out as gay in an effort to bring comfort to anyone who feels alone" and "inspire people to insist on their equality."

Cook says that he does not regret his decision to come out. "I have not regretted it for one minute," he said. "Not at all." Cook went on to explain that he had been receiving notes from kids struggling with their sexual orientation, and he wanted to do something. It took him a year between getting the words right and picking the right time for the announcement.

Obviously I couldn't talk to each one individually that reached out, but you always know if you have people reaching out to you that there's many more that don't, that are just out there wondering whether they have a future or not, wondering whether life gets better... From there I really decided. There's been a lot of people that came before me that made it possible for me to sit here today, and I needed to do something to help those people that were in a younger generation.

Cook said that he didn't experience any fear ahead of the announcement, but he was concerned about the world outside of Apple even with unanimous support from Apple's board. "I mean you look at it... there's still half the states or so where you can be fired for being gay or trans," said Cook.

Apple has a "history of being open and diverse" which made him feel comfortable making the announcement. According to Cook, being gay has given him a "level of empathy" that's "much higher than average."

I'm not saying that I understand the trials and tribulations of every minority group, because I don't. But I do understand for one of the groups. And to the degree that it helps give you a lens on how other people may feel, I think that's a gift in and of itself.

Cook also spoke about diversity and Apple's recent decision to file an amicus brief in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy. "We know that we create better products by being more diverse," said Cook. "We know the best products are created by the most diverse teams because products are created for everyone."

When I talk to folks that are in the United States in the DACA program, what I see is a level of grit, a level of determination, a level of excitement to be in America to achieve something and to go beyond perhaps where their parents did. I see enormous dedication and [a] very diligent work ethic, which I've always deeply admired. It was the way I was brought up as well. That's what I see, and I think it's a travesty that we're allowing, as a society, this cloud to hang over their heads for any period of time, but even more so for the period of time we have.

Cook's full interview, which has additional details on Apple's environmental efforts and Cook's advice for children who are gay and their parents, can be read over on the People en Español website.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues 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.

Former Apple lawyer Gene Levoff, who was in charge of enforcing Apple's Insider Trading Policy, is facing criminal charges related to insider trading of Apple stock, reports CNBC.

Levoff was today indicted for insider trading, and he is facing six counts of security fraud and six counts of wire fraud. According to the U.S. government, Levoff used inside information from Apple, including financial results before they were published, to sell Apple stock ahead of weaker than expected earnings results between 2011 and 2016 as well as to purchase stock during stronger quarters.

This scheme to defraud Company-1 and its shareholders allowed Levoff to realize profits of approximately $227,000 on certain trades and to avoid losses of approximately $377,000 on others.

When Levoff discovered that Company-1 had posted strong revenue and net profit for a given financial quarter, he purchased large quantities of stock, which he later sold for a profit once the market reacted to the news.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission first filed charges against Gene Levoff in February, but now he is facing criminal charges in addition to civil charges.

Levoff worked for Apple from 2008 to 2018, and prior to when he was fired from the company, he was the senior director of corporate law.

Apple declined to comment on the criminal charges filed today, but in February, said the following: "After being contacted by authorities last summer we conducted a thorough investigation with the help of outside legal experts, which resulted in termination."

macOS Catalina includes a new Mac Catalyst feature that's designed to make it simple for developers to bring their apps created for the iPad over to the Mac App Store.

Several developers have taken advantage of the new capabilities in Catalina to create Mac Catalyst apps for the ‌Mac App Store‌, and we thought we'd round up the most useful of these for those who are wondering how Mac Catalyst apps work and how they compare to their ‌iPad‌ app counterparts.

• Twitter for Mac (Free) - With Mac Catalyst, Twitter reintroduced a Twitter app for the Mac, a year after the original Twitter for Mac was eliminated. Twitter for Mac is a hybrid of the ‌iPad‌ app and the web interface, though it more closely resembles the browser version of Twitter. It works as you'd expect a Twitter for Mac app to work, with a navigation bar on the left for swapping between mentions and messages, and then a Twitter timeline.
• GoodNotes 5 ($7.99) - Popular note taking app GoodNotes 5 is available on the Mac following the launch of macOS Catalina. You can view and access your notes, but taking notes is a much better experience on the ‌iPad‌ because you can use the Apple Pencil or a stylus. You can write on the Mac version, but it requires a mouse or a trackpad, which is not the best experience. Being able to reference your notes on your Mac is super useful, even if the bulk of the functionality is designed for the ‌iPad‌.
• Allegory ($3.99) - For those who prefer Markdown, Allegory is a Mac Catalyst app that's now available on the Mac. It's simple, straightforward, easy to use, and the available feature set is the same across the ‌iPad‌ and the Mac.
• Carrot Weather ($14.99) - Carrot Weather is a popular iOS app that's now on the Mac. It uses Dark Sky and offers up some accurate weather data. What's more, it has a snarky attitude that turns boring weather information into a much more fun interaction. Carrot Weather is one of our favorite Mac Catalyst apps so far, and given the app's simplicity, it's quite similar to the ‌iPad‌ version.
• Rosetta Stone (Free) - Rosetta Stone on the ‌iPad‌ is an app designed to help you learn a language, and in Catalina, the Rosetta Stone app is also on the Mac. It's a solid port and the experience is overall the same, with the bonus of being able to swap between devices to learn a language no matter what you're using. The app is free, but it requires a subscription.

With Catalyst apps, Mac versions need to be purchased separately from iOS versions, which is a downside that may put some people off of them. For your favorite apps, though, the purchase price may be worth the cross platform availability.

Mac Catalyst apps are still in the early stages of rolling out, and Apple has plans to expand the Catalyst feature in the future. We can expect to see more apps designed for the ‌iPad‌ ported over to the Mac as time progresses, and if you've found a great Mac Catalyst app, feel free to mention it in the comments.

Right now, you can see a collection of other Mac Catalyst apps in the ‌Mac App Store‌ under the "Apps You Love Now On Your Mac" section of the ‌Mac App Store‌, but it's otherwise tough to tell a Catalyst app from a regular Mac app.

In macOS Catalina, Apple introduced Mac Catalyst, an initiative designed to make it simple for developers to port their iPad apps over to the Mac App Store with minimal work. Mac Catalyst is still new and developing, but its ultimate aim is to bring more apps to the ‌Mac App Store‌.

Following the launch of Catalina, macOS product marketing director Todd Benjamin spoke to CNET about Mac Catalyst, providing some insight into Apple's goals and the initial rollout of the feature.

Apple designed Mac Catalyst to let ‌iPad‌ developers use a single codebase and development team to create apps for multiple platforms. The feature, says Benjamin, is great for Mac users and developers alike.

"Our vision for Mac Catalyst was always to make it easier for any iPad app developer, big or small, to bring their app to the Mac. This allows them to leverage one codebase and one development team. Mac Catalyst gives iPad app developers a huge head start and for many, an opportunity to expand their reach onto the Mac platform that they may not have had before. Not only is this great for developers, but it's also great for Mac users, who benefit with access to a whole new selection of great app experiences from iPad's vibrant ecosystem."

Thus far, several major apps have been ported over to the Mac using the Catalyst feature. This includes GoodNotes 5, Twitter, Carrot Weather, Rosetta Stone, and more. Apple too has brought iOS apps to the Mac using Mac Catalyst, such as Find My, Podcasts, Stocks, Voice Memos, and Home.

According to Benjamin, Apple is learning a lot from early adopters and plans to take their feedback into account when expanding Mac Catalyst in the future. Additional resources are in the works to help developers create "amazing Mac experiences."

For many of the early Mac Catalyst developers, it was their first time ever developing an app for the Mac, and it's amazing what they've been able to achieve in such a short time. We're learning a ton from these early adopters, and are planning additional resources and support to help them create amazing Mac experiences with Mac Catalyst."

CNET's full piece on Mac Catalyst, which includes details from developers who have created apps using the feature, can be read over on the CNET website.